Research on Seventeenth-Century Sinological Works: Focusing on Joao de Barros's "Description of the Great China" and John Henry's "New Description of China"

Author: Ji Xiangxiang
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-05-01
Features: This book is a significant work on the study of Sinology. As an international discipline, Sinology has undergone three developmental stages: the pre-Sinological period, the early Sinological period, and the modern Sinological period. The Great China by Jean-Baptiste du Halde and China New by John Francis Goddard are two representative works from the early Sinological period, reflecting the highest level of Western Sinological research at that time. However, these two books have long been overlooked by both Eastern and Western Sinological scholars, with the latter still lacking a Chinese translation. Through a comprehensive and systematic study of these two works, this book not only helps readers understand their content and value but also corrects the long-standing, inaccurate notion that "French scholars founded Western Sinology." It also reveals the true face of the development history of Western Sinology.