"The history of relations between Italy and China has often been clouded by myths, projection biases, intellectualizations and, ultimately, stereotypes. This edited volume is proposed to the attention of the international community of undergraduate and graduate students, and scholars of Italy and China, as a first attempt to systematically engage this intellectual vacuum. To this end, the editors have distilled a selection of ten chapters produced by scholars based in Australia, China, Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States, complemented by a substantial introduction. While each chapter looks at the historical or contemporary relations between Italy and China from a specific perspective, they are assembled to offer a comprehensive diachronic account of the most salient historical junctures and intellectual debates shaping this reiterated encounter between two ancient civilizations. "--