Léon Vandermeersch (7 January 1928 – 17 October 2021) was a French sinologist. He studied the culture of China as well as that of Japan and Korea.

Biography

Vandermeersch studied Chinese and Vietnamese at the

Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales ( en, National Institute for Oriental Languages and Civilizations), abbreviated as INALCO, is a French university specializing in the teaching of languages and cultures from the world. ...

. He graduated from the

Faculté des lettres de Paris The faculté des lettres de Paris was a French educational institution based at the Sorbonne. It was set up by the imperial decree regarding the University of France on 17 March 1808. It partly succeeded the arts faculty of the former University o ...

in 1951 with a law degree. He began his career in

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

as a secondary school teacher and was subsequently curator of the Musée Louis Finot from 1951 to 1958. He then moved to Japan and

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

, where he continued his research on ancient China. Vandermeersch earned a degree from the

École pratique des hautes études The École pratique des hautes études (), abbreviated EPHE, is a Grand Établissement in Paris, France. It is highly selective, and counted among France's most prestigious research and higher education institutions. It is a constituent college o ...

in 1962 and earned a doctorate from

Paris Diderot University Paris Diderot University, also known as Paris 7 (french: Université Paris Diderot), was a French university located in Paris, France. It was one of the inheritors of the historic University of Paris, which was split into 13 universities in 197 ...

in 1975 with a thesis on the institutions of archaic China. From 1966 to 1973, he taught Chinese at the

University of Provence The University of Provence Aix-Marseille I (french: Université de Provence) was a public research university mostly located in Aix-en-Provence and Marseille. It was one of the three Universities of Aix-Marseille and was part of the Academy of ...

before directing East Asian studies at Paris Diderot University from 1973 to 1979. Until his retirement in 1993, he taught history of Confucianism at the École pratique des hautes études. He headed the from 1981 to 1984 and was Director of the

French School of the Far East The French School of the Far East (french: École française d'Extrême-Orient, ), abbreviated EFEO, is an associated college of PSL University dedicated to the study of Asian societies. It was founded in 1900 with headquarters in Hanoi in wh ...

from 1989 to 1993. Léon Vandermeersch died in Paris on 17 October 2021 at the age of 93.

Works

Books

*''Le nouveau monde sinisé'' (1986) *''Confucianisme et sociétés asiatiques'' (1991) *''Études sinologiques'' (1994) *''Sagesses chinoises'' (1997) *''Les deux raisons de la pensée chinoise : divination et idéographie'' (2013) *''Ce que la Chine nous apprend : sur le langage, la société, l’existence'' (2019)

Articles

*"Une tradition réfractaire à la théologie : la tradition confucianiste" (1985) *"Les origines divinatoires de la tradition chinoise du parallélisme littéraire" (1989)

Decorations

*Knight of the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon, ...

(1998) *Officer of the

Ordre des Palmes académiques A suite, in Western classical music and jazz, is an ordered set of instrumental or orchestral/concert band pieces. It originated in the late 14th century as a pairing of dance tunes and grew in scope to comprise up to five dances, sometimes with ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vandermeersch, Leon 1928 births 2021 deaths French sinologists French people of Flemish descent People from Nord (French department) Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur Officiers of the Ordre des Palmes Académiques