Ma Xiaolin 馬暁林
Sino-Western Academic Exchanges in the Mongol History Studies, 1850s–1940s
67th Annual Meeting of the PIAC, Gotemba 2025
In the course of modern academic development, the Chinese, Mongolian and Persian parallel texts of the history of Genghis Khan has been gradually discovered, which has shaped the philological approach in the study of the Mongol history. The academic communications between Chinese and foreign scholars have played a key role in the development of the research paradigm. Based on scholars’ manuscripts and diaries, this paper demonstrates the nuances of these contributions.
In the mid-to-late 19th century, through the communications of Chinese and foreign scholars, Chinese literature was brought abroad by Russian scholars, while Persian literature was introduced into China by the Qing ambassador Hong Jun (1839-1893).
In the 1920s, Chinese scholars such as Wang Guowei, Chen Yinque, and Chen Yuan closely interacted with Western scholars such as Paul Pelliot, and Antoine Mostaert. These communications promoted both Chinese and Western scholarships. In the 1930s-1940s, William Hung, Frances W. Cleaves and the younger generation of Chinese scholars laid the foundation for the philological approach of the Mongol-Yuan history which lead to fruitful contributions in China.