John Rogers Haddad's analytically rich and methodologically complex work attends to various appearances of Chinese culture in America throughout the nineteenth century.

Through a close examination of museums, panoramic paintings, blue and white ceramics, tea advertisements, travelogues, missionary accounts, children's literature, and world fairs, Haddad counters the idea that imperialist domination and racial prejudice eclipsed cultural exchange between Asia and the West during this period.

Americans who journeyed to China tended to acquire a degree of respect and admiration for the complex civilization they encountered. Upon returning to the United States, they assembled displays, shows, books, and other cultural forms designed to share their knowledge with ordinary Americans.

Haddad's research also reveals the surprising fact that the Chinese played a large but subtle role in shaping the representation of their culture in the United States. Far from being passive, the Chinese exerted substantial control over China's exported image.Haddad's fascinating study reveals how the Unites States, then the newest country in the world, first became acquainted with China, the oldest nation.

With the ongoing rise and increased relevance of China on today's global stage, this volume provides invaluable insight into how these two nations might get to know each other again in the twenty-first century.

Read The Romance of China: Excursions to China in U.S. Culture, 1776-1876 Online

Hardcover: 208 pages
Author: John Rogers Haddad
Publisher: Columbia University Press (May 15, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0231130945
ISBN-13: 978-0231130943

Introduction

China was once romantic to me. Back in 1994, when I decided that I wanted to travel overseas, I had two reasons. First, I possessed the sort of wanderlust that seizes many recent college graduates; I desired to break out of the comfortable sphere I had inhabited for more than two decades, see part of the world, and enjoy an adventure. Second, I had decided I wanted to teach for a living, and I thought that a temporary position at an overseas university would provide me with much-needed experience in front of a classroom. As I surveyed the wide array of possible countries, something peculiar took place.

All the candidate nations quickly fell away—all except China, that is, which rose before me as the only real choice. Why did China alone beckon? I was not exactly sure, but I believe its attraction had something to do with the challenge afforded by its epic size, with my perception that its culture was intriguingly different and exotic, and with the aura of mystery that hovered over a once-closed communist country now opening up to the world. In sum, I chose China because it was, in a word, romantic. ...

Conclusion

In 1795, Andreas Everadus van Braam Houckgeest made his memorable appearance before the Chinese emperor Qianlong. In 1874, Samuel Wells Williams found himself in the same position. The American minister to China, B. P. Avery, had official business to transact with the emperor, and he required Williams’s services as an interpreter. Houckgeest had followed Chinese protocol by engaging in the prescribed kowtow, but that was a formality Williams could dispense with.

The previous year, the foreign community in Peking had settled this issue with the Qing government. For the aging American missionary, this singular experience before the monarch was symbolic of the changes that had taken place in China over the course of the century. When he had first arrived in Canton in 1833, he was considered a “foreign devil” by the Chinese and was granted few rights or privileges by Qing officials. ...

About the Author

John Rogers Haddad teaches classes on American culture at Penn State Harrisburg, where he is associate professor of American studies and literature. He currently resides in Hershey, Pennsylvania, with his wife Catherine and his two children, William and Elizabeth.

John R. Haddad is a teacher and scholar in the field of American Studies with a special interest in the cultural contacts between China and the United States. He has degrees from Harvard (A.B.), Yale (M.A.), and the University of Texas (PH.D.). He currently holds a joint position in both History and English at the University of Central Oklahoma. However, starting in the Fall of 2003, he will be joining the faculty at Penn State Harrisburg as an assistant professor in American Studies.

Comments (0)

Name

Email

Comment

smaller | bigger

Add Comment