Sinology, based on the pre-Qin classics and a hundred schools of thought, covers a complete cultural and academic system, including Confucian Classics in Han Dynasty, Metaphysics in Wei and Jin Dynasties, Taoism in Sui and Tang Dynasties, Neo-Confucianism in Song and Ming Dynasties, practical learning in Ming and Qing Dynasties, poems in Tang and Song Dynasties, Yuanqu, novels in Ming and Qing Dynasties and historiography of past dynasties. In the history of China, "Sinology" refers to the official school headed by "imperial academy". Since "Western learning spread to the east" generally refers to "China's traditional ideological and cultural scholarship".

In addition to the basic definition, the academic community has not yet made a unified and clear definition of the specific definition.

Generally speaking, Sinology, also known as Sinology or China Studies, refers to the traditional culture and scholarship of China. Chinese studies include China's ancient philosophy, history, religion, literature, customs, textual research, ethics, traditional Chinese medicine, agriculture, martial arts, geography, politics, economy, painting and calligraphy, music, architecture and many other aspects. The concept of "Chinese studies" came into being in the 1920s, when the trend of thought of "Western learning spreading to the East" was in full swing. Zhang Zhidong, Wei Yuan and others put forward the concept of "middle school" (Chinese studies) in order to oppose western learning, and advocated that "middle school should be the body and western learning should be used". On the one hand, they studied western civilization, and at the same time, they resumed the study of Confucian classics in the Han Dynasty.

Sinology, based on pre-Qin classics and a hundred schools of thought contend, covers a whole set of unique and complete cultural and academic systems, such as Confucian Classics in Han Dynasty, Metaphysics in Wei and Jin Dynasties, Taoism in Sui and Tang Dynasties, Neo-Confucianism in Song and Ming Dynasties, practical learning in Ming and Qing Dynasties, pre-Qin poetry, parallel prose in Six Dynasties, poetry in Tang and Song Dynasties, Yuanqu, novels in Ming and Qing Dynasties, and historiography in past dynasties. Hundred schools of thought's theory in the pre-Qin period was * * *, and there was no master-slave relationship. According to the role played in different periods, each theory played an explicit or implicit role in each period, only in different fields; Confucianism has occupied the mainstream position in the field of ideological education since Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty "ousted a hundred schools of thought, but other schools of thought have also played an important role in different fields, such as Taoism and Legalism in the political field, Taoism and Physicians in the military field, and other schools in various fields (famous artists, Mohists, farmers, etc.). ), and a certain field has played a mainstream role. Therefore, there is no division between the schools of Chinese studies, and no school is the main body.

The concept of "Sinology" has existed in the history of China.

There is the concept of "Chinese studies" in Zhou Li, Han Shu, Han Shu and Jin Shu. There was one in the Tang Dynasty. It can be seen that there is a Bailudong Academy under Lushan Mountain, which was built by Zhu Shoujian in the Southern Song Dynasty and became one of the "four major academies" at that time. But before Zhu, this place was not called Bailudong Academy, but called "Bailudong Chinese Studies". What does Bailudong Chinese Studies mean? This is a school. It can be seen that in the history of China, the concept of "Sinology" exists, and the word "Sinology" also exists, but the so-called "Sinology" always refers to the meaning of "Sinology". At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, Zhongdu Guo Zi School was established, and later changed to imperial academy, which was in charge of the order of Chinese students. Imperial academy has etiquette, music, law, archery, imperial examination, calligraphy, mathematics and other teaching subjects.

In modern times, the so-called "Sinology" was considered by some scholars to have originated in Japan. In the middle of the Edo period, some people in the Japanese ideological circle, such as Tian Chunren of the Netherlands, advocated studying Japanese ancient books to understand the local culture, so they were called "Sinology". During the May 4th Movement, Chen Duxiu and others launched the New Culture Movement, blaming China's backwardness and beatings on the feudal system for two thousand years, and blaming Confucius and the Four Books and Five Classics for putting forward radical slogans such as "Down with Kongjiadian". However, in the later stage of the movement, Hu Shi and others put forward the slogan of "sorting out the national heritage" and advocated the slogan of "studying problems, introducing theories, sorting out the national heritage and recreating civilization", trying to find an organic combination of Chinese and Western civilizations from China traditional culture and find a way out for China's new life. 1934, Zhang founded the Zhang Guoxue Research Society in Suzhou, and gave a summary explanation of Chinese studies. Zhang's remarks were recorded and sorted out, and books such as On the Balance of National Heritage, An Introduction to Chinese Studies and Zhang Taiyan's Lectures on Chinese Studies were published, which had a great influence in the 1920s and 1930s. Zhang divided the so-called Chinese studies into five parts: primary school, Confucian classics, history, philosophers and literature, from which we can see his definition of the scope of Chinese studies. In addition, Hu Shi, Gu Jiegang, Qian Mu and others also have various expositions on "national studies", "national quintessence" and "national quintessence". Since the spread of western learning to the east, in order to distinguish western learning from middle school, the concept of "China's traditional ideological and cultural studies" has appeared. 1949 after the founding of new China, with the criticism of Hu Shi's comprador philosophy and bourgeois idealism, as well as previous literary criticism movements, "Sinology" as a slogan or noun has basically disappeared. Only after 1980s, with the rising trend of thought of "Love China" and the slogan of "The Rise of China", especially the spread of Confucius Institutes overseas and the constant performance of memorial ceremonies for Confucius in China, "Sinology" became more and more popular at home and abroad.

Meaning Interpretation What is Chinese Studies? There are different interpretations of the meaning of this word, and there is no unified understanding in society. Some scholars believe that Chinese studies, whether ancient or modern, all cultural studies in China belong to Chinese studies; Some scholars also believe that Chinese studies are specially designed for governing the country and politics, and Chinese studies specifically refer to the study of "governing the country and politics". But in any case, two things are certain:

What is the basic definition of Chinese studies? The present significance of Sinology is relative to that of Western Learning after the introduction of Western Learning to the East, so Sinology is indisputably "China's inherent cultural knowledge".

The scope of Chinese studies is broad and complex, and is it not subject to the master? Sinology is based on hundred schools of thought in the pre-Qin period. In the pre-Qin period, a hundred schools of thought contended and a hundred flowers blossomed. For example, judging from the role played by each period, the Hundred Schools of Thought played an important role in all corresponding fields in each period, so the Hundred Schools of Thought did not split into two.

Nowadays, traditional Chinese studies generally refer to various cultural studies based on pre-Qin classics and hundred schools of thought, covering later generations. Therefore, in a broad sense, China's ancient and modern culture and scholarship include China's ancient history, thought, philosophy, geography, politics, economy, painting and calligraphy, music, Yi-ology, martial arts, medicine, astrology, architecture and so on. They are all involved in Chinese studies. The name of "Sinology" began in the late Qing Dynasty. At that time, European and American academics entered China under the names of "New Learning" and "Western Learning". In contrast, people call China's inherent knowledge "old learning", "middle school" or "national studies". Sinology can also refer to China's ancient theory. Among them, the pre-Qin philosophers are the representatives, and their thoughts and theories have far-reaching influence on the traditional culture of China. They formed the thoughts of military strategists, legalists, Mohists, Confucianists and Taoists. These thoughts discuss how to govern the country from different aspects. It had a far-reaching influence on the rulers of past dynasties, and gradually formed China's traditional cultural concept.