Steering the Craft through 90 Years of Sinological Research

The year 2025 marks the 90th anniversary of the Monumenta Serica which was celebrated on 25 May in Sankt Augustin. Founded by Fr. Franz Xaver Biallas SVD (1878–1936) at the Fu Jen Catholic University in Peking to add a new voice to Sinological research. The journal has ever since offered a platform for Western and Chinese scholars researching the culture, history, religions, philosophy, literature, languages, art and archaeology of China and her neighboring countries.

The first issue was published in the first half of 1935. Before the second issue was published, Monumenta Serica was struck hard by the untimely demise of Fr. Biallas. That the history of the journal did not end there and then, testifies to the support of the Divine Word Missionaries for this endeavor as well as to the concrete efforts of the SVD missionaries and lay co-workers to keep the Monumenta Serica Institute and its publications running over the years.

A presentation for the general public at the SVD Missionary Seminary in the morning displayed the history of the Institute, its passage over three continents – from Asia through America to Europe –, and the people involved through images from the Institute’s archive. Particular emphasis was put on the legacy of the SVD Fathers Heinrich Busch (1912–2002), Eugen Feifel (1902–1999), Gerhard Schreiber (1911–1972), and Roman Malek (1951–2019) and the present activities of the Institute under the aegis of the current editor-in-chief and director Fr. Zbigniew Wesołowski SVD.

Photos of the morning session: © Sebastian Quillmann, Pressestelle Steyler Missionare

In the afternoon, a more formal event framed by guzheng music (Ms. Tang Qin, Bochum) was held at the Monumenta Serica Institute for an audience of advisors to the journal and friends of the Institute. Congratulatory speeches by Fr. Provincial Peter Claver Narh (German SVD Province), Prof. Helwig Schmidt-Glintzer (emeritus of Göttingen University), Prof. Sonja Huang Meiting and Fr. Piotr Adamek (Monumenta Serica Sinological Research Center, Taipei), and Prof. Zhang Xiping (Beijing Language and Culture University) celebrated shared memories, commended the Institute for its efforts in the field of Sinology, and offered the best wishes for the future.

Prof. Hans van Ess’ keynote lecture “Monumenta Serica: An International Journal in the Course of Sinological Trends” illustrated the impact of the journal over the course of the last ninety years. As van Ess pointed out, Monumenta Serica is almost a “one of a kind” phenomenon, in its devotion to offering a broad perspective on Sinology without restricting itself to a certain historical period or a narrow scope of topics. This openness made and makes editing Monumenta Serica a challenging task. In this regard, to have finally settled down long-term in Sankt Augustin in 1972 proved very beneficial, as it lend Monumenta Serica a stable position from which adjust to new trends and strengthen its profile at the same time.

Photos of the afternoon session: © Wang Jingjing, Monumenta Serica Institute and Huang Meiting, MSSRC