Jacques Gernet's work is the first scientific universal history of China, covering the beginnings of civilization up to the Cultural Revolution. It is also the first attempt to present the history of China as an integral part of world history, treating Chinese culture not as an exotic, self-contained form whose internal structures are only accessible to the initiated, but rather highlighting the diverse correspondences and relationships that have developed between East and West over the past 2000 years. Gernet's thesis: Europe owes more to China than China owes to Europe.