“A comparative study of D'Argens' "Lettres chinoises" and Goldsmith's "Citizen of the world"” (Publication, 1979)
Year
1979
Text
Dai, David Wei-yang. A comparative study of D'Argens' "Lettres chinoises" and Goldsmith's "Citizen of the world". In : Tamkang review ; vol. 10, no 2 (1979). (GolO10)
Type
Publication
Mentioned People (1)
Goldsmith, Oliver
(Pallasmore, Irland 1728-1774 London) : Schriftsteller, Dramatiker
Subjects
Literature : Occident : Great Britain
/
References / Sources
Chronology Entries (1)
| # | Year | Text | Linked Data |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1760-1761.2 |
Goldsmith, Oliver. The citizen of the world, or, Letters from a Chinese philosopher [ID D26901]. (2) Sekundärliteratur 1758 Brief von Oliver Goldsmith an Robert Bryanton. Er schreibt : "I use Chinese names to show my own erudition, as I shall soon make our Chinese talk like an Englishman to show his." He refers in the same letter to himself as 'the Confucius of Europe', which statement seems to indicate that he had learned enough of China to know who Confucius was. 1759 Goldsmith, Oliver. Review of Goguet, Antoine-Yves ; Fugère, Alexandre-Conrad. De l'origine des loix, des arts, et des sciences, et de leurs progrès chez les anciens peuples. (Paris : Chez Desaint & Saillant, 1758). In : Critical review (March 1759). Er schreibt : of the volume of 'curious extracts from Chinese writers', which contain many valuable particulars concerning the history, manners, government, arts and sciences of the ancient Chinese, to which Goguet has had frequent recours in his history. 1762 Review of The citizen of the world by Oliver Goldsmith. In : The critical review (1762). After developing the thesis that human nature has been so fully described that 'nothing more remains for men of genius than to produce new combinations of old thoughts', the reviewer continues : 'Were we to examine these reflections of our Citizen of the world by the standard of originality, our pleasure would be greatly diminished ; but let us view them with regard to utility, and we must confess their merit. What seems cloying to an hundred persons of fastidious appetites, may prove wholesome delicious nourishment to thousands. These letters, if we mistake not, made their first appearance in a daily news-paper, and were necessarily calculated to the meridian of the multitutde, although they greatly surpass any late publications of the same nature, both in diction and sentiment. This circumstance alone would sufficiently plead the author's excuse, had he need of an apology ; that genius must be fruitful, indeed, which can supply such a variety of tastes with daily entertainment. It is rather extraordinary, that the philosophic Lien Chi Altangi could handle so many topics agreeably, and sustain the fatigue of so long a course without weariness, than that he has sometimes stumbled. All his observations are marked with good sense, genius frequently breaks the fetters of restraint, and humour is sometimes successfully employed to enforce the dictates of reason'. 1762 Review of The citizen of the world by Oliver Goldsmith. In : Monthly review (1762). "Although this Chinese philosopher has nothing Asiatic about him, and is as errant an European as the Philosopher of Malmesbury ; yet he has some excellent remarks upon men, manners, and things – as the phrase goes. They are said to be the work of the lively and ingenious Writer of An enquiry into the present state of polite learning in Europe ; a writer, whom, it seems, we undesignedly offended, by some strictures on the conduct of many of our modern scribblers." 1762 Rider, William. An historical and critical account of the lives and writings of the living authors of Great-Britain. (London : Printed for the Author, 1762). Er schreibt über The citizen of the world by Oliver Goldsmith : "But the Chinese letters, first published in the Ledger, in numbers, and since republished in volumes, under the Title of Citizen of the world, are, of all the productions of this author, those that do the highest honour to his genius, as they must be acknowledged by every reader free from influence of prepossession, to be but little inferior to the Persian letters of the celebrated Montesquieu. To conclude Dr. Goldsmith's character as an author, it must be acknowledged, that whilst he is surpassed by few of his contemporaries with regard to the matter which his writings contain, he is superior to most of them in style, having happily found out the secret to unite elevation with ease, a perfection in language, which few writers of our nation have attained to." [William Rider (London 1723-1785 London) : Historiker, Priester, Autor]. 1926 L.F. Powell : Goldsmith copied for his Citizen of the world extensively from D'Argens Lettres chinoises and made use of Du Halde. He took the name of his Chinese philosopher Lien Chi Altangi from Walpole and that of his chief correspondent Fum-Hoam from Gueulette. 1939 Ch'en Shou-yi : The Chinese letters not only assured Goldsmith's literary fame, but also marked the culmination of English interest in Chinese culture and things Chinese. Goldsmith pretends to give to the public the correspondence of a Mandarin, a disciple of Confucius, Lien Chi Altangi by name, who at other times corresponds with a mechant of Amsterdam, and at other times with his son Hing Po, a slave in Persia. The majority of the letteres were addressed to his friend 'Fum Hoam, First President of the Ceremonial Academy at Pekin, in China'. The Chinese Empire is represented as a race which claims to have been descended from the Sun (XLII). Although the Chinese tolerate the followers of Fohi (X), and the belief in transmigration of souls (XV), their religion is on the whole rational (X) and tolerant (XLII). While the Chinese may be outdone by the Europeans 'in the art of building ships, casting cannons, or measuring mountains', they are not to be excelled in matters of governing kingdoms and themselves (XLII). The Chinese emperor being monarchical and yet paternal, his laws are enlightened and merciful (LXXX), seeking not only to punish vice, but also to reward virtue (LXXII). There is a universal passion for politics there, as in England (IV). Learning flourishes in China because even the emperor himself takes cognizance ot the doctors in the kingdom who profess authorship (XXIX). Their writings, unlike those of other parts of the Orient, are phlegmatic (XXXIII), and soliloquies are not admitted in their plays (XXI). Missionaries (IV) and English factors (XXXIV) are allowed (II), nor are they permitted to do so (VI). On account of this cultural isolation, their ancient genius for inventions (CVIII) sometimes relapses into pure ignorance (CV). The ancient sage born about the same time as was Pythagoras (CIII), was Confucius, a man of practical wisdom. The Chinese love this life and hate to die (XII). It is owing to this natural attachment to the present life that they are so fond of things wordly. They like magnificent interments (XII) ; are fond of seeing plays (XXI), of dancing (which even as a profession is not considered contemptible) (XXI), of pompous equipage (XXXII), of elegant manners (XXXIII), of gardening (XXXI), of riding horses (LXXI), and of luxury (II). To maintain good health, they specialize in the art of feeling pulses (LXVIII). The Chinese women understand decorum (XXXIX). They seldom leave their house (VIII), and it is only on special days that they gamble (CII). The chief virtue they cherish is that of chastity (XIX). As to beauty, they have a different standard from the European : broad faces, short noses, little eyes, thin lips, and black teeth (III, XIII, CXVI). According to the Chinese, a woman is endowed by Fohi with three souls (XCVII). The genius for love is suppressed by ceremony in China, as it is by avarice in Europe, jealousy in Persia, poverty in Tartary, and lust in Circassia. Yet, the rest of the world, China only execpted, are strangers to the delights and advantages of love (CXVI). The supreme representative of the Chinese nation is Lien Chi Altangi, a native of Honan (I), who has left China against imperial mandates to learn from abroad, having travelled through Tartary and Siberia, and thence to Holland, before his arrival in England. His chief business being to procure wisdom (VII), he loves both nature and man. He hold the 'volume of nature' as the book of knowledge (IV). He believes in the Universal Soul (VI). He willingly submits to the stroke of Heaven (VII). But he is also fond of gay company (LIV), although he thinks that too much commerce may injure a nation (XXV). He is a discontented wanderer (LVI), but 'a universal friend of man' (XXIII). He is tolerant in his views (LXII) and appreciative of other nations (VIII). Having conferred with missionaries while in China (VII, XVI, XXII), he has 'almost become British' after some residence in England (LXXXXV). He is attached to his former master Fum Hoam, and loves his son Hing Po as a philosopher should (XLVIII, LXVII, C). The man in black, his English friend, is held by him in high esteem (XIII, XXI, XXIV). Well-versed in his own national culture, he yet seeks to learn from other nations. He reads European literature (XLIII, LIII, LXXII). Johnson and Smollet he praises as 'truly poets' (XL). The death of Voltaire he mourns, without being blind to the difference between the French philosophe and Confucius (III). He attacks superficiality (the flippant craze for chinoiseries) (CXVII), superstition (XXII), and sentimentality (CXVII). In short, he reasons without prejudice (XXV), and as he travels to increase happiness, and not merely out of curiosity (VII, XVI), the world 'is but a city' to him (CXXIII). The use Goldsmith has made of Chinese material does not only reflect contemporary English taste for things Chinese, but also reveals the author's own interest in the Chinese people, although, he neither aspires to be a critic nor tries to be an interpreter of Chinese culture. The passages that compare China favourably with Europe, or more particularly with England, usually do not indicate any positive enthusiasm for China on the part of Goldsmith. His chief purpose is to enlighten or satirize England and not to exalt or interpret China. China is represented as inferior to England, or the Chinese as inferior to the English, in order to make the ridicule more pungent. Most of the comparisons and contrasts are more jocose than serious, and are therefore to be taken more as Goldsmith's critical device than as his mediated opinion. Goldsmith's Chinese Philosopher is also made to voice somewhat unexpected and disconcerting criticism of English ideas and manners. Although Lien Chi Altangi is a citizen of the world, who aspires to be the 'universal friend of man', he is nevertheless an Asiatic who 'sees many superior excellences among the English, which it is not in the power of all their follies to hide, and who 'desires to discover those differences with result from climate, religion, education, prejudice, and partiality'. More often than not, the Oriental's remarks are far from being complimentary to the Englishman. In addition to Chinese tales, Goldsmith has studded his Letters with occasional quotations from Chinese sages, most frequently from Confucius. Strangely enough, he is not so much interested in Confucius' ideas as in his own. For most of the quotations are forgeries. There are a number of epigrammatic sayings in the letter, but none of them bears any noticeable resemblance to Confucius' Analects. Goldsmith is fond of manufacturing a sentence to suit an occasion and of attributing it to Confucius to make is 'poignant'. Goldsmith's principal interest in Chinese life and manners, lies chiefly in their usefulness as a literary decoration and as a means to his critical and satirical end. Like some of his contemporaries, Goldsmith is on the whole unfriendly to the current vogue of 'Chinese taste'. The craze for Chinese furniture and porcelain, for Chinese gardening and Chinese architecture, for Chinese fireworks and for goldfish, are one and all ridiculed. Not an enthusiastic admirer of China, Goldsmith's attitude is indifferent rather than antagonistic. He only caters to the taste of his time to the extent of making use of Chinese correspondents. But the Chinese philosopher is merely a satirical vehicle, and there our author stops. As Goldsmith never showed much respect for either Leibniz or Wolff, it is not surprising that he did not catch their enthusiasm for the culture of China. But it is rather curious that even Voltaire, for whom Goldsmith expressed considerable admiration, and to whom he was indebted for a noticeable amount of influence, should have failed to inspire in the author a keener interest of China. Golsdmith remained an indifferent writer with regard to China. His attitude may be explained perhaps, by the fact that enthusiasm for China never grew very strong in England, and that Goldsmith was too cosmopolitan on the one hand, and British on the other, to have his attention exlusively engaged in any single distant land. 1941 Qian Zhongshu : The story and its characters like Beau Tibbs, the Man in Black, and the Chinese philosopher himself, are too well-known to need re-telling here. The pompous and highly floriated style affected in the first two letters from Lien Chi Altangi is soon dropped to be spasmodically resumed in the books. Goldsmith himself seems to have been aware of this lack of consistency in tone, and tried to forestall the criticism of being "un-Eatern and out of character" in Letter XXXIII and Letter LI by showing that "the sonorous, lofty, musical and unmeaning style which passes for Chinese among the English" is really not Chinese at all. Thus, we venture to think that the apology for the "concise, simple, grave, sententious, and dull" style in the preface and Letter XXXIII represents partly Goldsmith's considered opinion and Letter XXXIII represents partly Goldsmith's considered opinion on the subject of Chinese literature, and partly his attempt to make a virtue of necessity. It must have been impossible for Goldsmith's simple and charming genius to keep on writing inflated and stileted prose to the very bitter end of the book. After one or two letters in the pseudo-oriental style, even the fun of parody must have begun to pall. If The citizen of the world is on the whole a genial satire of the English, does it also reveal Goldsmith's attitude towards the Chinese ? For example the passage in the preface : "The furniture, frippery and fireworks of China have long been fashionably bought up. I'll try the fair with a small cargo of Chinese morality. If the Chinese have contributed to vitiate our taste, I'll try how far they can help to improve our understanding". Obviously the "help to understanding" comes from Goldsmith himself, whereas the "vitiation of taste" is a blame to be laid on the Chinese. In Letter XII, he openly criticised the "Chinese taste" by describing "a lady of distinction" who "has got twenty things from China that are of no use in the world... pea-green jars, sprawling dragons, squatting pagods and clumsy mandarins". The lady, with more curiosity than good manners, buttoonholed Lien Chi Altangi in the street, wanted to see him eat and use chop-stocks, and asked him to speak Chinese so that she might hear the sound of the language. Letter XXXI contains a caricature of the Chinese garden the very disposition of whose groves, grottos and streams inculcated morals and wisdom. In Letter CX, Lien Chi Altangi gloated over the fact that the English had filled their houses with Chinese furniture, their public gardens with Chinese fireworks, and their very ponds with goldfish which had come from China. In Letter LXXXIX Goldsmith satirised both the theory of the Egyptian origin of the Chinese and the Noah-Fohi hypothesis. The following quotation from Letter LXIII is most revelatory of Goldsmith's opinion of China : "Yet believe me, my friend, that even China itself is imperceptibly degenerating from their ancient greatness : her laws are now more venal, and her merchants are more deceitful than formerly ; the very arts and sciences have run to decay... There was a time when China was the receptacle of strangers ; when all were welcome who either came to improve the state, or admire its greatness ; now the empire is shut up from every foreign improvement, and the very inhabitants discourage each other from prosecuting their own oriental advantages". 1951 Peter Venne : Goldsmiths Buch ist eine satirisch-kritische Zeitbetrachtung durch den Mund eines Chinesen, der allerdings nur eine konstruierte Gestalt ist, bekleidet mit vielen Details, wie sie der Verfasser aus den geläufigen Chinaberichten entnehmen konnte. Es kam ihm auch nicht darauf an, einen realen Chinesen zu zeichnen, sonderne eine literarische Kunstfigur, die abseits stand von der europäischen Kultur- und Gesittungswelt und darum geeignet erschien, objektive Kritik zu üben. Seine meist beissenden Bemerkungen zu englischen Zuständen vertreten den gesunden Menschenverstand, der sich zu distanzieren weiss von dem, was Gewohnheit oder Mode als Norm aufgestellt haben, und mit unbefangenem, unvoreingenommenem Auge auf die Dinge schaut. So bringt Brief XIII eine satirische Kritik des Verfassers and der unwürdigen Zuseisung von Plätzen im Ehrentempel der Nation, Westminster Abbey, gegen Bezahlung, sowie eine scharfe Ironisierung des Museumskultes. Brief XXI schildert einen Theaterbesuch und enthält eine fesselnde Kritik der zeitgenössischen englischen Bühne. Der Chinese tritt hier auf als Vertreter einer gesunden, phlegmatisch-überlegenen Vernünftigkeit, die nur staunen kann über die Unsinnigkeiten des westlichen Geschmacks. Die englischen Bühnen- und Theatergepfogenheiten jener Zeit erscheinen aus einer solchen neutralen Schau allerdings seltsam genug, und Goldsmith hat die Gelegenheit, seinen feinen Spott über die englische Gesellschaft auszugiessen, reichlich benutzt. In Brief XXXIII wird die populäre geringschätzige Beruteilung Chinas sichtbar, zu der Robinsons Bericht einen Teil beigesteuert haben mag. Der Brief handelt von den naiven, lächerlichen und doch unverbesserlichen Ansichten der Engländer über die Chinesen. Wohin er komme – erzählt unser Philosoph seinem Pekinger Freund – errege er Misstrauen oder Verwunderung. Einige wollten nicht glauben, dass er ein Chinese sei, weil er mehr einem Menschen gleiche als einem Monstrum. Andere wunderten sich, dass jemand fünftausend Meilen von England entfernt geboren und doch mit gesundem Menschenverstand begabt sein könne. "Seltsam", sagen sie, "dass ein Mensch, der seine Erziehung so weit von London empfangen hat, common sense haben soll. Er muss wohl ein 'verkleideter Engländer' sein. Nicht einmal sein Gesicht hat etwas von echter fremdländischer Barbarei". Allerdings hatte Goldsmiths Held so viel von einem Europäer der Aufklärungszeit an sich und so wenig von einem Chinesen, dass der Verdacht von dem 'verkleideten Engländer' nicht unbegründet war. In einem Briefe erzählt der Chinese dann von einer Einladung bei einer Lady, die ihre Kenntnisse des Ostens aus den vielen Romanen geschöpft hatte, "die hier täglich verbreitet werden". Die Behandlung, die er erhält, ist denn auch ein Niederschlag dieser Romankenntnisse. Er wird mit seltsamen Aufmerksamkeiten arg bedrängt, aber er kann den Leuten nicht böse sein, da ja alles nur ein Übermass von Höflichkeit ist. Als er aber bescheiden dagegen zu protestieren wagt, da das gar nicht chinesisch sei, wird ihm bündig erklärt, dass man Grund habe, sich als Kenner in chinesischen Dingen zu betrachten. Noch mancherlei Belehrung über wahren orientalischen Stil und Geschmack muss er über sich ergehen lassen. Doch kann er sich nicht versagen, sich nachdrücklich dagegen zu wehren, dass sein Landsleute in eine Reihe gestellt werden mit ungebildeten Barbaren : Türken, Persern und Eingeborenen von Peru. Er weist hin auf die Leistungen chinesischer Wissenschaft und weiss zu berichten, dass manche seiner Landsleute sich auch westliche Bildung angeeignet hätten, nicht schlechter als ein Student in Paris. Aber so sehr sich der chinesische Gast auch bemüht, er findet bei dem Publikum gar keine Aufmerksamkeit, so dass er es für das Beste hält, sich zu empfehlen. In Brief LXXXVI verbreitet er sich über die Sportbegeisterung der Engländer, die dem konservativen Chinese bis heute noch immer nur ein Kopfschütteln abnötigen konnte. Für die hochgeborenen Sieger im Pferderennen hat er nur Spott : "Wie glorreich muss solch ein Senator erscheinen in Mütze und Lederhosen, die Peitsche quer im Munde durch das Ziel jagend, unter dem Beifallsgeschrei von Pferdeknechten, Jockeys, in Ställen aufgewachsener Herzöge und heruntergekommene Generäle." 1971 Jody Faye Ponthieu : The guise of the Chinese persona failed to fool the British public for long, and the modern reader is apt to feel that the clumps of story essays which do appear are little more than an attempt to make the persona more convincing. This lack of dominance on the story line emphasizes the comparison of cultures, a fact which Goldsmith seems to have had in mind in his composition. Letter III : to the bizarre dress of the English. Altangi looks about him and compares the English men and women with their counterparts in his native China. When the philosopher compares the ladies of China to those of England he finds the latter quite ugly. Rather than having small feet as do the Chinese women, the English women have large feet, often as long as ten inches. The Chinese women are blessed with broad faces, small eyes, thin lips, short noses, pencil-fine eye brows, and black teeth. In comparison to such beauty, Altangi finds the English women frightfully odious. Not only does the dress of Chinese and English women differ but also the manners ; especially the preliminaries of courtship are considerably different. There is a difference between the Chinese and the English political system. In Altangi's country the emperor endeavours to instruct his people, in theirs the people endeavour to instruct the administration. China is governed by familial loyalty and has never become engaged in endless war. In China, says Altangi, there is a great cooperation among authors for each to contribute in a unifying way to the body of learning. On the other hand, in England the situation is reversed. Each author looks upon his associates as rivals, and there is constant bickering and ridicule. Altangi states that Confucius observed that it was the "duty of the learned to unite society more closely, and to persuade men to become citizens of the world," but English authors strive to disconnect the union of all men. 1979 David Wei-yang Dai : Lien Chi Altangi possesses a natural love for all mankind. A man of genuine benevolence must be compassionate. Lien Chi says 'actual love is the spontaneous production of the mind, no generosity can purchase, no rewards increase, nor no liberality continue it : the very person who is obliged has it not in his power to force his lingering affections upon the object he should love, and voluntarily mix passion with gratitude. Love is often an involuntary passion. We love some men, we know not why ; our tenderness is naturally excited in all their concerns ; we excuse their faults with the same indulgence. Goldsmith, like Confucius, seeks to promote the universal benevolence found in all good-natured person. In Letter XXVII Goldsmith traces the history of the Man in Black with affection and esteem. Five passages of the second part of the essay end with the phrase 'I was tolerably good-natured, and had not the least harm in me'. The world inevitably rejects good-natured men such as he, not because their benevolencs is false, but because men of the world are selfish. Only one can exist, the good or the evil, no coexistence ist possible. Confucius also maintains that 'true benevolence' is 'to love all men', and to take no note of the result. The problem faced by the father of the Man in Black is that 'he loved all the world, and he fancied all the world loved him'. In reality, most of the beneficiaries of such love meet this benevolence with contempt. Goldsmith distinguishes between true love and gratitude. True love neither expects nor desires a reward, but loves for its own sake, for love is all the reward. Lien Chi Altangi, the Chinese philosopher, recognizes that his fortitude is the origin of his pride. 'I know but of two sects of philosophers in the world that have endevoured to inculcate that fortitude is but an imaginary virtue ; I mean the followers of Confucius, and those who profess the doctrines of Christ. All other sects teach pride under misfortunes ; they alone teach humility'. Lien Chi encourages his son, Hingpo, to live according to his passion. Passion may lead people to vice but can also direct to virtue. Pride, for Lien Chi, is vice as well as virtue. All depends on the conditions. However, if a person rids himself of all passion and pride, he loeses the possibility of being virtuous and happy. Lien Chi Altangi finds that Confucian philosophy is embodied in Voltaire, the poet and philosopher. The philosopher makes people wise, the poet makes people happy. At the end of a silvery panegyric, Goldsmith presents another typical Chinese philosophical attitude : 'Let his errors rest in peace, his excellences deserve admiration ; let me with the wise admire his wisdom ; let the envious and the ignorant ridicule his foibles ; the folly of others is ever most ridiculous to those who are themselves most foolish'. Like Confucius, Goldmith believes that 'a benevolent disposition contributed to public prosperity'. Lien Chi Altangi with his friends, the Man in Black, Beau Tibbs, Fum Hoam, and his son Hingo are humorous, benevolent, and amiable characters. They embody such attractive qualities in Goldsmith as his 'exuberant humour – and that mastery in the pathetic wich, though it seems opposed to the gift of humour, is often found in conjunction with it'. 1990 Willi Richard Berger : Höhepunkt der fiktiven Reisekorrespondenz im chinesischen Kostüm und neben den Lettres persanes das einzige Werk der Gattung von weltliterarischem Rang ist Citizen of the world. Lien Chi Altangi wechselt Briefe mit Fum Hoam, dem Leiter der Zeremonienakademie in Peking, und mit Hongpo, seinem Sohn, der dem Vater nach England nachfolgt und unterwegs in Persien in eine Reihe romanhafter Abenteuer verwickelt wird. Der Wechsel der Adressaten wirkt der Monotonie entgegen, die sich bei dieser Gattung leicht einstellt, auch halten die Reiseschicksale des Sohns das Interesse des Lesers über das blosse Vergnügen an der satirischen Entlarvung hinaus in einer ganz ähnlichen Weise wach, wie dies bei Montesquieu die Serail-Intrige im fernen Isfahan vermag. Goldsmith hatte zunächst wie Montesquieu einen Orientalen, einen Bürger aus Morokko oder Fez, zum Korrespondenten nehmen wollen ; angesichts der in England grassierenden 'China-Madness' durfte er sich aber von einem Chinesen eine grössere publizistische Wirkung erhoffen. Die Chinese letters waren auch bald so populär, dass der Public Ledger sie auf der ersten Seite veröffentlichte und andere Journale sie nachdruckten. Goldsmith knüpft [u.a.] bewusst an Montesquieu an, von dem er viele Motive, ja ganze Szenen übernimmt. Seine Informationen über China bezog Goldsmith wie alle anderen aus den jesuitischen Publikationen. Von hier stammen die 'konfuzianischen' Weisheiten, die Lien Chi Altangi in seine Briefe an den Sohn einflicht, von hier die positiven Urteile über chinesische Moral und Kultur, Geschichte und Gesellschaftsordnung, die sich vor allem in den Briefen des Akademiedirektors aus Peking finden. Fum Hoam ist der eigentliche Lobredner Chinas in dieser Korrespondenz, des traditionellen Chinas zumal, denn wenn auch dessen konservatives Beharrungsvermögen sich leuchtend von der Geschichte Europas abhebt, die trotz allen technischen Fortschritts eine 'chaotische Folge von Revolutionen', 'a tiddue of crimes, follies and misfortunes' (XIIL) darstellt, so ist doch auch China der Naturgesetzlichkeit des historischen Wandels und der Gefahr des Verfalls ausgesetzt. Gerade das gegenwärtige China erlebt, so Fum Hoam, eine Phase der Dekadenz, genau wie das zeitgenössische Europa (LXIII). Der Naturzustand in dem die Tataren leben, ist für Goldsmith nichts Erstrebenswertes ; ihm ist eine geistig und materiell hochentwickelte Kultur wie die chinesische trotz aller Gefährung durch Genusssucht, Luxus und Lasterhaftigkeit allemal vorzuziehn (X, XI). Fum Hoam ist nicht das Sprachrohr des Autors, denn Goldsmith macht sich frei von dem durch die Jesuiten und die kontinentale Aufklärung begründeten 'Mirage chinois', dem er überall in seinem Quellenmaterial begegnete. Sein wahrer Protagonist Lien Chi hat einen sehr viel freieren Blick auf die Welt und die Dinge, als sich aus den China-hagiographischen Missionsschriften gewinnen liess ; er urteilt selbständig, subjektiv und jedenfalls origineller als der Kulturkonservative Vorsitzende der Zeremonieakademi, origineller auch als die langatmigen Korrespondenten des Marquis d'Argens, bei denen Goldsmith sich so ausgiebig bedient hat. Gewiss, Lien Chi Altangi ist ein 'Philosoph', wie es sich für den Chinesen à-la-mode gehört. Aber abstrakte Tugendideale und spitzfindige Erörterungen über den wahren Gottesbegriff kümmern ihn wenig, und die Verstiegenheiten der Chinoiserien finden nichts als seinen Spott. (XIV). Wenn dieser 'Weltbürger' schon als 'Philosoph' gelten soll, so allenfalls als ein Philosoph der praktischen Vernunft ; konfuzianische Weisheit äussert sich bei ihm als gesunder Menschenverstand, als typisch englischer Common sense. Zwar ist Lien Chi gebildet und gelehrt, erweist sich als überlegener Kenner der Welt und der Menschen und ist von seinem Autor zudem mit einem würdevollen Ernst ausgestattet worden, wie sie dem 'Chinois philosophe' zukam. Lien Chi Altangi tritt als lebendige, durch viele Einzelzüge plastisch charakterisierte Individualität vor uns hin. Unbefangenheit von Blick und Urteil, Liebenswürdigkeit und urbaner Charme, Humor, geistreicher Witz und spitzzüngige Ironie, Wohlerzogenheit, Gesittetheit, Humanität und moralisches Engagement. Mit epischer Detailfreude blättert Goldsmith eine zeitgenössische 'Chronik der laufenden Ereignisse' auf, die bis heute nichts von ihrer Frische und Originalität verloren hat. Modetorheiten, Sektenwesen, Seuchenangst, Gottesdienst, Prostitution, Theaterkrieg, Wahlen, Pferderennen, Dekadenz des Adels, Titel- und Tablettensuche, Ehe und Ehebruch, Kurpfuscherei und die Eitelkeiten der Gelehrtenrepublik – nicht, was der kritisch-humoristischen Glossierung durch den Fremden entginge. Für Abwechslung sorgen vor allem die überall eingeschobenen rein erzählenden Partien : kleine moralische Erzählungen meist satirischen und humoristischen Charakters. Letztlich geht es Goldsmith weder um eine satirische Degration Europas noch um eine Verspottung chinesischer Wunderlichkeiten, vielmehr um einen kosmopolitischen Kulturvergleich, bei der beide Seiten einmal besser, einmal schlechter abschneiden, um eine west-östliche Synthese zuletzt, für die das anspruchsvolle Wort vom 'Citizen of the world' nicht zu hoch gegriffen ist. 1993 Christopher Brooks : Goldsmith situates his satirist and protagonist Lien Chi Altangi squarely in the role of impostor. Moreover, Goldsmith's use of an oriental figure as an impostor of sorts brings into view an important array of assumptions about orientalism, the identity of the 'other' in occidental works, and the nature of English imperialism. Goldsmith vacillates between his occasional attempts to make Altangi seem 'genuine' and his use of Altangi as a mere literary and ironic device, a practice that again signals the imposture at hand. The tension that arises when a realistic literary persona devolves into a simpler form, that of 'eiron', serves to millify the version of the 'Orient' envisioned by Edward Said : the clownish Chinese philosopher becomes the satirical puppet master at the expense of the English reader who identifies with the fad chinoiserie. But this shift also occurs at the expense of the oriental persona that Goldsmith created, manipulated, altered, and then abandoned. Altangi is often unable to discern the social status of his hosts and hostesses. Thus, Goldsmith depicts his Chinese philosopher encountering members of various classes as each reveals his or her participation in the Chinese vogue, be it by language, art, architecture, cuisine, or something else, and as each insists on defining orientalism as a Westerner perceives it. When the subject of an essay concerns Chinese fashion of any sort, Goldsmith becomes an archironist 'imposing' his editor's occidental sarcasm and editorial notes onto Altangi's narrative. When Altangi is the central narrator and biographical participand and his subject matter is China, his hubris becomes that of an 'alazon', a braggart to be undermined by an 'eiron', usually played by Goldsmith-as-narrator and editor. But when Altangi plays the role of an outsider and turns his eyes to British society, he becomes the classic victim described by Said's orientalism in that each of his English hosts attempts to redefine the oriental observer into an occidentalized version of what 'should be' a Chinese visitor. Goldsmith's work : his Chinaman is, in effect, engaged in the buying and selling of ideas, misrepresentations, half-truths, and subtle impostures. China as topic of expansionist interest gives way in Goldsmith's story to China as vehicle for ironic discourse. Altangi encounters numerous English characters to whom he says nothing about China, though he insists on 'being' Chinese. Not only does pretension threaten the reality of the individual but, as Goldsmith and others would assert, the pretense of chinoiserie threatens the traditions of England itself. Goldsmith, after all, saw Chinese arts as offering a poor model and wrote in a critical review that 'there is not a single attempt to address the imagination, or influence the passions ; such therefore are very improper models for imitation. In other words, the lack of 'imagination' in Chinese arts stood at an opposite pole to the tenets of Goldsmith's neoclassicism, a posture that privileged the imagination not only in poetry but in biography and history as well. Goldsmith's satire sought to use China satirically, with Goldsmith constantly altering the Orient to suit his needs as Altangi arbirarily vacillates between Englishman and Chinaman, 'eiron' and 'alazon', illusion and fact, observer and, antecedent to Said's view, 'observed'. The collection of Chinese Letters does employ the Orient as a 'surrogate self' or illusion image in which the vogue-oriented English see the imposture of their own hubris, but the image is an occidentalized version of the Orient based on hearsay and incomplete evidence, creating room for Goldsmith's satire on English behavior at the expense of Chinese tales. Altangi's character does not claim to have visited China : his pretense is to 'be' Chinese – and to be irritated that he is 'not' treated as such. In so doing, of course, the ultimate irony of Goldsmith's imposture is underlined : he, too, has written 'many a sheet of eastern tale', little of which is original, none of which emerges from firsthand experience of China. Altangi's plea to be taken seriously, is part of the aesthetic of imposture, a product of Goldsmith's imaginative but not wholly creative process, in turn a process that found Goldsmith's original reading audience dabating the reality of Altangi's letters. Goldsmith does 'victimize' his reader with deceptive, illusionary 'knowledge' about the Orient, but even more critically he victimizes Altangi and the Orient that he represents by casting this Chinese wanderer in the alternative role of 'alazon-eiron'. Altangi is sometimes looked down upon for his foolish misreading of English society, making him a victim of his own dubious self-knowledge. He also imposes on his reader, giving misinformation about the Orient that the reader must decode. Goldsmith's conversion of Altangi from his initial self as a Chinese 'eiron' into an English 'alazon' is certainly not done for the sake of the Orient but is done to protect an emulating culture from a seductive otherness. But in playing two such roles, both of which are intimately tied to the Orient, Altangi muddles the reality in such a way that little, if anything, is actually learned about the China of the eighteenth century, save for the English fondness for and subsequent rejection of the Eastern fad. The whole of the Chinese Letters becomes a fabric made out of facts and fictions about the Orient that Goldsmith weaves into a single literary imposture, an imposture that exposes the very nature of emulative thinking and behavior, and a satire that exploits as its vehicle the apparent 'idiot-savant' nature of its Chinese narrator. Altangi is merely a mirror for English manners, and his imposture is a reflection of their own. Moreover, Altangi offers the English the opportunity literally to 'recognize' that the real China is not present in misshapen pagodas and exotic ideas. And he provides them with a tool with which to recognize how little they know, in fact, of themselves. In a nation of disguises, Goldsmith employs numerous pretenders who are specifically victims of the Chinese vogue. They emerge wherever pretense is never far away, as another of Altangi's encounter with an English sinophile reveals. Altangi enters a woman's home that is vertably filled with Chinese materials. She admits, 'I have got twenty things from China that are of no use in the world. Quite empty and useless upon my honour'. Upon being shown the Chinese temple in woman's garden, Altangi remarks, 'Where I stand I see nothing, madam, at the end of the garden that may not as well be called an Egyptian pyramid as a Chinese temple ; for that little building in view is as like the one as t'other'. The woman response : 'You surely must be mistaken. Mr. Freeze, who designed it, called it one, and nobody disputes his pretensions'. This 'lady of distinction' demonstrates all that is imposing about chinoiserie. She initially 'had taken [Altangi] for an Englishman', but upon being informed about his Chinese heritage, 'instantly lifted herself from the couch, while her eyes sparkled with unusual vicacity'. Altangi is, in fact, 'English' not by appearance but by his satirical, commentative nature. That the woman is quickly persuaded to perceive him as Chinese again implies that China was a mirror for satire and her own faddish self-deception, and nothing more. Altangi's masquarade – as an oriental, cosmopolite, savant – does allude 'perversely' to the British Empire, for it brings out the worst in English behavior : hubris, egoism, racism. More important to this study, it demonstrates the depths of emulative silliness and the exploitative 'use' of the Orient. We learn a great deal about English behavior in the narrative, but little about Chinese society that was not previously available in Du Halde, Montesquieu, D'Argens, or Lyttleton. Goldsmith creates and then abandons Altangi. Altangi does not go 'home' to China, as China was never his home and China was certainly never his identity. No longer of 'use', Altangi is left alone, his identity unacknowledged. 1996 Tao, Zhijian : The eighteenth century saw not only the rise of Britain as a great empire, it saw also the emergence of the modern spirit of cosmopolitanism, represented by the flood of foreign-travel and foreign-observer fictions, resulting from Europe's, particularly England's, newly-enlarged access to the rest of the world. Whether as trenchant satire on English customs, mentalities, and politics, or as a fanciful evocation of exotic mores, the traveller's story is, in complex ways, informed by England's growing geopolitical visions – its developing demand for foreign markets and its quest for power. The citizen of the world appeared during January 1760-August 1761, a period when Britain was about to become the biggest colonial power. When he collected his Chinese letters into a book, he changed that generally known title to The citizen to the world. As many critics note, his intent was to teach a cosmopolitan humanism, which would transcend political and national confines. This cosmopolitan ideal was shared by many of the englightenment philosophers in Europe. Goldsmith's political stance as a Tory loyalist opposint the Tory war policy, is clearly stated in his journalistic 'Chinese letters'. Goldsmith's portagonist meets a politician who supports the expansion of the British Empire. “We are a commercial nation, we have only to cultivate commerce like our nighbours the Dutch ; it is our business to encrase trade by settling new colonies : riches are the strength of a nation (XXV). One could argue that Goldsmith is merely showing that even patriotism should not argue for colonial expansion, and that a broader view and a more generous spirit of cosmopolitanism is just what Goldsmith is propagating. Yet the cosmopolitan sentiments embodied in The citizen of the world and informed by the empire's broadening geopolitical experiences, necessarily express an imperialist politics – even though this political stance remains, to a great extent, implicit and is masked, in particular, by the rhetoric of humanistic cosmopolitanism. On one side of Goldsmith's satire, China as the Other is often frivolously appreciated as the ideal, on the other side, it is also tacitly the butt of criticism. Donna Isaacs Alnekoff aptly find that 'while Chinese nationality renders the protagonist a convenient satirist, it renders him an equally convenient object of satire. Goldsmith exploits the associations of China with extreme formality, pedantry, and ceremonialism to turn his philosopher into a figure of ridicule'. This is true not only of Lien China, but also of China and things Chinese, in general. They all provide, at once, contrasting images to ridiculous English idiosyncrasies and images to be ridiculed. China, as an abstract utopian construct, is admired for many things. First of all, there is the Chinese political system. Fum Hoam boasts of Chinese excellence in 'the greatest of all arts, the art of governing kingdoms and ourselves. The whole state may be said to resemble one family, of which the emperor is the protector, father, and friend. (XLII). Lien Chi ist quite taken aback by the oddity of English politics. 'In our well-managed country the Emperor endeavours to instruct the people, in theirs, the people endeavour to instruct the administration. (IV). Although Goldsmith is known to have advocated greater monarchical power and can, therefore, be taken as genuine in his criticism of such anarchism as the people instructing the administration, his criticism of Chinese politics is also unmistakable. Goldsmith's treatment of Chinese government is a case in point. His praise of the Chinese political system is feigned, and its insincerity is easy to detect because the ostensible positive view is rebutted by hard 'facts'. Goldsmith notes that 'the very Chinese, whose religion allows him two wives, takes not half the liberties of the English in this particular. By giving such ostensible credit to the Chinese, Goldsmith is criticizing the English who 'keeps as many wives as he can maintain'. But he is clearly using a double-edged weapon : the old Chinese practice of polygamy, which in Goldsmith's account of Chinese religion appears to be methodical, gets at least its share of the criticism – and this is very much at the expense of China, as part of the mysterious and evil ethos of the 'Orient'. Goldsmith's satire participates blatantly in the wilful, European concoction of the exotic. The Chinese sense of beauty, as well, is purposely distorted and denigrated in Goldsmith's narrative. Lien Chi nostalgically pictures 'the small-footed beauties of China' “How very broad their faces ; how very short their noses ; how very little their eyes ; how very thin their lips ; how very black their teeth”. Arbitrary management of China was prevalent in eighteenth-century Britain – one of its manifestations being the China fad, or chinoserie, which was later mocked by many, including Goldsmith. The citizen offers a good case of such satire for study. Here the management of China proceeds on at least two levels : first, the knowledge of the Orient and of China collected 'from fictions every day propagated here, under the titles of eastern tales and oriental histories', and, second, the assiduous and admirable efforts made by the Chinaman (Goldsmith) in yet another fiction for 'straighten' things out. When the Chinese traveller is invited to a dinner given by a lady of distinction, instruction about China, instead of being sought from him, is imprudently forced upon him. Such instruction ranges from the use of chopsticks to the function of similes and metaphors in Chinese rhetoric. (XXXIII). Another instance of the 'orientalizing' management of China is in Lien Chi's descriptions of gardens in his country. After some complaints about English gardening, the philospher avows that 'there is scarce a garden in China which does not contain some fine moral, couched under the general design, where one is not taught wisdom as he walks, and feels the force of some noble truth or delicate precept resulting from the disposition of the groves, streams, or grottos'. Goldsmith's satiric manipulation of China to direct subtle sarcasm at the boasts made about China's history in the context of the European fad of chinoiserie. It can be said that Goldsmith took advantage of the bythen popular appetite for things Chinese in order to revile China, or, that he used China as an absent and silent Other that would serve as a convenient target in his attack on the English. One gradually realizes that China is excluded from the civilized world. It is an unhuman place that tellingly resembles Persia. Lien Chi's son Hingpo almost becomes a slave of the cruel Chinese emperor and has to escape at the risk of his life, just as he later falls into the hands of a cruel Persion lord from whom he escapes. China is actually said to be 'declining fast into barbarity' ; 'her laws are now more venal, and her merchants are more deceitful than formerly ; the very arts and sciences have run to decay'. China, in particular, is a stagnant society ; it hardly ever changes – at least for the better. Comparing himself in Europe with his friends in China, and also Europe with China, Lien Chi deploringly remarks, 'I wander, but they are at rest ; they suffer few changes but what pass in my own restless imagination ; it is only the rapidity of my own motion gives an imaginary swiftness to objects which are in some measure immovable'. What China is, Goldsmith does not care – he could easily have replaced China with any other exotic place, and have done his job equally well. Goldsmith is thus by no means a sinophile, as is sometimes suggested, but rather he uses China as just an example of the 'Other', and a vicious one at that. What he actually cares for is first and foremost his own people. Goldsmith annexes his 'China' to Europe. China is a projection of Goldsmith's European ideal and/or fantasy, a figure in contrast to English idiosyncracy, an exotic locale of strangeness and abnormality – in European eyes. Simply put, what China, in reality is, Goldsmith neither knew well nor cared ; what is useful to him is that China is either the same, or different – in reference to Britain or Europe. 1996 Bob Vore : The description of London given in the very first letter is a good example of the kind of perspicacity of which Goldsmith's protagonist Altangi is capable : "Judge then how great is my disappointment on entering London, to see no signs of the opulence so much talk'd of abroad ; wherever I turn, I am presented with a gloomy solemnity in the houses, the streets and the inhabitants ; none of that beautiful building which makes a principal ornament in Chinese architecture. The street of Nankin are sometimes strewn with gold leaf ; very different are those of London". The more Altangi's experiences in English society, the more detailed and subtle his insights become. Describing funeral practies, for instance, he observes that "people of distinction in England really deserve pity, for they die in circumstances of the most extreme distress. It is an established rule, never to let a man know that he is dying ; physicians are sent for, the clergy are called, and everything passes in silent solemnity round the sick bed ; the patient is in agonies, looks round for pity, yet not a single creature will say that he is dying". An other point, this time commenting on a club of authors, he remarks that "In China the emperor himself takes cognisance of all the doctors in the kingdom who profess authorship. In England, every man may be an author that can write ; for they have by law a liberty not only of saying what they please, but of being also as dull as they please". (Letter IIIVI) "The nobility are ever fond of wisdom, but they also are fond of having it without study ; to read poetry required thought, and the English novility were not fond of thinking ; they soon therefore placed their affections upon music, because in this they might indulge an happy vacancy, and yet still have the pretensions to delicacy and taste as before". Perhaps no subject so befuddles Altangi than that of English women. Having expressed his distance for them, calling them 'horridly ugly', he returns to the subject later for a final frustrated gloss concernig the then-current fad for long trains on dresses. "Son of China, what contradictions do we find in this strange world ! Not only the people of different countries think in opposition to each other, but the inhabitants of a single island are often found inconsistent with temselves ; would you believe it ; this very people, my Fum, who are so fond of seeing their women with long tails, at the same time dock their horses to the very rump !!!" As accurate and insightful as these criticism of English society may be, Goldsmith's satire is rarely, if ever, severe in any moral sense. Rather than offend his readers, Goldsmith's purpose in writing the letters was to invite them to laugh good-naturedly at the petty foibles of society at large, at the eccentricites of their immediate neighbors, and even on occasion at themselves. There exists too a certain reflexive satire on Altangi's part when his own biases cause him to denigrate things undeservedly, thereby compromising his credibility as a judge of English manners and leaving Goldsmith's English readership feeling not so very bad about themselves after all. To his credit, Altangi is aware of the danger of falling into this habit and expresses some concern over the matter. He explains than "When I had just quitted my native country, and crossed the Chinese wall, I fancied every deviation from the customs and manners of China was a departing from nature ; but I soon perceived that the ridicule lay not in them but in me ; that I falsely condemned others of absurdity, because they happened to differ from a standard originally founded in prejudice or partiality". (Letter XXVIII) Altangi's caustic remarks about aged bachelors stand as an example of his sometimes prejudiced point of view : "An old bachelor is a beast of prey, and the laws should make use of as many stratagems and as much force to drive the reluctant savage into the toils, as the Indians when they hunt the hyena or the rhinoceros". (Letter LXXII) He is also to be questioned in his censure of the marriage act : "Would you believe it, my dear Fum Hoam, there are laws made, which even forbid the people marrying each other. Buy the head of Conf ucius I jest not ; there are such laws in being here ; and yet their law-givers have neither been instructed among the Hottentots, nor imbibed their principles of equity from the natives of Anamaboo". The sincerely charitable nature of the English, the merits of their system of government, and the general simplicity of their outlock all leave favorable impressions in Altangi's mind. Thus, although the book ends with Altangi leaving England, his stay there was overall a pleasant one characterized by observations the overall effect of which is to tacitly condone the established order and make Citizen of the world palatable reading to Goldsmith's audience. 2006 James Watt : While Lien Chi is an 'ironic observer' of British customs and manners, he is also an 'ironic victim', a comic and perhaps even absurd figure. Like earlier imaginary travelers, Lien Chi appears in his first few letters as an innocent abroad, a naive observer of 'a new world', where 'every object strikes with wonder and surprise'. Goldsmith's traveler is especially bewildered by the appearance and the conduct of English women, which he often reads through the lens of his own 'Chinese' prejudices, incredulously declaring, for example, that the women he encounters 'have such masculine feet, as actually serve some for walking'. Shortly afterwards, Lien Chi is shown to be less dogmatic about standards of beauty, and to admire the engaging manners of 'the ladies in this city' ; nonetheless, he misinterprets what he sees, falling victim to the confidence trick of a prostitute : he gives his watch away to be repaired, never to see it again. Goldsmith's Chinese philosopher is initially shown to be at sea in the London of pubs and prostitutes, and the comic potential of his errors and misrecognitions is explited throughout the work. If Lien Chi often comes across as a naive blunderer rather than a worldly traveler, The citizen of the world does not in any straightforward way satirize the humanistic ideals of the 'enthusiasm for knowledge' that he so often proclaims. Lien Chi considers himself a 'philosophic wanderer', motivated by a scholarly curiosity, and determined to distance himself from narrow national prejudices. Goldsmith's work nonetheless uses Lien Chi to redefine contemporary constructions of global fraternity. While he often celebrates the life and writings of Voltaire, Lien Chi often looks beyond the 'actually existing' cosmopolitanism of a Francophile aristocratic elite, and conceives of cosmopolitan fellowship in a potentially much more inclusive sense, as the coming together of likeminded people concerned 'to unite society more closely'. Some of Lien Chi's letters take the form of discrete moral essays on abstract questions, such as the pursuit of happiness, and a number of the letters explore Goldsmith's own predicament as a relative newcomer from Ireland to England, displaying a fascination with class distinction, or referring to the anxious and unstable condition of the modern writer. If Lien Chi is frequently said to see Britain and Europe from a generally 'Asiatic' perspective, his specifically Chinese background often gives him a certain critical purchase too. He intermittently refers to the history of contact between Europe and China, complaining that European travelers to China have hitherto been people with an agenda - 'the superstitious and mercenary' – rather than the truly disinterested and enlightened. And while it is true that Goldsmith does little to flesh out Lien Chi's Chineseness, beyond presenting him as 'a native of Honan' and a former 'mandarine', Lien Chi nonetheless on occasion defends Chinese customs and manners. 'The Europeans reproach us with false history and fabulous chronology', Lien Chi tells the reader, but 'how should they blush to see their own books, many of which are written by the doctors of their religion, filled with the most monstrous fables, and attested with the utmost solemnity' ; the priestly case deceives the laity, Lien Chi states, not only in China but 'in every country'. Lien Chi's often misogynistic commentary on both English and Chinese women makes him a secondary obejcts of satire for the polite reader. It is important, that he also sometimes challenges commonly held European assumptions, about the supposed condition and treatment of Eastern women. Lien Chi declares that 'the Asiatics are much kinder to the fairer sex than you imagine'. Lien Chi states 'The ladies here make no scruple to laugh at the smallness of a Chinese slipper, but our wives at China would have a more real cause of laughter, could they but see the immoderate length of an European train !' Lien Chi uses 'woman' as an index of cultural comparison for his own purposes, here, presenting himself as a rational and refined observer at the primary expense of female consumers of luxury goods. The Chinese identity of Lien Chi is especially significant in the light of Goldsmith's engagement with the ongoing debate about the effects of luxury. As is well known, one of the key types of luxury commodity in the consumer culture of the mid-eighteenth century was 'chinoiserie', a catch-all term that referred both to goods brought from China- lacquerware, furniture, porcelain, silks, an so on – and to domestic imitations of these exotic imports. In Letter XI, Lien Chi attributes to Confucius the humean injunction that 'we should enjoy as many of the luxuries of life as are consitent with our own safety and the prosperity of others'. Goldmith had denounced chinoiserie as 'a perversion of taste' in the review of The orphan of China and his use of a term like 'perversion' seems to position Goldsmith among those critics who saw the Chinese taste as a vulgar affront both to the integrity of the nation and to the dignity and truth of neoclassical aesthetics. Throughout The citizen of the world Goldsmith presents the taste for apparently Chinese commodities as frivolous and ignorant, having little or nothing to do with China itself. Rather than attempt to provide an authentic description of Lien Chi's particularity, Goldsmith's work, notwithstanding its occasional reference to certain 'Chinese' eccentricities, seems much more concerned to 'de-exoticize' and familiarize its title character. Lien Chi complains that 'some fancy me no Chinese, because I am formed more like a man than a monster' and he tries in turn to frustrate others' curiosity by aiming at 'appearing rather a reasonable creature, than an outlandish ideot'. Many of Lien Chi's letters refer to his companionship with the 'man in black', an English gentleman, sometimes interpreted as another authorial persona, who introduces himself to Lien Chi at Westminster Abbey. The citizen of the world certainly exploits the comic potential of the man in black's misanthropic 'humor', but at the same time it develops a bond between Lien Chi and his guide, a bond founded on the fact that 'the Chinese and we are pretty much alike'. Goldsmith's work has little to say about any makers of physical difference between Lien Chi and the people he encounters, and it is significant that the only interest in the Chinese philosopher's physiognomy comes from those figures, such as the 'lady of distinction' or the 'grave gentlemen', who are determined to see him as exotically other. If The citizen of the world attempts to grasp the utopian potential of cross-cultural contact, however, it also appears to concede that the time is not ripe for the realization of this potential. One index of this is that while Goldsmith's writing insistently emphasizes the need to overcome the false consciousness of an unreflecting patriotism, The citizen of the world also acknowledges the enduring force of popular patriotic attachment. If Goldsmith draws attention to the idealized nature of the dialogue between Lien Chi and the man in black, it is also important to contexturalize his appeal to the honorific term 'cosmopolitan', and to look more closely at the foundation of the critical authority that is sometimes accorded to his Chinese traveler. The way in which The citizen of the world often confronts received ideas about China and the Chinese seems to underscore its commitment to improving cross-cultural conversation, which is based on the assumption that 'the Chinese and we are pretty much alike'. It is significant that Lien Chi makes a particular claim for Chinese civility and politeness, though, defining these virtues against the 'voluptuous barbarities of our eastern neighbours' : when he defends Chinese reationality against the orientalist assumptions made by readers of Eastern tales, Lien Chi states that 'you must not expect from an inhabitant of China the same ignorance, the same unlettered simplicity, that you find in a Turk, Persian, or native of Peru'. Even though Lien Chi intermittently asserts the cultural prestige of Chinese civilizations, Goldsmith's construction of China is itself ambivalent and divided. Despite Lien Chi's efforts to distinguish between China and its 'eastern neighbours', Goldsmith sometimes presents China as a generic oriental despotism. Lien Chi's status as a philosophic traveler is loosely guaranteed by the enduring cultural cachet of 'Chinese morality' and Confucian wisdom, but the more detail that The citizen of the world supplies about China, the more unstable its account of Chinese civilization becomes. Despite Lien Chi's frequent distinctions between Chinese civility and Turkish or Tartar ignorance, the unabling claim that Goldsmith makes about the excellence of Chinese morality collides on a number of occasions with a more hostile account, increasingly prevalent from the 1760s onwards, of Chinese imperial despotism and cultural stagnation. |
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Cited by (1)
| # | Year | Bibliographical Data | Type / Abbreviation | Linked Data |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2000- | Asien-Orient-Institut Universität Zürich | Organisation / AOI |
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