The first part of the “Overseas Sinology Series” was published in China in 1989, including four different works. During the next decade, more than twenty works on overseas Sinology were printed in succession, all of which gained great reputation in academic circles both at home and abroad. The series consisted of different works written by Sinologists from countries including the United States, Japan, France, the United Kingdom, Canada and Russia, covering various fields like Chinese philosophy, history, literature, religion, folk customs, economy and technology. In view of the great influence of the series, the Shanghai Chinese Classics Publishing House has recently decided to start publishing the series again, which means that it will publish newly translated works on overseas Sinology, while also incorporating some influential works that have been published previously into the series.

During the last ten years, communication between Chinese and foreign scholars on various areas of Sinology have become more frequent and closer. Overseas Sinology is not only an independent major at Chinese universities, but also an indispensible tool in the process of cultivating Chinese Sinologists. The emerging generation of overseas Sinologists regard Chinese speaking readers as their audience, rather than their own countries’ readers. The topics of their works are often linked with those of Chinese works, indicating that a more wide ranging academic genealogy is being established.

The aim of the series is to advocate a practical and realistic academic approach, and an innovative academic spirit. The first book to be published will be by Ronald Egan (Professor of Sinology at Stanford University), under the title of The Problem of Beauty: Aesthetic Thought and Pursuits in Northern Song Dynasty China. This book focuses on the aesthetic thought of scholar-bureaucrats in Northern Song Dynasty China, taking Ouyang Xiu as their representative. During this period their bold exploration of aesthetics overstepped some previously unbreakable boundaries, and caused a new unease. Faced with the Confucian biases against their pursuit, these scholars had to create a new vision and avoid being trapped by dogma. Their effort was not only outstanding, but also had a far-reaching influence.

Subsequently four other works on Sinology will be reprinted, all of which have had a profound influence in their fields, including The Middle Kingdom (written by the American scholar Samuel Wells Williams), Memoirs of Father Ripa, During Thirteen Years Resident at the Court of Peking in the Service of the Emperor of China (written by preacher Matteo Ripa from Italy), The Wisdom of the Chinese People (written by the French scholar Jacques Gernet), and The Variety of the Zhongnan Mountains (written by the Japanese scholar Kawai Kozo). 

Translated by Chen Meina

Revised by Gabriele Corsetti