Ming Dynasty Chinese People's View of Europe

Author: Pang Naoming
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-11-01
Features: After the 16th century, Europeans who came from the East became the medium through which the Chinese in the Ming Dynasty gradually formed their perception of Europe. The Ming people referred to Europe as "Orobala" (a transliteration of Europe), identified its geographical location, recognized the emerging colonial powers of Europe, judged Catholicism by the seemingly appropriate but ultimately inadequate standard of revering Heaven, and actively introduced European science and technology while also forming a considerable understanding of European social customs, political conditions, and school education. However, the Ming people's understanding of Europe still had certain limitations. The main aspects of these limitations included a single means of understanding, a small group of people engaged in the understanding, an inability to proactively engage with Europe, a lack of emphasis on learning European languages, and a skewed focus in the content of understanding. The reasons for these limitations are complex. Deep-rooted Confucian concepts like the "distinction between the Chinese and the barbarians" and "self-centeredness," the highly centralized autocratic regime of the Ming Dynasty, and the monopoly of European colonial merchants in the China-Europe trade, as well as the subjective misguidance of Europeans who came to China, all bear responsibility. This book introduces the formation of the Ming people's perception of Europe, their geographical view of Europe, their religious view of Europe, their social and political view of Europe, their technological view of Europe, their view of European firearms, and evaluates, analyzes the impact, and draws insights from the Ming people's perception of Europe.