The China question : eight centuries of fantasy and fear / Ho-fung Hung.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Hung, Ho-fung, Author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

China--Civilization.

China.

China--Foreign public opinion.

China--Relations--Western countries.

Western countries--Relations--China.

Western countries.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xvii, 312 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, United Kingdom ; New York, NY : Cambridge University Press, 2026.

Summary:

For centuries, Western scholars portrayed China either as a land of superior morality, economy, and governance or as a formidable country of pagans that posed a global threat to Western values. Idealized images of China were used to shame rulers for their incompetence, while China was demonized as an external threat to cover up domestic political failures. In the twentieth century, the geopolitics of global capitalism have facilitated more nuanced perspectives, but the diversifying of knowledge about China is far from complete. In this thought-provoking study, Ho-fung Hung finds that both Western elites and China's authoritarian regime today continue to promote many Orientalist stereotypes to advance their economic interests and political projects. He shows how big-picture historical, social, and economic changes are inextricably linked to fluctuations in the realm of ideas. Only open debate can overcome extremes of fantasy and fear.

Contents:

Introduction

Orientalism in the longue durée

From Pax Mongolica to the long sixteenth century

The seventeenth-century

Crisis and the rise of Sinophilia

Early-Enlightenment Sinophilia

Late-Enlightenment Sinophobia

Romantic Sinology after the French Revolution

Scientific-racist Sinology in the age of empire

From Sinology to China studies

The "Asiatic mode of production" myth

Self-Orientalizing nation building

Contested Confucianism

Conclusion : de-orientalizing triumph, re-orientalizing perils.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 23 Feb 2026).

ISBN:

1-009-55979-6

1-009-55980-X

1-009-55975-3