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Abstract
Why study China?
A number of answers to this question center around two general replies. One asserts that China is far from the real interests of Western civilization, and that study of it serves as an exotic fillip, a proof that indeed we are capable of mastering any subject, no matter how arcane. Hence Sinology. A second justification, growing in importance after the Second World War, claimed that China had a positive importance for the West and should be studied on the principle, “Know thy enemy.” Hence area studies.