Home – Home – Jornals – Professional Education in the Modern World 2016 number 3

The research explores the specific features of China image in the Western culture. The authors applied information approach, comparative methods with main focus on cross-cultural and comparatively historical methods, hermeneutic methods and discourse method. The authors applied discourse method as a method for information gathering, its analysis and data representation. China’s image has been formed for centuries. The image of China that has been formed in mass consciousness differs from the image formed in academic society of West. It is possible to highlight 3 periods in image formation of China. The first period reflects explanation of Western expansion. The second period reviews post-industrial development of capitalistic system. The third period relates to China joining of global community and becoming one of the globalizations subjects. Medieval China was unusual and exotic; in XVIII century, Europe admired China as a Utopia (Ideal Country); the mass culture of second half of XIX and XX century used marginal practices for building the image of China. Currently, there are several channels that form the image of China abroad: political journalism in the mass media, Chinese studies as a research channel, mass culture, art and Chinese expatriate community abroad. China has lately been trying to pose itself in the internal and external global space. The main goal of China new image formation involves transfer of cultural values to the western population while retaining and strengthening them in the Chinese environment in order to prevent westernization of the Chinese culture. The authors come to conclusion that the major principles of forming the image of China are typical not only for China; primarily, they are defined by the principles of interaction between the West and their partners.