The Story of Chinese Language Studies in Europe

What is it about?

This article looks at how the study of the Chinese language developed in Europe between the sixteenth and the nineteenth centuries, focusing on the practical and institutional conditions that shaped this process. It explores how Europeans gained access to information about Chinese, how this knowledge spread, and how it was preserved. A key point is that access to China itself played a major role in shaping ideas about the language. The 1800s were especially important: during this time, more people had the chance to travel to China and learn Chinese, European universities began offering Chinese studies, printing technology improved, and people with real experience in China returned to Europe and contributed to the teaching of Chinese and the dissemination of language-related knowledge.

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