ABSTRACT
The relations between Asia and Europe have, of course, always been about learning, exchange, the discovery, dissemination and sharing of knowledge – one might say about the mental and social powers of mankind. In this introduction I would like to set the scene, as it were, for what follows, by offering a glimpse at what we might, in modern parlance, call ‘knowledge-transfer’, from both an Asian and a European perspective. The two sketches of intercultural learning and exchange that follow can, of course, not claim to offer a comprehensive account of the East-West mutual transmission of learning and knowledge. What they can do, however, is to raise awareness of both the mutuality and the tradition of various processes of learning, exchange and perception of the ‘other’, which have been so characteristic of Asia-Europe relations down the centuries. The fi rst ‘Eastern’ case study specifi cally highlights the activities of Asian scholars, artists and academics in getting to know the ‘West’, while the second, ‘European’ vignette looks at how Europeans have acquired and disseminated knowledge about Asia over time. Both episodes, it is hoped, will be both useful signposts and timely reminders in the context of the later chapters of this book, especially, but not exclusively, where I examine issues of ‘learning’, ‘perception’, ‘values’ and ‘stereotyping’ in Chapters 2-4.
