20201123 trans

Cao Runxin 曹润鑫

History of Chinese Studies

国际汉学史

Martin Woesler 吳漠汀 (Witten/Herdecke University, Peking Normal University 德國維籐大學，中國北京師範大學)

Abstract: The roots of Chinese Studies lie as early as Chinese people started to reflect on parts of Chinese culture, which was as early as Chinese culture emerged. Especially foreign people defined Chinese culture distinctly in separation of their own culture, like ancient Greek philosophers and early delegations from the Roman Empire.

Chang Huiyue 常慧月

From the very beginning, Western Scholars of Chinese Studies were closely cooperating with Chinese partners, so that Chinese Studies cannot be limited to Overseas Chinese Studies. Merchants went beyond their trade business and created travel reports and first translations of Chinese literature. Missionaries for the first time studied systematically the Chinese language and culture, translated the Chinese Classics and Four Books into Latin.

Chen Han 陈涵

Their idealized descriptions of China stimulated the Chinoisérie and the positive reception of China among philosophers of the enlightenment, which saw China as a secular empire. Then, the China-image turned to the worse with Western scholars ascribing China a static nature creating the so-called “Great Divergence”.

Chen Hui 陈惠

This narrative was challenged in the early 1980s with the start of the Opening and Reform Policy. Finally colleges and professorships were established first in the West and then in China. Today, Chinese Studies in the West and in China are enriching each other and are inseparably connected.

Key Words: Chinese Studies, Sinology, Hanxue, Guoxue, delegations, philosophers, merchants, travel reports, translations, missionaries, enlightenment, Chinoisérie, Great Divergence

Chen Jiangning 陈江宁

Definition 定義

Chinese Studies, also called Sinology (in German: Sinologie) or China Studies (in German: Chinawissenschaften, Chinakunde), is the academic discipline to study China in its geography, history, society, culture(s), language(s), literature(s) etc. It is mainly divided into the study of ancient and premodern China and of modern and contemporary China.

Chen Jiaxin 陈佳欣

In the Chinese language, internationally the term “Hanxue” is used (first used in Japan as kangaku漢學/汉学, parallely to the term “Hanyu” 漢語/汉语 for Chinese). The term is not meant discriminative against non-Han minorities, since we have terms like “Hanyu” or “Germanic Studies” (the Germans were an ethnic tribe of many in todays Deutschland). In Chinese, domestically more often the terms “guoxue” 國學/国学 or “Zhongguo xue” 中國學 etc. are used.

Chen Jingjing 陈静静

There is a trend to divide Chinese Studies in sub disciplines dealing with traditional or modern China, while the term “Sinology” is more often applied to the traditional part. In quantity, scholars dealing with traditional China become less and those dealing with modern or contemporary China more. Of course, there are other exotic terms for phenomena related to China or Chinese people, like the term “Tang People Street” 唐人街 for Chinatowns.

Chen Sha 陈莎

Some Chinese scholars interpret the term “Hanxue” as reserved for the study of China by foreigners, implying often that the real “guoxue” could only be conducted by Chinese scholars, arguing you need to grow up in China in order to understand it. However, confronted with the case of overseas Chinese scholars or Western scholars growing up and working in China, the limitation of this racist distinction becomes obvious.

Chen Sunfu 谌孙福

Although in history we have rare examples of foreigners who were able to study China without Chinese partners (starting with language teachers) or without visiting the country, and Chinese Studies today often is conducted by mixed teams of domestic and foreign scholars.

Chen Yongxiang 陈永相

The discipline itself, as established at universities, had a natural focus on language and literature (philology). Today, we have a broad range of sub disciplines like Chinese literature [epigraphy], language, culture, philosophy/ethics/aesthetics, history, political science, sociology, economy) 中国文学[金石学]，语言，文化，哲学、伦理学、美学、历史、政治学、社会学、经济学

Cheng Yusi 成于思

Emergence Although the first university professorships as we know them today were established only in the 1814, we find the origins of Chinese Studies in early descriptions of China by philosophers. That the empires knew early about each other is proven by delegations, exchanged even two thousand years ago between the Roman Empire and China.

Deng Jinxia 邓锦霞

Later we have records and first translations of travelling merchants (Marco Polo lived in the 13th century and travelled on land and by ship) and then by missionaries (starting with the 16th century). Later we have western philosophers (like Leibniz) and reports in journals dedicated to China.

Ding Daifeng 丁代凤

The first scholarly view on China had the Christian missionaries, who studied Chinese language and culture in China. Therefore, the first translations of Chinese classics were done into Latin. The term “sinology” since the Latin term “sina” for China seems to point to the Qin Dynastie since 221 BCE. The main purpose of the missionaries was to baptize and therefore they also translated the bible into Chinese and reported on the so far mostly unknown China to Europe, reports which met a huge interest and demand in Europe.

Fang Jieling 方洁玲

Resources 资源

There are a lot of national histories of Chinese Studies so far, but no detailed international or global history (see references). The Overseas Chinese Studies Center 海外漢學研究中心 at Peking Foreign Language University 北京外語大學 under the leadership of Zhang Xiping張西平 has been renamed in the 2010s to Research Center for the Study of Chinese Culture 中國文化研究中心#. Here a list of works on the History of Sinology:

Gan Fengyu 甘奉玉

First contacts: Trade (without written documents)

Genetic evidence shows that there were trade relations from Mesopotamia to Europe and China as early as 11000 BCE (cows, horses) and 10000 BCE (crops). China very early became an export region, as we can trace the genes of animals back to China 10000 BCE (pigs), 8000 BCE (chicken), and of silk cloth 5000 BCE.

Gao Mingzhu 高明珠

The Emergence of Chinese Studies: Philosophers Aristotle (384-322 BC) writes in the 4th century BC: “Those who live in a cold climate and in Europe are full of spirit, but wanting in intelligence and skill; and therefore they retain comparative freedom, but have no political organization, and are incapable of ruling over others. Whereas the natives of Asia are intelligent and inventive, but they are wanting in spirit, and therefore they are always in a state of subjection and slavery.”[ Aristoteles: Politeia, Book VII, Part VII, translated by Benjamin Jowett, http://evans-experientialism. freewebspace.com/aristotle_politics07.htm, last visited Dec 5, 2010. In German: „Die Völkerschaften nämlich, welche innerhalb der kalten Gegenden in Europa wohnen, sind zwar voll Muth, aber weniger mit Geist und Kunstfertigkeit begabt. Daher behaupten sie zwar leichter ihre Freiheit, aber sie sind zur Bildung staatsbürgerlicher Gemeinwesen untüchtig [...]. Die Völkerschaften Asiens dagegen sind klugen und kunstfertigen Geistes, aber ohne Muth. Daher leben sie in Unterwürfigkeit und Sklaverei.“, from: Aristoteles: Werke. Griechisch und Deutsch, vol. 6, ed. by Franz Susemihl, Aalen 1978 (Reprint of the edition Leipzig 1879), p. 409.] 亚里士多德（公元前384年-公元前322年）在公元前4世纪写到：“那些生活在欧洲寒冷气候里的人们，他们充满灵感但是缺乏智慧和技巧；所以虽然他们保留了相对的自由，但却没有政治组织，也没有能力管理其他人。然而，亚洲人聪明而善于发明，但是他们缺乏勇气，所以他们总是顺从和被奴役。” [ 亚里士多德：《政治学》，第七卷，第七部分，由本杰明·乔伊特翻译，http://evans-experientialism. freewebspace.com/aristotle_politics07.htm，访问日期2010年12月5日。德语原文为： „Die Völkerschaften nämlich, welche innerhalb der kalten Gegenden in Europa wohnen, sind zwar voll Muth, aber weniger mit Geist und Kunstfertigkeit begabt. Daher behaupten sie zwar leichter ihre Freiheit, aber sie sind zur Bildung staatsbürgerlicher Gemeinwesen untüchtig [...]. Die Völkerschaften Asiens dagegen sind klugen und kunstfertigen Geistes, aber ohne Muth. Daher leben sie in Unterwürfigkeit und Sklaverei.“，引自：《亚里士多德作品集-希腊人和德国人》，第六卷，由Franz Susemihl, Aalen在1978年出版（1879年在莱比锡再版），第409页。]

Gong Yumian 龚钰冕

The Emergence of Religious Missions with the Study of China as a by-product Between 1593-1607 the Spanish Dominican mission in Manila operated a press and produced 4 books on Christian belief.

1593-1607西班牙多明我会使团在马尼拉经营的出版社出版了4本基于基督教信仰的书

In 1583 the influential Jesuit Matteo Ricci arrived in Canton and spent the rest of his life in China.

1583利玛窦（耶稣会会士）抵达广州，在中国度过余生。

Gu Dongfang 顾东方

Interest by European emperors in the beginning of the 18th century In France, the study of China and the Chinese language began with the patronage of Louis XIV. In 1711, he appointed a young Chinese, Arcadio Huang to catalog the royal collection of Chinese texts. Huang was assisted by Étienne Fourmont, who published a Chinese grammar in 1742.

在法国，对中国和中国语言的研究始于路易十四的赞助。在1711，他任命了一位年轻的中国人Arcadio Huang对皇家藏书的中文文本进行目录整理。黄的助手艾蒂安Fourmont，在1742年发表了一本中国语法书。

Guan Qinqing 管钦清

In 1732 a missionary priest of the Sacred Congregation "De propaganda fide" from the kingdom of Naples, Matteo Ripa (1692–1746), created in Naples the first Sinology School of the European Continent: the "Chinese Institute", the first nucleus of what would become today's Università degli studi di Napoli L'Orientale, or Naples Eastern University. Ripa had worked as a painter and copper-engraver at the imperial court of the Kangxi Emperor between 1711 and 1723. Ripa returned to Naples from China with four young Chinese Christians, all teachers of their native language and formed the Institute sanctioned by Pope Clement XII to teach Chinese to missionaries and thus advance the propagation of Christianity in China.

1732年，来自那不勒斯的传布信仰圣部的传教牧师Matteo Ripa马国贤（1692–1746），在那不勒斯创建了欧洲大陆的第一个汉学学校：“中国学院”，它后来成为了今天的那不勒斯东方大学。马国贤曾在1711和1723之间担任康熙皇帝的宫廷画家和雕刻师。马国贤从中国回到那不勒斯时，带回了四个年轻的中国基督徒。他们都是汉语教师，组建了学院，在教皇克莱门特十二世的批准下向牧师们教授中文，从而推进了基督教在中国的传播。

Gui Yizhi 桂一枝

Chinoiserie

Chinese objects of art as symbols of Chinese cultural tradition early spread to Europe, reaching the peak in the 18th century during the period of Chinoisérie“中国风”. Fascinated Collectors saved several artefacts for following generations. Their selection criteria allow to approach the guiding aesthetic principles behind their fascination. European imitations of these artefacts show in their similarities and differences to the originals and to the own cultural traditions the principles they followed to catch the reason for the experienced exoticism during the consumption of the cultural goods. Imitated imitated Chinese-style architecture, imitated Chinese paintings and imitated characters in paintings, tattoos and design, reveal what principles Westerners believed to guide Chinese traditional art.

作为中国传统文化象征的中国艺术品很早就传播到了欧洲，在“中国风”时期达到了顶峰。对此十分着迷的收藏家们为后人保存了几件文物。他们的选择标准很接近他们所欣赏的指导性美学原则。欧洲的工艺模仿品表明了他们自己的文化传统和原型的相似性和差异性，他们遵循的原则符合在文化商品的消费过程中对异国情调的体验。在绘画、纹身和设计方面的模仿特点、模仿中国风格的建筑和仿作的中国画，揭示了西方人眼里的中国传统艺术的指导原则。

Guo Lu 郭露

Europe: Enlightened Philosophers end of the 18th century 欧洲：第18世紀末的启蒙哲学家

During the enlightenment process in Europe, philosophers in their search for a vision of a world without religious control, discovered China and wanted to understand it as a secular ideal alternative to Europe. (Leibniz: Novissima Sinica, The Orphan of Zhao, Voltaire: wrote play “L'orphelin de la Chine” portrait of Confucius, Giambattista Vico.

启蒙哲学家在欧洲汉学（莱布尼茨：《中国近事》，伏尔泰：《赵氏孤儿》、孔子肖像，维柯。

1789-… Enlightened philosophers: Saw China as an enlightened kingdom with ethics instead of church and religion

1789…启蒙哲学家：看到中国作为一个有伦理的开明王国而不是教会和宗教伦理

Han Haiyang 韩海洋

Europe: Professorships

The study of Assyriology and Egyptology developed before the serious study of China because of their connections to the Bible; the study of Indology represented a breakthrough in the development of linguistics. Chinese texts, perhaps because they did not have these connections, were the last to be studied in European universities until around 1860 except in France (Zurndorfer, China Bibliography 1999 p. 6, quoted from Wikipedia “Sinology”, August 6, 2018).

由于和圣经的紧密联系，亚述学、埃及学的研究在正规的中国研究前发展充分；印度学研究代表了语言学发展的突破口。可能是因为中国文本和它们没有联系，所以直到1860左右，它才成为除了法国外的欧洲大学最后的研究对象。

Han Wanzhen 韩宛真

The first college to study Chinese was established in Italy. At the Academy in St. Petersburg in Russia, on March 23, 1741, the lecturer 伊拉利昂·罗索欣 started to teach Chinese Studies. He was also part of a mission sent to emperor Kangxi in Qing Dynasty.

He Changqi 何长琦

On December 11, 1814, the first Professorship of Chinese and Manchu was established at the Collège de France, the sinologist 雷慕莎 Jean-Pierre Abel-Rémusat, who taught himself Chinese, filled the position, becoming the first professor of Chinese in Europe. By then the first Russian Sinologist, Nikita Bichurin, had been living in Beijing for ten years.

1814年，研究中国和满族的讲学席位在法国的大学成立。雷慕莎自学了中文，占据了这一位置，成为了欧洲第一个汉学教授。而之后的第一个俄罗斯汉学家尼基塔·比丘林则曾在北京生活了十年。

Hu Baihui 胡百辉

Abel-Rémusat's counterparts in England and Germany were Samuel Kidd (1797–1843) and Wilhelm Schott (1807–1889) respectively, though the first important secular sinologists in these two countries were James Legge and Hans Georg Conon von der Gabelentz. Scholars like Legge often relied on the work of ethnic Chinese scholars such as Wang Tao (Zurndorfer, China Bibliography 1999 p. 8-14, quoted from Wikipedia “Sinology”, August 6, 2018).

雷慕莎的同仁分别有英国的Samuel Kidd（1797–1843）和德国的Wilhelm Schott（1807–1889），虽然在这两个国家头等重要的世俗汉学家是理雅各和加贝伦茨。理雅各等学者常常依靠华人学者如王韬等人的作品。

Hu Huifang 胡慧芳

Stanislas Julien served as the Chair of Chinese at the Collège de France for over 40 years, starting his studies with Rémusat and succeeding him in 1833. not only of classical texts but also works of vernacular literature, and for his knowledge of Manchu. Édouard Chavannes succeeded to the position after the death of Marquis d'Hervey-Saint-Denys in 1893. Chavannes pursued broad interests in history as well as language (Zurndorfer, China Bibliography 1999 p. 8-14, quoted from Wikipedia “Sinology”, August 6, 2018).

儒莲担任法兰西学院的汉学教授超过40年，他与雷慕莎一起开始他的研究，并在1833年继承了雷慕莎的工作。他以不仅针对古典文学、而且涉猎白话文学作品的翻译工作和和对满族的了解而闻名。沙畹在德理文于1893去世后继承了他的位置，沙畹在历史和语言领域上兴趣广泛。

Hu Jin 胡瑾

After the Opium war 1840, the Department of Oriental Studies at Cambridge University and the SOAS/London University were established.

In 1875, Leiden University in the Netherlands started and in 1890 the sinologist 考狄 founded the first academic journal by Westerners on China, the Toung Pao 通报.

Ji Tiantian 纪甜甜

In 1912, Richard Wilhelm, who had lived in China for about 30 years, taught at the Friedrich Wilhelm University in Frankfurt and established a Chinese Seminar “中国学社” and together with Beiping’s Furen University the journal华裔学志.

At the end of the 19th century, in Sweden the University of Gotheburg established East Asian Language and Culture Seminar, starting with Sven Hedin, who explored Western China, followed by the the Chinese linguist 高本汉.

Jiang Fengyi 蒋凤仪

The image of China as an essentially Confucian society conveyed by Jesuit scholars dominated Western thought in these times. While some in Europe learned to speak Chinese, most studied written classical Chinese. These scholars were in what is called the “commentarial tradition” through critical annotated translation.

在那个时候，中国在西方的形象在本质上是以耶稣会学者传达的儒家社会为主。在欧洲，有些人学学习说中文，大多数人则学写书面文言文。这些学者们通过批判的注释性翻译处在了所谓的“注释传统”。

Jiang Hao 姜好

This emphasis on translating classical texts inhibited the use of social science methodology or comparing these texts of other traditions. One scholar described this type of sinology as “philological hairsplitting” preoccupied with marginal or curious aspects (Zurndorfer, China Bibliography 1999 p. 14-15, quoted from Wikipedia “Sinology”, August 6, 2018). Secular scholars gradually came to outnumber missionaries, and in the 20th century sinology slowly gained a substantial presence in Western universities.

这种强调翻译经典文本的做法阻碍了社会科学方法论的使用或与其他传统的文本的比较。有学者称这类汉学描述为专注于边缘或好奇方面的“语言学上的吹毛求疵”。世俗学者逐渐多于传教士，并在西方大学为20世纪的汉学慢慢积累了实质性存在。

Jiang Qiwei 蒋淇玮

Sinology in Germany 德国的汉学

Today, in Germany there are about 30 universities and universities of applied sciences with Chinese Studies..

Since the beginning of the 19th century, people started to conduct research on China. In 1829–1831, the orientalist Carl Friedrich Neumann bought 12,000 Chinese books in Canton, which he shipped to Munich and which became the foundation of the East Asian Collection of the Bavarian State Library as well as the Berlin State Library. Since 1833 Wilhelm Schott taught Chinese and Chinese philosophy in Berlin.

Kang Haoyu 康浩宇

Pioneering research on China were the geological-geographical research trips by Ferdinand von Richthofen since the early 1860s. In 1887 the first Chinese language classes and sinological classes started at the Seminar for Oriental languages in Berlin. In 1889, the first German Chair of Sinology was established at the University of Leipzig, the first full professor was Hans Georg Conon von der Gabelentz. In 1912 the 2nd chair was established in Berlin with J. J. M. de Groot and in 1914 at the Colonial Institute in Hamburg with Otto Franke.

Kang Lingfeng 康灵凤

During colonial times, in which the German Empire held the Chinese colony “Kiautschou”, the interest in Chinese culture grew. The exile of many Chinese scientists in the period of National Socialism harmed the German Sinology sustainably. Since the opening up of the People's Republic of China in the 1980s, Sinology in Germany is no longer among the orchid subjects and new students of Sinology have good job prospects.

Kong Xianghui 孔祥慧

The change of attitude among early China experts with the example of the early reception of the Red Chamber Dreams

The Red Chamber Dreams shortly after publication in 1791 spread fast among the foreigners’ community including Robert Morrison (who incorporated parts of it into his language teaching material and dictionary already by 1813-1815).

Kong Yanan 孔亚楠

The novel also was made known in partial translation both in English and French (by John Francis Davis) in Europe in 1819. However, for a few decades, the Western reviews of the book were mostly negative, revealing an ethnocentric approach, valuing Chinese literature below Western literature.

Lei Fangyuan 雷方圆

It took almost a century to get to know each other better, to change attitudes from ethnocentric to dialectical, to stop exploiting the novel and to come to the insight that Chinese literature with Dream as one of its masterpieces was not only comparable to other world literatures but also could bring value to Western readers (Mayers 1867).

经过几乎一个世纪，双方增进了解，并从“民族中心主义”的优越感向辩证思想转变，停止利用小说互相攻击，开始深入了解中国文学，不仅将《红楼梦》这类杰作与其他世界文学相比较，而且，更重要的是将价值观带给西方读者。（梅辉立(Mayers) 1867年）。

Lei Kuangxi 雷旷溪

Main Controversies

a) The Great Divergence

One of the main controversies in Chinese Studies is that for a long time China appeared economically backward (compared to Western European nations). Sociologists (Marx), philosophers (Hegel), economists (Kenneth Pomeranz: The Great Divergence) and sinologists tried to explain this with the static nature of Chinese economy due to Confucianism.

Li Haiquan 李海泉

Scholars have questioned this: Angus Maddison suggested that China was leading (rotating ranks with India) by GDP from 0 to 1550 so that the current development was a return to old status. Philipp C.C. Huang concentrated on rural developments and argued that only the concentration of production capibilities during the socialist reforms laid the foundation for today’s Chinese economical miracle. Today, sinologists argue that Confucianism is one of the main reasons for the economical miracle.

Li Lili 李丽丽

“The Chinese have as a general characteristic, a remarkable skill in imitation, which is exercised not merely in daily life, but also in art. They have not yet succeeded in representing the beautiful, as beautiful; for in their painting, perspective and shadow are wanting.

“总之，这个民族有种罕见的模仿能力，这不仅体现在他们的日常生活中，也用运到了艺术创作当中。美作为美的事物去展示对于这个民族来说并不成功，因为在绘画中缺少了透视和阴影。

Li Lingyue 李凌月

And although a Chinese painter copies European pictures (as the Chinese do everything else) correctly; although he observes accurately how many scales a carp has; how many indentations there are in the leaves of a tree; what is the form of various trees, and how the branches bend; - the Exalted, the Ideal and Beautiful is not the domain of his art and skill. The Chinese are, on the other hand, too proud to learn anything from Europeans, although they must often recognize their superiority.” Hegel, The Philosophy of History (transl. J. Sibree, p. 155)

即使中国画家原封不动地模仿欧洲的绘画，如若他知道鲤鱼有多少鳞片……，崇高的、理想的、美的事物也不是他的艺术土壤和擅长之处。” 黑格爾，《历史哲学讲演录》

Li Liqin 李丽琴

b) Chinese and Western scholarship Traditional Chinese education (focusing on self development and social harmony) differed much from Western scholarship (search for truth and universal human values). Chinese scholars of guoxue often do not recognize Western scholars of Hanxue as their colleagues. Today there are trends to return to Confucian education, teaching and scholarship in China, taking the Hanlin academy as example (see: Hong Kong College).

Li Luyi 李璐伊

Also Traditional Chinese Medicine has continued to be an alternative to Western medicine, although the general grouping into Yin and Yang has been proven to be arbitrary since objects/organs etc. historically were assigned to Yang for a time and to Yin at other times. However, acupuncture has been recognized by Western medicine to be effective. Western reproach towards Chinese scholarship is that it is not conducted in a free environment.

Li Meng 李梦

From Ethnocentrism and Exoticism to Universalism and Dialogue: the General Trend of Chinese Studies in the West - A Case Study of the Early Western Reception of Red Chamber Dreams

从种族中心主义和异国主义到普遍主义和对话： 西方中国学之总趋势——以《红楼梦》早期西方接受为例

Martin Woesler (Witten/Herdecke University, Peking Normal University, Nanking Normal University)

Abstract “Chinese Studies” (Sinology, Chinakunde, Études Chinoises etc.) in general from its origins until today sees a main trend from ethnocentrism and exoticism to universalism and dialogue. Undergoing historical periods of Chinoisérie and then China-bashing during imperialist and colonialist times, Chinese Studies at universities and in associations like the German China Association has established a more objective view on China. 摘要 “汉学” （又名“国学”、“中国学” 等等）自起源至今，大体上经过这样一条发展主线：从种族中心主义和追求异域风情发展至普世主义和对话机制。在经过中国风(Chinoisérie)时代，到批判和抨击中国（China-bashing）的帝国主义和殖民主义时代之后，汉学在大学和学术协会（如德中协会）里建立了一个对中国更为客观的看法。

Li Yongshan 李泳珊

Ethnocentrism is still existing among Western sinologists today and has to be fought. Still, the contemporary trends globalization, digitalization and travel freedom offer the current generation of sinologists so far unseen possibilities of international cooperation, promising extremely fruitful especially between distant cultures like China and the West. 但是，在当代西方汉学家中间仍然还存在民族中心主义，我们需要为此而抗争。随着全球化、数字化和“出境自由行”这三种当代趋向的出现，新一代汉学家获得了前所未见的国际合作可能，特别像是中西间如此大跨度的文化差异，其国际合作的前景和潜力更是无可估量。

Li Yu 李玉

Key words Ethnocentrism, Exoticism, Universalism, Chinese Studies, German China Association, universal values, Gregor Paul, cooperation, China and the West

關鍵詞 宗族中心主義、異國主義、普遍主義、漢學/中國學、德中協會、普遍價值觀、Gregor Paul、合作、中國與西方

When we define an academic category like “Chinese Studies”, we pay respect to the fact that the world historically has developed differently in different regions.

Lin Min 林敏

Of course the world was far less connected than today, with slow carriers like horses and ships and often bad or risky infrastructure like roads. Therefore it appears on first sight that these regions have developed their culture, their civilization and even first written languages on their own, independently.

Lin Xin 林鑫

The oldest evidence of written civilizations, dating back around 3500 years BC, we find in the fertile crescent Mesopotamia with the clay tablets of the Sumerer. A little bit later there is evidence in Ancient Egypt, then in Proto-India and finally also in China.

Ling Zijin 凌子瑾

But the more we explore history, the more fascinating evidence comes to light that these seemingly independently developing regions have had more trade relations and exchange of ideas than seems likely bearing in mind mobility: The Silk Road is not only rediscovered and reevaluated historically, but also rebuilt as a political agenda today. We today find early evidence of European civilizations in America and Asia as well as the Chinese civilization also in America and Europe.

Liu Bo 刘博

Cultural Science is more influenced by its subject than other sciences, since we are part of it and cannot leave it to examine it. The history of cultural science has developed from the first times of intercultural encounters to today’s life, in which cultures are mixed and people understand each other as being part of different cultures simultaneously.

Liu Jinxingqi 刘金惺琦

However, there will always be differentiation between cultures, simply because the trends of integration and separation occur at the same time.

When there is different cultures, there is an interest in comparing these. This medal has two sides. As soon as you start to compare, you may value. Cultural encounters happened before there were experts or a whole discipline.

Liu Liu 刘柳

So the first comparisons between cultures were ethnocentric: You compared whatever you encountered as “other”, “foreign” or “alien”, to your own culture. This was often accompanied with feelings. There was both, the feeling of fear of the unknown and curiosness in the exotic.

Liu Ou 刘欧

You may categorize civilizations into so-called “high civilizations” and “low civilizations”, into “developed” and “underdeveloped” cultures. This was an ethnocentric approach in the age of cultural relativism. Today in the age of post-growth economy and after tragic experiences of colonialization and missionization, we know that each culture is equal and cannot be ranked to be higher or lower, of more or less value than the other.

Liu Yangnuo 刘洋诺

While very early there were historians collecting knowledge from travel reports or official delegations visiting foreign cultures, in the middle ages handbooks collected the knowledge to describe different cultures. Even the Romans had words for the Chinese (Seres in the North and Sinae in the South) and attributed to Asian-looking people certain characteristics of behaviour, attitudes, value systems, beliefs, morals and character.

Liu Yi 刘艺

The first in-depth analysis of the Chinese culture through Western people came not with the merchants, but with the Jesuits. How few was known about China can be seen from the fact, that only the Jesuits managed to clarify, that the myth of the two empires, Tartary and Kitai/Cathay, in fact both were the same (China).

Liu Yiyu 刘怡瑜

However, the Jesuit’s approach was still ethnocentric and cultural relativist, because by portraying (like Du Halde) China as a seemingly ideal state suitable for mission work, they contributed to subjective views on China.

Around 1720 presumably the French Jesuit Jean-François Noëlas even translated the Dao de jing into Latin.[ Collani, Claudia von, Harald Holz, Konrad Wegmann eds. Uroffenbarung und Daoismus: jesuitische Missionshermeneutik des Daoismus. Europ. University Press, 2008. [Partial retranslation Chinese-Latin-German.]]

Liu Zhiwei 刘智伟

The translation turns out to deviate from the original in the way that we suddenly find the Christian trinity god in it.

This is the starting point of an ethnocentric tradition to read the self and the own into the other and the alien, instead of respecting the other as a value by itself and allowing it to even challenge the own beliefs.

Lou Cancan 娄灿灿

Even the German Christian missionary and sinologist Richard Wilhelm used a Christian language (belief, heavens’ doors, life after death etc.) in his influential 1919 Taoteking translation and in 1925 he translated “god” into the Analects of Confucius.

The missionaries baptized the seemingly “backward” aborigines in several continents, sometimes supported by the sword.

Luo Weijia 罗维嘉

A lot of cultures, considered less “developed”, were heavily influenced or even destroyed and extinguished. Earlier, the “Warriors of the Cross” even fought wars and devastated complete regions.

The other aspect, the exotization of the other was expressed by the way the first Chinese people who came to Europe were received: They were passed on at tea meetings and gazed at like animals.

Luo Yuqing 罗雨晴

Soon Chinese goods became the symbol of the exotic. Chinese porcellain and nick-nacks, even Chinese-style buildings were recreated in Europe. The fever-like admiration of a China image, which certainly was not the true China, is called Chinoiserie. The Chinoiserie even involved European philosophers like Voltaire and Leibniz, who compared China to an ideal country without religion and still moral values, represented by a wise emperor.

Ma Juan 马娟

In Europe, the first experts on Chinese culture were entrusted with the task to explain the Chinese culture no longer from the ethnocentric viewpoint, but from a scientific one: Professorships at universities were established. Their early translations show traces of admiration of the exotic. Chinoiserie was also countered by Européerie in China.

Ma Shuya 马淑雅

However, this phase did only last as long as it fit to European politics. As soon as the import of colonial goods (and resources) became an economic factor, the (wrong) image of the ideal China changed into a negative one (similarly wrong). Not only mission and belief were motifs to look down on the Chinese culture, but also the comparison of economic development and living standards.

Ma Zhixing 马智星

Hegel continued the ethnocentric view on China with his ranking of cultures. Although Confucius already had developed a “Golden Rule” principle comparable to Kant’s “Categorical Imperative”, Hegel declared Chinese philosophy as inferior to European philosophy, and even saw a geographical step by step development from Confucius over Buddha, Zarathustra, the ancient Greek and the Roman philosophy, leading to the European philosophy.

Meng Ying 孟莹

A ladder only second by the Arab philosophy. At the turn from the 19th to the 20th century, China was suddenly considered as static, as “the sick man of Asia”. Actually semi-colonialism in China helped to hinder development there.

Rereading the reviews of Chinese literature in contemporary Western journals, it is astonishing, how disrespectful even men of letters treated Chinese literature, even during a time, when it was not yet available in translation, so that it is save to say that ethnocentric attitude prevailed over knowledge.

Mo Ling 莫玲

This can be proven by the many mistakes you can find in the reviews (Morrison: the book was of low literary quality, but written in Peking dialect and therefore useful as language learning material; Gützlaff: the protagonist Baoyu is a petulant woman; Giles: the words “Red Chamber Dreams do not appear in the book” etc.).

Mo Nan 莫南

Also, the tradition of the title translation as “Dream of the Red Chamber” can be traced back to the origins of the better translation as “Red Chamber Dreams”, sacrificed by Francis Davis finally in favor of the powerful tool of Morrison’s dictionary calling it “Dream of the Red Chamber”.

Nie Xiaolou 聂晓楼

Here, the exotic was used to make fun of China. Barrow introduces an excerpt, describing the outward appearance of Baoyu and Xifeng, translated by Francis Davis into English, explicitely for the reason to “amuse the beaux and belles”. Francis Davis himself picks two poems from the novel for translation, but not for its own sake, but to use them as a proof for his own (minority) opinion that the Chinese poetry knew a certain, “descriptive” function of poems in novels.

Ou Rong 欧蓉

In 1815 Macao Reverend Robert Morrison (1782-1834) coined the Western translation of the novel’s title by mentioning it in his Dictionary of the Chinese Language as “dreams of the red chamber.”[ He explained the character “妙” as in the novel’s character “妙玉 Meaou yǔh [Miao Yu]” as “the admirable gem, name of one of the female characters in the novel called 紅樓夢 the dreams of the red chamber”, see Robert Morrison: A Dictionary of the Chinese language in three parts, Macao: East India Company Press 1815, vol. I., 930 pp., here p. 614, left column. 24 years after the print edition was published, this is the first mention and translation of the novel’s title into a Western language known so far. If no earlier occurrence is found it means that Morrison created a translation which has lasted until today almost unchanged.] He chose the plural, which was quite reasonable as there are many dreams in the novel. It appears that 27 years later the plural “dreams” was turned into the singular “dream,” which sounds a bit more general and is therefore also a reasonable translation.

Ouyang Jinglan 欧阳静兰

Red Chamber Dreams is the most common translation in English and, in its variations, in all Western languages so far. In 1817 Rev. Robert Morrison published a book for studying Chinese,[ Robert Morrison, A view of China for philological purposes: containing a sketch of Chinese Chronology, Geography, Government, Religion & Customs, designed for the use of persons who study the Chinese language, Macao: East Asia Company Press, 1817, 141 S., hier S. 120-121.] in which he recommen�ded “Dreams of the Red Chamber” as beginner readings, together with the novel Hao qiu zhuan, which was available mostly in English and partly in Portuguese by 1719, and fully in English by 1761. Both were written in colloquial style.

Ouyang Ling 欧阳玲

Morrison claims that Dream was written in Peking dialect. This does not hold true, since the author’s family Cao came from the South and many people in the novel have Nanking dialect sprinkles. In fact, the highly artful and intentional switch of dialects and sociolects contributed to the later fame of the novel. Morrison’s mistake developed its own tradition.[ Even in 1995, you could read that the Dreams is written in Peking dialect, cf. Shu Changshan, Die Rezeption Thomas Manns in China, 1995, Frankfurt: Lang, 326 pp. At least Tong Yao, Die Vielfältigkeit der Literatur, 2006 mentions both Peking and Nanking dialects.]

Peng Dan 彭丹

Barrow mentioned the title “[...] a Chinese novel called Hung-low-Mung, or, The Red Chamber Dreams” on June 4, 1819, in the Quarterly Review. He inserted this （导言）reference into a review[ My own findings, so far not discussed in 20th century hongxue, and published first in October 2010. John Barrow, “Art. IV Narrative of a Journey in the Interior of China, and of a Voyage to and from that Country, in the Years 1816 and 1817; containing an Account of the most interesting Transactions of Lord Amherst's Embassy to the Court of Pekin, and Observations on the Countries which it visited. By Clarke Abel F.L.S. London 1818”, in: William Gifford ed., Quarterly Review 21:41 (January 1819) S. 67-91, hier S. 79-80. This edition appeared (only by) June 4, 1819 with 13,000 copies. The author follows here the argumentation of the assignment to the author Barrow due to the following indications: “Gentleman's Magazine (Mar. 1844), 246-47. The article's author refers to #415 and #438 (including a specific reference), both of which are on the same topic and are by Barrow. Cf. also the discussion of infanticide (p.76) and Raffles's account of Java reviewed by Barrow in #422. In his Q[uarterly] R[eview] articles, it was Barrow's signature practice to refer to his own works, see “Quarterly Review Archive” http:// www.rc.umd.edu/reference/qr/index/41.html, last visited Dec 5, 2010.] of Clarke Abel’s report of a journey through China.[ Clarke Abel, Narrative of a Journey in the Interior of China, and of a Voyage to and from that Country, in the Years 1816 and 1817; containing an Account of the most interesting Transactions of Lord Amherst's Embassy to the Court of Pekin, and Observations on the Countries which it visited, F.L.S. London 1818.] He interrupted his review with an excursus on the uniform appearance and static nature of the Chi�nese, in line with the contemporary China-bashing of Herder and Hegel.

Peng Juan 彭娟

For contemporary Europeans, the Chine�se appeared abnormally uniform and simple in their clothes and appearance. They would not be subordinated to the tyranny of fashion; their culture was static. In order to entertain the “belles and beaux of Great Britain,” Barrow provides a foil to this general impression by quoting the descriptions of the garments and anatomy of two characters, Wang Xifeng and Jia Bao�yu, from chapter 3 of J. Davis’ translation of Dream.

Peng Ruihong 彭锐宏

In fact the graphic comparisons given in these descriptions were simply strange to Europeans of that time, since they apparently did not correspond to the European’s own ideal of beauty.

Even in 1842 Gützlaff criticized: “the author [makes] many protestations of his inability to do justice to the subject, which indeed is the only truth in the book […] the style is without any art […] whosoever wishes to familiarize himself with the manner of speaking the northern court dialect, may peruse this work with advantage”[ “Amongst the novels of the Chinese, this work holds a decidedly high rank. The author, after making many protestations of his inability to do justice to the subject, which indeed is the only truth in the book […] Having brought this tedious story to a conclusion, in expressing our opinion about the literary merits of the per�form�ance, we may say that the style is without any art, being literally the spoken language of the higher classes in the northern provinces. Some words that are used in a sense different from that in ordinary writings, and others are formed for the occasion, to express provincial sounds. But after reading one volume the sense is easily understood, and whosoever wishes to familiarize himself with the manner of speaking the northern court dialect, may peruse this work with advantage.” ibid., p. 273.]

Peng Xiaoling 彭小玲

In 1867, 78 years after the first Chinese printed edition, we find a first real in-depth review of two pages by William Frederick Mayers:[ William Frederick Mayers, in: Notes and Queries (Dec 31, 1867) pp. 167-168, here p. 167. Mayers was Chinese secretary of the British Legation at Peking. He gives also short extracts in translation: “Vast as is Heaven above or Earth below – Sighs may such limits fill for passion vainly past Grieve for the senseless youth, the hapless maiden’s woe ! Not oft is love’s light pledge redeem’ed at last ! ” (p. 167) […] Vain to be soft in temper, mild in ways, Fair as the fairest … (p. 168) […] Not often shines thy longings too are vain ! ” (p. 168)].]

“If it be lawful to avow a feeling approaching to enthusiasm for any Chinese production, The Hung Low Mêng 紅樓夢 or ‘Dreams of the Red Chamber’ is beyond possibility of cavil the work for which genuine admiration may be expressed.

Peng Yongliang 彭永亮

What, in English literature, the writings of Thackeray and Bulwer are in comparison with the wearisome and unskilful productions of previous generations, such is the Hung Low Mêng when compared with the works of fiction that have emanated from other Chinese authors.

Peng Yuzhi 彭育志

Human character in its complex variety of shades, the intricacies of family relations, the force of passion and the torture of disappointed yearnings after love are pourtrayed with a degree of skill and knowledge such as in truth suggests a resemblance with the two great master-spirits of English romance; whilst, as in Nature's own drama of existence, the reflections of storm and sunshine are closely interlaced, and the lighter thread of comedy runs side by side with the dark main-strand of a story which opens with the omens of sorrow and is conducted to a tearful end.