Description
Book SynopsisYen Fu spent years translating and commenting on the work of Western thinkers like Spencer, Huxley, Adam Smith, Mill, and Montesquieu. Schwartz examines the modifications and consequent revaluation of these familiar works as they were presented to their new audience and analyzes the impact of this Western thought on the Chinese culture of the time.
Trade ReviewProbably the most important cross-cultural study of ideas published in the last twenty years. It is not surprising that a brilliant and subtle scholar like Professor Schwartz should choose Yen Fu. -- Martin Bernal * New York Review of Books *
To this period Professor Schwartz has applied the same brilliance and intellectual dexterity that he brought to the study of Mao Tse-tung’s evolution. His book is an analytical biography of Yen Fu (1853–1921) the essayist and translator of Spencer, Huxley, Mill, Montesquieu and others… For an understanding of the unresolved conflict between Chinese civilization and the outside world this study is no less illuminating and important than his analysis of Mao. * Times Literary Supplement *
A study of modern Chinese intellectual history through the painstaking examination of one important thinker who devoted his life to introducing to China those dominant aspects of Western thought that he believed to be the key to Western wealth and power. The introduction by Professor Louis Hartz provides the stimulating insight for appreciating the significance of this work, which is in the best tradition of Sinology and historical scholarship. * Saturday Review *
A notable contribution to our understanding of modern Chinese history. Professor Schwartz’ study of Yen Fu and the West is much more than an intellectual biography of an important transitional figure… The book brings into focus the bafflingly complex problem of the channels through which one culture…may influence another. -- C. Martin Wilbur * Journal of Asian Studies *
Penetrating… With a command of both Eastern and Western sources rare among American scholars of his generation, Professor Schwartz presents a thoughtful and sophisticated attempt to reconstruct Yen Fu’s image of the world. -- Li Yu-ning * Political Science Quarterly *
