The "Handbook of China" (1974) edited by German sinologist and historian Fu Wukang states: "Until today, the image of China in the West, or the understanding of China, often moves from one extreme to another; the image of China shows more of the observer's own position, rather than the observed object itself." Fu Wukang's viewpoint undoubtedly involves different historical backgrounds and zeitgeist, especially specific Western era needs, as well as the value judgments and observation positions of image creators. From the late Ming and early Qing dynasties to the early 20th century, the Western view of China presented two major "cross century plates". The positive and negative images of China from a Western perspective before the 20th century greatly influenced the perception of China by later Westerners. In other words, the later Western view of China, due to the new historical situation and social development, may be rephrased to draw some new conclusions, but on many fundamental issues, they did not surpass the basic views demonstrated by predecessors in the positive and negative poles. Similarly, the "China fever" in the early 20th century also had distinct characteristics of the times. The narrative of early Western Chinese literature is mainly based on Confucius, also known as Confucian classics, which is due to the traditional view of literature and closely related to the construction of "Chinese culture" by Westerners. This is also seen in Westerners' preference for Taoist works during the deep spiritual crisis in the early 20th century. The history of Western acceptance of Chinese literature clearly shows that the acceptance of Chinese literature always depends on the understanding of Chinese culture and the construction of Chinese images in different eras. Before the mid-13th century, when China became the mirror of the West, Westerners knew very little about China, only limited to uncertain imagination and legends. Around the end of BC, the Romans used "Seres" and "Sera" to refer to distant silk producing areas and their people, roughly meaning "silk tribe" or "silk kingdom". The ancient Roman writer Pliny the Younger once praised the silk clothing of the East: "There is a country far away where the people have exquisite craftsmanship, and even the clothes women wear in public are transparent." It can be seen that the initial image of China from a Western perspective was hazy. The five hundred years from around 1250 to around 1750 can be seen as a large section of the European view of China. The Italian Marco Polo's trip to the East in the second half of the 13th century ended his indirect imagination of China and had epoch-making significance for the development of Western views on China. Even though there are still many wonderful legends after that, overall, Westerners cannot imagine that there would be a civilized and educated country outside of Europe. It was not until 1514 that China was "discovered" by the Portuguese under the name "China". If Marco Polo is called the first person in the West to truly understand China, then his compatriot Matteo Ricci, the leader of the Jesuit Church in China, is truly the first person in the West to truly touch the spiritual world of China. The Jesuits introduced China as a country of political and religious enlightenment, which not only brought about the first wave of Western attention to China, but also determined the Western view of China for the next hundred years, until the Enlightenment. In the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, the two heterogeneous cultures of China and the West had their first profound and influential contact in history. Jesuits, represented by Matteo Ricci, brought back the precious wealth of Eastern culture and Chinese spirit to Europe while preaching in the East. The influence of Jesuits in the West far exceeds that in China where they preach. For the European intellectual class, the discovery of Chinese culture by Jesuits is like a "revelation from heaven", bringing enlightenment. The Enlightenment movement also provided a good soil for accepting Chinese culture, which is truly timely. China's enlightened monarchs, tolerant religion, and Confucianism, especially the position of Confucianism in the country and society, are highly appreciated by Enlightenment thinkers. Two German intellectual giants, Leibniz and Wolfe, were deeply influenced by Chinese cultural thought and combined the Chinese culture introduced by missionaries with Enlightenment ideas, which had a significant impact on the development of European intellectual history and the Western view of China. Leibniz believed that Europe and China are two components of a world cultural whole. In the preface of his book "Recent Events in China," he said, "I believe that the unique arrangement of fate has led to the convergence of the highest culture and technological civilization of humanity on both ends of our continent today: Europe and China. China, like Europe in the East, decorates the other end of the earth." The two great French philosophers, Voltaire and Diderot, also revered the "gospel" from China. The 'China fever' at that time was not only due to the idealized China promoted by Jesuits. The aesthetic pursuit of "Chinese taste" that was emerging in Europe at that time was extremely beneficial for the acceptance of Chinese culture. Like the fate of silk in ancient Rome, porcelain, which Europeans had never seen before, came to the West and was immediately imbued with mythological colors upon arrival. Its value can be compared to gold. In addition, Westerners are also obsessed with traditional Chinese handicrafts such as lacquerware, silk fabrics, embroidery, etc. Even Chinese goldfish have been introduced to Europe, especially the unique charm and charm of Chinese gardens, which are widely sought after. Under the Western gaze: Barrier and Prejudice. The Jesuit Mission in China was disbanded around 1775, which also interrupted the exchange of ideas between the East and the West. The Jesuits introduced Chinese culture to Europe, which was once a "guide" for Europeans to understand China. However, times have changed and the guidelines have lost their effectiveness. Thus, the attitude of skepticism, criticism, and rejection, or the negative image of China, gradually gained momentum and continued for a century and a half until the early 20th century. This is another major aspect of the Western view of China. During this period, people no longer believed in the prosperous civil and military era praised by Jesuits and Enlightenment thinkers, but rather in the descriptions and arguments that despised China: China is uncivilized, ridiculous, and inferior. This phenomenon began with the negative image of China presented in Anson's "The Voyage of the World" published in 1748, as well as various accounts of the Macartney mission in the late 18th century. These theories gradually shattered the Chinese mythology propagated by Jesuits. In the accounts and travelogues written by unlucky businessmen and other visitors to China in the West, Chinese people are mostly scoundrels and swindlers. The biggest feature of the Western view of China during this period is the criticism of the Chinese spirit by thinkers such as Montesquieu and Hegel. As early as Leibniz was enthusiastic about Chinese culture and advocated for the integration of Chinese and Western cultures, France had already sparked controversy over Chinese politics and culture. Enlightenment thinkers such as Montesquieu and Rousseau were representatives who opposed Chinese fashion. They reflected on the Chinese knowledge spread by Jesuits in another way and harshly criticized 'Chinese authoritarianism'. Montesquieu, based on his own ideas of republican, monarchic, and autocratic systems, did not approve of the "enlightened monarchic autocracy" advocated by his contemporaries. He believed that autocracy was tyranny and there was no distinction between enlightenment and non enlightenment. China was such a country. Rousseau, who has always been seen as opposing Chinese civilization, although praised Chinese political thought, firmly believed that the prosperity of Chinese science and art went against moral progress. In the German territory, Herder's discourse on Chinese culture had a great influence on later generations. His conclusion in his "On China" was extremely extreme, stating that China was "locked away from the outside world, arrogant, only compared to itself, and neither knew nor liked the outside world. In the 19th century, Hegel pointed out in his "Lectures on the Philosophy of History" that China was almost excluded from world history. He regards world history as a history of progress in free consciousness, and therefore believes that China has no progress to speak of. Although various negative images of China share many similarities, they have two completely different basic paradigms. The first form is to satisfy the audience's curiosity with curious reading materials or comic style sketches, including various Chinese experiences of Dutch and British merchants. The second form focuses on ethnicity, country, and continent, pursuing in-depth exploration, that is, examining the so-called "essence" and "commonality" of a group of countries or continents, and distinguishing them from other groups. When discussing the issue of China, Leibniz, Wolf, Voltaire, and Diderot belong to the positive category, while Montesquieu, Rousseau, Herder, and Hegel belong to another category. The cognitive roots of the Western view of China are the cross century section of the Western view of China, which aims to indicate the approximate position of the Western view of China before the 20th century in the long river of history, and can be summarized as a history from "myth" to "ugliness". The so-called 'cross century plate' is not only a division of time periods, but also a rough summary of the positive and negative images of China in the West before the 20th century. Of course, there are also stages of parallel development between the two directions of China's view, but the momentum is only strong or weak. The so-called positive or negative image only refers to the general trend and mainstream. For over a hundred years from the 17th to the 18th century, the image of China in Europe was largely similar. Over the next century and a half, the tone of discourse on China remained largely consistent. Since the 17th century at the latest, there have been two distinct images of China: one is popular and the other is intellectual. Relatively speaking, in the eyes of the public, China is relatively stable, and they mostly pursue exotic scenery and fairy tale like stories to satisfy the common curiosity of humanity. As far as the intellectual class is concerned, due to the changes in the times and the historical fantasies, thinking content, and values of the intellectual community itself, the view of China has also changed accordingly. The difference between the "popular" and "elite" views and values of China has persisted to this day. The Western understanding of Chinese culture before the 20th century can be basically summarized into an idealized side and a distorted side. The former is seen in Jesuits, Leibniz, Voltaire, and others, while the latter is seen in Herder, Hegel, and others, especially in the writings of Chinese merchants and writers who seek wisdom from others. Due to the limitations of the times and the incomplete introduction of Chinese culture by the West at that time, as well as the influence of values, the arguments and discussions of some thinkers were often biased or exaggerated. When Europe first came to know China, Confucianism was often regarded as synonymous with Chinese thought and was presented to the Western intellectual community in the 17th and 18th centuries. For a long period of time after the publication of the Latin book "Chinese Philosopher Confucius" compiled by Yin Duoze and Bai Yingli, the main Western translations were the Four Books and Five Classics. Leibniz and Wolf's description of Chinese society is likely based on the three generations of "chaotic country," "moderately prosperous society," and "great harmony" in the "Book of Rites: Rites and Events." Originally, it was Confucius' ideal of gradually moving towards a peaceful world, but Leibniz and Wolf regarded that ideal social order and interpersonal relationships as a reflection of the reality of Chinese society. The negative image of China later on was mainly due to Eurocentrism: in addition to modern European concepts such as progress, individuality, and humanity, the Christian spirit and imperialist preaching consciousness were rampant. Another important reason is the lack of understanding of Chinese history: Europeans' knowledge of Chinese history has long followed the Italian Jesuit scholar Wei Kuangguo's "Ancient Chinese History" and the French Jesuit scholar Feng Bingzheng's "General History of China", and has not changed much until the 19th century. Unexpectedly, Feng Bingzheng's "General History of China" was rewritten based on the "Outline of the Comprehensive Mirror", using Confucian perspectives to evaluate historical events, rather than strictly speaking a historical book. This led to a great misunderstanding, as if China had not changed substantially since 1000 BC, which also contributed to the false statement that the Chinese are "a nation that is always static" or "China has no history". The image of Europe and China in the Enlightenment era and post Enlightenment era is completely different