Luc Kwanten
China: A Home Away: Musings on Change in the Eyes of a European Sinologist
China: A Home Away: Musings on Change in the Eyes of a European Sinologist
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By Luc Kwanten
"China: A Home Away" is the final work of Belgian scholar, Tangutologist, and pioneer literary agent Luc Kwanten. It represents his social and cultural musings gathered during a lifetime of teaching, research, and travel across Europe, the United States, and Asia. Born to a Jewish mother during a period of Nazi rule, Kwanten’s early years were centered around a typical Western education. Later, he discovered the vastness of East Asian and Central Asian language, culture, and examples of living. It was an experience that profoundly affected his life trajectory. He continued to serve as an educator and pioneering literary agent; promoting cultural exchange and understanding through the medium of books. This memoir is both candid and revealing, and offers a unique look at cross cultural influences affecting the popular conflicting opinions between eastern and western ideologies. Kwanten steers us toward a reasonable middle ground, and his experiences offer reassurances for balancing the best of East and West.