Věnceslava Hrdličková also Věna (September 15, 1924, Prague - January 20, 2016, Prague) was a leading Czech

sinologist Sinology, or Chinese studies, is an academic discipline that focuses on the study of China primarily through Chinese philosophy, language, literature, culture and history and often refers to Western scholarship. Its origin "may be traced to the ex ...

and Japanese historian.

Biography

Professional life

Věnceslava Hrdličková graduated from the Faculty of Arts of

Charles University ) , image_name = Carolinum_Logo.svg , image_size = 200px , established = , type = Public, Ancient , budget = 8.9 billion CZK , rector = Milena Králíčková , faculty = 4,057 , administrative_staff = 4,026 , students = 51,438 , undergr ...

in 1950, where she also received a doctorate in

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

, in 1967 the title of candidate of science, and in the early 1990s the position of an associate professor. Professionally, she was mainly interested in Chinese and Japanese oral literature, or the aesthetics of Chinese and Japanese gardens. She also received a number of awards, for example in 1994 she was awarded a gold plaque by F. Palacký AS CR for merits in the social sciences, in 1995 a gold medal of the Masaryk Academy of Arts or the

Order of the Rising Sun The is a Japanese order, established in 1875 by Emperor Meiji. The Order was the first national decoration awarded by the Japanese government, created on 10 April 1875 by decree of the Council of State. The badge features rays of sunlight ...

awarded by the Japanese emperor in 2006 for merits in the field of spreading Japanese culture in the Czech Republic. Additional honors included being the honorary chairwoman of the Czech-Japanese Society and was an honorary citizen of Prague.

Personal life

She is married her husband PhDr. Zdeněk Hrdlička, former

ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sov ...

to Japan.

Publications

* History of Chinese Classical Literature (1980) * Stories of Judge Ōoka (1984), collection of stories about

Ōoka Tadasuke was a Japanese samurai in the service of the Tokugawa shogunate. During the reign of Tokugawa Yoshimune, as a magistrate (''machi-bugyō'') of Edo, his roles included chief of police, judge and jury, and Yamada Magistrate ( Yamada bugyō) prio ...

* Demon's Flute (1989) * The Art of Japanese Gardens, Prague (1996) together with Zdeněk Hrdlička * Laughter is my craft (1997) together with Zdeněk Hrdlička * The Art of Chinese Gardens (1998) together with Zdeněk Hrdlička * The Wisdom of Ancient China (2002) * The Most Beautiful Chinese Stories (2005) * The Wonderful World of Bonsai (2008), collaboration with P. Herynek, illustration by Miroslav Pinc, photo by Zdeněk Thoma

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hrdlickova, Venceslava Czech sinologists 20th-century Czech historians 21st-century Czech historians Czech women historians 1924 births 2016 deaths Chinese–Czech translators Historians of Japan