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Why did the chinese consider europeans to be barbarians?

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User Malx
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1 Answer

4 votes

It's often said that China had a sino-centric view of the world and anyone who was not Chinese was automatically considered a barbarian.

But I read recently that Europeans before the 18th century usually didn't use forks, and would instead cut their food with a knife and eat it with their hands. For Chinese people who've been using chopsticks for centuries, assuming they held the notion that eating with your bare hands is barbaric, that would certainly make Europeans seem like barbarians.

So basically, did Chinese people mention any specific Europeans dress, behavior, appearance, food, language, culture, etc. as seeming "barbaric"?


answered
User MagnusEffect
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