August Strindberg's Sinology Studies In The 19th Century

The Swedish writer August Strindberg(1849-1912)created a large number of world-famous novels and dramas such as The Red Room,Miss Julie,A Drama of Dreams,etc.He also published many essays on China.His experience in Chinese learning and research on Chinese culture which was hardly known by the world,is the main contents of this paper.In the light of Strindberg's sinology studies,the paper is going to analyze the early history of cultural exchanges between China and Sweden(from the 1650s to the 1860s),reveal the reasons for the formation of Strindberg's view of China,and discuss the influence of China and Chinese culture on him.The introduction defines the research object and methods,summarizes research status,and discusses value of this research.The first chapter will give a general overview of Strindberg's life and the social status of Sweden in the 19th century.And it will give a brief review of the cultural exchanges history between China and Sweden before this period.The second chapter is an analysis of Strindberg's Chinese learning through the research of Swedish literature.The part will reveal the origin of Strindberg's interest in China,the process of his self-learning and his understanding of Chinese history and culture.The third chapter starts from the historical background of Bin Chun's diplomatic mission to Sweden,and then continues to analyze how Strindberg could independently complete the translation of Bin Chun's Travel Notes under limited conditions.Chapter four is Strindberg's compiling of a bibliography of Swedish Chinese books.In this chapter we can find out the specific contents and forms of Swedish Chinese books in the 19th century.Chapter five accounts for the early history of Swedish sinology including Strindberg's works,Swedish and Chinese historical documents,from the first Swedes who visited China recorded in the literature to Swedish prisoners in Siberia who had involved in Tu Lichen's mission,from establishment of the Swedish East India Company and the rise of Chinese fever in the 18th century in Sweden to the signing of the Treaty of Commerce between China and Sweden and the arrival of the first Swedish missionaries in China in the 19th century.Chapter six is a comment of Strindberg's works about China and the East.This thesis will also evaluate the significance and value of Strindberg's sinology studies.Finally,I'm going to summarize the full text and make some comments on the current development of relations between China and Sweden in the concluding part.I have collected a large number of first-hand documents and literature on Strindberg's sinology studies which have been neglected for a long time or have never been used before.I also translated many Strindberg's sinology research essays.All of these help to lay a literature foundation and research foundation for this paper.The documents of China and Sweden in the same period have been compared and combined in the historical background.The paper traces back the origin,process and achievements of Strindberg's sinology studies by reviewing documents,explores Strindberg's view on China by text analysis,and shows the early history of cultural exchanges between China and Sweden by historical research.The paper will supplement the research on Strindberg,provide evidence for studying early sinology in Sweden and fill up the gap in the research on amateur sinologists like Strindberg in the history of western sinology.