Research On The Development Of Tibetan Studies In France In The 20th Century

This paper restores the social and historical background of France in the 20 th century and analyzes the reasons for the emergence of tibetology in France from multiple perspectives by comprehensive use of multilingual literature materials and literature analysis methods.This paper periodically combs the general situation of the germination,development,stagnation and exploration of French Tibetology in the first and second half of the 20 th century.This paper enumerates the main contents of the Tibetan studies of representative French scholars Alexandra David-Neel,Jacques Bacot,Levi and Rolf Alfred Stein.It also expounds the French Tibetan scholars' research on Tibetan culture,the ancient literature of Dunhuang,Tibetan language and Tibetan epic Gesar,in order to find out the basic characteristics of the development of French Tibetology in the 20 th century.France is one of the countries that initiated Tibetan studies in Europe and the world,which has been more than 100 years since the beginning of the 19 th century.The 20 th century is a critical period for the establishment and development of the discipline of Tibetology in France.The development of society and the progress of science and technology in this period promoted the rapid development of natural science,sociology,history and other disciplines in France,promoted the germination of Tibetology in France.At the beginning of the last century,explorers such as Alexandra David-Neel took the lead in travelling and investigating in Tibetan areas of China,and published related work,which aroused French attention to Tibetan.In 1908 Paul Pelliot brought back a large number of important ancient Tibetan historical documents from Dunhuang in China,which became an important content and prominent point of French Tibetan studies in the first half of the 20 th century.In the second half of the 20 th century,when facing the war and the change of the global social structure,the traditional French Tibetology was limited and entered a stagnant period.In the face of this change,scholars such as Rolf Alfred Stein led the French Tibetan studies to advance gradually through unremitting efforts and exploration.French Tibetan studies in the second half of the 20 th century changed the characteristics of the past that focused on the study of ancient history and philology,and concentrated more on modern studies that had rarely paid attention to in the past.It has expanded the scope of research,covering the aspects of Tibetan literature,art,medicine,folklore,society,etc.,presenting a focus on the combination of literature research and field surveys,and the use of anthropology,sociology and other interdisciplinary research methods for Tibetan studies,and shows a new look of French Tibetology.Due to various reasons,China's current research status and characteristics of the twentieth century Tibetan studies in France are not thorough enough,and the understanding of some scholars who have made significant contributions and their research contents is not enough.Therefore,reviewing and summarizing the development of French Tibetology in the 20 th century will not only help us to understand the individual academic thoughts and contributions of French Tibetologists,but also of great significance to promote the development of history,and clarify the development trend of French Tibetan studies in the 20 th century,philology and other disciplines,and grasp the development trends of international Tibetan studies.