From the sea to the sea

Author: (British) Rudyard Kipling, Chen Yuli, Zhai Zhenke
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-01-01
Features: Rudyard Kipling was born and raised in India, living at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. At the age of twenty-four, he set off from India, embarking on a journey of global exploration. He lingered in Myanmar and Singapore in Southeast Asia, left hurried footsteps in Hong Kong and Guangzhou, reached Japan, then crossed the Pacific to land on the coast of San Francisco, and traveled through the former British colony of the United States. This is the journey he described in his travelogue From Sea to Sea. In his elegant prose, he not only depicted the customs and folk culture of Asia in the 19th century and the life scenes of North America but also revealed the curiosity, pride, and passion of a European gentleman toward the unfamiliar world. Moreover, he showcased the complex and rich emotions triggered by his mixed spiritual world—rooted in his pure British heritage and Indian upbringing—when observing the contrasting cultures of the East and West. Especially noteworthy is his sharp prophecy about the future of the world he witnessed, made with the sensitivity of a poet and the keen insight of a philosopher.