Performing China : virtue, commerce, and orientalism in eighteenth-century England, 1660-1760 / Chi-ming Yang.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Yang, Chi-ming.

Contributor:

Horace Howard Furness Memorial Library (University of Pennsylvania)

Horace Howard Furness Memorial Fund.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Civilization.

History.

China--Foreign public opinion, British--History--18th century.

China.

China--Civilization--History.

European literature--18th century.

European literature.

Physical Description:

ix, 270 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Baltimore : Johns Hopkins University Press, 2011.

Summary:

The fascinating premise of this study is that the Chinese influenced English concepts of virtue in the 18th century. Through analysis of plays, fiction, and a lecture tour (by an imposter pretending to be a converted heathen), Yang (English, U. of Pennsylvania) examines the interpretation of China's history, ethic, and cultural accomplishments in English culture and thought. Impressive in the range of examples of English, European, and Chinese writing and culture, the study defines English notions of non-European peoples and culture as well as its concept of China's, making this work of interest to a broad readership. Annotation ©2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Contents:

Introduction: spectacle and the example of China

Heroic effeminacy and the conquest of China

Sincerity and authenticity : George Psalmanazar's experiments in conversion

Transmigration, fabulous pedagogy, and the morals of the orient

Luxury, moral sentiment, and the orphan of China

Epilogue: global orientalism and the business of spectacle.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Horace Howard Furness Memorial Fund.

ISBN:

9781421402161

1421402165

OCLC:

702357534