Marked by a depersonalized style, serving the purpose of an “objective”, even disenchanted account, most of Jean-Baptiste Tavernier’s Oriental travel writings limit themselves to reinforcing Western ethnocentrism. However, his representation of Tonkin seems to distinguish itself by the emergence of a decentred perspective, which transposes the French model of civility and its valorization to the culture of the Far East. The point of this article is to examine the dynamics and implications of such a cultural transfer, and this in the context of a vicarious travel, whose textualizing requires a special legitimization. Manifest particularly in the specific difference between the traveler’s self representation and that of his brother, his “eyewitness source”, this legitimization will be analysed through the prism of the relationship between honnêteté and galanterie. Lastly, the article will show that the idealized representation of Tonkin draws on a reversed perspective, opposing to Western mercantilism and “barbarity” a civilized East, which “humanizes” itself in its relationships to others.