For centuries, China has been a land of startling juxtapositions. Early European visitors were awed by this ancient civilization and its rich history, by its innovations in medicine and science, and most particularly, by its exotic goods and cultural practices.
“During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, as today, China was a land of wonder, of riches, and of enormous opportunity,” said exhibition curator Timothy Billings.
European authors and illustrators created vivid images of the Far East that were eagerly consumed by curious Westerners throughout the Renaissance and in the decades that followed. Travelers’ accounts, translations of Chinese works, and information on Chinese language and government fired the imaginations of scholars, politicians, and even playgoers – the eminent French writer Voltaire created an adaptation of a Chinese play, The Orphan of Zhao, for Paris audiences in 1755, and a few years later, noted Shakespearean actor David Garrick played the title role in an English variation, The Orphan of China, at London’s Drury Lane Theatre.
“In the 16th century, you get accounts that are much more detailed and much more reliable than medieval reports. Although there’s a shift towards first-hand information rather than inventive mythologies, some of these reports still contain some really wild stuff. People are fascinated by it, and this fascination only increases throughout the century. The Jesuits were some of the first Europeans to come into China, live there, and learn the language, and their accounts brought new knowledge to the West,” said Billings.
Jesuit missionary Matteo Ricci, an Italian who lived in China in the last decades of the sixteenth century, became the first European to write a book in classical Mandarin Chinese. His Essay on Friendship (1595), composed for a Chinese friend, is a compilation of the best European ideas about friendship from classic secular and ecclesiastical authors. Exhibition curator Timothy Billings created the first English translation of Ricci’s Essay on Friendship, re-titled On Friendship and available September 1, which includes biographical and cultural notes as well as background information on the text.
Exhibition Highlights
The Folger Shakespeare Library exhibition “Imagining China: The View from Europe, 1550-1700” features rare books and maps from the Folger collection, as well as items on loan from the Library of Congress, Nicholas Grindley, the Walters Museum, and the curator’s own collection. Highlights include:
-
Early maps of China. From the Greek scientist Ptolemy in the 2nd century to Marco Polo over 1,000 years later, Europeans were endlessly curious about the vast empire to the east.
-
Rare Chinese porcelains. Exquisite porcelain pottery was highly valued by European collectors, so that the place name, “China,” became synonymous with china dishes.
-
A multilingual Bible. The Chinese text included in the Bible is not actually a translation of sacred scripture, and was added in as a curiosity.
-
Woodcuts and early illustrations. As Europeans explored eastward, depictions of wildlife, people, and other aspects of China were popular parts of travelers’ stories.
About the Curator
Curator Timothy Billings is Associate Professor of English and American Literatures at Middlebury College. He is the author of the first English translation of Matteo Ricci’s Essay on Friendship, published by Columbia University Press, as well as numerous scholarly articles and publications.
Exhibition consultant Jim Kuhn is Head of Collection Information Services at the Folger Shakespeare Library. In addition to twenty years of research library service and Master’s Degrees in Library Science and Philosophy, Jim also has a B.A. in Asian Studies.
###
