A Review of Research on Western Images of China

摘要

China’s understanding of the national image has gone through three stages. Chinese experts and scholars are generally aware of the importance of the national image, but their research results are mostly passive stress responses to the reality of the “demonization” of China’s image. Research on Western images of China features the change from individual research to group research, from overall analysis to delicate classification, and from a specific historical period (shorter historical period) to a longer historical period. There are many studies on the image of China from the perspective of famous Western thinkers, politicians and writers. The research results can be basically classified into two categories: Western-centralism and China-centralism. On this basis, the research on Western images of China is both realistic and illusory, and conclusions drawn are both objective and stereotyped.