French linguist, historian, ethnographer, author, editor and Orientalist
Henri Cordier (8 August 1849 – 16 March 1925) was a French linguist, historian, ethnographer, author, editor and Orientalist. He was President of the Société de Géographie (French, "Geographical Society") in Paris. Cordier was a prominent figure in the development of East Asian and Central Asian scholarship in Europe in the late 19th and early 20th century. Though he had little actual knowledge of the Chinese language, Cordier had a particularly strong impact on the development of Chinese scholarship, and was a mentor of the noted French sinologist Édouard Chavannes.
Early life.
Cordier was born in New Orleans, Louisiana in the United States. He arrived in France in 1852; and his family moved to Paris in 1855. He was educated at the Collège Chaptal and in England.
In 1869 at age 20, he sailed for Shanghai, where he worked at an English bank. During the next two years, he published several articles in local newspapers. In 1872, he was made librarian of the North China branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. In this period, about twenty articles were published in "Shanghai Evening Courier", "North China Daily News", and "Journal of the North China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society."
Career.
In 1876, he was named secretary of a Chinese government program for Chinese students studying in Europe.
In Paris, Cordier was a professor at "l'École spéciale des Langues orientales", which is known today as the Institute of Oriental Languages and Civilizations ("L’Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales", INALCO). He joined the faculty in 1881; and he was a professor from 1881 to 1925. He contributed a number of articles to the "Catholic Encyclopedia".
Cordier was also a professeur at l'École Libre des Sciences Politiques, which is today known as the National Foundation of Political Studies ("Fondation Nationale des Sciences Politiques") and the Paris Institute of Political Studies ("Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris").
Contributions to Sinology.
Although he had only a slight knowledge of the language, Cordier made major contributions to Sinology.
"Cordier," as the "Bibliotheca Sinica" "is sometimes affectionately referred to," is "the standard enumerative bibliography" of 70,000 works on China up to 1921. Even though the author did not know Chinese, he was thorough and highly familiar with European publications. Endymion Wilkinson also praises Cordier for including the full titles, often the tables of contents, and reviews of most books.
Cordier was a founding editor of "T'oung Pao", which was the first international journal of Chinese Studies. Along with Gustaaf Schlegel, he helped to establish the prominent sinological journal "T'oung Pao" in 1890.
Selected works.
Cordier's published writings encompass 1,033 works in 1,810 publications in 13 languages and 7,984 library holdings.
Notes.
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