Between Money and Curiosity: On the Study and Translation of Chinese Literature in the Netherlands and Flanders

Abstract

Only in the nineteenth century, when the colonial rulers in the Dutch East Indies became involved in day-to-day local administration, did the need for Dutch experts in the Chinese language become clear. Consequently, a centre for the training of interpreters in Holland was established, eventually leading to the creation of a chair for Chinese Language and Literature at the University of Leiden in 1877. The early generations of Dutch sinologists published their academic contributions in German, English and French. As a result, the Dutch reading public had to rely for a long time on relay translations via those languages. In the field of classical poetry, these relay translations sometimes even passed through several hands: in the early twentieth century, Dutch poets often adapted the well-known German Nachdichtungen . These free adaptations have long determined to the expectations of the Dutch public regarding classical Chinese poetry. Keywords: Chinese literature; Dutch East Indies; Dutch sinology; Nachdichtungen