Sinology

Sinology
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese漢學
Simplified Chinese汉学
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyinhànxué
Bopomofoㄏㄢˋ ㄒㄩㄝˊ
Wade–Gileshan4-hsüeh2
Tongyong Pinyinhàn-syué
IPA[xân.ɕɥě]
Yue: Cantonese
Jyutpinghon3 hok6
IPA[hɔn˧ hɔk̚˨]
Southern Min
Hokkien POJhàn-ha̍k
Vietnamese name
VietnameseHán học
Korean name
Hangul한학
Hanja漢學
Transcriptions
Revised Romanizationhanhak
McCune–Reischauerhanhak
Japanese name
Kanji漢学
Hiraganaかんがく
Katakanaカナガク
Transcriptions
Romanizationkangaku

Sinology, also referred to as China studies, is a subfield of area studies or East Asian studies involved in social sciences and humanities research on China. It is an academic discipline that focuses on the study of the Chinese civilization primarily through Chinese language, history, culture, literature, philosophy, art, music, cinema, and science. Its origin "may be traced to the examination which Chinese scholars made of their own civilization."[1]

The academic field of sinology often refers to Western scholarship. Until the 20th century, it was historically seen as equivalent to philology concerning the Chinese classics and other literature written in the Chinese language.[2] Since then, the scope of sinology has expanded to include Chinese history and palaeography, among other subjects.

  1. ^ Cf. p.4, Zurndorfer, China Bibliography
  2. ^ Honey (2001), p. xi.