A Study Of E.D.Edwards’ Achievements In Sinology

During the first half of the 20 th century,the British sinology was in the transition stage from missionary sinology to academic sinology.There are several masters of sinology,such as Arthur waley and Lionel Giles,who were outstanding in the British sinology circle and even the international sinology circle.Although far less famous than either of the two,E.D.Edwards’ writings on sinology are characterized by the transitional phase of British sinology in the first half of the 20 th century.She doesn’t lack formal education in university,but her research,lacking the solid literature foundation of academic sinology,is obviously characterized by the non-academic characteristics of the British sinology in this period.Her research focuses on the short stories of the T’ang period and Confucius.Especially the research on the short stories of the T’ang period,making her be the first western Sinologist to study classical Chinese fiction,which is of certain significance to the expansion of sinology research.As far as the study of her study on the short stories of the T’ang period is concerned,the literature basis selected is T’ang tai ts’ ung shu.Although the value of this literature is questionable,it does not affect her understanding of the short stories.Her study of the fiction with the consciousness of history embodies certain progress.However,her understanding of the two different styles of ancient Chinese classical fiction and prose is not clear enough.For example,she classifies the anecdote stories of the T’ang tai ts’ ung shu into the category of historical prose,which indicates that her understanding of the short stories of the T’ang period is not accurate enough,and her grasp of the stylistic features of the fiction is not accurate,too.This is the limitation of E.D.Edwards’ understanding of Chinese culture as a western scholar,but it is inevitable under the special background of the transformation of British sinology in the first half of the 20 th century.Nevertheless,her academic research still has certain value in the translation and introduction of Chinese literature.Her book Confucius has enriched the existing research achievements of Confucius in the English field and provided new ideas for the study of Confucius and his thoughts.The purpose of this paper is to re-evaluate the status of E.D.Edwards in the development history of sinology by exploring her achievements in sinology,and on thisbasis,to re-position her role in the transformation of British sinology.