America Through the Spectacles of an Oriental Diplomat

A beguiling account of twentieth-century America through the eyes of an outsider, a remarkable inversion of the standard 'Westerner observing the exotic' travel writing formula. Wu Tingfang wrote this book at an intriguing juncture in history - aeroplanes and motion pictures had recently been invented, and while he did not know it, a tremendous cultural shift was about to take place in the West due to the First World War. His observations are enlightening and remain as relevant today as the era in which they were written.

Auteur

Wu Tingfang (1842-1922) was a Chinese diplomat and politician who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs and briefly as Acting Premier during the early years of the Republic of China.

Jonathan Spence teaches in the field of Chinese history from around 1600 to the present and on Western images of China since the middle ages at Yale University.

Contenu

List of Illustrations; Introduction by Jonathan Spence; Preface by Wu Tingfang; The Importance of Names; American Prosperity; American Government; America and China; American Education; American Business Methods; American Freedom and Equality; American Manners; American Women; American Costumes; American versus Chinese Civilization; American versus Chinese Civilization (continued); Dinners, Banquets, Etc; Theaters; Opera and Musical Entertainments; Conjuring and Circuses; Sports