This monograph is the first study of the reception of China in English literature, and the first comprehensive study on the image of China in Western literature written by prominent Chinese scholars such as Qian Zhongshu, Fan Cunzhong and Chen Shouyi. It complements such studies on the literary reception of China as Pierre Martino's "L'Orient dans la litterature francaise au XVIIe et au XVIIIe siecle" (1906), Ursula Aurich's "China im Spiegel der deutschen Literatur des 18. Jahrhunderts" (1935), and E. Horst Tscharner's "China in der deutschen Dichtung bis zur Klassik" (1939).

Our perception of the Others is based on our conception of ourselves. In theory the Others should be different. If necessary, we alter their images to accommodate the apperception of ourselves. Thus Chinesia, an amalgamation of facts and fiction, was created. In order to avoid previous repetition of stereotypes and prejudices, the present study re-examines the parameters which created Chinesia and traces its development to the end of the 18th century. The literary study begins with the analysis of European dramatization of the Manchu Conquest of China and its subsequent fictional...