European Eleven Countries Travelogue

Author: Kang Youwei
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2007-01-01
Features: This book was written by Kang Youwei, a renowned modern Chinese thinker and statesman, during his exile abroad after the failure of the Hundred Days' Reform in 1898. After the reform, Kang Nanhai embarked on a sixteen-year journey of exploration abroad, traveling around the world, visiting thirty-one countries, and covering 60,000 miles, remaining devoted to travel throughout his life. His observations focused on the political customs, historical changes, and successes and failures of various countries, as well as cultural relics and historical sites. His travels in Italy and France left a deep impression on him, and upon returning to China, he wrote A Journey to Italy and A Journey to France, which are the main chapters included in this book. These travel writings contain observations on many aspects, holding great value for readers today.
The series "Notes on Western Impressions" primarily aims to collect and publish diaries of Qing Dynasty officials and intellectuals who visited or traveled abroad. These diaries are their representative works and caused significant upon their publication at the time. They selected and understood foreign cultures based on their own cultural traditions and ways of thinking, reflecting from multiple perspectives the reactions and changes of traditional concepts under the impact of Western thought. Under the guise of travel writings, they discussed China's issues, elaborated on their ideas for political reform, sought in the West an ideal for China's future development, and aimed to create a new China that surpassed the West in both system and wealth.
This book is based on the collation and annotation of the first edition of A Journey to Eleven European Countries published by Guangzhi Bookstore between the 31st and 33rd years of the Guangxu reign.