An American Pioneer of Chinese Studies in Cross-Cultural Perspective

Yeung Man Shun, D.Litt (2000), Kyoto University, is Assistant Professor of Chinese History and Culture at the University of Hong Kong. He has recently published articles and book chapters on China-West historical relations and late imperial Chinese history.

Acknowledgments

Appendixes

List of Illustrations

Abbreviations



1 On the Linguistic Frontier in Canton

 A Cross-Cultural Approach to Language Learning

 1.1 The Earliest Glimmer of Chinese Studies in America

 1.2 Recovering Carter’s Story: Perspectives and Approaches

 1.3 Learning the Language of the Other: The Place of Chinese Studies in Europe and America



2 Finding a Calling

 Carter’s Transcontinental Journey to Chinese Studies

 2.1 Restless in America: Family and Early Life

 2.2 Opportunities in China: 1798–1806

 2.3 Fulfillment in Europe and Disappointment at Home: 1806–1831

 2.4 From Curiosity to a Lifelong Pursuit



3 Reconstructing a Personalized Curriculum

 Textbooks, Dictionaries, and Study Notes

 3.1 Learning Chinese the Chinese Way

 3.2 From Linguistic Translation to Cultural Translation

 3.3 Entering the Chinese World: Carter’s Chinoiserie Letter to Conseequa



4 Chinese Instructors and Their Anglophone Students

 A Reappraisal

 4.1 Learning Chinese in Canton and Macao

 4.2 Abel Yen and His Anglophone Students

 4.3 Language Instructor as Diplomatic Translator

 4.4 The American Consul Wishes for an Interpreter



5 Agent of Global Knowledge: Carter in London, Paris, and New York

 5.1 Career Ambition: Consul Interpreter

 5.2 An Early American Encounter with European Sinology

 5.3 Academic Ambition: University Educator



6 The Rise of American Chinese Studies: Changes in Foreign Policy, Academic Foci, and American Perceptions of China

 6.1 Carter’s View of China and the Chinese

 6.2 American Curiosity about Chinese Knowledge

 6.3 The Missionary Roots of the American Sinological Tradition

 6.4 The Interpreter as Diplomat

 6.5 America’s First Course in Chinese Studies

 6.6 The Chinese Language: Barrier or Gateway?

 6.7 The Treasures in the Cushing Collection



7 Concluding Remarks: Carter in Perspective

 7.1 The Origin of Chinese Studies in America: An Alternative Pathway

 7.2 Teaching and Learning Chinese in China at the Turn of the Nineteenth Century

 7.3 Creation, Exchange, and Circulation of Chinese Knowledge on a Global Scale

 7.4 Cross-Cultural Dialogues: Carter, the Canton Dialect, and Contemporary China-America Relations



Appendix

Bibliography

Index