Joanna Waley-Cohen, "The Sextants of Beijing: Global Currents in Chinese History"

The West has long regarded China as monolithic and self-isolated, hopelessly mired in its traditions. By presenting examples of China's open-mindedness, pragmatism, and willingness to experiment with foreign ideas, The Sextants of Beijing explodes this myth. Qianlong's famous rejection of the Macartney mission of 1792, which attempted to establish trade relations between Britain and China–"We have never valued ingenious articles, nor do we have the slightest need of your country's manufactures"–has usually been taken at face value and interpreted as backward-looking arrogance. In fact, when Qianlong issued that statement, he was nevertheless attempting to acquire European-style artillery, following a history of aggressive pursuit of foreign trade going back to the Han dynasty (about 2,000 years ago, that is).

For much of its dynastic history, China has been ruled by its aggressive northern neighbors. This has made China extremely wary of foreign influences and hypersensitive to anything externally imposed, a sensitivity still evident in China today. Joanna Waley-Cohen, professor of history at New York University, analyzes the historical experience that has led to China's raw nerves. She describes China's relations with the West over the last four centuries, beginning with the Jesuit missions, through the Opium Wars and China's near dismemberment by the colonizing European powers, to its rejection of heavy-handed Soviet aid. While clarifying China's ambivalent attitudes toward the West, she shows conclusively that the nation's restraint and reserve should not be defined as isolationism. –John Stevenson –

From Library Journal
Waley-Cohen, an eminent scholar and professor of Chinese history at New York University, seeks to debunk the stereotype of China as isolationist by providing a pithy analysis of Chinese history from the Tang dynasty (618-907) to the present day. Writing for the general reader, Waley-Cohen discusses numerous ways China has been interested in and open to foreign ideas including military developments, science and technology, trade, and religion. One interesting distinction is that the Chinese leadership has generally been distrustful of Catholic missionaries because they adhere to an authority outside of China (i.e., the Pope) but have appreciated Protestant efforts to teach and provide social services. The author emphasizes that the official rhetoric is much different from the reality: Chinese leaders realize the need to "transcend both the modern West and traditional China." Though this book has no illustrations or maps (in contrast to J.A.G. Roberts's Modern China: An Illustrated History, LJ 8/98, also written for a general readership), it is nonetheless suitable for libraries with large history collections.?Peggy Spitzer Christoff, Oak Park, IL
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. –This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Kirkus Reviews
Compelling revisionist history of Chinese foreign relations. Waley-Cohen (History/New York Univ.; Exile in Mid-Qing China, 1991) is mainly concerned here with dispelling certain myths about Chinese attitudes and actions toward the rest of the world. China has been viewed as rabidly isolationist, virulently hostile to and ignorant of the world outside its borders, and irrationally resistant to change and innovation. All of these views, argues Waley-Cohen, are wrong, and stem from the peculiar perceptions of 19th century Western colonizers whose imprecations China quite naturally resisted. The author provides much historical evidence to back up her claims. As early as 200 b.c., China had established networks of trade throughout all of Asia, and later was to extend these ties to Europe and the New World. Foreign ideas and innovations were not as a rule shunned but welcomed. Buddhism, imported from India, became highly influential; foreign inventions, such as the sextant (hence the title of the book) and other astronomical instruments introduced in the 17th century, were enthusiastically adopted. What emerges from the author's historical account is hardly the image of a benighted backward nation. But perception is often everything. China has indeed at times been hostile to foreign influences, yet the author shows this has often been for good reasons. Jesuit missionaries in the 16th century eventually met with official and popular resistance, yet Jesuit insistence on the exclusivity of Christianity ran counter to China's traditionally tolerant and eclectic attitude toward religions. China did indeed attempt to restrict trade with the West in the 18th and 19th centuries, not out of ignorance, however, but from understanding all too well the imperial designs of the West. In modern times, China under communism has often been extremely hostile to the West, especially to the US, yet the US for its part reviled China, until very recently, as a criminal and outlaw regime. A provocative, original, and accessible study that may cause readers to reexamine long-held assumptions about China. – Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP.

[S]timulating and refreshing, and the history itself is sensibly organized and engagingly told. – The New York Times Book Review, Nicholas D. Kristof