I was told that this part of the world came under the rubric of “Oriental Studies,” and that I would be assigned an appropriate professor. But when I arrived for my first meeting at the professor’s office, his bookshelves were lined with volumes bearing Chinese characters.
纽约——大约40年前，我进入牛津大学开始研究生学业时，兴趣是中东。我被告知，世界的这个部分属于 “东方学”，将会有一位合适的教授来指导我。但当我走进这位教授办公室和他初次会面时，我看到他的书架上堆满了汉字著作。至少在当时的我看来，他所专长的是彼东方学，非此东方学。