Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book explores the many different manifestations of failure in translations, in mercantile and military encounters, in religious discourse, and in diplomatic performances at court and elsewhere. It explains sides of the cultural encounter and analyses East Asian and European documents and performances alike by focusing on failures in early modern relations between East Asia and the West. The book describes the story of early English encounters with the Far East as one of repeated failure. It focuses on one of the most intriguing sources on East-West encounters in the early modern period is embassy reports. The book provides similarly revealing sources for failure in early encounters between East Asia and the West. It also explores the subject of knowledge and the limits of knowledge.