Translation and Research on Confucianism of Sinologists in T’oung Pao since the 20th Century

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Introduction
From Sinology in travel notes to missionary Sinology, and then to professional Sinology, it is a long-term process for Europeans to walk out of the long "imaginary China" and search for the Far East University was once one of the largest Sinological institutes in Europe, and the Chinese library in it was the largest one in Europe (Qiu2016: 8). The academic research method has made Sinology research in France and the Netherlands less affected by political and economic factors and has retained its own style and cultural characteristics in different eras. This is one of the reasons for Sinology studies" lasting rejuvenation in France and the Netherlands. In general, the spread of Confucianism in France and the Netherlands is not limited to the research path based on the original classics and literature with commentaries. From this point of view, the process of spreading Confucianism to the West is not just a process of translation and introduction of Confucian classics, but a process of multi-dimensional communication between Chinese and Western civilizations.
Confucianism retains the essence of its own traditional thinking while simultaneously drawing on other schools of thought. And it is constantly innovating under the new historical conditions. As an important symbol embodying the demeanor and spirit of the nation, Confucianism has powerful enlightenment in various fields such as culture, politics, and economy in China. As the co-founders of T'oung Pao, France, and the Netherlands are also important academic positions for early sinological studies. Specifically, the spread and development of Confucianism in France and the Netherlands provide an opportunity for T'oung Pao to pay attention to this field, and studies on Confucianism in T'oung Pao as well as other Sinology journals are also an important link in the process of Confucianism spreading.
The 21st century is an era symbolizing the great renaissance of Chinese culture. Confucianism, as an important branch of international sinological studies, has achieved some gratifying results. The paper intends to comprehensively employ the methods of classification, literature research, and interdisciplinary analysis to discuss the articles on Confucianism published in T'oung Pao since the 20th century. Taking T'oung Pao"s attention to Confucianism as an example, we aim to investigate the cross-cultural dissemination path of Confucianism and its international influence, so as to provide a reference for promoting the international spread of Chinese traditional culture.

Introduction to T'oung Pao
France and the Netherlands began to pay attention to Sinology very early. As early as the 17th century, Louis XIV(1638～1715) sent six "royal mathematicians" to China (He&Xu 2000: 67). At almost the same time, the Netherlands also began to show interest in Sinology. Since then, the first group of professional Sinologists in the West originated in France, opening a modern model of sinological research (ibid.: 166). In addition, the most representative contribution of France and the Netherlands to Sinology is the creation of the Sinology journal T'oung Pao. In 1889, French Sinologist Henri Cordier (1849～1925) and Dutch Sinologist Gustave Schlegel (1840～1903) met at an international conference and decided to jointly create an academic journal dedicated to the study of East Asia (Yang 2008: 11).
As we all know, the journal is T'oung Pao, and the decision undoubtedly opened up a more specialized cultural bridge to the East for the West at the end of the 19th century. Apart from the two founding scholars, the successive editors of T'oung Pao are also Sinologists renowned overseas, such as derived from a belief-"filling the gaps in the study on humans in the Far East" 1 . During more than one hundred years since its creation, the full title of T'oung Paohas changed several times, from the original T'oung Pao ou Archives pour servir à l'étude de l'histoire, des langues, la geographie et l'ethnographie de l' Asie Orientale [Chine, Japon, Corée, Indo-Chine, AsieCentrale et Malaisie]  Judging from the academic articles included in T'oung Pao over the years, the frequency of appearance of Chinese authors has shown a continuous increase. In short, the goals of Chinese scholars studying native culture and overseas scholars studying Chinese culture are the same, that is, to promote mutual learning between Chinese and Western cultures.

A Review of Articles on Confucianism in T'oung Pao
At the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, Confucianism was relatively rare and even ignored in the Western Sinology field. During this period, factors such as the turbulence of the international political situation and changes in the social environment have more or less affected the development of Confucianism both locally and overseas. The phenomenon is reflected in T'oung Pao.
The main manifestation is that there are far more articles on Taoism, Buddhism, and ancient Chinese poetry than Confucian research articles. However, the condition does not prevent some Sinologists from paying attention to Confucianism. We have collected 37 articles on Confucianism in the column of "Articles de Fond" in T'oung Pao since the 20th century on the website of Brill Publishing House 3 .
The articles cover a wide range of perspectives, including introductions and annotations on the texts and translations of Confucian classics, as well as interdisciplinary research (such as astronomy, exegetics, and textual research, etc.), introductions to Confucius and other Confucian masters together with evaluations of their ideas. Besides, there is a combination of Confucian elements and folk culture, as well as some studies on the media for spreading Confucianism. In addition to French and Dutch Sinologists, the authors of these articles also include scholars from the United States, Germany, Italy, and other countries as well as native Chinese scholars. The following contents will be divided into two parts for discussion.  (Dubs 1927: 82-90), embodying the-comparative thinking mode of sinological studies and the rigorous attitude of scholars at that time, and setting an example for the standardization of studies in later generations. As we all know, The Book of Changes is a relatively special existence in the Thirteen Confucian Classics (Shisan Jing) 4 . The Book of Changes is the common classic shared by Confucianism and Taoism, and also the most difficult to understand. This is why it has been attracting sinologists to study for many years. It is widely believed that the genuine saying "If some years were added to my life, I would give fifty to the study of the Book of Change, and then I might come to be free from great faults" ("假我数年, 五十以学易，可以无大过矣") is from Confucius. Nevertheless, some scholars consider that the Book of Changes, as a book of divination, should not be promoted by Confucius, which may be a misunderstanding of this book. The essence of the Book of Changes is "seeking Tao" instead of "seeking Shu". The Destiny Concept in it advocates "The motion of the heaven is strong and vigorous, so gentlemen should strive for self-improvement" ("天行健, 君子以自 强不息"), which is not inconsistent with Confucius' thinking. And the saying just emphasizes the importance of the subjective initiative. Confucius does not deny the existence of ghosts and gods.
Historically, Confucian ritual activities also included sacrifices. In other words, what he believed is that maintaining rationality and improving moral cultivation is the right way to solve problems. A typical example is "Confucius never talk about weirdness, brute force, rebellion and ghosts" ("子不语怪力乱 神"). That is to say, Confucianism accepts the existence of ghosts and gods, but it still holds the view that gentlemen should stay away from ghosts and gods instead of blindly pursue and worship them.  (Santangelo 1990： 234-270), the Italian Sinologist Paolo Santangelo discussed a famous philosophical debate during the Joseon Dynasty-"The Dispute over "Four Origins and Seven Emotions"" and its social influence.
Thirdly, some researchers began to pay attention to the media for the dissemination of Confucianism.
The discussion on the revival of the White Deer Grotto Academy (Chaffee 1985 ：40-62) and "Confucian" Elements in the Great Temple Festivals (Johnson 1997：126-161) both reflect the importance attached to cultural media by the Sinology field.

Title Author(s) Publication Date
"The One That Pervades the All" in Ancient Chinese Political Thought: the Origins of "the Great Unity" Paradigm(中国古代政治思想中的"涵盖所有之 一": "大一统"范式的起源) more attention to traditional Chinese culture represented by Confucianism, showing a bright future for the spread of Chinese culture to the West.

Findings and Implications
The harmonious role in political multi-polarization, the restraint and balance role in economic globalization, and the educational role in the multiculturalism of Confucianism are conducive to maintaining world peace and promoting the healthy development of the world economy (Tuo 2011: 134). From the perspective of the way for the dissemination and communication of Confucianism, the traditional media represented by journals (or books) and education still cannot be ignored in the process of global dissemination of Chinese culture. The preliminary research in the paper shows that the important role of Sinology journals and books is self-evident. Furthermore, it is worth noting that most of the famous scholars mentioned in the paper are teacher-student relationships passed down. Except for factors such as early Sinology studies in the West that were not paid attention to by most people and the difficulty in obtaining information and research materials, we can see the importance of education.
It needs to be pointed out that, although the development of overseas Sinology is stable, it is necessary to seek new paths and carriers for Chinese culture to better "go out". Take the researches on Confucianism in T'oung Pao as an example, in recent years, the related articles have become more innovative and diverse in content, but in the form, they still mainly focus on the study of specific promotion, people-to-people contacts, and individual transmission. We agree with this idea. The "going-out" and "bringing-in" of Chinese culture need to overcome many differences in various aspects such as ideology, social customs, and language. In this regard, the three elements are essential. They are-national policy assistance, cultural communication carriers with universities and colleges as well as research institutions as the main body, and individuals with great enthusiasm for cross-cultural research. In addition, in an era with relatively advanced technology, only by making full use of the Internet as a communication medium to create cultural brands with Chinese characteristics can we "tell Chinese stories better". Specifically, creating a cultural brand full of Chinese characteristics includes the production of a network platform for cultural promotion and the establishment of a "cultural think tank" and so on.