The only genuine Chinese articles most westerners had seen were albums of paintings, porcelain or furniture shipped back by the East India Company.
所看到的實物就是一些畫冊，或東印度公司進口的瓷器、傢具。因此，只學得到表面的形貌，而學不到文化與精神。像在英國的布萊頓博物館，就讓龍、蛇雜處地畫在一起，到那兒參觀的外國人從不覺得有何異樣，但中國人一看，就簡直不能忍受。