CHIN 225   China and the West

Ever since antiquity, China and the West, specifically Europe, have been coming into contact with each other. The many meetings of the two sides took place either through actual encounters, or through cultural imagination that they had of each other or, as it was often the case, through both at the same time. That is, the two parts of the world in history not only have collided and exchanged for commercial, military, political and ideological purposes, but also have actively and persistently developed numerous perceptions and misperceptions of each other. Based mainly on primary texts evidencing China-West exchanges in history, students examine the impact and influence that the two had on each other, and at the same time exposes some of the understanding/images of the other formed and reformed during the many conflicts and coordination between China and the West. It is hoped that the reading and discussion in and out of class on these texts that include historical records, travelogues, religious writings, philosophical works, literature, political documents and other works will facilitate students’ development of a new understanding of the relationship between China and the West.