Excerpt from The Life and Labors of Elijah Coleman Bridgman The preparation of the following pages is the result of a conviction that an example so pure, and purposes formed and carried out With so much singleness of aim, may influence others to tread the same path. 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.

Established in 1895 as the first U.S. scholarly journal in its field, AJS remains a leading voice for analysis and research in the social sciences, presenting work on the theory, methods, practice, and history of sociology. AJS also seeks the application of perspectives from other social sciences and publishes papers by psychologists, anthropologists, statisticians, economists, educators, historians, and political scientists.

This book’s compelling analysis examines the narratives surrounding US-China relations from early American perspectives to the present day, revealing enduring perceptions of China that continue to significantly influence policy decisions. As revealed through discourse, Americans find China to be an amalgam of the curious and fantastic, a “swirling kaleidoscope” of emotion and intellectual challenge. 19th century depictions of China amounted to an odd assortment of images that did not add up to a single cohesive vision. 20th century perceptions about China merged ancient philosophers with political leaders, knitted ancient philosophy with socialist ideals, and amplified the exotic while minimizing the more mundane, evoking a spectrum of American passions, hopes, and fears. In the 21st century, this "swirling kaleidoscope" continues to shape American perspectives on China. The book offers a unique examination of the complex history of the modern world’s most important bilateral relationship. Through the lens of discourse analysis, it provides a fresh perspective, unveiling previously overlooked narratives, illuminating the dynamics between these global powerhouses, and suggesting pathways for the future.

In On Their Own Terms, Benjamin A. Elman offers a much-needed synthesis of early Chinese science during the Jesuit period (1600-1800) and the modern sciences as they evolved in China under Protestant influence (1840s-1900). By 1600 Europe was ahead of Asia in producing basic machines, such as clocks, levers, and pulleys, that would be necessary for the mechanization of agriculture and industry. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Elman shows, Europeans still sought from the Chinese their secrets of producing silk, fine textiles, and porcelain, as well as large-scale tea cultivation. Chinese literati borrowed in turn new algebraic notations of Hindu-Arabic origin, Tychonic cosmology, Euclidian geometry, and various computational advances. Since the middle of the nineteenth century, imperial reformers, early Republicans, Guomindang party cadres, and Chinese Communists have all prioritized science and technology. In this book, Elman gives a nuanced account of the ways in which native Chinese science evolved over four centuries, under the influence of both Jesuit and Protestant missionaries. In the end, he argues, the Chinese produced modern science on their own terms.

Japan closed its doors to foreigners for over two hundred years because of religious and political instability caused by Christianity. By 1859, foreign residents were once again living in treaty ports in Japan, but edicts banning Christianity remained enforced until 1873. Drawing on an impressive array of English and Japanese sources, Ion investigates a crucial era in the history of Japanese-American relations the formation of Protestant missions. He reveals that the transmission of values and beliefs was not a simple matter of acceptance or rejection: missionaries and Christian laymen persisted in the face of open hostility and served as important liaisons between East and West.