| 1935
the Divine Word missionary and German sinologist Franz
Xaver Biallas (1878-1936) decided to establish a scholarly
sinological journal to replace a former periodical of
Fu Jen University in Peking. Since then “Monumenta Serica.
Journal of Oriental Studies [of the Catholic University
of Peking ]” was born, and a respective institute took
the same name. Monumenta Serica is a Latin expression
with the meaning –“Chinese relics” or “the records of
Chinese culture”.
At that time
the president of Fu Jen University Chen Yuan (1880-1971)
considered the appearance of the journal as a very important
event, and himself chose a Chinese name for it – Hua-yi
with the meaning “China and her neighbouring countries.”
Since its
establishment “Monumenta Serica” had a very peculiar
historical development. In 1949 it was moved to Japan,
first to Tokyo, and then the Nanzan University in Nagoya,
run by the Society of the Divine Word. In response to
the invitation of University of California in Los Angeles,
the institute was moved to the Linguistics Department
of this university in 1963. In 1972 the institute was
moved again, this time to St. Augustin (near Bonn/Germany),
where first was a part of the ethnological Institute
《Anthropos》, and later it became an independent unit.
On August
1, 2002 Fu Jen Catholic University and the Institute
Monumenta Serica founded together at the College of
Foreign Languages and Literature “Monumenta Serica Sinological
Research Center”. This establishment has its historical
meaning and anew marks an intimate relationship between
the Institute Monumenta
Serica, run
by the Society of the Divine Word, and Fu Jen Catholic
University. This cooperation helps the university to
achieve its goals, serving to facilitate cultural exchange
between China and the West and a dialogue and mutual
growth of Chinese culture and Christian faith.
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