Westerners in China: A History of Exploration and Trade, Ancient Times through the Present

Front Cover
McFarland, Oct 3, 2015 - History - 232 pages

Today the doors of China are opening to foreign investment and trade as never before, but the history of contact between China and the West goes back many centuries. Goods from China were being traded in Rome long before the birth of Christ, transported over the famous silk road that crossed Mongolia and Russia. But not until the mid-fifteenth century, when Marco Polo published his account of his travels, did China really capture the European imagination. Subsequent centuries saw missionary trips to China by Franciscans and Jesuits, a European craze for Chinese silk and porcelain, European visits to Tibet, the infamous Opium War between Britain and China, and further instances of contact, commerce, and conflict. China has shown amazing economic growth since 1949, and today it has set ambitious goals for growth in trade and technology.

This book traces the history of Western exploration in and trade with China. It follows the events outlined above and touches on many other highlights, including exploration by the Russian Nikolay Przhevalsky, who traveled deep into China and today is largely remembered for the horse he discovered and identified there; the travels of nineteenth-century women explorers in China; American Roy Chapman's discovery of the first fossilized dinosaur eggs in the Gobi Desert; and the competition between two American explorers to be the first to capture a live panda. Also included are a chronology of Chinese history and a pronunciation guide.

 

Contents

Preface
1
1 Some Basic Facts About China
3
2 Those Who Came by Three Silk Roads
13
3 Chinas First Contacts with the West
22
4 The Legacy of Marco Polo
32
5 Jesuits in China
42
6 Prized Goods from China
52
7 Early Western Exploration in Tibet and Yunnan
63
14 Cities Buried in Sand
132
15 Rocks and Culture
141
16 An American Dinosaur Hunter
150
17 The Giant Panda Argument
160
18 The Communist Revolution
170
19 The New Zealander Who Won the Hearts of the Chinese
180
20 Rapid Growth of Chinas Economy
191
21 Illusion and Reality
203

8 Aftermath of the Opium War
74
9 Americans and the China Trade
86
10 Role of Missionaries in Exploration Trade and Culture in China
95
The Man and the Horse
105
12 Distaff Explorers
114
13 The Last Imperialist
123
Chronology of Chinese History
213
Other China Explorers of Note
215
Bibliography
219
Index
223
Copyright

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About the author (2015)

Foster Stockwell is a publishing consultant for Chinese publishers and authors. He lives in Des Moines, Washington.

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