Land without ghosts : Chinese impressions of America from the mid-nineteenth century to the present / translated and edited by R. David Arkush and Leo O. Lee.

Cover image for Land without ghosts : Chinese impressions of America from the mid-nineteenth century to the present / translated and edited by R. David Arkush and Leo O. Lee.

ISBN:

9780520914407

9780585069869

Title:

Land without ghosts : Chinese impressions of America from the mid-nineteenth century to the present / translated and edited by R. David Arkush and Leo O. Lee.

Author:

Arkush, R. David, 1940-

Publication Information:

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xvii, 309 pages) : illustrations

Contents:

Foreword / John K. Fairbank -- George Washington and the American political system / Xu Jiyu -- Trains and treaties / Zhigang -- Strange customs / Zhang Deyi -- Glimpses of a modern society / Li Gui -- Travel in the interior / Chen Lanbin -- How to cope with Western dinner parties / Cai Jun -- Two poems / Huang Zunxian -- Chinese in America / Zhang Yinhuan -- Translator's notes to Uncle Tom's cabin / Lin Shu -- The power and threat of America / Liang Qichao -- Report of an investigation of American education / Huang Yanpei -- The American woman / Hu Shi -- The contradictory American character / Tang Hualong -- "Things about America and Americans" / Xu Zhengkeng -- Presidential elections / Li Gongpu -- The American family : individualism, material wealth, and pleasure-seeking / "Gongwang" -- Alabama : reds and Blacks / Zou Taofen -- Impressions on reaching America / Lin Yutang -- Burlesque / George Kao.

The shallowness of cultural tradition / Fei Xiaotong -- Some judgments about America / Xiao Qian -- Betty : a portrait of loneliness / Yang Gang -- A day in the country / Du Hengzhi -- Americans' lack of personal style / Yin Haiguang -- Black ghost / Yu Guangzhong -- Eating in America / Cai Nengying, Luo Lan, and Liang Shiqiu -- A family Christmas / "Jiejun" -- America, America / Zhang Beihai -- A glimpse of America / Wang Ruoshui -- Working students / Xiao Qian -- America revisited / Fei Xiaotong -- I do not regret visiting New York / Zhang Jie -- America, spacious yet confining / Liu Binyan -- Six don'ts for Chinese students in America / Wang Yuzhong -- Private ownership and public ownership / Li Shaomin.

Local Note:

eBooks on EBSCOhost

Subject Term:

Chinese -- Travel -- United States.

Public opinion -- China -- History.

Geographic Term:

United States -- Foreign public opinion, Chinese -- History.

United States -- Description and travel.

Added Author:

Arkush, R. David, 1940-

Lee, Leo Ou-fan.

Format:

Electronic Resources

Electronic Access:

Click here to view

Publication Date:

1989

Publication Information:

Available:*

Shelf Number	Material Type	Copy	Shelf Location	Status
973.6 20	1:E-BOOK	1	1:ONLINE	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

Americans have long been fascinated with European views of the United States. The many Chinese commentaries on America, however, have remained largely unavailable to the English reader. Land without Ghosts presents for the first time selections on America from Chinese writings over the last 150 years. Included are extracts from the travel diaries of nineteenth-century diplomats, a first-hand account of blacks in 1930s Alabama and of the young white Communists working to organize them.

Reviews (1)

Booklist Review

In this collection of 36 essays, Chinese persons, traveling or living in America, relate with wonder and amazement, confusion and despair, their impressions of America and its citizens. Firsthand accounts written by diplomats, historians, journalists, and students, these essays span the mid-1850s to the present day, covering a variety of topics: food, transportation, sex and clothes, ethics, political theory, art, and style. Although Chinese views of the U.S. have become more sophisticated over the course of time, Chinese living in this country are still, for the most part, uncomfortable, unhappy, skeptical, and wary. Throughout history, the authors argue, Americans have had less understanding of the Chinese than the Chinese have had for Americans. Americans are thus urged to reexamine their attitudes toward China and the Chinese and to learn from past mistakes (both as a nation and as individuals). This provocative work successfully challenges many preconceived notions in a timely, informative, and readable manner. Notes. --Jane Jurgens