History repeats itself ?.Recommended for the next barbarians

books:


	• Barbarians and Mandarins: Thirteen Centuries of Western Travellers in China Nigel Cameron Oxford University Press, USA, 1990 - 448 pages average customer review:based on 4 reviews
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Not just an informative book, but a good read

Cameron has achieved somthing remarkable here. He has produced a superb scholarly work, and infused it with a warmth and humanity which beggars description. He evokes the sense of awe, of wonder, of sheer disbelief felt by these European visitors. He revels in their confusion, laughs as they grope their way through a world of which they have no comprehension. And is completely sympathetic. That is not to say this is a lighthearted book. He can be savage in his critique, and his description of the Opium Wars will anger many. Still, for a balanced, lively and superbly scholary book, you can not find better. I recomend it wholeheartedly.

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A book to change the way you view the world - a rarity

If you are not interested in China you should read this book, to understand more of your own country. If you are, then you will find it insightful, erudite, empathic, and comfortably delivers the quality you would want when reviewing the scope of 13 centuries of western engagement with traveller. Based on my reading of innumerable other books on the subject, one of the best informed. Except maybe about the Last Empress.....such a small point. This writer has lived for decades in the region, and it shows. Highly recommend.

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History repeats itself ?.Recommended for the next barbarians

Through the accounts of representative Western travelers -over thirteen centuries- in China, the author provides a historical thread of encounters between West and East, starting with the christians-nestorians in the year 625, and continuing with Marco Polo and the Mongols. Then, the great saga of Jesuits scholars and Dominics during the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. The author moves on to the 19th century with detailed accounts on traders and diplomats intertwining with the Opium War and the Unequal Treaties, finishing with the boxer attack of the Foreign Legations in 1900 and the Sun Yat Sen's first republic in 1911 .

In the background one reads of the comings and goings of the Chinese dynasties dealing with increasing waves of "ocean devils". In the forefront one finds the portrayal of a gallery of actors : sages and villains, missionaries and eunuchs...The underlying clash of cultures enhances the reciprocal fascination and disbelief of two worlds, each one convinced of his own superiority but nevertheless enthralled by the other.

Nigel Cameron -- in a well documented exposition of hundreds of historical clues, with over 100 illustrations-recounts the introduction of western astronomy to the Middle Kingdom, the enchantment of Jesuits with Confucianism and the subsequent conflict with Christianity, the antiforeignism as official Chinese policy confronting the Western "gunboat" extraterritoriality.

History repeats itself ?.I am writing this review in Beijing, July 1999, myself a " bearded barbarian" European staying in China since early 1989. A few weeks ago I saw in Beijing demonstrations of Chinese students stoning two western embassies. Recently we have seen on the news the emotional confrontations between Chinese and Western (Americans) diplomats and political leaders regarding atomic espionage. At the threshold of the celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the New China and the upcoming China entrance into the World Trade Organization, the story of the East and West, face to face, is an unending and fascinating one .

A copy of its out of print 1989 edition has been on my desk as a special reference book, so I am glad that it has been recently reprinted.I would recommend it for someone who has more than a mild interest in the subject matter, and mainly for the next barbarians coming to China in the next millenniums...

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A book to change your view of the world - a rarity

I have made China, its history and future, a dedicated hobby. It also helps that my work requires me to covers Greater China. As such I have read 100's books, and visited many times, and published - although nowhere near the scholarly work of this. It is a great work, very well researched, sympathetic, and empathic - rare in the case of a western writer in my experience. He has spent decades in the region, and it shows. A project on a broad scale, 13 centuries of China's engagement with western travellers is readable, insightful, human, and even if you do not have an interest in China - it will change the way you think about your own country[men] and the geopolitical landscape. However, you should know about China, it is now a major player on the world stage. Highly recommend.

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First published in 1970, this reprint edition recounts the experiences of a wide range of Western travellers in China over thirteen centuries.