During an interview, Columbia University professor of Chinese History, Hans Bielenstein, and University of Chicago professor of Chinese Literature, David Tod Roy both expressed that the Republic of China (R.O.C.) is the most ideal place for researching Chinese language and culture, adding that the opportunities for researching and studying provided there are far and beyond those on the Chinese Mainland. Dr.’s Bielenstein and Roy are both directors of the Inter-University Program for Chinese Language Studies, Stanford University (Stanford Center). They said that since the center had been established in Taipei 18 years ago, over 700 students who’ve graduated the program have continued to study topics related to China after their return to the United States. Many of these students return to academia, government organizations, companies that are interested in Asia, as well as banks.

A Directorship Organized on Behalf of 10 American Universities.

“According to statistics, in American academia, every three out of four doctorate holders who research China have studied at the Stanford Center. It’s clear that the Stanford Center has had a massive influence on the realm of sinology and Chinese Studies in the United States.”

The Stanford Center is composed of 10 top-tier universities which study Chinese issues: Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Princeton, U. of Michigan, Cornell, U. Chicago, Stanford, U.C. Berkeley, as well as the University of Washington at Seattle. The schools sent representatives to form a board of directors and to make decisions on relevant issues. The center, located in a corner of National Taiwan University, uses intensive Chinese language training. The Stanford Center’s director is appointed by the board of directors.

The current director, James B. Anderson, studied at the Stanford Center from 1972-1973. He later went on to Columbia University where he earned a doctorate in political science. This year he is using his leave to return to Taipei and mentor other students. He points out that the majority of students recruited by the center are American graduate students who have already studied Chinese for one to two years. After applying, they need to pass a test administered by the board of directors. Simultaneously, they need a teacher’s recommendation, and after graduation they must continue working in the field of Chinese studies.

This time, Bielenstein’s and Roy’s main purpose in visiting Taiwan is to discuss the Stanford Center’s future with the relevant parties and see how the center can control rising costs by securing more funding.

All the Teachers are Chinese

Dr. Roy points out that when the center was first established, the salary received by experienced Chinese teachers was much higher than other instructors. But in the last 18 years, the R.O.C. government has thoroughly regulated the treatment of instructors and teachers. The center’s financial resources cannot keep up with the government’s speed and parameters. In comparison, the salary of teachers at the Stanford Center now seems less substantial. The directors have noticed the effects of this situation and are eager to find a solution to this problem.

At present, the Stanford Center has eight full-time teachers and twenty part-time instructors. All of them are Chinese. Students, on the other hand, number at thirty-one, nearly a one-to-one ratio for teaching courses. Each student attends twenty hours of class every week. In the two hours in the morning, students attend one-on-one courses. In the afternoon group classes, students are arranged in classes of two or three students. The teaching materials, emphasizing spoken Chinese, are written and published by the Center as needed. The period of study is usually nine months or a little longer.

The Stanford Center is planning to increase next year’s student numbers to forty-five. Dr. Bielenstein states: “The Center has fostered understanding between Chinese and Americans. When American students come here to study, not only do they learn Chinese, they also make connections with Chinese people to really understand Chinese culture and society. The Center’s importance and contributions are valued by many fields and industries in America.”

Both Professors are Famous American Sinologists

Dr. Bielenstein and Dr. Roy are both famous American Sinologists. The Sweden-born Bielenstein expressed that it was just happenstance that he began to develop an interest in Chinese studies after he was recognized by the great Swedish Sinologist Bernhard Karlgren. Originally studying history and geography, Bielenstein changed his research focus to the history of the Han Dynasty, specifically questions about population. Using the regional chorography in official historical books, he sought out each dynasty’s population estimates, and created a distribution map. He then looked at the disbursement circumstances and discovered that during the first century of the Western calendar, the Chinese population made its first southern migration. During the Tang Dynasty, they made their second migration. Since then, the southern population continued to increase.

Dr. Roy was born in Nanjing. He lived in China for a time with his missionary parents. However, three years after returning to the United States, he gradually began losing the Chinese he had learned. When he was sixteen or seventeen years old, Roy once more returned to mainland China. It was the end of the 1940’s; the government was very unstable, and his parents thought that further opportunities to return to China were unlikely. It would be an unacceptable loss if he didn’t use this chance to study Chinese. So, Roy’s parents found him a teacher with many years of experience teaching Chinese to foreigners. He had class for an hour every day just to learn Chinese. Once, Roy asked his teacher how to write his name in Chinese. He ended up spending the entire night practicing, becoming fascinated with Chinese calligraphy in the process. This motivated him to learn how to write in Chinese. After returning to America, he put all his efforts into studying sinology. He is especially interested in Chinese literature and traditional operas.

Most fond of The Golden Lotus and Dream of the Red Chamber

Dr. Roy, who is currently a professor in the translation of Chinese literature, is most fond of The Golden Lotus and Dream of the Red Chamber. He points out that within the past ten years, research in Chinese literature and plays has progressed in leaps and bounds. Not only has there been a new focus on early literary developments, but there’s also been avid research on plays and the traditional commentary within novels.

Roy says that studying these commentaries is extremely helpful in understanding the author’s thought processes and the original nature of the works. Unfortunately, after the May Fourth Movement, people often read the novels and plays, but no longer studied the commentaries. In the future, studies in this area should receive more attention and emphasis once more.

The Innate Advantage of Studying Sinology in Taiwan

While comparing studying sinology in Taiwan, the U.S., and Western Europe, Dr. Roy expressed that each area offers a great research environment. The number of American students and scholars is far greater than that of Western Europe, but Western Europe has many famous sinologists. The U.S. congressional library, Harvard, Columbia, U. Chicago, and U.C. Berkeley’s libraries are world-renowned for their abundant collections on sinology, which are a great help to researchers.

Bielenstein thinks that studying sinology in Taiwan gives researchers an innate advantage. Chinese scholars are more familiar with the Chinese language, society, and customs than Western scholars, and thus do not have to spend much time on this part of research. At the same time, the R.O.C. has many valuable historical materials which the U.S. and European countries do not possess. For example, some stone carvings stored at the Academia Sinica, which have not yet undergone imprints, are important historical artifacts for researching Ancient China. Other examples are some collections at the National Palace Museum. The two professors expressed their deep gratitude to the National Palace Museum for aiding scholars in their research.

In the past ten or twenty years, sinologists from the R.O.C., the U.S., and Western Europe have participated in many exchange events. These international sinology conventions have enabled scholars to exchange notes on their research.

New Scholars Give Rise to Cultural Exchanges

Both Dr. Bielenstein and Dr. Roy agree that developments in recent years have had a massive impact on the field of sinology. Today, young western scholars’ Chinese abilities are far stronger than the previous generation. In Taiwan, they can study Chinese materials themselves and use Chinese to engage in discussion with scholars in the field. At the same time, many Chinese scholars who have studied in the U.S. have translated papers of Western sinologists into Chinese, introducing them to R.O.C. sinologists and allowing for scholarly exchanges. Increasing activities like these have brought about much advancement and progress in sinology during the past twenty years.