Sinological research is currently on a roll worldwide. Particularly since the PRC began taking an active role on the world stage among the other powers, and thanks to the attractions of China's huge market and immense population, there has been a growing trend for studying the Chinese language.

Currently, the foremost and most active Western countries in the field of sinology are France, Germany, the USA and Canada (which has come from behind after a late start). In Russia, due to that country's inseparable traditional, historical and geographical links with China, sinology was once highly developed, and produced outstanding results in the 1960s and '70s under communist rule. But in recent years various factors within the former Soviet Union such as political instability, economic difficulties, social problems and declining law and order have not been conducive to raising academic standards, and currently little high-quality work is being produced.

At present, leading centers of sinological research worldwide include the Ecole Francaise d'Extreme-Orient and other institutions in Paris, France, Munich University in Germany, Kyoto University and the University of Tokyo in Japan, the University of Toronto in Canada, Leiden University in the Netherlands and Harvard University in the US. Due to the writer's location, this report focuses mainly on the situation in Germany.

The origins of German sinology go back to Johann Adam Schall von Bell, a German Jesuit active in China in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. After arriving in Beijing in 1623, Schall lived in China for several decades, acquired an intimate knowledge of the country's language and culture, and even gained the trust of the Qing emperor. He not only brought contemporary Western scientific knowledge to China, but also disseminated information about Eastern civilizations, and was thus an important initiator of East-West cultural exchange. After Schall, other German and Austrian missionaries continued to come to China, and produced the first European translations of such Confucian classics as The Analects, Great Learning and The Doctrine of the Mean.

At that time large numbers of Chinese books and documents were shipped to Berlin and added to the collections of the imperial library, so that in the 17th century Berlin became one of Europe's leading centers for Chinese-language books and sinology. Later, sinological research spread from the hands of the missionaries into artistic and academic circles, and leading German literary figures such as Goethe (who wrote the poem cycle Chinese-German Hours and Seasons), Schiller, and famous scholars like the Humboldt brothers, became deeply interested in Chinese culture.

From missionaries to universities

As European political and mercantile power grew, in the 19th century invaders, adventurers, diplomats and merchants, but also scholars and people of culture, followed the missionaries to China. Countries throughout Europe found themselves in urgent need of large numbers of people who understood the Chinese language and China's history and geography. Thus in 1814 the first lecture courses in sinology and Manchurian were instituted in France at the Imperial Academy of Science. Until the mid-19th century, Germans wishing to study Chinese all had to go to Paris, unless they studied independently. At that time Paris was the Western world's greatest center of sinology, and this historical tradition still continues today. For instance, the Societe Asiatique's quarterly Journal Asiatique, with articles on China and other Asian countries, has appeared continuously since the 18th century, and is an academic journal of high quality.

Despite Germany's pioneering role, it lagged behind in the academic development of sinology, for it was not until 1887 that a Seminar fuer Orientalische Sprachen (Department of Oriental Languages) was finally set up at Friedrich Wilhelm University (now Humboldt University) in Berlin. Sinology had taken a small step forward from amateur research to being established as a subcategory of oriental linguistics, but in fact it still fell some way short of serious academic research.

In the 25 years after the SfOS was set up in Berlin, 480 people studied Chinese there. Most were law students, along with some postal and bank employees, diplomats, engineers, merchants and others. The SfOS functioned as a practically oriented language training school, not as a center of an independent branch of learning, and it did not offer courses on Chinese culture or philosophy. Compared to other European countries (sinology faculties or institutes were set up in France in 1814, Britain in 1825 and the Netherlands in 1875) the development of sinology in Germany got off to a slow start.

After some time, German scholars gradually became aware of the extent, refinement and depth of Chinese culture. For a European in Europe, a lifetime would not be enough to study it in depth and comprehend its mysteries: it was necessary to study in a concentrated way, and to avail oneself of any opportunity to go and live in China and establish contact with Chinese scholars. Hence there was also an urgent need for sinology to be formally recognized as an academic discipline. After many years of effort and persuasion by various interested parties, in 1909 Germany's first sinology department was finally set up in Hamburg at the recently established Kolonialinstitut (Colonial Institute), with a professorial chair in East Asian languages and history. A decade later the institute became one of the founding institutions of the University of Hamburg. Later, other universities including Berlin, Leipzig, Frankfurt, Goettingen and Bonn followed suit.

Early translators outside the ivory tower

After sinology was incorporated into the German academic structure, Chinese language and culture were not only researched by scholars, but also started to arouse the interest of the public at large, particularly the middle classes. With the encouragement of various people, a trend began for sinology to emerge from the ivory tower and be popularized. For instance, the China-Institut set up by Richard Wilhelm (1873-1930) worked to disseminate Chinese culture, and Wilhelm himself translated major Chinese classics such as The Analects, Dao De Jing, Liezi, Zhuangzi, Mencius and The Book of Changes (the Yi Jing or I Ching) into German and introduced them to the general public. The best known and most influential of his translations was that of The Book of Changes.

Other notable figures included Erwin Ritter von Zach (1872-1942), a gifted translator of Chinese classical poetry, notably the works of the Tang poets Li Bai, Du Fu and Han Yu; and Franz Kuhn (1884-1961), who specialized in translating classical Chinese novels, including Jin Ping Mei, The Dream of the Red Chamber and The Water Margin. Kuhn introduced large numbers of Chinese popular novels to the German public.

Among the many German sinologists, Erich Haenisch (1818-1966), founder of the Sinological Section of the Institute of East Asian Studies at Munich University (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet), was also versed in the Mongolian and Manchurian languages, and during the more than 80 years of his life published over 140 books and academic papers.

Postwar austerity

Naturally there was no lack of sinologists who, like Haenisch, devoted their lives to research, and thanks to their quiet efforts, by World War II there were already university sinology departments in Hamburg, Berlin, Leipzig and Goettingen and elsewhere. After the war Germany lay in ruins, and under the Nazis' racist policies there had been no place for experts in sinological research. Many sinologists went abroad, creating a dearth of scholars qualified to take over from the older generation.

Nonetheless, Germany's few remaining sinologists in the early post-war period continued working assiduously. After the war, Munich University was the first institute of higher education to establish a sinology department. Its founder, Professor Haenisch, described the difficulties the staff and students faced: "In summer, we sometimes held classes in corridors and sometimes in wooden shacks; in winter, we held them in the department's only undamaged building. Eventually we got a building of our own which served as library, classroom and office." Later, through the efforts of professors Herbert Franke and Wolfgang Bauer (1930-1997), the Sinological Section gradually got on track.

From 1950 onwards, sinology developed vigorously in Germany. Universities in Hamburg, Bonn and elsewhere established or re-established sinology departments or offered Chinese language courses, and in 1953 Germany's first six postwar doctorates in sinology were awarded at Hamburg, Munich and Goettingen. Their recipients included Tilemann Grimm, Wolfgang Bauer and Gnther Debon, all of whom later became pillars of German sinology.

Postwar German sinology can be divided into a number of major camps according to the scholars' different research interests. Examples include Erich Haenisch and Herbert Franke in Munich, researching Chinese middle-ancient (3rd-9th century) history (particularly Song and Yuan dynasty history); Wolfgang Franke in Hamburg, researching Ming and Qing history and modern Chinese history; and Eduard Erkes (1891-1958) in Leipzig in East Germany, researching pre-Qin literature and history.

Within these camps, one can also divide scholars according to their academic background into the "home-grown" (those trained in Germany, such as Erich Haenisch and Herbert Franke); the "exotic" (those who had lived in China for long periods, such as Wolfgang Franke); and those forced out of academia during the Nazi period, and who lived in communist countries after the war (such as Erkes). They all had their own views about the best approach to academic research.

The "home-grown" and "exotic" scholars differed greatly in their views on certain matters. For instance, while Erich Haenisch headed Munich University's Sinological Section, spoken Chinese was not taught there. In Haenisch's view, "Sinology is the study of an ancient language, and the secret is to read often and extensively"; and "the spoken language is not very important for people studying sinology here in Germany, because it is not academic in nature, and is not regarded as a specialist subject." This view was widespread in Western sinological circles-although sinologists often understood several languages, they were not necessarily able to write and converse in them all fluently. In fact there's nothing very wrong with this, for after all academic research consists mainly of reading historical materials, raising questions and finding solutions, so the ability to read Chinese and to digest books' content should be sufficient.

However, Wolfgang Franke -who speaks Chinese fluently-openly criticizes this view, and Herbert Franke, who succeeded Haenisch as head of sinology in Munich, did not continue Haenisch's policy, but began to place more emphasis on students' ability to speak and write Chinese. This is also the overall trend in sinology today.

Popular interest boosts sinology

Currently some 5-6000 students are enrolled at sinology departments throughout Germany, but many of them are thought to have signed up because of a surge of popular interest in China, and only some 2-3000 are genuinely immersing themselves in the subject.

Today, over 20 German universities have departments of sinology, including Hamburg, Berlin, Bochum, Bonn, Frankfurt and so on. They are spread evenly throughout Germany-a very different situation from that in France, where most are concentrated in Paris. Furthermore, the density of sinology departments in Germany is among the highest in the world. Also, in terms of the total number of academic papers published, Germany is second only to the USA in the Western world. When one considers Germany's area and population, this is a remarkable achievement, and is indicative of the vigorous development of sinology in that country.

In Germany, other university departments also offer courses to do with China in line with their specific demands. For instance, at Munich University there are China-related courses in the department of politics and the school of medicine, and examples at other universities include a course on "Education in China in the 21st Century" at Bonn, a series of lectures on Chinese law in the law department at the University of Cologne, and so on.

Chinese studies are not only popular in the halls of academe. Many opportunities to study Chinese are also open to the German public at large. Major companies such as Siemens offer evening classes in Chinese for their employees, and adult education institutes throughout Germany offer all kinds of Chinese language courses, long and short, to the general public. Many Chinese from Taiwan or mainland China are employed as teachers, doing their bit to disseminate Chinese culture overseas.

In terms of their function, sinology departments at German universities focus mainly on academic research, with language study being of only secondary importance. At some universities, Chinese is grouped with Japanese or Korean into departments of "oriental" or "asiatic" languages. As well as students majoring in these departments, there also quite a number of students from Taiwan, mainland China, Hong Kong, Macao, Japan and Korea following minor courses there. In recent years there has been growing interest in studying Southeast Asia cultures, but since it would be difficult to establish independent departments for all of them, sinology departments at some universities now offer Thai, Korean, Mongolian, Vietnamese, Manchurian and other languages as elective courses.

Except for conversation classes, most courses in sinology departments are taught in German, and most reports and published papers are written in German. Students have to learn both the traditional and simplified forms of Chinese characters, and in order to be able to read ancient texts in their original form they also have to study classical Chinese. The main phonetic transcription systems used are the mainland pinyin system and the older Wade-Giles system, both based on the Latin alphabet; the National Phonetic Symbols current in Taiwan, which are based on modified Chinese characters, are little used.

In order for students to acquire a genuine practical mastery of the language, most sinology departments encourage them to go and live in Taiwan, China or Hong Kong for at least a year to study the language and culture and acquaint themselves with local life and customs. Some form lasting bonds there and come back with Chinese wives or husbands, giving them an even closer, lifelong link with Asian culture. After students graduate, most go into work associated with the Chinese language, often doing business with Taiwan, Hong Kong and mainland China, or setting up their own translation businesses. Of course, a very small number of highly talented individuals continue in academic research.

For academic work, one of the most essential resources is the library. Germany's largest collection of books in the field of traditional sinology is at the Bavarian State Library in Munich. Works there are mainly in the areas of ancient Chinese literature, history, archaeology, religion and local gazetteers. The library is located minutes away from Munich University, making access very convenient for staff and students there. The Prussian State Library in Berlin has a different type of collection, with the main focus now on contemporary and modern China. The various universities also all have their own departmental libraries.

The results of the professors' and other scholars' research are mostly published in series of monographs and in periodicals. Monograph series include the Wuerzburger Sinologische Schriften, the Muenchner Ostasiatische Studien and South China and Maritime Asia, while periodicals include Monumenta Serica, published by the Steyler Missionaries in Sankt Augustin near Bonn, the Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenlaendischen Gesellschaft (Journal of the German Oriental Society), currently edited in Goettingen, the University of Hamburg's Oriens Extremus, and so on. These periodicals and books are of a very high standard and have a respected position in international sinology. Their diverse content includes economics, literature (both classical and modern), politics, history, philosophy and so on. These publications constitute a major textual resource for academic research.

New directions

Generally speaking, most German sinologists conduct their research individually, and the sinology departments at the various universities each have their own focus and orientation reflecting the talents and research interests of their teaching staff. Areas of particular achievement include: research into Chinese women's issues and Sino-German relations at the Freie Universitaet Berlin; research into 19th and 20th-century Shanghai and Chinese history and culture at the University of Heidelberg; research into the specialized academic terminology of Chinese philosophy at the University of Goettingen; a literary translation center, set up by Professor Helmut Martin, at the Ruhr-Universitaet Bochum (works translated include many by modern Taiwanese authors); and research into modern Chinese literature at the University of Bonn. The University of Heidelberg even has a separate department of East Asian art history (under Professor Lothar Ledderose) in its Institute of Art History; it has a substantial collection of books and historical materials in its library, and is known as Europe's largest center for East Asian art.

It is worthy of note that in recent years, German sinology has gradually turned away from "pure academic sinology"-research directed entirely at studying traditional China-and has incorporated such topics as modern politics, history, sociology, commerce, culture and education to examine practical issues in China. Hot topics of current research include such questions as the relationship between Confucianist thought and China's modernization, and various aspects of Chinese philosophy.

Confucianism and modernization

Scholars respond in different ways to the issue of Confucianism's role in modernization. Many German sinologists are skeptical whether Confucianist thought has anything to contribute to modernization; they take the view that Confucianism overemphasizes "collectivism" and has no concept of "society," so that it is unable to exert a positive influence for modernization. According to this view, there was traditionally no concept of "self" in China, and conditions were therefore not conducive to the development of capitalism; the Chinese only knew how to "repress their own desires" and "strive to maintain harmonious relations." Thus there is no direct relationship between Chinese tradition and modernity.

However, some scholars take a more balanced view. For instance, Professor Hans Stumpfeldt of the oriental studies department at the University of Hamburg reminds us that Confucius is not the same as the Confucianists, so that whenever one talks about Confucianists one should first make it clear which interpretation of Confucius, and which Confucianists, one is referring to-they cannot all be lumped together. Professor Rolf Trauzettel of the University of Bonn also observes that the ideas of Confucianists of different historical periods were not entirely the same, and that these ideas were often encumbered with political aims and made into instruments of rule by those in power. Early Confucianist thinking was basically constructed on the level of morality and personal integrity, so it is unlikely to have had either a positive or a negative influence on China's modernization and economic development.

Chinese thought and philosophy

The Germans have a penchant for analytical thought, and research into Daoists and Daoism is very much to their taste. Hence it is not only very popular with sinologists, but also arouses a great deal of interest among the general public. Richard Wilhelm's early translation of The Book of Changes has never been out of print, and a copy can be found in almost every middle and upper-class household. Furthermore, Daoist thought fits in well with the calls for a "return to nature" of recent years, so it is not surprising that the philosophy of Laozi and Zhuangzi is very much in vogue. There are over 50 published German translations of Laozi's Dao De Jing alone. In recent years, Sunzi's The Art of War has also been very well received. The Book of Stratagems: Tactics for Triumph and Survival, written by Professor Harro von Senger of the University of Heidelberg on the basis of the insights gained during his many years of research, has been translated into more than 10 languages including French, Dutch, Chinese (in both mainland China in Taiwan) and English, and has become a worldwide bestseller. In Taiwan it made it onto Kingstone Book Company's bestseller list.

After many years of development, sinology in Germany can be said to be bearing fruit. When the rigorous gaze of German academics is turned upon the ancient land of China, it can surely give us another perspective from which to view our own culture!

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The German Jesuit missionary Johann Adam Schall von Bell, who lived in China during the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, initiated East-West cultural exchange, and laid the foundations of German sinology. (Sinorama file picture)

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These little pavilions in Wuerzburg in southern Germany, with their baroque columns, Chinese-style roofs decorated with pineapples, and eight trigrams amulets, are symbolic of German people's fantasies about the distant Orient.

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Quiet campuses away from the madding crowd are the places where academic sinological research blossomed and developed. Pictured here is the University of Heidelberg.

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As part of a fashion for things Chinese, ancient works of Chinese philosophy such as Sunzi's The Art of War, Laozi's Dao De Jing and The Book of Changes have gained many admirers in Europe. Sinologist Harro von Senger, whose The Book of Stratagems draws on such sources as The Art of War, The Thirty-Six Stratagems and the Bible, is an example. (photo by Vincent Chang) Facing page: The Tender Trap-one of the "36 stratagems"-from an illustrated book by Tsai Chih-chung.

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(courtesy of China Times Publishing)

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Thanks to efforts spanning nearly a century since the first sinology department was set up in Germany in 1909, China is no longer a strange and distant country.

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The rise of the Asian Tiger economies-based largely on networks of ethnic Chinese business people-has been followed by mainland China's economic take-off. Research into the economics of the Chinese world has gradually become a mainstream component of modern sinology. Our picture shows the city of Shenzhen in mainland China's Guangdong Province. (photo by Diago Chiu)

These little pavilions in Wurzburg in Southern Germany, with their baroque columns, Chinese-style roofs decorated with pineapples, and eight trigrams amulets, are symbolic of German people's fantasies about the distant Orient.

幽靜而與世無爭的大學學府,適合純學術性的漢學研究在此萌芽發展。圖為海德堡大學。.

As part of a fashion for things Chinese, ancient works of Chinese philosophy such as Sunzi's The Art of War, Laozi's Dao De Jing and The Book of Changes have gained many admirers in Europe. Sinologist Harro von Senger, whose The Book of Stratagems draws on such sources as The Art of War, The Thing-Six Stratagems and the Bible, is an example. （photo by Vincent Chang）

Facing page: The Tender Trap--one of the "36 stratagems"--from an illustrated book by Tsai Chih-chung. （courtesy of China Times Publishing）

Thanks to efforts spanning nearly a century since the first sinology department was set up in Germany in 1909, China is no longer a strange and distant country.

The rise of the Asian Tiger economies--based largely on networks of ethnic Chinese business people--has been followed by mainland China's economic take-off. Researc h into the economics of the Chinese world has gradually become a mainstream component of modern sinology. Our picture shows the city of Shenzhen in mainland China's Guangdong Province. （photo by Diago Chiu）