Introduction / Hilary Conroy -- pt. 1. The image is formed: Asian art and international relations / Raymond G. O'Connor ; Cantonese artifacts, chinoiserie, and early American idealization of China / Jonathan Goldstein ; The commercial origins of American attitudes toward China, 1784-1844 / Jacques M. Downs ; American Board Missionaries and the formation of American opinion toward china, 1830-1860 / Murray A. Rubinstein -- pt. 2. The image grows: American diplomacy in China, 1843-1857 : the evolution of a policy / Raymond F. Wylie ; American views of China, 1900-1915 : the unwelcome but inevitable awakening / Jonathan G. Utley ; The importance of being Charley Chan / Sandra M. Hawley ; Carl Crow, Edgar Snow, and shifting American journalistic perceptions of China / Jerry Israel -- pt. 3. Images of contemporary China: The American view of China, 1957-1982 : the personal experience of a China-born sinologist / Paochin Chu ; The China syndrome : some thoughts and impressions after a 1979 trip / David B. Chan ; Democracy spring : firsthand impressions of China, 1979 / France H. Conroy ; The view from Mao's tomb / Mark A. Plummer ; How can we evaluate the economic performance of the People's Republic of China? / Ramon H. Myers ; The economies of island and mainland China : Taiwan as a systemic model / Jan S. Prybyla ; From China, with disdain : new trends in the study of China / Harry Harding ; Comparative observations : American images of China and Japan / Hilary Conroy ; Suggested readings / Jonathan Goldstein.