Paul Demiéville
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Paul Demiéville (13 September 1894 – 23 March 1979) was a Swiss-French
sinologist Sinology, also referred to as China studies, is a subfield of area studies or East Asian studies involved in social sciences and humanities research on China. It is an academic discipline that focuses on the study of the Chinese civilizatio ...
and Orientalist known for his studies of the
Dunhuang manuscripts The Dunhuang manuscripts are a wide variety of religious and secular documents (mostly manuscripts, including Hemp paper, hemp, silk, paper and Woodblock printing, woodblock-printed texts) in Old Tibetan, Tibetan, Chinese, and other languages tha ...
and
Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
and his translations of
Chinese poetry Chinese poetry is poetry written, spoken, or chanted in the Chinese language, and a part of the Chinese literature. While this last term comprises Classical Chinese, Standard Chinese, Mandarin Chinese, Yue Chinese, and other historical and vernac ...
, as well as for his 30-year tenure as co-editor of ''
T'oung Pao ''T'oung Pao'' (; ), founded in 1890, is a Dutch journal and the oldest international journal of sinology. It is published by the publisher E. J. Brill. ''T'oung Pao'' original full title was ''T'oung Pao ou Archives pour servir à l'étude de l ...
''. Demiéville was one of the foremost sinologists of the first half of the 20th century, and was known for his wide-ranging contributions to Chinese and Buddhist scholarship. His influence on Chinese scholarship in France was particularly profound, as he was the only major French sinologist to survive
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. Demiéville was one of the first sinologists to learn
Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...
to augment their study of China: prior to the early 20th century, most scholars of China learned
Manchu The Manchus (; ) are a Tungusic peoples, Tungusic East Asian people, East Asian ethnic group native to Manchuria in Northeast Asia. They are an officially recognized Ethnic minorities in China, ethnic minority in China and the people from wh ...
as their second scholarly language, but Demiéville's study of Japanese instead has been followed by nearly every major sinologist since his day.


Early life

Paul Demiéville was born on 13 September 1894 in
Lausanne, Switzerland Lausanne ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Swiss French-speaking canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway between the Jura Mountains and the Alps, and facing the ...
, a son of a prominent
physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...
in Lausanne.Holzman (1979): 553. Combined with the family's Swiss citizenship, his father's status and income allowed Demiéville to receive an international and multicultural upbringing far beyond most of his contemporaries. A native speaker of
French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...
, he learned
Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...
as a boy during his family's summer holidays in
Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
, then perfected his
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
as a student in
Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...
, where he earned his ''baccalaureate'' (secondary school diploma) in 1911. Following his completion of secondary school, Demiéville spent time studying in
Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...
,
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, and
Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...
, where he was able to attend lectures by
George Saintsbury George Edward Bateman Saintsbury, FBA (23 October 1845 – 28 January 1933), was an English critic, literary historian, editor, teacher, and wine connoisseur. He is regarded as a highly influential critic of the late 19th and early 20th cent ...
at the
University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...
. He then attended the
University of Paris The University of Paris (), known Metonymy, metonymically as the Sorbonne (), was the leading university in Paris, France, from 1150 to 1970, except for 1793–1806 during the French Revolution. Emerging around 1150 as a corporation associated wit ...
, where he wrote an essay on the musical suite of the 17th and 18th centuries and was awarded a licentiate degree in 1914. Demiéville then spent the year 1915 studying at
King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...
where he was introduced to
Chinese Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...
, which quickly became his focus. After returning to France, Demiéville studied at the École des Langues Orientales Vivantes (School of Living Oriental Languages), after which he moved to the
Collège de France The (), formerly known as the or as the ''Collège impérial'' founded in 1530 by François I, is a higher education and research establishment () in France. It is located in Paris near La Sorbonne. The has been considered to be France's most ...
, where he further studied Chinese under the tutelage of
Édouard Chavannes Émmanuel-Édouard Chavannes (5 October 1865 – 29 January 1918) was a French sinologist and expert on Chinese history and religion, and is best known for his translations of major segments of Sima Qian's ''Records of the Grand Historian'' ...
and began learning
Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...
from
Sylvain Lévi Sylvain Lévi (; March 28, 1863 – October 30, 1935) was an influential French intellectual and author whose specialities were oriental studies and India. He taught Sanskrit and Indian religions at the École pratique des hautes études in ...
. He earned his ''Diplômé'' from the École des Langues Orientales Vivantes in 1919.Macdonald (1979): 113.


Career

After completing his ''Diplômé'' in 1919, Demiéville was named a resident of the École française d'Extrême-Orient (French School of the Far East) in
Hanoi Hanoi ( ; ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Vietnam, second-most populous city of Vietnam. The name "Hanoi" translates to "inside the river" (Hanoi is bordered by the Red River (Asia), Red and Black River (Asia), Black Riv ...
, where he lived from 1920 to 1924. In 1924 he moved to southeast China, where he taught Sanskrit and
philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...
at the University of Amoy (modern
Xiamen University Xiamen University (XMU; ) is a public university in Siming, Xiamen, Siming, Xiamen, Fujian, China. It is affiliated with the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, Ministry of Education of China. The university is part of Pro ...
). In 1926 Demiéville moved to
Tokyo, Japan Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...
, where he became director of the Maison Franco-Japonaise (French-Japanese House) and also served as editor-in-chief of Sylvain Lévi's historic ''Hôbôgirin, Dictionnaire Encyclopédique du Bouddhisme (Hōbōgirin'' 法寶義林: ''An Encyclopedic Dictionary of Buddhism)'', which was first published in 1929. Demiéville returned to France in 1930 and was made a French citizen by decree the following year, when he was named Professor of Chinese at the École des Langues Orientales, where he stayed throughout
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. In 1945 he became director of the 4th Section of the
École Pratique des Haute Études École or Ecole may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * Éco ...
and taught Buddhist philosophy there until 1956. In 1946, Demiéville was selected to replace
Henri Maspero Henri Paul Gaston Maspero (15 December 188317 March 1945) was a French sinologist and professor who contributed to a variety of topics relating to East Asia. Maspero is best known for his pioneering studies of Daoism. He was imprisoned by the Naz ...
as Chair of Chinese Language and Literature at the Collège de France – Maspero having died in the
Buchenwald concentration camp Buchenwald (; 'beech forest') was a German Nazi concentration camp established on Ettersberg hill near Weimar, Nazi Germany, Germany, in July 1937. It was one of the first and the largest of the concentration camps within the Altreich (pre-1938 ...
in 1945 – and held that position until his retirement in 1964. In 1951, Demiéville was honored with membership in the
Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres The () is a French learned society devoted to history, founded in February 1663 as one of the five academies of the . The academy's scope was the study of ancient inscriptions (epigraphy) and historical literature (see Belles-lettres). History ...
. From 1945 to 1975, Demiéville served as the French co-editor of the prominent sinology journal ''
T'oung Pao ''T'oung Pao'' (; ), founded in 1890, is a Dutch journal and the oldest international journal of sinology. It is published by the publisher E. J. Brill. ''T'oung Pao'' original full title was ''T'oung Pao ou Archives pour servir à l'étude de l ...
'', which was traditionally co-edited by one sinologist from France and another from the
Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
.


Selected works

* ––– (1924). "Les Versions chinoises du Milindapanha" ("Chinese Versions of the
Milinda Panha The ''Milindapañha'' () is a Buddhist text which dates from sometime between 100 BC and 200 AD. It purports to record a dialogue between the Indian Buddhist sage Nāgasena, and the 2nd century BC Indo-Greek king Menander I (Pali: ''Milinda'') ...
"), ''Bulletin de l'École française d'Extrême-Orient'', no. XXIV, pp. 1–258. * ––– (1929). "Sur l'authenticité du ''Ta tch'eng k'i sin louen''" ("On the Authenticity of the ''Da cheng qi xin lun'' 大乘起新論"), ''Bulletin de la Maison Franco-Japonaise'', vol. 2, no. 2, pp. 1–78. * ––– (1935). "Iconography and History", in ''The Twin Pagodas of Zayton: A Study of Later Buddhist Sculpture in China'', Harvard-Yenching Institute Monograph Series, vol. 2. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard-Yenching Institute, pp. 27–95. * ––– (1951). "À propos du Concile de Vaiśāli" ("Regarding the Council of Vaiśāli"). ''T'oung Pao'' 40. Leiden: E.J. Brill, pp. 239–296. * ––– (1952). ''Le Concile de Lhasa: Une controverse sur la quiétisme entre bouddhistes de l'inde et de le Chine au VIIIème siècle'' (''The Council of Lhasa: A controversy on quietism between Buddhists of India and China in the 8th century''). Paris: Bibliothèque de l'Institut des Hautes Études chinoises. * ––– (1954). "La Yogācārabhūmi de Sangharaksa" ("The Yogācārabhūmi of Sangharaksa"). ''Bulletin du l'École française d'Extrême-Orient'', no. XLIV, 2, pp. 339–436.


References


Citations


Sources

* Holzman, Donald (1979). "Paul Demiéville (1894–1979)". ''Journal of the American Oriental Society'', vol. 99, no. 3, pp. 553–555. * Macdonald, Alexander W. (1979). "Obituary – Paul Demiéville", ''Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies'', vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 110–113. {{DEFAULTSORT:Demieville, Paul French scholars of Buddhism French sinologists Swiss sinologists Swiss scholars of Buddhism German Buddhists Swiss Buddhists People from Lausanne 1894 births 1979 deaths Alumni of King's College London Academic staff of the Collège de France Members of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres Chinese–French translators 20th-century translators Corresponding fellows of the British Academy