As the name implies, Kristofer Schipper has been devoted to the study of China culture for a long time, and is famous in the international sinology circle for his study of Taoism in China. At the same time, he has made great achievements in the research field of China's ancient ideological history, cultural history and religious anthropology, and published the international sinology masterpiece Tao Ti, which has French, English, Spanish, Dutch, Italian and Japanese texts, as well as a General Examination of Taoism and Tibetan Studies. After years of painstaking research, Professor Shi has accumulated rich achievements in sinology research and won many academic honors. He has successively held academic positions such as distinguished professor of the French Institute for Advanced Studies, Director of the Sinology Institute of the French Academy of Sciences, Dean of the Sinology Institute of Leiden University in the Netherlands, and Academician of the Royal Dutch Academy of Sciences.
With such strong qualifications, Christopher Schipper could have lived comfortably in Europe. After all, the scientific research environment and living conditions there are better than those in China. However, for this person who has been addicted to Sinology, China, an ancient and mysterious land, exudes incomparable charm.
It is this attraction from China culture that has been leading the life of Christopher Schipper. Christopher Schipper was attracted by China art when he was young. After finishing high school in Amsterdam with classical Latin and Greek, he went to Paris University to study Chinese, Japanese, Far East art history and religious anthropology. Later, he studied the history and culture of China under Professor Effie Paris and the famous sinologist Max Kalden Mark. Kristofer Schipper's doctoral thesis is The Inward Biography of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, which is the first serious study on the epistemology and anthropology of China's greatest emperor, an important theme of combining politics with Taoism. This paper, not only with its knowledge, but also with its research method (inherited from Ge), caused a sensation. 1965 was selected into the serious series of "Academic Books Department of French Far East College" which enjoys a high reputation in academic circles, and was officially published (Kristofer Schipper, L 'Empereur Wou des Handans la Legende Taoiste-Hanwou-Tinei-Tchouan, PARIS vol. LV iii, 1965). 1962, Kristofer Schipper came to Taiwan Province Province, China as a visiting scholar just after he got his doctorate. In order to learn the spirit of South American inspection from his respected predecessor, Professor Claude Levi-Strauss of the French Institute of Advanced Studies (EPHE)-"I will never hide outside to see China", he went to Tainan to become a Taoist. Christopher Schipper first studied in the Folklore Institute of Nangang Academia Sinica for one year, and then lived in Tainan for seven years. He studied under Zeng Ci, Chen Yihe and Chen, the famous leaders of Zhengyi School, and studied Zhengyi subjects and Minnan dialect. After all kinds of hard work (including singing classics and playing Chinese musical instruments), he was officially accepted as a disciple by the teacher and eventually became the head of Zhengyi School.
Christopher Schipper returned to Paris on 1972, and was appointed as one of the directors of the French Institute for Advanced Studies (EPHE PARIS), becoming a young colleague of Braudel, Levi Strauss, Roland Barthes, Lacan, Dumezier, Legoff, Raymond Allen, Bourdieu, Vernon, etc. After returning to France, Christopher Schipper began to write The Theory of Pottery in French. Due to his first-hand experience as a Taoist priest in Tainan (the transformation from object to subject) and the discovery of rich manuscripts (handed down by a Taoist priest and brought back to France), 1982 The Theory of Tao Style in Paris caused a sensation and was later translated into many western languages. It is known as "structural anthropology in the field of sinology", and its concise and beautiful writing and profound thoughts are not inferior to Melancholy Tropical. Christopher Schipper gave a lecture on the religious history of China at the Institute for Advanced Studies of the University of Paris. The core viewpoints are China's integration of the three religions, the integration of the three religions and the "living tradition" (these two viewpoints are quite different from the superficial comparison between the so-called "religion" concept of westerners themselves and the cultural concept of China. On the cover of an anthology (La Religion de la Chine-la Tradition Vivante, Fayard 2008) published in Paris at the age of 74, it is not only implied that the real "religion of China" (local original) should be studied, but also that Kristofer Schipper's "religion of China" does not need plural numbers, implying that China's Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism are "one of the three religions" and western religions.
From 65438 to 0976, Christopher Schipper founded the European Sinology Association (AFEC) in Paris, with more than 500 members, which built a bridge for sinologists in Europe and other countries. Up to now, China Studies, the only academic journal of Sinology in France, is still published by AFEC Association. 1979, when Zong Yi was a visiting professor at the French Institute for Advanced Studies, together with Professor Christopher Schipper, he was willing and knowledgeable to retranslate the Five Classics in many modern western languages and organized large-scale international cooperative academic projects. "Poetry, calligraphy, rites, changes, the Spring and Autumn Period and the Five Classics-the source of Chinese civilization", Five Classics Project: The idea of retranslating China's Five Classics into major languages in the world was first put forward by Tsung i Jao and Christopher Schipper in 1979. Subsequently, speer came to Beijing for research, initiated and presided over the large-scale international sinology project "Holy City Beijing" which was jointly participated by CNRS, Leiden University, Peking University, China Academy of Social Sciences and Beijing Academy of Social Sciences. In 200 1 year, Christopher Schipper moved his family to Fuzhou, China, and founded Xiguan Library, the first western language library in China. The collection of more than 10,000 classic books in western languages, as well as some rare domestic books lost overseas, is priceless.