When Noah's Ark Encountered Fuxi and Shennong: The Debate over Ancient Chinese History in Enlightenment Europe

Author: Wu Liwei
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-01-01
Features: This book meticulously outlines the historical process of the development and evolution of discussions on ancient Chinese history during the European Enlightenment. It places the discussions by missionaries and early Europeans on ancient Chinese history within an intercultural context, particularly situating them within the narrative of European intellectual history. It highlights how ancient Chinese history, as a new intellectual factor and historical resource, influenced and impacted biblical studies, medieval theology, and European ideas during the Enlightenment. It reasonably explains the underlying reasons for the changes in Europe's early understanding of "ancient Chinese history," thereby elevating a topic previously confined to the realm of Sinology to a major issue in European intellectual history. This effort is highly valuable. The research actually engages with fundamental issues in the cultural exchange between the East and the West, aspects that domestic scholars have rarely explored in detail. Therefore, this book holds significant importance for advancing the study of the history of East-West cultural relations. The book does not merely address the traditional academic history issue of how a particular cultural phenomenon of China was positioned in Western thought. Instead, it uses the "event of ancient Chinese history" to explore how Westerners perceived Chinese culture and to what extent this perception shaped the image of China, thereby influencing the development and transformation of modern European culture. Additionally, the book aims to demonstrate to what extent intentional misinterpretations of "Chinese culture" altered Europeans' understanding of their own culture. The overall structure of the book is creatively designed, and its arguments are rigorously presented throughout. Particularly in the discovery and organization of new historical materials, it not only inherits the excellent tradition of Chinese historiography in emphasizing the collection of historical sources but also broadens the scope of source selection, extensively drawing on both Chinese and Western documents. The use of foreign language documents is particularly noteworthy, providing a solid foundation for the author's interpretations and arguments. Thus, the book offers novelty in both "problem awareness" and "source analysis."
In the 17th and 18th centuries, the European intellectual community engaged in prolonged debates over the credibility of ancient Chinese history. This book aims to describe this prominent event in European modern intellectual history and Sino-European cultural exchange. Building on this foundation, it analyzes the impact of ancient Chinese history on Europeans during the Enlightenment, the factors that constrained its influence, and the characteristics of Western perceptions of China. As the medium of transmission, Jesuit missionaries, and as the recipients, European intellectuals, both shaped and interpreted the image of ancient Chinese history based on their respective interests. This is a general feature of how Europe has understood China since the modern era. China has always existed as an image that reflects European perspectives, which is both an inevitable challenge in cultural exchange and a driving force behind cultural creation—a thought-provoking reality.