“To the Glory of the Chinese:“ Sinocentric Political Reform in Eliza Haywood’s The Adventures of Eovaai

This article takes up the call of scholars such as Robert Markley, David Porter, and Chi-ming Yang to investigate the relevance of early modern Chinese linguistics, morals, and government to eighteenth-century British literature. Despite its myriad Chinese references, Eliza Haywood’s The Adventures of Eovaai remains underexplored within scholarly forays into eighteenth-century Anglo-Sino relations and their literary manifestations. Haywood demonstrates an appreciation for Chinese models of language, morality, and government—models highly reminiscent of seventeenth-century Jesuits’ laudatory accounts of the Qing Empire. By demonstrating Haywood’s engagement with Jesuit Sinology, I argue that Eovaai encapsulates a striking moment in Anglo-Sino relations that perceives China as a site of superior political knowledge to be emulated. Moreover, Haywood’s references to Chinese political rectitude are integral to her critique of British political and national character.