Prof. Dr. Xuetao Li

Research Priorities: History, sinology, Buddhology, scientific translations
Xuetao Li is a Chinese historian, sinologist, Buddhologist, and scientific translator. His research focuses primarily on the interplay between different cultures: How can a foreign culture be integrated into the existing local culture? How do the two cultures influence each other? Key research topics include the influence of German philosophy on Chinese thought (Karl Jaspers), the history of Buddhism in China with reference to various traditions of translation, the mutual influence of Chinese Studies in Germany and in China, as well as the history of intellectual migration and knowledge transfer. These topics are investigated from the perspective of and using the methods of global history.
His research revolves around the question of how a foreign culture can be integrated into a different, local culture, and exactly what form the interplay between these two civilisations takes. This encompasses four main research areas: 1. Study of modern German philosophy, in particular the existential philosophy of Jaspers and his philosophy of history; 2. Study of the history of Buddhism, in particular the translation of Buddhist texts into Chinese; 3. Study of the history of Chinese thought, in particular the history of Chinese Studies in Germany; 4. Study of modern Chinese interaction with foreign cultures, in particular the history of intellectual migration.
These four research areas form an interlinked and mutually influential dynamic entity. The accelerating process of global integration in the recent past has made it essential to study the relationships between civilisations from the perspective of global history.