Sublime

European fascination with China – however ignorant and ill-informed – had no counterpart in Chinese intellectual circles, a measure perhaps of cultural self-confidence and the prestige of an unbroken classical tradition of exceptional range and subtlety.

A translator was lucky if half the texts he produced were actually used by practitioners, much less kept in circulation.

A translator was lucky if half the texts he produced were actually used by practitioners, much less kept in circulation.

On the eve of the close encounter with the West, China’s distinctive political trajectory (still dominated by its symbiotic relationship with Inner Asia) propelled it not towards an all-powerful oriental despotism (imagined by Europeans) – which might have permitted drastic change in the face of external challenge – but instead still further toward

Illegibility was a political act.

For all its unusual syntax, Gunabhadra’s translation, I decided, was the momma bear of texts.

For all its unusual syntax, Gunabhadra’s translation, I decided, was the momma bear of texts.