China, Past Present and Future:
Through the Eyes of Abbé Evariste Huc
In this book, Professor Alan Macfarlane offers a fresh perspective on Chinese civilization through the lens of Abbé Evariste Huc (1813–1860), a 19th-century French missionary who spent 12 years in China.
Drawing on Huc’s extensive travels and observations through China, Manchuria, Mongolia, and Tibet, as documented in his descriptive writings and analytical volume The Chinese Empire, the author presents a comprehensive view of mid-19th century China during a pivotal period of its history. The book explores various aspects of Chinese society, from philosophy and religion to social systems and politics, providing readers with a deep understanding of China.
Macfarlane surveys how China has evolved and may develop in the future across various areas—economy, technology, politics, aesthetics, and ideology. Despite being overlooked by modern scholars, Huc’s writings are presented as an invaluable resource for understanding both historical and contemporary China. This book aims to bridge the gap between Western readers and the complexities of Chinese civilization, offering what the author considers ‘the best single account of what China was, and, to a large extent, still is.’
Serving as a companion to Alan Macfarlane’s Understanding the Chinese: A Personal A–Z (2020), this work provides a unique entry point into the Chinese world, making it an essential read for those seeking to understand China’s past, present, and potential future.
Launch Event for China: Past, Present and Future
On 11 October 2024, Cam Rivers Publishing launched China: Past, Present and Future: Through the Eyes of Abbé Huc by Professor Alan Macfarlane, Emeritus Professor of Anthropology at the University of Cambridge and Life Fellow of King’s College. The book launch event took place at King’s College, Cambridge, featuring a New Silk Roads Project Talk and Discussion, followed by the book launch. The talk was chaired by Gillian Tett, Provost of King’s Collge, University of Cambridge.
The book launch was part of the Silk Roads Programme at King’s College, Cambridge. This programme, initiated through a generous donation, focuses on the study of the history and culture of the Silk Road countries, societies, and cultures of Asia from the Western borders of China to the Mediterranean Sea, as well as their relationships with China in the East and Europe in the West. The programme includes lectures, seminars, conferences, graduate scholarships, and Research Fellowships, exploring relationships and the movement of materials, knowledge, and technologies between China and the Mediterranean throughout history up to the present day.
You can learn more about the Silk Roads Programme at King’s College here.
About the Author
Professor Alan Macfarlane is Emeritus Professor of Anthropology at the University of Cambridge and a Life Fellow of King’s College, Cambridge. His research spans England, China, Japan, Nepal, Burma, and India, covering diverse topics from English society of the 14th to 19th centuries to the origins and consequences of capitalism in comparative perspective. He is the author of over twenty published books, including The Origins of English Individualism (1978) and Letters to Lily: On How the World Works (2005).
Since 1996, Professor Macfarlane has visited China 19 times, witnessing the country’s development and transformation over the past three decades. His work has significantly contributed to the mutual understanding between Eastern and Western cultures. A series of books published by Cam Rivers, including A Comparative Analysis of Four Civilizations: China, Japan and The Anglosphere, Understanding the Chinese: A Personal A-Z, The Peculiarity of the English: A Personal View, and Understanding the English: A Personal A-Z. These works, translated into Chinese and published by China Science and Technology Press, form his ‘Civilization Trilogy’ and have received tremendous acclaim in China.