Liberal Barbarism
the European destruction of the palace of the Emperor of China
During the negotiations leading up to the Treaty of Westphalia, 1648, the members of the French delegation put on costumes and danced before the other delegations. In fact, in early modern Europe it was common for kings to take to the stage. The Habsburg emperors of Austria were all ballet dancers, and so were the rulers of Denmark and Sweden. But the most famous performers of all were the kings of France — Louis XII, XIII and XIV.
This book explains this rather odd behavior. Dancing, goes the argument, is a way of being. In order to be we must move. What is true for individuals is true for collective entities as well. The ballets in which the rulers of early modern Europe engaged were make-believe worlds which illustrated their power and majesty. This is how the sovereign state became visible, and how it came to be.
Great Wall of China
Jean-Baptiste Du Halde, A Description of the Empire of China and Chinese-Tartary, 1738.
Jean-Baptiste Du Halde, A Description of the Empire of China and Chinese-Tartary, 1738. Of the Great Wall, separating China from Tartary This celebrated Wall was built by the famous Emperor
John Bell, Travels from St. Petersburg, in Russia, to Diverse Parts of Asia, 1763
John Bell, Travels from St. Petersburg, in Russia, to Diverse Parts of Asia, 1763 “The nearer we came to the mountains we were the more surprised at the sight of
Matteo Ricci, De Christiana expeditione apvd Sinas svscepta ab Societate Jesv
Matteo Ricci, De Christiana expeditione apvd Sinas svscepta ab Societate Jesv “Ad huius regni amplitudinem, ac celebritatem accedit, quod undique vel nature vel arte cingitur aptis ad se tuendum munitionibus.
James Boswell, Life of Johnson, 1791
James Boswell, Life of Johnson, 1791 Boswell, James. Boswell’s Life of Johnson. Vol. 2. 2 vols. London: London and New York : Macmillan, 1894. He talked with an uncommon animation of
Gützlaff, China Opened; Or, A Display of the Topography, History … Etc. of the Chinese Empire
Gützlaff, China Opened; Or, A Display of the Topography, History … Etc. of the Chinese Empire Shanxi province: “The Great Wall has always attracted the notice of foreigners, and constituted,
George Staunton, An Authentic Account of an Embassy from the King of Great Britain to the Emperor of China, 1797.
George Staunton, An Authentic Account of an Embassy from the King of Great Britain to the Emperor of China, 1797. Up the sides of distant mountains was descried, in the