ABSTRACT
With the rise of modern China, how to deploy global strategies to tap into the high growth engine powered by the Chinese economy has become the top agenda of almost every Western country. The United States is rebalancing to Asia, with a view to arresting China's growing importance in international economy and relations. The European Union regards China as a key source of strength that can help revitalize its sluggish economy, and Canada is seeking any means possible to project a commercial presence in the Chinese market. People from different countries, whether big or small, are flocking to China as if attracted by an irresistible magnet. History is repeating itself. Similar stories happened about 400 years ago when Ming China was also looked up to by Western countries as the lodestar of world economy. This chapter studies the literary implications of the early modern globalization dominated by the Chinese economy. The transnational trade triggered by the “race for the Far East,” and the global market dominated by Ming China's insatiable demand for the precious metals produced in the New World, I propose, constitute the powerful “material base” that helped shape the global perspective of early modern cosmopolitans like Donne.
