Parallel Journeys

This unique anthology presents a sweeping comparative history of Eurasia through the eyes of travelers spanning 2,400 years. Parallel Journeys features over two dozen firsthand accounts by ambassadors, monks, missionaries, merchants, and journalists from both East and West. Figures such as Marco Polo and Zhao Rugua, Matteo Ricci and Xie Qinggao, and Lord Macartney and Guo Songtao are paired thematically to explore how cross-cultural encounters shaped identity, historical perception, and global understanding. Each chapter includes a critical introduction and substantial excerpt, many newly translated from classical Chinese texts. Inspired by the method of comparative biography, the volume highlights how travel writing constructed ideas of the self and the other and contributed to broader processes of imperial expansion, religious exchange, and commercial integration. Ideal for readers and instructors of global history, Asian studies, and world literature, Parallel Journeys offers a powerful framework for teaching and interpreting Eurasian connectivity through the transformative act of travel.

*Includes maps and color illustrations.