East Asian Institute of the University of Leipzig
The East Asian Institute is an institution of the University of Leipzig , where the first Sinology professorship in the German-speaking area was established in 1878 . At that time, Hans Georg Conon von der Gabelentz (1840–1893) was appointed associate professor for East Asian languages. Von der Gabelentz is the author of the groundbreaking work Chinese Grammar , published in 1881 . In 1889, Gabelentz was appointed to Berlin.
His successor was not named until 1897, it was August Conrady (1864–1925). Conrady's merit was above all to have practiced Sinology beyond the linguistic framework as a science of the culture of the Chinese. It was Conrady to whom the Swedish Asian explorer Sven Hedin entrusted the processing of important expedition finds. Conrady also supervised the habilitation of the Swedish sinologist Bernhard Karlgren .
Conrady followed Erich Haenisch (1880–1966) in 1925 until he was called to Berlin in 1931. Haenisch did a great job with his four-part book Course in Classical Chinese Writing.
Between 1928 and 1933 Eduard Erkes (1891–1958) worked as associate professor in Leipzig; he was expelled from the university after the " seizure of power " by the NSDAP . After 1945, Erkes became an adjunct professor, and in 1947 a full professor. With him, the expansion of the sinological horizons becomes apparent, initially as a connection with ethnological and cultural-historical issues, but then also through the turn to the general history of China and to the social science problem. The scientific achievements of Erkes are presented in a large number of individual publications. Mention should be made here of his habilitation thesis The world view of Huainanzi , history of China from the beginnings to the penetration of foreign capital . Erkes became director of the East Asian Seminar in 1947 , which was converted into the East Asian Institute in 1951. After the development was interrupted by the death of Erkes in 1958, the orientation towards a larger thematic breadth continued in the 1960s. The development of theoretical and methodological relationships to other sciences, especially history , philosophy and economics, but also to general linguistics , is now characteristic . The following publications are characteristic of this development phase:
- M. Piasek, German-Chinese dictionary. Leipzig 1961
- R. Felber, The Development of Exchange Relations in Ancient China. (Late 8th to early 5th century BC), Berlin 1970
- G. Lewin, The First 50 Years of the Song Dynasty in China. Berlin 1973
- R. Moritz, Hui Shi and the development of philosophical thinking in ancient China. Berlin 1973.
At the end of the 1960s, the political decision was made to concentrate Asian studies in the GDR at the Humboldt University in Berlin . The East Asian Institute at Leipzig University was dissolved and the few remaining sinological staff were integrated into a South and East Asia work area in the Africa and Middle East Studies section . In the 1980s the new rise of the Leipzig Sinology began. The Sinology chair, which had ceased to exist since Erkes' death in 1958, was re-established in 1984. Was appointed Ralf Moritz . After 1990 the main subject Sinology could be resumed. Since 1992 there has been an additional professorship for modern Sinology held by Rainer von Franz . At the end of 1993 the East Asian Institute of the University of Leipzig was re-established, at which Japanese studies are represented alongside Sinology .