This lecture focuses on Chinese views of the Europeans – from the arrival of the Portuguese in the South China Sea in the early 16^th century, to that of different generations of Jesuit missionaries as from the end of that century –, through the analysis of different records in which Europeans are named yi 夷, a term usually translated as “barbarian” into European languages. The point of departure is a theoretical analysis of the concept of yi, through different moments in Chinese history. With this theoretical background in mind, the focus then shifts to the study of different Chinese sources between the late Ming and early Qing periods, to reflect on the different scenarios in which Europeans were regarded as yi by the Chinese.