ABSTRACT
This chapter suggests a new way to study Sino-American Relations, namely a “shared history” approach. It argues that despite strong differences and areas of conflict between these two nations, the United States and China, perhaps surprisingly, share closely parallel and sometimes intersecting modern histories. The key point in this chapter is that the United States for some quite long time had served as great and exciting model for the Middle Kingdom. The American obsession with enlightenment and evolution to change China and the Chinese determination to seek new answers to the question “What is China?” have become a major force either to link the Chinese and Americans together or to drive them apart.
