A Study Of Lodovico Nocentini,a Leader In The Italian Sinology At The Turn Of The 19^th To 20^th Century

At the turn of the 19th to 20th century,as the economic and colonial systems of the capitalist world were finally established,China became a semi-colonial society.Diplomatic legations were set up in China by all the western countries,which conduct research on China in support of their political and economic activities.Italy,which had just completed its national unification,was unwilling to be outdone.The long tradition of Italian sinology then gradually changed its main research from missionaries to modern and secular subjects,and from academic sinology to on-site study of the real China.In this period the famous Italian orientalist and professor of far-east language and literature,one of the first Italian diplomats to be sent to China,Lodovico Nocentini(1849-1910),was a representative figure that played an important leading role in reviving Italian sinology and acted as a connecting link between the preceding and the following.By analysing his works,exploring the transition between his roles as a scholar and a diplomat,how his Chinese cultural attainments enabled him to examine various events in reality from a diplomat's perspective can be showed.Taking use of first-hand archival materials and original documents related to Nocentini in the University of Florence and the University of Rome,in the archives and the library of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and in other libraries,through combination of theories and methods of historical research and international politics,from the linguistic and cultural perspectives,this dissertation makes a comprehensive analysis of Nocentini's diplomatic and academic career,and explores the course in which he led Italian sinology to turn from weakness to prosperity and how he promoted the development and opened up a new research direction of Italian sinology.Through analysis of his important works,this dissertation grasps his studies on Chinese society,culture,Sino-Italian relations and Italian foreign policy reflected in them.Based on history,this dissertation consists of five chapters,which elaborates Nocentini's biography and academic path;Nocentini's research on Chinese ideology,language and literature by inheriting Italian sinology tradition;Nocentini's diplomatic experience in the context of modern Italy's foreign policy on East Asia and his exploration of China's international relations;his special viewpoint of China based on his research and thinking on China's realistic politics,economy and society;the journals,university,language school and library,associations and other organizational activities established by Nocentini when he acted as a professor and academic director of sinology at the Oriental Institute of Naples and University of Rome,as well as his contributions and important leading role in Italian sinology in the 20th century.Through detailed analysis and investigation,this dissertation reveals the significance of Italian sinology at the turn of the 19th to 20th century for the whole development history of Italian sinology;the significance of Nocentini's above research and activities for Sino-Italian cultural exchange and the influence on the transmission of Chinese culture to the West.It is hoped that this study can enrich the study of the history of Sino-Italian relations at the turn of the 19th to 20th century and reveal more historical facts and details for the study of the late Qing Dynasty history.