A Portuguese Embassy to China (1725–1728) Between the Affirmation of One’s Own Identity and the Incomprehension of Otherness

This chapter aims to summarize the contact between the Portuguese world and China by examining the various embassies that took place between 1508 and 1725, focusing mainly on the embassy sent in 1725 by King João V, represented by Alexandre Metelo de Souza e Meneses. With the aim of resolving the difficult situation of the Lusitanians in the Orient, Metelo brought in his luggage more than two centuries of Luso-Sino relations. The encounter with the alterity created some cultural mismatches which caused misunderstandings and disagreements especially with regard to language, translation, and interpretation of cultural systems.