Ban Wang is William Haas Professor in Chinese Studies at Stanford University. He is the author of The Sublime Figure of History, Illuminations from the Past, and History and Memory. He has written widely on Chinese literature, aesthetics, cinema, and intellectual history.
Painting from the General Yue Fei Memorial Temple, Hangzhou | Photo by Chrisjtse
It is puzzling that the closer China relates to the West, the more the West looks at everything Chinese as “other.” Of…
