Tai Li-chuan 戴麗娟
IHP and French Scholars in Republican China
During the Republican Period (1912-1949), Chinese scholars generally believed that Paris was the world’s center in the field of Sinology. When the Institute of History and Philology (IHP) was established in 1928, it was hoped that the endeavors of its research fellows would one day bring the center of Sinology back to China. In line with this ambition, the IHP conducted foundational research and, at the same time, actively made connections with international Sinologists to draw on their expertise. Among French Sinologists in that era, Paul Pelliot had the most stable and frequent cooperation with the IHP, which invited him to work first as its foreign correspondent and then as a contract research fellow years later. In addition, young Chinese scholars were sent to the National Library of France to transcribe the ancient Dunhuang documents, the ones that Pelliot had brought to Paris when he was an EFEO member. In the early 1930s, the excavation of the Ruins of Yin, conducted by the IHP in Anyang, Henan Province, gradually attracted international attention among Sinologists. Thanks to Pelliot’s nomination, the IHP was awarded the famous Prix Stanislas Julien in 1932 for its publications related to this excavation. In 1935, with Pelliot’s recommendation, about 100 pieces of objects excavated by IHP fellows in Anyang were selected to be part of exhibits at the International Exhibition of Chinese Art in London which was the biggest international exhibition of Chines objects to date. All these instances of international exposure strengthened the IHP’s position as a significant global player in Sinology.
With their research findings from the Ruins of Yin relics, the Juyan Wooden Slips, archives of the Grand Secretariat, and the Dunhuang documents—the so-called four great discoveries in the Republican China— IHP members finally had the feeling, by the end of 1930s, that they did bring the world’s center of Sinology back to China.
Besides Pelliot, the IHP also invited another French scholar, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, to serve as a contract research fellow to help in the field of paleontology. A paleolithic collection initially belonging to the famous French archeologist, Gabriel de Mortillet, was purchased by the IHP and has been preserved until now.
All these activities show the multidimensionality of exchanges between the IHP and French scholars in Republican China. These early examples, in some sense, paved the way for later collaborations between the two parties after the IHP’s relocation to Taipei, Taiwan.
With their research findings from the Ruins of Yin relics, the Juyan Wooden Slips, archives of the Grand Secretariat, and the Dunhuang documents—the so-called four great discoveries in the Republican China— IHP members finally had the feeling, by the end of 1930s, that they did bring the world’s center of Sinology back to China.
Besides Pelliot, the IHP also invited another French scholar, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, to serve as a contract research fellow to help in the field of paleontology. A paleolithic collection initially belonging to the famous French archeologist, Gabriel de Mortillet, was purchased by the IHP and has been preserved until now.
All these activities show the multidimensionality of exchanges between the IHP and French scholars in Republican China. These early examples, in some sense, paved the way for later collaborations between the two parties after the IHP’s relocation to Taipei, Taiwan.