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The Last Embassy: The Dutch Mission of 1795 and the Forgotten History of Western Encounters with China Kindle Edition
From the acclaimed author of The Gunpowder Age, a book that casts new light on the history of China and the West at the turn of the nineteenth century
George Macartney's disastrous 1793 mission to China plays a central role in the prevailing narrative of modern Sino-European relations. Summarily dismissed by the Qing court, Macartney failed in nearly all of his objectives, perhaps setting the stage for the Opium Wars of the nineteenth century and the mistrust that still marks the relationship today. But not all European encounters with China were disastrous. The Last Embassy tells the story of the Dutch mission of 1795, bringing to light a dramatic but little-known episode that transforms our understanding of the history of China and the West.
Drawing on a wealth of archival material, Tonio Andrade paints a panoramic and multifaceted portrait of an age marked by intrigues and war. China was on the brink of rebellion. In Europe, French armies were invading Holland. Enduring a harrowing voyage, the Dutch mission was to be the last European diplomatic delegation ever received in the traditional Chinese court. Andrade shows how, in contrast to the British emissaries, the Dutch were men with deep knowledge of Asia who respected regional diplomatic norms and were committed to understanding China on its own terms.
Beautifully illustrated with sketches and paintings by Chinese and European artists, The Last Embassy suggests that the Qing court, often mischaracterized as arrogant and narrow-minded, was in fact open, flexible, curious, and cosmopolitan.
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherPrinceton University Press
- Publication dateJune 1, 2021
- File size33422 KB
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Editorial Reviews
Review
"An excellent entry point for readers seeking a nuanced understanding of China’s global presence in the eighteenth century, and a useful corrective to those specialists who still tend to regard Qing relations with Britain as the totality of Qing relations with the ‘West.’"---Pamela Kyle Crossley, Journal of Early Modern History
"One of the best academic studies in terms of both scholarship and writing-style I have read in ten years or more. . . . [A]n accessible, exciting, and illuminating book, written with consummate verve and enthusiasm."---John Butler, Asian Review of Books
"A Fortune Best Book of the Year"
"An animated account."---Peter Neville-Hadley, South China Morning Post Magazine
"Its lively writing, quick chapters, and the descriptions of the various parts of the empire that the embassy travels through, give readers a panoramic view of the empire at its height."---Reid Wyatt, World History Connected
Review
"Drawing on Dutch, French, Spanish, Chinese, and Korean sources, Andrade vividly recreates the experiences of the Dutch mission as it traveled to Emperor Qianlong's court in 1795. Readers will be enthralled by this account, which challenges generalizations about the European view of China in the early nineteenth century."―Evelyn S. Rawski, author of Early Modern China and Northeast Asia: Cross-Border Perspectives
"The Last Embassy is a superbly written, illuminating, and thought-provoking book on an important topic long overlooked by historians. With vivid powers of narration, Andrade takes readers on a grand tour of the geographical, political, and cultural landscapes of Qing China."―Wensheng Wang, author of White Lotus Rebels and South China Pirates: Crisis and Reform in the Qing Empire
About the Author
David de Vries, an Earphones Award-winning audiobook narrator and veteran stage actor and director, spent three years in the cast of Wicked and was the last Lumiere in the Broadway production of Beauty and the Beast. He has also appeared in numerous films and voiced commercial campaigns for companies large and small, including American Express, AT&T, UPS, Motorola, Georgia-Pacific, Delta Airlines, Coca Cola, and Ford, among others. He can be seen in a number of feature films, including The Founder, The Accountant, Captain America: Civil War, and Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk. On television, his credits include House of Cards, Nashville, and Halt and Catch Fire.
Tonio Andrade is professor of Chinese and global history at Emory University. His books include The Gunpowder Age: China, Military Innovation, and the Rise of the West in World History, Lost Colony: The Untold Story of China's First Great Victory over the West, and How Taiwan Became Chinese: Dutch, Spanish, and Han Colonization in the Seventeenth Century. He lives in Decatur, Georgia.
Product details
- ASIN : B08PP9176L
- Publisher : Princeton University Press (June 1, 2021)
- Publication date : June 1, 2021
- Language : English
- File size : 33422 KB
- Text-to-Speech : Enabled
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Not Enabled
- Word Wise : Enabled
- Print length : 415 pages
- Page numbers source ISBN : 0691177112
- Best Sellers Rank: #1,597,522 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #513 in Dutch History
- #612 in International Diplomacy (Kindle Store)
- #1,148 in History of China
- Customer Reviews:
About the author
I'm a historian interested in global history and the history of China. The main question that fascinates me is: Why did western Europeans, who sat on the far edge of Eurasia and were backward by Asian standards, rise to global prominence starting in the 1500s, establishing durable maritime empires that spanned the seas?
Author Page: www.tonioandrade.com
Customer reviews
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- Anthony WebbReviewed in the United Kingdom on July 16, 2021
4.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating subject, highly readable - and very relevant in today's world
Content
90% of the book is the story itself: following the Dutch embassy as they make their way to Beijing, spend a few weeks there, and then return to the South coast. It is written in the present tense and follows three people in particular: the ambassador himself: Titsingh; a director of the Dutch East India Company in Canton: Van Braam; and a rather embittered translator: Guignes. We see the world through their eyes because the book is primarily constructed from their journals and later publications.
The other 10% is the introduction and conclusion, which provide Andrade’s interpretation of what happened – what was its significance and why has the embassy been consistently downplayed or denigrated since it took place?
His argument is that the Dutch embassy is significant in itself, by showing that relationships between European powers and the Qing Empire at that time didn’t have to be confrontational – and also as a symbolic turning point in the perception of China in the West. While China was often admired before the end of the 18th Century, after this point it was increasingly seen as more-or-less hopelessly backward. Titsingh and Van Braam can be seen as the last of the European Sinophiles.
Style
Andrade’s writing style is very easy to read – I felt the chapters fly by effortlessly and pleasantly, in stark contrast to the struggles and tribulations of the Dutch and their Chinese escorts as they sank into muddy paths or heaved up steep, slippery mountain passes. He balances the available sources expertly, occasionally intervening to explain what the Dutch may have misunderstood or overlooked in their accounts. Stunning pictures, helpful maps and beautiful poems are blended into the text.
Negatives?
While the viewpoint of the Dutch is brought vividly to life, the Qing viewpoint is less well represented. I would have liked to see the Dutch as the Chinese saw them, rather than being left to infer this for ourselves. The reason we don’t get this is that the sources are just not so available. But it means that, although we broaden our horizons beyond the British view of the Qing, we are still getting a very Euro-centric outlook. Even if it is, in general, more positive, it is still highly prejudiced and very much an outsider’s perspective.
Conclusion
The Last Embassy offers an alternative viewpoint to that of China vs the West, an absorbing travelogue, and a sneak peek into the Qianlong Emperor’s court. It is also a very engaging read with a smooth but vivid writing style. I would enthusiastically recommend this to anyone with an interest in China’s past – or present.