CHINA 1700-1800
as seen by Westerners

The Eighteenth century was when China was "discovered". Four centuries of total indifference by Westerners to the Heavenly Empire lay between Marco Polo's Milione (The Million) and the Eighteenth-century books about travels. The "Age of Enlightenment", however, illuminated the forgotten Great Cathay with an abundance of works and there was a true " China rush". The French philosopher Voltaire had sung the praises of the government of the Celestial Emperor and Louis XIV, the "Sun King", had drawn inspiration from the exciting tales of the Jesuits, imagining his Versailles as the magnificent palace of the "Son of Heaven". China was fashionable throughout the entire Eighteenth century and a part of the Nineteenth. The tales of missionaries and of those taking part in the rare legations that managed to reach Peking, guided the skilful hands and often the imagination of the sketchers and engravers. The China which emerged from their pens and their burins were always fantastic, teeming with scenic elements - sometimes of necessity "with a touch of European imagination" - as many plates show. The author has put together all the material he has succeeded in collecting and accompanies them with a surprisingly revealing, detailed text.