Maritime countries in the Far West:Western Europe in Xie Qinggao's Records of the Sea (c.1783–93)

This article explores how the Qing (1644–1912) scholar Xie Qinggao (1765–1821) examined Europe in his Hailu and shows in what ways this work contributed to China's (re-)discovery of the Western world in the long eighteenth century. In his Hailu, which is usually translated as the Records of the Sea, Xie conjured up both factual and fanciful images of the Far West from the 1780s to the 1790s with a specific focus on Portugal, the Dutch Republic and England. In his highly vivid descriptions, Xie delineated some, in his eyes, characteristically Western customs, economies and religions with particular attention to the growth of these maritime countries (Chin. haiguo) and their expansions overseas. Despite its idiosyncrasies and a number of obscure details, Xie's study opened a new chapter in the Chinese understanding of Europe. Thanks to his work, some Chinese realised the need to revise their conventional understanding of Europe and to rediscover a continent located far beyond their tianxia worldview.