The present writer is a committed teacher who has taught Western culture at Zhengzhou University for more than ten years, a job so demanding that it nearly defied me at first.  To fulfill the task, I consulted a lot of textbooks, monographs and other writings on the subject, drawing upon various sources for my lectures.  In the course of my preparation, I discerned a difference in subject matter between textbooks published at home and those abroad.  The former, intended for the English majors in China, focus mainly on the humanities and intellectual development of the West, whereas the latter, meant probably for the university students at large, cover the general conditions of social and cultural developments of the Western world.  In other words, the Chinese teachers use the word “culture” in its narrow sense, while their Western colleagues use it in its broad sense.  That is why Western writers like to use “civilization” rather than “culture” in the titles of their textbooks.

Different textbooks, understandably, have been produced to attain different purposes.  For the Chinese students, in my opinion, they need a textbook that is supposed to address various major issues closely involved with the West, so that they can have a general idea about what the Western people have done, have thought and have pursued, namely their institutions, beliefs, outlooks and artistic works that have made up Western civilization.  A working knowledge of such things, in fact, is indispensable to every student claiming to be well-educated at a time when globalization is drawing around the corner.

The present volume, then, is intended to be such a textbook, indeed a clear and concise account of the significant experiences and essential developments in a tradition that has left its mark, for better or for worse, on almost everyone in the modern world.  Just like most of the textbooks of the like kind, the present book also follows a chronological narrative line, with each chapter dealing with an event or a historical period.  At the beginning of each chapter is a thematic introduction that is expected to catch the reader’s interest and usher in what will follow, while at the end of it is a conclusion that is meant to summarize the major topics and lead to the next chapter.  To help the reader understand the text, the present writer has had some boxed essays inserted in the book, since some subjects are better highlighted in this way than included in the main body of each chapter.  What is more, a lot of illustrations are employed to add to the appeal of the book.  All in all, the general effect is a balanced and coherent book, in which the most important aspects of Western culture have been integrated into an orderly synthesis.

Finally I would like to avail myself of this opportunity to express my heartfelt thanks to those who have helped me with my work in one way or another.  My best thanks will be tendered to Prof. Zhang Linxin, who encouraged me to undertake the laborious task.  Ms Li Mingcui, a colleague of mine, gladly took up her pen to write as many as thirty boxed essays after she was entrusted with the task.  My wife, who is as familiar with English as I with Greek, took infinite trouble to type my crabbed manuscripts, especially after she had undergone a surgical operation.  Then my special thanks will be extended to Mr. Liu Yujun, director of the Editorial Department of Translation of Henan People’s Publishing House as well as the editor responsible for the publication of the present book, who gave me a long period of grace when informed that I could not submit my manuscripts according to schedule for reasons purely of my own.

Yours humbly, always a student on the platform, is ready to take off his hat to anyone who is generous with his criticisms on this book or with his suggestions as to how to improve it.