Contested Encounters (遭遇和竞争：古代中非历史文献综述)

• Published in: Journal of Chinese overseas Vol. 13; no. 2; pp. 244 - 262
• Main Author: Harris, Karen L
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: The Netherlands Brill 17.01.2017
• ISSN: 1793-0391; 1793-2548; 1793-0391
• DOI: 10.1163/17932548-12341356

This article focuses on China's initial encounter with the African continent from the perspective of a select literature overview. It reflects on the very earliest contacts between dynastic China and ancient Africa and shows that the current contestation in the Western media as well as literature over this more recent contact is not new. Given the dearth and disparate nature of the information on these first encounters, it does this through the lens of what has been written on the subject of the speculated first contact in a selection of secondary English-language literature. It does so by considering the prevalence of such literature in three distinct periods: prior to 1949; from 1950 to 1990; and a selection of research published thereafter. It shows that China's encounter with Africa reaches far back into the history of the continent, but more importantly so does the volatile contestation surrounding the contemporary contact. 本文旨在梳理中国与非洲大陆早期交往的历史文献。研究显示中非交往史可以回溯到古代，西方媒体与学术界当前有关于中非关系的争论以及文献并非新颖。鉴于相关史料的稀缺性和差异性，本文以描述中非初次接触的二手英文文献为视角，分为以下三个时期:：1. 1949年之前； 2. 1950年至1990年之间；3. 1990年之后。研究显示，中非交往历史源远流长，早已深植于非洲大陆历史发展进程之中，而围绕中非交往的争议与争论亦早已有之。 This article is in English.