The Irish and China
The Irish and China
Edited by Professor Jerusha McCormack
Foreword by President Michael D. Higgins
WINNER OF SPECIAL BOOK AWARD OF CHINA 2021
The Irish and China brings together fascinating essays on a wide range of Chinese-Irish connections, from literature and science to philosophy and food, and many things in between.
Trade Paperback | 180pp | ISBN 9781848407213 | Release Date May 2019
See the Table of Contents
In 1318, the Irish Franciscan friar and explorer James of Ireland accompanied Friar Odoric of Pordenone to the Far East, thus becoming the first Irish person in China. Since then, encounters between the Irish and the people of China have proliferated: just as Ireland gained from the plant hunters of the late Qing dynasty, so China learned eagerly from the tactics of Irish cultural nationalism early in the twentieth century. Such fruitful exchanges were made possible by parallels in their historical development, as each grew – in only a few generations – from traditional agricultural societies into modern, globalized republics.
Whether it is China’s ecstatic welcome of Riverdance, Kerrygold butter and the prose of James Joyce, or Ireland’s reinvention of itself through its culture and newly multicultural society, these essays demonstrate, often in surprising ways, just how each nation has helped transform the other.
With a welcome message from the President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins, this collection of essays also celebrates four decades of Sino-Irish diplomatic relations.