Image Of Southwest China During The Transitional Years

Across China on Foot(1911),by Edwin John Dingle(1881-1972),a British journalist based in Singapore,is one of the many travel notes of westerners who traveled to Southwest China in the early 20th century.But compared with other travel books,Dingle's book failed to receive sufficient attention in the academia due to his low popularity.Based on the personal experience of Dingle and his travel book about southwest China,this paper aims to analyze his account of China in the late Qing dynasty from the perspective of imagology,and summarizes his attitude towards China and its causes.The main body of this paper is divided into three parts:First,this paper describes the image of China in Dingle's eyes as a traveler,including the natural scenery,road traffic,hotels,and communication with Chinese people in Southwest China,so as to grasp Dingle's general impression of China:"the Other".Dingle's superficial view about China is that the natural environment,urban appearance,national character,and other aspects are very different from the west.Second,chapter three discusses the image of China viewed by a journalist.Based on the historical background,this paper analyzes the western countries' concerns about Southwest China,and expounds the economic,political and social situation in the late Qing dynasty,focusing on Dingle's positive attitude towards the social transformation and China's development.Then this paper compares Dingle's thoughts with other western authors' views of Chinese civilization in the early 20th century and points out their similarities and differences.This part tries to show the author's deeper image of China and his rational view of China.Third,chapter four discusses the image of China viewed by an observer of ethnic minorities.Combined with the emergence and development of western evolution theory,ethnology,and other new knowledge in the second half of the 19th century,this chapter describes the ethnography of ethnic minorities in the travel book,and analyzes dingle's ethnic view and its causes.This paper outlines the images of China,views about China and their changes found in other southwest travel books written and published at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century.The research object of this paper is analyzed from the historical and synchronic point of view;therefore,we can reveal the uniqueness of the research object:Dingle shaped the changing image of Southwest China in the late Qing Dynasty.He opposed simple evolution theory and expressed his stand for an egalitarian view of race.To some degree,Across China on Foot promoted the positive development of western images of China in the early 20th century.