Chapter Du Huan’s 杜環 Perception of the Ecumene in the 8th Century

This chapter deals with a preliminary analysis of the journey that Du Huan 杜環 took toward Western countries, during the Tang dynasty (618–907). In particular, it investigates the perception of the Mediterranean area, conceived as a transcultural and transnational territory, as reflected in the eyes...

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主要作者: ALMONTE, VICTORIA
格式: Online
語言:英语
出版: Firenze University Press 2025
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author ALMONTE, VICTORIA
author_browse ALMONTE, VICTORIA
author_facet ALMONTE, VICTORIA
author_sort ALMONTE, VICTORIA
collection Directory of Open Access Books
description This chapter deals with a preliminary analysis of the journey that Du Huan 杜環 took toward Western countries, during the Tang dynasty (618–907). In particular, it investigates the perception of the Mediterranean area, conceived as a transcultural and transnational territory, as reflected in the eyes of a Chinese traveller of the 8th century. Du Huan is thought to be one of the first Chinese travellers to have visited and recorded his observations about the north-western coast of Africa and other territories, under the influence and the control of the Arab-Islamic empire during the 8th century. His work reveals a prominent interest in the customs and habits of the local populations, which he described with great ability. Unfortunately, his work Jing xing ji has been almost completely lost except for a few extracts found in the Encyclopaedic History of Institutions (known as Tong dian) written by Du You – a relative of Du Huan, which was compiled in 801 CE. Du Huan’s manuscript gives a crucial contribution to the studies regarding China’s contacts with the rest of the world, in particular about the historical exchanges between China and Africa, and China and the Arab-Islamic world. (Song 2011, 8; Smidt 2001, 3). Furthermore, his writings testify to the extent of the knowledge of the far West (intended as the Mediterranean area) that the Chinese already had in the 8th century, and reflect Du Huan’s interest for new original aspects (never mentioned in earlier works), likely based on first-hand observations noted down by the author himself: for instance, the expressions related to concept of multi-culturalism and to the perception of religion appears in Du Huan’s description of the Arab-Islamic world, and in other sections.
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spelling doab-20.500.12854ir-1634242025-08-02T05:07:53Z Chapter Du Huan’s 杜環 Perception of the Ecumene in the 8th Century ALMONTE, VICTORIA Du Huan Perception Western Territories Mediterranean Area Multi-culturalism This chapter deals with a preliminary analysis of the journey that Du Huan 杜環 took toward Western countries, during the Tang dynasty (618–907). In particular, it investigates the perception of the Mediterranean area, conceived as a transcultural and transnational territory, as reflected in the eyes of a Chinese traveller of the 8th century. Du Huan is thought to be one of the first Chinese travellers to have visited and recorded his observations about the north-western coast of Africa and other territories, under the influence and the control of the Arab-Islamic empire during the 8th century. His work reveals a prominent interest in the customs and habits of the local populations, which he described with great ability. Unfortunately, his work Jing xing ji has been almost completely lost except for a few extracts found in the Encyclopaedic History of Institutions (known as Tong dian) written by Du You – a relative of Du Huan, which was compiled in 801 CE. Du Huan’s manuscript gives a crucial contribution to the studies regarding China’s contacts with the rest of the world, in particular about the historical exchanges between China and Africa, and China and the Arab-Islamic world. (Song 2011, 8; Smidt 2001, 3). Furthermore, his writings testify to the extent of the knowledge of the far West (intended as the Mediterranean area) that the Chinese already had in the 8th century, and reflect Du Huan’s interest for new original aspects (never mentioned in earlier works), likely based on first-hand observations noted down by the author himself: for instance, the expressions related to concept of multi-culturalism and to the perception of religion appears in Du Huan’s description of the Arab-Islamic world, and in other sections. 2025-08-02T05:07:52Z 2025-08-02T05:07:52Z 2025-08-01T15:51:43Z 2024 chapter ONIX_20250801T173835_9791221505986_190 2704-5919 https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/104740 9791221505986 https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/163424 eng Studi e saggi open access image/jpeg Attribution 4.0 International https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/104740/1/44231.pdf Firenze University Press 10.36253/979-12-215-0598-6.06 10.36253/979-12-215-0598-6.06 2ec4474d-93b1-4cfa-b313-9c6019b51b1a 9791221505986 15 Florence open access
spellingShingle Du Huan
Perception
Western Territories
Mediterranean Area
Multi-culturalism
ALMONTE, VICTORIA
Chapter Du Huan’s 杜環 Perception of the Ecumene in the 8th Century
title Chapter Du Huan’s 杜環 Perception of the Ecumene in the 8th Century
title_full Chapter Du Huan’s 杜環 Perception of the Ecumene in the 8th Century
title_fullStr Chapter Du Huan’s 杜環 Perception of the Ecumene in the 8th Century
title_full_unstemmed Chapter Du Huan’s 杜環 Perception of the Ecumene in the 8th Century
title_short Chapter Du Huan’s 杜環 Perception of the Ecumene in the 8th Century
title_sort chapter du huan s 杜環 perception of the ecumene in the 8th century
topic Du Huan
Perception
Western Territories
Mediterranean Area
Multi-culturalism
topic_facet Du Huan
Perception
Western Territories
Mediterranean Area
Multi-culturalism
url ONIX_20250801T173835_9791221505986_190
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