Sino-German Mobility Programme: Transfer of Technical and Scientific Knowledge between Europe and China during the Early Modern Period

01.01.2020 bis 31.12.2022

Prof. Hans Ulrich Vogel, Chair for Chinese History and Society, Department of Chinese Studies, Tübingen University, and Prof. Zhang Baichun 张柏春, Center for Comparative Studies, Institute for the History of Natural Sciences (IHNS), Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, have been generously granted an amount of ca. 200.000 € by the Sino-German Center for Research Promotion (SGCRP, Chinesisch-Deutsches Zentrum für Wissenschaftsförderung, 中德科学中心), Beijing . This three-year grant is destined for the establishment of a Sino-German Mobility Programme (2020-2022) dealing with the “Transfer of Technical and Scientific Knowledge between Europe and China during the Early Modern Period” (近代早期中欧技术科学知识的转移).
The mobility programme is based on two on-going core-projects, the one being a Sino-German cooperation (Institute for the History of Natural Sciences/Max Planck Institute for the History of Science) dealing with the introduction of Renaissance mechanics in late Ming China, the other a German project (Department of Chinese Studies, Tübingen University) investigating – with the support of the German Research Foundation (DFG) – the transmission of Western mining and hydrological knowledge to China during the same period (KYGZ/TXSF). Although working with different texts, both core projects share a set of common research questions, methodological approaches and theoretical considerations, such as, e.g., translational issues, source- and text-criticism, terminological problems, transmission and reception of complex technological and scientific concepts and systems, authorial intentions and readers’ perceptions, political, social, economic, cultural and ideological contexts of the transmissions, and issues related to a comparative history of early globalisation. This mobility programme envisages to create opportunities for senior and junior scholars of all ages working in these or closely related topics to exchange information about the objectives and results of their research and to engage in an international dialogue. It will be used as a platform for discussing and deciding on common scholarly interests in the future, such as the publication of a specialised book series, the organisation of an international conference in 2022, and the continuation of research collaboration beyond the programme period. This joint endeavour is of extraordinary importance not only – in general – for the history of West-East interactions and exchanges, but also – in particular – for the history of the relations between China and Germany as well as for Chinese and German cultural history, the latter especially represented by such eminent historical actors like Xu Guangqi 徐光啓 (1562-1633), Wang Zheng 王徵 (1571-1644), Li Tianjing 李天經 (1579-1659), Georgius Agricola (1494-1555), Johannes Schreck (Deng Yuhan 鄧玉函; 1575-1630), and Adam Schall von Bell (Tang Ruowang 湯若望; 1592-1666).
We are grateful to Dr. Alexander Jost (former ECCS Managing Director), Dr. Cao Jin 曹晋 as well as Sabine Kink, M.A., and Katarina Viklenko, M.A., on the Tübingen side and Mrs. Liu Yexin, Ms. Wang Ying, and Prof. Tian Miao 田淼 on the IHNS side for their great and decisive support during the application period.
Prof. Hans Ulrich Vogel and Prof. Zhang Baichun
Tübingen and Beijing, 15 January 2020