Western Culture In Eastern Lands

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This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Excerpt from Western Culture in Eastern Lands: A Comparison of the Methods Adopted by England and Russia in the Middle East During the many years that I have been engaged in studying the political and cultural questions of Inner Asia, it has often been laid to my charge that, in my criticism and appreciation of the two chief factors of our civilising influence in the East, I have not taken up a purely objective standpoint, and that, because of my partiality to the one, I have not been quite fair to the other. In Europe the prevailing idea is that the Russians, who in many respects are themselves still semi-Asiatic, are better fitted to undertake the civilisation of Asia, and will be more likely to bring about the transition from one sphere of action to another, than the English, the accomplished representatives of Western culture, who lack the necessary pliability, and whose stiff, proud bearing is supposed to be detrimental to the work of transformation. To prove the erroneousness of this view, and also to defend myself against the accusation of an unjustifiable partiality, these pages have been written. The comparative survey of the various innovations and reforms introduced by Russia and by England respectively, which I have endeavoured to give, will convince the reader that, in forming my conclusions, I have not been guided by personal motives, but that they are the outcome of a close investigation of what has actually been done by our two Culture-bearers. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Excerpt from Western Culture in Eastern Lands: A Comparison of the Methods Adopted by England and Russia in the Middle East During the many years that I have been engaged in studying the political and cultural questions of Inner Asia, it has often been laid to my charge that, in my criticism and appreciation of the two chief factors of our civilising influence in the East, I have not taken up a purely objective standpoint, and that, because of my partiality to the one, I have not been quite fair to the other. In Europe the prevailing idea is that the Russians, who in many respects are themselves still semi Asiatic, are better fitted to undertake the civilisation of Asia, and will be more likely to bring about the transition from one sphere of action to another, than the English, the accomplished representatives of Western culture, who lack the necessary pliability, and whose stiff, proud bearing is supposed to be detrimental to the work of transformation. To prove the erroneousness of this view, and also to defend myself against the accusation of an unjustifiable partiality, these pages have been written. The comparative survey of the various innovations and reforms introduced by Russia and by England respectively, which I have endeavoured to give, will convince the reader that, in forming my conclusions, I have not been guided by personal motives, but that they are the outcome of a close investigation of what has actually been done by our two Culture-bearers. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

This book sheds light on the structure of “a unity with diversity” developed in the Qing imperial formation (1636–1912) by a case study of the Qing-Tibetan encounters in the eighteenth century. By analyzing historical and ethnographical materials, the book investigates the translation of Chinese histories and stone inscriptions into Tibetan, the transformation of the landscapes at Mount Wutai and Lhasa, and the transplantation of Chinese deities and medical practices to Tibet. It demonstrates the processes in which the cosmopolitan interlocutors reified imperial integrity while expressing their diverse longings and belongings. It concludes that the Qing’s rule over its cultural others was neither simply Sinicizing nor colonizing, but a translational process in which multivocalic actors shared narratives, landscapes, and practices, while the emperor and tantric masters performed cosmic power over humans and metahumans. This book cuts across the fields of anthropology, history, Chinese Studies, and Tibetan Studies. It reflects on the concepts of sovereignty and ethnicity, and it also extends the methodological horizon of historical anthropology.