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Italian Sinology: Honoring the Tradition, Facing the Present and Securing a Future

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 March 2023

Luisa M. Paternicò Open the ORCID record for Luisa M. Paternicò [Opens in a new window]
Luisa M. Paternicò*
Affiliation:
“L'Orientale” University of Naples, Italy
*
*Corresponding author. Email: lmpaternico@unior.it
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Abstract

For centuries, Italy was in the forefront of studying and spreading knowledge on China in the West. Some of the leaders of the exceptional cultural exchanges of the seventeenth century were Italian. After a period of decline, from the second half of the twentieth century, there has been a revival of China studies. Following the growth of China's international impact, the traditional research fields have been supplemented by new specializations. Studies on modern China, its language, politics, institutions, society, economy, media etc., have enriched the Sinological panorama and multiplied university courses.

After an overview of Italian Sinology of the past, this study will focus on the recent developments: the universities, the research fields, the scholars, the associations and journals involved. The challenges the Sinologists are facing, due to the current Chinese political situation, will be highlighted, together with some consideration of the future of Italian Sinology.

Keywords

Italian SinologyItalian China missionariesJesuits in ChinaSinology in Italian AcademiaItalian Sinological JournalsItalian Association of Chinese StudiesItalian Association of Chinese Linguistics
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Chinese History 中國歷史學刊 , Volume 7 , Issue 2 , July 2023 , pp. 375 - 408
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Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press

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References

1 See Mungello, David E., Curious Land: Jesuit Accommodation and the Origins of Sinology (Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 1985), 13–14.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

2 See Paternicò, Luisa M., “Following the Path of Italian Sinology,” in From Sinology to Post-Chineseness: Intellectual History of China, Chinese People, and Chinese Civilization, edited by Chih-yu, Shih, Peizhong, He, and Lei, Tang (Beijing: Zhongguo shehui kexue chubanshe, 2017), 25–29Google Scholar; Paternicò, Luisa M., “Elements of Chinese Grammar: An Unknown Manuscript of the Italian Sinologist Antelmo Severini,” in 文心 Wenxin: L'essenza della scrittura. Contributi in onore di Alessandra Cristina Lavagnino, edited by Bulfoni, Clara, Jin, Zhigang, Lupano, Emma, and Mottura, Bettina (Milan: Franco Angeli, 2017), 347–48Google Scholar.

3 Part of the content of this paragraph can be found in Paternicò, “Following the Path of Italian Sinology,” 19–24

4 This article adopts a narrower definition of “Sinologist” compared to the broader one in Paternicò, “Following the Path of Italian Sinology,” 29–40

5 Paternicò, Luisa M., When the Europeans Began to Study Chinese: Martino Martini's Grammatica Linguae Sinensis (Leuven: Leuven University Press, 2013), 23–30Google Scholar.

6 On Ruggieri see Pfister, Louis, Notices biographiques et bibliographiques sur le Jésuites de l'ancienne mission de Chine, 1552–1773, 2 vols. (Shanghai: Imprimerie de la Mission Catholique, 1932), 1:15–21Google Scholar; Dehergne, Joseph, Repertoire de Jesuites de Chine de 1552 à 1800 (Rome: Institutuum Historicum S. I., 1973), 235–36Google Scholar. Gisondi, Francesco Antonio, Michele Ruggieri missionario in Cina e primo sinologo europeo (Milan: Jaca Book, 1999)Google Scholar; Masini, Federico, “Michele Ruggieri, the First European Sinologist,” in The Generation of Giants 2, edited by Luisa M. Paternicò (Trent: Centro Studi Martino Martini, 2015), 13–19Google Scholar.

7 The Latin manuscript is preserved in Rome, National Library, Fondo Gesuitico (3314), 1185. The Spanish version, also originally in manuscript form, has been published in Meynard, Thierry and Villasante, Roberto, eds., La filosofía moral de Confucio por Michele Ruggieri (Madrid: Mensajero, 2018)Google Scholar.

8 See Sardo, Eugenio Lo, ed., Atlante della Cina di Michele Ruggieri S.I. (Rome: Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato, 1993)Google Scholar.

9 The bibliography on Ricci is extensive; see mainly Pfister, Notices biographiques, 22–42; Dehergne, Repertoire, 219–20; Hsia, Ronnie Po-chia, A Jesuit in the Forbidden City 1552–1610 (Oxford: Oxford University Press 2010)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

10 For Martini's biography see Paternicò, When the Europeans Began to Study Chinese, 49–58; Giuliano Bertuccioli, ed., Martino Martini, Opera Omnia, I (Trent: Università degli Studi di Trento, 1998), 511–33; Pfister, Notices biographiques, 256–62; Dehergne, Repertoire, 166–67.

11 The Italian translation and critical edition of the De Bello Tartarico Historia can be found in Federico Masini, Luisa M. Paternicò, and Davor Antonucci, eds., Martino Martini S.J., Opera Omnia. vol. V, De Bello Tartarico Historia e altri scritti (Trent: Università degli Studi di Trento, 2013) 189–336. That of the Sinicae Historiae Decas Prima can be found in Federico Masini and Luisa M. Paternicò, eds., Martino Martini S.J., Opera Omnia. vol. IV, Sinicae Historiae Decas Prima (Trent: Università degli Studi di Trento, 2010).

12 Italian translation and critical edition in Giuliano Berticcioli, ed., Martino Martini S.J., Opera Omnia. vol. III, Novus Atlas Sinensis (Trent: Università degli Studi di Trento, 2002).

13 See Masini, Paternicò, and Antonucci, Martino Martini S.J., Opera Omnia, V, 337–98; Paternicò, When the Europeans Began to Study Chinese, 87–226.

14 On Intorcetta see Mungello, David E., The Forgotten Christians of Hangzhou (Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 1994), 41–67Google Scholar; Carmelo Capizzi, “Per una biografia scientifica di Prospero lntorcetta,” in Atti del convegno Scienziati Siciliani Gesuiti in Cina nel XVII secolo, edited by Alcide Luini (Rome: Istituto Italo-cinese, 1983), 197–217; Luisa M. Paternicò, “Translating the Master: The Contribution of Prospero Intorcetta to the Confucius Sinarum Philosophus,” Monumenta Serica 65.1 (2017), 87–121.

15 For his biography, see Giuliano Bertuccioli, “Brollo Basilio,” in Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, XIV (Rome: Istituto dell'Enciclopedia italiana, 1972), 454–56.

16 On Ripa see Michele Fatica, ed., Matteo Ripa, Giornale (1705–1724), 2 vols. (Naples: Istituto Universitario Orientale, 1991–96); Michele Fatica, ed., Matteo Ripa e il Collegio dei Cinesi di Napoli, 1682–1869: percorso documentario e iconografico: Catalogo della Mostra, Archivio di Stato di Napoli, 18 novembre 2006–31 marzo 2007 (Naples: Università degli studi di Napoli “L'Orientale,” 2006); Emanuele Raini, “Matteo Ripa (1682–1746): The Dream and the Difficulties of a Chinese College,” in The Generation of Giants 2, edited by Luisa M. Paternicò (Trent: Centro Studi Martino Martini, 2015), 75–80.

17 See Matteo Ripa, Storia della fondazione della Congregazione e del Collegio dei cinesi (Naples: Tip. Manfredi, 1832); Miriam Castorina, “I materiali didattici del Collegio dei Cinesi di Napoli: una ricerca preliminare,” in Atti del XIII Convegno A.I.S.C., Milano 22–23 settembre 2011, edited by Clara Bulfoni and Silvia Pozzi (Milan: Franco Angeli, 2014), 145–55; Miriam Castorina, “Nabulesi Zhonghua shuyuan ji qi Hanyu jiaoxue” 那不勒斯中华书院及其汉语教学, Guoji hanxue yanjiu tongxun 12 (2016), 89–102.

18 The literature on the subject is vast; see David E. Mungello, The Chinese Rites Controversy, Its History and Meaning, Monumenta Serica Monograph Series 33 (Sankt Augustin: Institute Monumenta Serica, 1994).

19 Giuliano Berticcioli and Federico Masini, Italia e Cina (Bari: Laterza, 1996), 175–76. Some of the contents presented in the following pages are an edited and updated version of what already published in Paternicò, “Following the Path of Italian Sinology,” 24–29.

20 For a reconstruction of Sinology in Italy in the Nineteenth century, sec Giovanni Vacca, “Asia Oricntale,” in Gli studi orientalistici in Italia negli ultimi cinquant'anni (1861–1911), Rivista degli Studi Orientali 17.5 (1913), 275–319; Giuliano Bertuccioli, “Per una storia della sinologia italiana: prime note su alcuni sinologi e interpreti di cinese,” Mondo Cinese 74 (1991), 9–39; Giuliano Bertuccioli, “Gli studi sinologici in Italia dal 1600 al 1950,” Mondo Cinese 81 (1993), 9–22, and its English version: “Sinology in Italy 1600–1950,” in Europe Studies China (London: Han-Shan Tang Books, 1995), 67–78; Davor Antonucci and Serena Zuccheri, L'insegnamento del cinese in Italia tra passato e presente (Rome: La Sapienza Orientale, 2010), 11–32.

21 On Montucci, see S. Villani, “Montucci Antonio,” in Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, vol. 76 (Rome: Istituto dell'Enciclopedia italiana, 2012); Donatella Cherubini and Anna Di Toro, Da Siena all'Europa guardando alla Cina. Antonio Montucci, 1762–1829 (Pisa: Pacini editore, 2021).

22 On Calleri, see Bertuccioli, “ Gli studi sinologici in Italia,” 15; also Ksenia A. Kozha, “Systema phoneticum scripturae sinicae by J.-M. Callery, Translation and Comments by Father Iakinf (Bichurin), Critical Review by V. P. Vasiliev: One Manuscript, Three Dimensions,” Journal of the Institute of Oriental Studies 2019.3, 258–65.

23 Bertuccioli, “Gli studi sinologici in Italia,” 17–18.

24 Paternicò, “Elements of Chinese Grammar,” 346–58; Luisa M. Paternicò, “Le riflessioni linguistiche di Antelmo Severini in scritti editi e inediti,” in Atti del XVI Convegno AISC, Milano, settembre 2017, edited by E. Giunipero and C. Piccinini (Venice: Cafoscarina, 2019), 126–32.

25 Antonucci, Zuccheri, L'insegnamento del cinese in Italia, 20.

26 Bertuccioli, “Gli studi sinologici in Italia,” 13–14.

27 Antonucci and Zuccheri, L'insegnamento del cinese in Italia, 25–26; Michele Fatica, et al. “Sinologia e orientalistica all'Orientale di Napoli da Matteo Ripa al 1972,” in La rete dei saperi nelle università napoletane, edited by Cesare De Seta (Naples: Artem, 2020), III: 228.

28 Bertuccioli, “Per una storia della sinologia italiana,” 23–25.

29 His travel diary has been recently published: Tiziana Lioi, ed., Viaggio in Cina 1907–1908: Diario di Giovanni Vacca (Rome: L'Asino D'oro, 2016).

30 For a more detailed account, see Antonino Di Giovanni, “Giuseppe Tucci, l'ISMEO e gli orientalismi nella politica estera del fascismo,” Annali della facoltà di Scienze della formazione Università degli studi di Catania 11 (2012), 77–78; Antonucci, Zuccheri, L'insegnamento del cinese in Italia, 27–29; Lionello Lanciotti, “Giovanni Vacca (1872–1953),” East and West 4 (1954), 40.

31 See Laura De Giorgi, “In the Shadow of Marco Polo: Writing About China in Fascist Italy,” Journal of Modern Italian Studies 15.4 (2010), 573–89.

32 See Luisa M. Paternicò, “Il quartiere italiano a Tianjin: storia di un insediamento,” Sulla via del Catai 3 (2009), 139–43; Maurizio Marinelli, “The Genesis of the Italian Concession in Tianjin: A Combination of Wishful Thinking and Realpolitik,” Journal of Modern Italian Studies 15.4 (2010), 536–56; Aglaia De Angeli, “Italian Land Auctions in Tianjin: Italian Colonialism in Early Twentieth-Century China,” Journal of Modern Italian Studies 15.4 (2010), 557–72.

33 Paternicò, “Il quartiere italiano a Tianjin,” 143–45; on Italy–China relations during Fascism see also Mario Filippo Pini, Italia e Cina, 60 anni tra passato e futuro (Rome: L'Asino d'oro, 2011), 30–36; Guido Samarani, “An Historical Turning Point: Italy's Relations with China before and after 8 September 1943,” Journal of Modern Italian Studies 15.4 (2010), 590–602.

34 Bertuccioli, “Gli studi sinologici in Italia dal 1600 al 1950,” 14; Antonucci and Zuccheri, L'insegnamento del cinese in Italia, 30–32.

35 Enrica Garzilli, L'esploratore del Duce: Le avventure di Giuseppe Tucci e la politica italiana in Oriente da Mussolini a Andreotti. Con il carteggio di Giulio Andreotti (Rome: Memori, Asiatica, 2012).

36 Di Giovanni, “Giuseppe Tucci,” 75–94.

37 This was for example the case of Severini, see Paternicò, “Elements of Chinese Grammar,” 349–50.

38 Regular University courses in the Chinese language began in 1868 in what later became “L'Orientale” University of Naples, in 1876 in “Sapienza” University of Rome, in 1960 in University of Pavia, in 1966 in “Ca’ Foscari” University of Venice, in 1980 in the Universities of Bologna and Milan, in 1984 in University of Perugia, in 1987 in University of Turin, in 1995 in University of Trieste, in 1997 in University of Salento, in 1999 in University of Cagliari, in 2000 in University of Florence. For all the others established between 2000 and 2008 see Antonucci and Zuccheri, L'insegnamento del cinese in Italia, 55–57; for the current universities offering courses of Chinese language and culture see the Appendix.

39 For the image of China post World War II, see Luisa M. Paternicò, “The Italian Image of China in the Second Half of the Twentieth Century,” in Oral History of China Studies in Italy, edited by Louisa M. Paternicò, Chih-Yu Shih, Rivista degli Studi Orientali, suppl. 2, vol. 90 (2017), 133–50.

40 On the history of Sinology in the second half of the twentieth century, see Lionello Lanciotti, “Gli studi sinologici in Italia dal 1950 al 1992,” Mondo Cinese 85 (1994), 17–26, also online at www.tuttocina.it/Mondo_cinese/085/085_lanc.htm. For more recent data (2010) see Antonucci and Zuccheri, L'insegnamento del cinese in Italia, 51–118.

41 Fatica et al., “Sinologia e orientalistica all'Orientale di Napoli,” 260.

42 See Laura De Giorgi, “Chinese Studies at Ca'Foscari: Lionello Lanciotti, Mario Sabattini and their Legacy,” in 150 Years of Oriental Studies at Ca’ Foscari, edited by Laura De Giorgi and Federico Greselin (Venice: Edizioni Ca’ Foscari 2018), 147–54.

43 See also Maurizio Scarpari and Tiziana Lippiello, eds., Caro Maestro … Scritti in onore di Lionello Lanciotti per l'Ottantesimo Compleanno (Venice: Cafoscarina, 2005).

44 For an account of his life, see Federico Masini and Marina Miranda, “Ricordo di un maestro,” Mondo Cinese 108 (2001), 47–53. For a detailed bibliography, see Antonino Forte and Federico Masini, eds., A Life Journey to the East: Sinological Studies in Memory of Giuliano Bertuccioli (Kyoto: Scuola italiana di studi sull'Asia Orientale, 2002).

45 Lanciotti, “Gli studi sinologici in Italia,” 17–26.

46 Sabattini taught in Venice from 1970. His research interests included several aspects of Chinese civilization: language and literature, but also history. See Laura De Giorgi, “Chinese Studies at Ca'Foscari,” 147–54; A selected bibliography of his work can be found in the volume edited by his daughter: Mario Sabattini, Zhu Guangqian's Life and Philosophy, edited by Elisa Sabattini (Leiden: Brill 2021), X–XII.

47 Corradini taught History of China and Eastern Asia in Naples from 1966 to 1975, then in University of Macerata until 1985; from then until the year 2000 he was full professor of History of Eastern Asia in “Sapienza” University of Rome. See Emilio Bottazzi, “In ricordo di Piero Corradini,” Mondo cinese 128 (2006), www.tuttocina.it/Mondo_cinese/128/128_bott.htm.

48 His biography can be found in Fatica et al., “Sinologia e orientalistica all'Orientale di Napoli,” 323–26.

49 After having been director of the Italian School of Oriental Studies in Kyoto for a few years, in 1981 he became professor in Naples. See Fatica et al., “Sinologia e orientalistica all'Orientale di Napoli,” 329.

50 She was also the founder and director of the Italian Cultural Institute in Shanghai from 2003 to 2006. A book in her honor, with bio-bibliographical information, has been edited by Maurizio Paolillo and Pierfrancesco Fedi: Arte dal Mediterraneo al mar della Cina. Genesi ed incontri di scuole e stili. Scritti in onore di Paola Mortari Vergara Caffarelli (Palermo: Officina Studi Medievali 2015).

51 Lucidi taught in Rome from 1970 until 2002. The proceedings of a conference held in Rome in 2007 in her honor have been published by Pierfrancesco Fedi et al., eds., Alla Maniera di … Convegno in ricordo di Maria Teresa Lucidi (Rome: Casa ed. Sapienza 2010).

52 Abbiati retired in 2019 but complete information on her research and publications can be found here: www.unive.it/data/persone/5591299/pubb_anno.

53 Scarpari is now retired but has a personal website with all of his activities and publications: www.maurizioscarpari.com/

54 Greselin also retired in 2019, more on him can be found online at www.unive.it/data/persone/5591832/curriculum.

55 Not much can be found on his life and academic career. His main work was Grammatica cinese (Bologna: Pàtron 1973).

56 Mario Sabattini and Paolo Santangelo, eds., Il pennello di lacca: La narrativa cinese dalla dinastia Ming ai giorni nostri (Bari: Laterza 1997).

57 On Palermo see Fatica et al., “Sinologia e orientalistica all'Orientale di Napoli,” 323, and Caterina, Lucia, “AnnaMaria Palermo (1943–2017),” Annali Sezione Orientale 78 (2018), 274–78CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

58 She is now retired. For more information see https://docenti.unior.it/index2.php?content_id=20021&content_id_start=1.

59 Cigliano is now retired. Some information on her life and career can be found at https://docenti.unior.it/index2.php?content_id=19128&content_id_start=1.

60 Dadò is also retired; she taught Chinese Language and Literature in Venice before arriving in Sapienza. See www.lettere.uniroma1.it/users/patrizia-dado

61 Lavagnino is now retired and more information about her can be found in the introduction of Clara Bulfoni et al., eds., 文心 Wenxin. L'essenza della scrittura. Contributi in onore di Alessandra Cristina Lavagnino (Milan: Franco Angeli, 2017), 13–18.

62 On Pozzana see www.dslo.unibo.it/planisferi/dslo/Pagine/PersoneCurriculum.aspx?IDPersona=18.

63 Stary is also retired. See www.unive.it/data/persone/5592827.

64 Fatica et al., “Sinologia e orientalistica all'Orientale di Napoli,” 322–23.The letters he sent from China have been published in Battaglia, Lucia and Trentin, Giorgio, eds., Filippo Coccia: Lettere dalla Cina (Rome: Aracne, 2017)Google Scholar. See also Mantici, Giorgio, Paderni, Paola, Varriano, Valeria, eds., Sulla Cina, 1958–1997/Filippo Coccia (Naples: IUO, 1998)Google Scholar.

65 Fatica et al., “Sinologia e orientalistica all'Orientale di Napoli,” 327

66 More information on him and his publications can be found at https://uniroma1.academia.edu/Paolosantangelo/CurriculumVitae.

67 Samarani is now retired. More info on him is available at www.unive.it/data/persone/5591740/curriculum.

68 Paola Paderni retired in October 2021. More information on her life and work can be found at https://docenti2.unior.it/index2.php?content_id=20837&content_id_start=1.

69 Victor H. Mair has edited a volume of essays in his honor: Buddhist Transformations and interactions, Essays in Honor of Antonino Forte (Amherst: Cambria Press 2017).

70 His cv and publications are available at www.unive.it/data/persone/5592463/curriculum. See also the remembrance written by Maurizio Paolillo, at http://chinesestudies.eu/?p=4209.

71 See n. 47, above.

72 Caterina is now retired; see Fatica et al., “Sinologia e orientalistica all'Orientale di Napoli,” 327–28.

73 See Appendix for further information and links to cv and publications of today's Italian Sinologists.

74 AISC website: https://aisc-org.it/.

75 AILC website: https://linguisticacinese.wixsite.com/ailc.

76 RSO website: http://www.libraweb.net/riviste.php?chiave=38.

77 AION-or website: https://www.unior.it/ateneo/265/1/aion-or.html.

78 Annali di Ca’ Foscari, Sez. Orientale website: https://edizionicafoscari.unive.it/en/edizioni4/riviste/annali-di-ca-foscari-serie-orientale/.

79 Mondo cinese website: www.tuttocina.it/Mondo_cinese/.

80 Ming Qing Yanjiu website: www.unior.it/ateneo/268/1/ming-qing-yanjiu.html.

81 Sulla via del Catai website: www.martinomartinicenter.org/sulla-via-del-catai.html.

82 Orizzonte Cina website: www.orizzontecina.unito.it/?page_id=118&lang=en.

83 Sinosfere website: http://sinosfere.com/sinosfere/.

84 See, for example, Miyake, Toshio, “‘Cin ciun cian’ (ching chong): Yellowness and Neo-Orientalism in Italy at the Time of COVID-19,” Philosophy & Social Criticism 47.4 (2021), 486–511CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Beatrice Gallelli et al., Italian Public Opinion on China in the Age of COVID-19. Longing for Economic Engagement Amid General Distrust (Bratislava: Central European Institute of Asian Studies, 2020).

85 The letter can be read at www.corriere.it/esteri/19_novembre_20/appello-docente-xi-jinping-incontri-studenti-hong-kong-466f6342-0bad-11ea-a21c-9507e0a03cd5.shtml.

86 The articles can be all read at this link: https://sinosfere.com/category/la-questione-di-hong-kong-e-il-ruolo-dei-sinologi/.

87 Attilio Andreini, “Ecco perché è fondamentale parlare,” Sinosfere November 2019, https://sinosfere.com/2019/11/25/attilio-andreini-ecco-perche-e-fondamentale-parlare/.

88 Fabio Lanza, “Ma il problema è come parlare,” Sinosfere December 2019, https://sinosfere.com/2019/12/01/fabio-lanza-ma-il-problema-e-come-parlare/.

89 Giovanni Andornino, “I rischi di auspici controproducenti per Hong Kong,” Sinosfere December 2019, https://sinosfere.com/2019/12/07/giovanni-andornino-i-rischi-di-auspici-controproducenti-per-hong-kong/.

90 Some of the interventions made during the roundtable were published on Sinosfere in a section entitled: Sinologists in the New Era promoted by Marco Fumian on October 1, 2020: https://sinosfere.com/category/sinologi-nella-nuova-era/.

91 Stefania Stafutti, “Zhongxue wei yong: la Cina come strumento?,” Sinosfere November 2020, https://sinosfere.com/2020/11/04/stefania-stafutti-zhongxue-wei-yong-la-cina-come-strumento/.

92 Guido Samarani, “noi e la Cina: né filocinesi, né anti-cinesi,” Sinosfere November 2020, https://sinosfere.com/2020/11/14/guido-samarani-noi-e-la-cina-ne-filocinesi-ne-anti-cinesi/.

93 Marina Miranda, “L'era dello storytelling: la Cina e noi,” Sinosfere December 2020, https://sinosfere.com/2020/12/20/marina-miranda-lera-dello-storytelling-la-cina-e-noi/.

94 “Sfide, problemi e opportunità della sinologia oggi”: https://aisc-org.it/sfide-problemi-e-opportunita-della-sinologia-oggi/.