| Edward Hetzel Schafer is one of the most eminent sinologists during the second half of the 20 th Century and is a master in the studies of history,literature and Taoism of T'ang Dynasty.Due to his reputation in Sinology Sphere,there is a spring of brilliant translations and sophisticated studies concerning his works and scholarship since 1990 s in domestic academic circles,with remarkable achievements.However,when compared with Mr.Edward's unique and irreplaceable position in the narrative of the History of Western Sinology,especially in the branch of classical sinology,and when compared with the richness and diversity of his works,the current studies we have taken is still relatively inadequate.Based on textual analysis,historical analysis and cross-cultural comparation,this paper aims to present a comprehensive investigation of Mr.Edward's life and academic achievements,in the meantime focusing on the following aspects: firstly,this paper will sort out the historical facts related to Mr.Edward's sinological works through collection,collation and textual analysis;Secondly,the most representative monographs will be selected for further textual analysis and thematic research from the perspective of dynamic changings of academic visions and philological methods,so as to deepen our understanding of the basic modes and features Mr.Edward applied in his sinological studies;Thirdly,a study based on the perspective of the History of Western Sinology is needed.Only in this way can we see the whole from the part,can we get a possible reference system and a way to reflect on the important issues such as the historical trends,theoretical characteristics,academic visions of Western Sinology through the case studies of Edward H.Schafer and his works.As for the concrete contents,the first part of this paper will be a brief narrative of the historical development of classical sinology before Schafer's Time.Classical sinology originated from the primitive records and observations of the early Spanish-Portuguese Catholic priests,it then became sophisticated and systematized since the rise of the French school in the 19 th century.Abe Remusat,Julius Julien,Henry Maspero and others witnessed the development of classical Sinology from amateur personal hobbies to mature scholarship.Classical Sinology of the French School is based on philology,attaching great importance to the arts of translation and annotation works and has been promoted by the succeeding scholars such as Friedrich Hirth and Berthold Laufer,thus cultivating the seed of sinology in the soil of the American scholarship.The birth and development of the Department of Oriental languages at the University of California,Berkeley is rooted in this historical context.Through the teaching and research practices of Ferdinand Lessing,Zhao Yuanren,Peter Boodberg and other scholars,the oriental department of UCB has eventually been the most important center of Chinese Studies on the east coast of the U.S.It's no doubt to say that Edward H.Schafer is an outstanding student of the Oriental Department,but there are other academic genes that constitutes his personal scholarship as a unique whole.The interests of different human cultures and literature works in Schafer's early days shaped his broad scholarly visions and artistic senses;His linguistic talent and assiduity helped him master dozens of languages both from the western and eastern worlds,which provided conveniences for widely utilizing documentations in many different languages for a certain research subject;The professional training of undergraduate Anthropology enabled Schafer to integrate the methods of the Boas School with the traditional philological research;Finally,his doctoral experience under the teachings of the famous philologist Peter Boodberg has laid a solid foundation and forged unique features for the his philological approaches,academic visions and translation methods of his scholarship.Based on the above historical narrative and analysis of Schafer's academic origin,this paper examines Schafer's sinological works from the perspective of bibliography.By collecting,arranging,close reading and analyzing Schafer's sinological heritages,we come to a general understanding of the basic characteristics and the developing track of diachronic evolution of Schafer's scholarship.Schafer's works can be divided into two groups,the Early Period(1950s-1960s),and the Late Period(1970s-1991)according to the scholarly interests and approaches Schafer showed in different times.In the Early Period,Schafer mainly devoted himself to the study of the material and cultural history of T'ang-Five Dynasties Period and was interested in the cross-cultural communication between China and the neighboring countries.The Empire of Min,The Golden Peaches of Samarkand,Vermilion Bird: T'ang Images of the South and other similar works belong to this period.In the Late Period,Schafer turned to the fields of Chinese mythology,folklores,Taoism and Taoist literature.The Divine Woman: Dragon Ladies and Rain Maidens in the T'ang Literature,Maoshan at T'ang Times,Mirages on the Sea of Tine: Taoist Poetry of Ts' ao T'ang are representative works in this period.This paper then makes a thematic case study of Schafer's two important monographs: Vermilion Bird: T'ang Images of the South and Mirages on the Sea of Tine: Taoist Poetry of Ts' ao T'ang.The first book,written in a style of traditional encyclopedia,makes a detailed and comprehensive introduction and description of the natural beings and social products in Nam-Viet District during the T'ang Dynasty by applying the philological translation-annotation strategy,anthropological methods and a certain degree of subjective imagination,so as to revive the unique world existing in the documentations and literatures of Medieval China.While the second book,Mirages on the Sea of Tine: Taoist Poetry of Ts' ao T'ang,is a grand monument of Schafer's personal approaches to the study of Taoist Literature.In this book,relying on close reading,Schafer discussed the connotation,motif,theme and other important literal issues of Ts' ao T'ang's poems,and then Schafer used them as research materials in order to carry out the further study of the Taoist Immortal Elysian that only existing in the imagination of the peoples of T'ang Dynasty.After finishing textual studies,this paper turns to the theoretical level,and reveals the philological theory and methodology that dominate the whole works of Schafer.This paper has pointed out the unchangeable values of Schafer's philological creed and has showed the unique features and advantages of Schafer's translation methodology and practices which aim at preserving and rendering the semantic color and contextual contents of the source language.Due to his scholarly works and contributions to the fields of the studies of Medieval China,as well as his activities to improve the study and understanding of Chinese culture in America by class teachings,society duties,social activities,etc.,it is without doubt to say that Schafer is the representative scholar of classical sinology during the second half of 20 th Century in the western world. |
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