Hospitality and the Enlightenment (Encountering China)

With the change of power in Washington, the word ‘Enlightenment’ has taken on a dramatic topicality that no one could have wished for. The wisdom of the eighteenth century could not be more relevant. This book demonstrates a relationship between hospitality towards the foreigner and the European Enlightenment – a relationship that is relevant to today’s landscape.

Greve begins by unfolding the philosophy of hospitality by reading both Immanuel Kant and Jacques Derrida. Next, she tunes in on China in global history to discuss: the kind of hospitality offered to all foreigners with the Canton system of 1757; the hospitality offered to Sephardic diaspora groups involved in credit relations; and Macau, a free port city, a rehearsal space for friendship and conversation.

Then, the book turns to Copenhagen during the Age of the Enlightenment to look more closely at a burgeoning layer of ‘bourgeoisie’ involved in financial speculation abroad. What significance did the circulation of merchant letters from the Pearl River Delta have for conversations in Copenhagen? It also points to the significance of ‘free’ port cities for the spirit of the Enlightenment.

Finally, the book returns to contemporary China. What has the opening of China in the ‘new era’ after Mao Zedong implied? And how do we understand a desire for a ‘New Enlightenment’, first in the late 1980s in Beijing and then in the 2020s in the ‘free’ port city of Hong Kong?

The volume is a valuable resource for students and scholars interested in the Enlightenment, diaspora studies, Sephardic Jews, urban studies, philosophy, sociology, and China in global history.