Journey Through the Chinese Empire - The Most Legendary Adventure in the Qing Dynasty (Volume 1 and 2)

Author: (French) Guibert
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-09-01
Features: This is a highly legendary adventure diary about foreign missionaries in the Qing Empire. As a French missionary closely observing the secular society, Guibert (1813—1860), a renowned sinologist proficient in Chinese, Manchu, Mongolian, and a little Tibetan, with profound knowledge of Chinese classics, traveled and explored places such as Macau, Guangzhou, Beijing, Inner Mongolia, Tibet, Sichuan, Hubei, and Jiangxi in the mid-19th century. He had an exceptionally rich social experience, interacting with the Qing emperor, ministers, local officials of all levels, and even the common people at the grassroots. He conducted direct and meticulous observations of the political, economic, educational, cultural, and literary aspects of Chinese society at the time, vividly and detailedly recorded in his masterpiece Journey to the Chinese Empire. He was particularly skilled at portraying the official behaviors and psychological states of officials at all levels of the Qing dynasty, as well as depicting and documenting the customs, traditions, and social conditions of the Han and ethnic minority populations. It is no exaggeration to say that this also provides invaluable historical material for the filming of films and television series. Guibert had a keen eye for political observation. Through the signs of corruption in the Qing government at the time, he predicted that the Qing dynasty was bound to collapse. Even more remarkable is that the author often stood on the perspective of Europeans, sometimes also on the perspective of Chinese, to make vivid and persuasive comparisons between Chinese and Western cultures, customs, and traditions. If Nobel Prize-winning author Pearl S. Buck successfully stood on the perspective of the Chinese people and culture in her novels to make a brilliant comparison between Chinese and American cultures, then Guibert, using the Chinese perspective to compare the differences between Chinese and Western cultures, provided us with a wealth of examples and unique research findings based on his records of Chinese culture, customs, traditions, and social conditions. This is a vivid and engaging travelogue, as well as a record of the Qing dynasty's official scene as witnessed by Westerners. Journey to the Chinese Empire was translated into multiple languages after its publication and became a bestseller worldwide, especially popular among Western readers. It is believed that this first Chinese translation will also be equally beloved by a broad readership in China.