Johann Heinrich Plath

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Johann Heinrich Plath (born  August 25, 1802 in Hamburg , †  November 16, 1874 in Munich ) was a German historian , classical philologist and librarian who is considered one of the most important sinologists of the 19th century in Germany. As a private scholar, he published in particular historical treatises on China and the classical writings of Confucianism . From 1848 to 1851 he worked as the imperial librarian of the imperial library founded by the Frankfurt National Assembly , a forerunner of today's German National Library .

Life

Johann Heinrich Plath was born in Hamburg in 1802 as the son of a businessman , where he graduated from the Johanneum from 1813 to 1821 and the Academic Gymnasium in 1821/1822 . He then studied Ancient History and Oriental Languages at the University of Göttingen . He received his doctorate in 1824 and his habilitation five years later , and then worked as a private lecturer in history at Göttingen University. During the political unrest in Göttingen in 1831 , which followed the French July Revolution of 1830 , he was a member of the local council due to his liberal views , which took power in the city after the removal of the magistrate. As a result, he was arrested and sentenced in 1836 to a prison term of twelve years. After his early release in the spring of 1843, he went to Hamburg, where he taught at the Academic Gymnasium.

From 1848 he acted as the Reich Librarian of the Reich Library, which was founded by the Frankfurt National Assembly at the suggestion of the publisher Heinrich Wilhelm Hahn and was a forerunner of today's German National Library . In this function, among other things, he compiled a catalog for the collection, which consists of around 4,500 volumes and around 300 brochures. After the dissolution of the Frankfurt National Assembly, Johann Heinrich Plath tried to continue the collection of the Reich Library as the German National Library, which failed in October 1851 when it was rejected by the restored Federal Assembly . In the same year he moved to Munich , where he worked as a private scholar, particularly in the field of sinology , until his death in November 1874 .

His son Carl Heinrich Plath (1829–1867) was a doctor for the poor in Hamburg.

Act

Johann Heinrich Plath did not hold a chair at a university during his life . He autodidactically acquired knowledge of the Chinese languages and published in particular historical and linguistic works on China and the classical writings of Confucianism . From 1860 he was an associate and from 1865 a full member of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences , in whose treatises most of his writings appeared.

Works (selection)

  • The peoples of Manchuria. Two volumes. Göttingen 1830/1831
  • The religion and cult of the ancient Chinese (with lithographs of Chinese texts). Munich 1860
  • Law and justice in ancient China according to Chinese sources. Munich 1864
  • Ancient Chinese food, clothing and housing. Munich 1866
  • Confucius and his pupils. Munich 1867
  • About school, instruction and upbringing among the ancient Chinese. Munich 1868

literature

Further publications

  • Albert Paust: Johann Heinrich Plath: A pioneer of the German library. Walter Krieg Verlag, Vienna 1952
  • Herbert Franke: On the biography of Johann Heinrich Plath (1802–1874). Series: session reports of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences. Issue 12/1960. Publishing house of the Bavarian Academy of Science, Munich 1960

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Plath, Johann Heinrich
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German historian, sinologist and librarian
DATE OF BIRTH August 25, 1802
PLACE OF BIRTH Hamburg
DATE OF DEATH November 16, 1874
Place of death Munich