Sade and China

Literary/ Cultural Context Essay

Shasha Ma (China University of Political Science and Law)
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The Marquis de Sade identifies close similarities between the prophets of China and Egypt primarily due to the linguistic parallels between the two countries and in spite of intellectual disagreements of the time. [See Shasha Ma,

Sade’s China

(Sorbonne Université, 2018, 1:III)]. In his

Lettres et mélanges littéraires écrits à Vincennes et à la Bastille

[

Letters and Literary Miscellania composed in Vincennes and the Bastille

]

,

Sade writes that “the leader of the Chinese colonists [...] went to Mexico, [whence he] brought a religion that was almost Christian, except that it was derived from the systems of Ancient Egypt” (

Lettres et mélanges

: I, 219). [Translations throughout article by author.] In the marquis’s eyes, not only was Egypt the cradle of Chinese religion, but it…

4480 words

Citation: Ma, Shasha. "Sade and China". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 09 August 2019 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=19555, accessed 21 November 2024.]

19555 Sade and China 2 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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