ABSTRACT
When I was fourteen I went to London with my father. We were on the way to Cambridge, where I was to investigate the possibility of studying Chinese. I visited the Victoria and Albert Museum for the first time, and there in a large room titled 'Far Eastern Art' I was enthralled to see a great carved lacquer seat, labelled 'Throne of the Emperor Ch'ien-lung' (Fig. 4.1). While the uniformed warder looked away (or pretended to), I knelt down and put my forehead to the black linoleum in homage.
