This open access book is part of an oral history project covering almost 50 countries and various continents, focusing on the stories of sinologists/China researchers, their academic paths, their success and setbacks, and their views on China’s history, culture, society, political system and economic development. It includes the transcripts of academic interviews with 35 European sinologists. All have devoted their lives to studying China; some have even lived there for many years. As an essential pillar of China studies in these European countries, they offer uninterrupted contact with China, a deep understanding of the culture and authentic insights into Chinese society. In many cases, they also offer innovative research methodologies.

The book takes the form of interview transcripts, approaching the topic of China studies in a highly engaging way: academic but easy to read. Providing essential information on sinology and China studies in Europe, along with keys to getting to know the real China, it will benefit a broad range of readers, from China studies experts to general social science researchers, and from professionals who need a deeper understanding to do business with China to readers with a general interest in the country.

Jiagu Richter, PhD, retired from Department of East Asian Studies, University of Vienna; Senior Fellow of Austrian Institute for China and Southeast Asian Studies, non-resident professor, Southwest University of China. Latest publications: Oral History of German and Austrian Sinologists (Social Science Press, China, 2020); Diplomatic Language (Bacopa Verlag, Austria, 2019); Legal Language (Bacopa, 2016); Academic focus: China’s foreign relations and diplomacy, history of international relations, and sinology/China studies in Europe.

Xu Wen, Professor and the former Dean of the College of International Studies, Southwest University, China; Editor-in-chief of Cognitive Linguistic Studies, Asian-Pacific Journal of Second and Foreign Language Education, and editorial board member for such journals as Metaphor and Symbol and Review of Cognitive Linguistics. He is President of the China Cognitive Translation Society and Vice President of both the China Cognitive Linguistics Association and China Pragmatics Association. He is the co-editor of The Routledge Handbook of Cognitive Linguistics, and the editor of the book series “Bloomsbury Studies in Language and Cognition” and “Frontiers in China Cognitive Linguistics.” His major research interests include cognitive linguistics, cultural and anthropological linguistics, pragmatics, etc. 

Chih-yu Shih, Professor, retired from Department of Political Science, Director of the Research and Educational Center for China Studies and Cross Taiwan Strait Relations, National Taiwan University. Academic focus: China studies, political psychology, and culture studies. Latest publications: Post-Chineseness: Cultural Politics and International Relations (State University of New York Press, 2021); Eros of International Relations: Self-feminizing and the Claiming of Postcolonial Chineseness (Hong Kong University Press, 2021).