This work investigates how European intellectuals and writers constructed and reconstructed their perceptions of Chinese civilization over several centuries. Raymond Stanley Dawson, a noted scholar of Chinese studies, utilizes a vast array of primary source texts, including philosophical treatises, travelogues, and literary accounts, to trace the shifting image of China in the Western mind. He argues that these conceptions were often less about the reality of China and more about the internal needs and ideological projections of European thinkers.

Scholars frequently cite this text as a foundational study in the history of cross-cultural perceptions and the development of Western Sinology. Readers often note the academic density of the prose, which requires a solid grasp of European intellectual history to fully appreciate the author's arguments.