Robert Hegel
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Robert E. Hegel (born January 9, 1943; ) is an American
sinologist Sinology, also referred to as China studies, is a subfield of area studies or East Asian studies involved in social sciences and humanities research on China. It is an academic discipline that focuses on the study of the Chinese civilizatio ...
specializing in the fiction of
late imperial China The history of China spans several millennia across a wide geographical area. Each region now considered part of the Chinese world has experienced periods of unity, fracture, prosperity, and strife. Chinese civilization first emerged in the ...
. He taught at
Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) is a private research university in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1853 by a group of civic leaders and named for George Washington, the university spans 355 acres across its Danforth ...
, from 1975 until his retirement in the spring of 2018 and was made Liselotte Dieckman Professor of Comparative Literature and Professor of Chinese in 2006.Curriculim Vitae
Washington University
In 2000, the
Institut de France The ; ) is a French learned society, grouping five , including the . It was established in 1795 at the direction of the National Convention. Located on the Quai de Conti in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, the institute manages approximately ...
, Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres awarded Hegel the
Prix Stanislas Julien The Prix Stanislas Julien is a prize for a sinological work (usually) published in the previous year. It is named after the French sinologist, Stanislas Julien, and is awarded by the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres The () is a Fren ...
for ''Reading Illustrated Fiction in Late Imperial China''.Comptes-rendus des séances de l'Académie des inscriptions et belles-lettres 2000 144(4) p. 1345
/ref>


Early life and education

Hegel was born on January 9, 1943, in
Goodrich, Michigan Goodrich is a village in Genesee County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 2,022 at the 2020 census. The village is located within Atlas Township and is part of the Flint metropolitan area. Geography According to the United ...
. He was inspired by the Soviet launching of the
Sputnik Sputnik 1 (, , ''Satellite 1''), sometimes referred to as simply Sputnik, was the first artificial Earth satellite. It was launched into an elliptical low Earth orbit by the Soviet Union on 4 October 1957 as part of the Soviet space progra ...
rocket in 1957 to study engineering. But once enrolled at
Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...
, he recalled later, he "discovered fairly quickly that it didn't matter how hard I studied calculus, I just couldn't understand it." Instead, he began to study Chinese, which he found "different, and much more difficult than I had imagined, but it was also fascinating", he said. "Chinese culture was unfamiliar, yet understandable — human interests and needs being pretty much constant around the world, after all." In 1965, he entered the graduate program at Columbia University using a National Defense Foreign Language fellowship which supported him through coursework and a period of study in Taiwan. At Columbia he studied with
C. T. Hsia Hsia Chih-tsing (; January 11, 1921 – December 29, 2013), or C. T. Hsia, was a Chinese historian and literary theorist. He contributed to the introduction of modern Chinese literature to the Western world by promoting the works of once ma ...
, who was turning his attention to the
classic Chinese novels Classic Chinese Novels () are the best-known works of literary fiction across pre-modern Chinese literature. The group usually includes the following works: Ming dynasty novels ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms'', '' Water Margin'', ''Journey to th ...
. In Taiwan, Hegel took a supplementary job for the
China Airlines China Airlines (CAL; zh, t=中華航空, poj=Tiong-hôa Hâng-khong, p=Zhōnghuá Hángkōng, first=t, c=, s=) is the state-owned flag carrier of the Taiwan, Republic of China (Taiwan). It is one of Taiwan's two major airlines, along with E ...
flight magazine, which he credits with getting him outside the library to learn about Chinese culture. While finishing work on his dissertation, he taught at
Case Western Reserve University Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) is a Private university, private research university in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It was established in 1967 by a merger between Western Reserve University and the Case Institute of Technology. Case ...
, Cleveland from 1972 to 1974. At
Duke University Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...
, Durham, he was Visiting Associate Professor of International Studies in 1986 and Resident Director of the Duke Study in China Program for 1986. He joined the Arts and Sciences at Washington University as Assistant Professor in 1975, and became Full Professor and Chair of the Department of Department of Asian and Near Eastern Languages and Literatures in 1986.


Scholarly career and reception

Hegel's 1981 monograph, ''The Novel in Seventeenth Century China'', analyzes three related seventeenth century works of fiction set in the
Sui dynasty The Sui dynasty ( ) was a short-lived Dynasties of China, Chinese imperial dynasty that ruled from 581 to 618. The re-unification of China proper under the Sui brought the Northern and Southern dynasties era to a close, ending a prolonged peri ...
, along with other prominent writings, especially the critical writings of
Jin Shengtan Jin Shengtan (; 1610?7 August 1661), former name Jin Renrui (), also known as Jin Kui (), was a Chinese editor, writer and critic, who has been called the champion of Vernacular Chinese literature. Biography The year of Jin's birth is unclear, ...
and
Zhang Zhupo Zhang Zhupo (; 1670–1698), courtesy name Zide (), also known as Daoshen (), was an early Qing dynasty literary critic, commentator, and editor of fiction best known for his commentarial edition of the novel ''Jin Ping Mei''. Early life A nativ ...
. Hegel sets these works of fiction and criticism in their political and cultural background, particularly the decades of turmoil that marked the transition from the Ming to the Qing dynasty. Hegel sees three developments reflected in fiction of this period: interest in contemporary events, a rise of individualism and self-expression, and a new interest in using form to convey character and feeling. These developments, he argues, were similar in some ways to those when Western fiction moved towards realism and pychological awareness. Ellen Widmer's review in ''
Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies The ''Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies'' (HJAS) is an English-language scholarly journal published by the Harvard-Yenching Institute. ''HJAS'' features articles and book reviews of current scholarship in East Asian studies, East Asian Studies, fo ...
'' praises the work but adds that a choice of different works to include would lead to different results and that it is a "preliminary foray, the rough first mapping which inspires others to amplify and shade in." ''Reading Illustrated Fiction in Late Imperial China'' (1998) examines changes in the style and aesthetic appeal of how fiction was printed. Ming dynasty novels were printed in much the same form as other publications with a literati audience, showing that fiction was an acceptable form but that under Manchu rule fiction was printed in poorer editions. Literati came to define their identity in contrast to the illiterate masses and fiction as "vulgar". Novelists such as
Cao Xueqin Cao Xueqin ( ; 4 April 171010 June 1765Briggs, Asa (ed.) (1989) ''The Longman Encyclopedia'', Longman, ) was a Chinese novelist and poet during the Qing dynasty. He is best known as the author of '' Dream of the Red Chamber'', one of the Four G ...
and
Wu Jingzi Wu Jingzi (Wu Ching-tzu), (1701—January 11, 1754) was a Chinese novelist during the Qing dynasty. He was born in the city now known as Quanjiao, Anhui and who died in Yangzhou, Jiangsu. He was the author of '' The Scholars'', often seen as th ...
did not allow their works to be put into print during their lifetimes, but circulated them in manuscript.
Wilt Idema Wilt Lukas Idema (born 12 November 1944) is a Dutch scholar and Sinologist who taught at University of Leiden and Harvard University (2000–13), presently emeritus at both universities. He specializes in Chinese literature, with interests in ear ...
's review in
China Information ''China Information'' (subtitled ''A Journal on Contemporary China Studies'') is a triannual peer-reviewed academic journal that was established in 1986. It was originally published by the Documentation and Research Centre for Contemporary China ( ...
concludes that "Few books are a better introduction to the nature of ing and Qing vernacular fiction and the changing ways of their reception, than Prof. Hegel's fine monograph." The book won the Stanislaus Julliene Award (2000). ''True Crimes in Eighteenth Century China'' (2009) selected and translated original depositions from witnesses and evidence from the accused in capital cases. These were contained in memorials to the emperor written by the
county magistrate The county magistrate or local magistrate, known by several Chinese names, was the official in charge of the '' xian'' ("county"), the lowest level of central government in Imperial and early Republican China. The magistrate was the official ...
who conducted the investigation and the trial, since (a death sentence had to be approved by the emperor himself). One reviewer said that "at one level" it is a "fascinating book", showing that the magistrate was scrupulous and energetic in investigating and applying the law and that the depositions conveyed details of daily life. But he objected that Hegel missed points of Qing law. Hegel explained to an interviewer that his interest was also in these depositions as pieces of writing. "However, as products of the same educational system that produced China's novelists and story writers, the magistrates who wrote these reports had a similar sense of careful composition and the ability to make texts mean more than they say. These features of the crime reports are what attracted me." He added that "if we can view the judicial system of late imperial China as a viable attempt to reach goals that we share today, then we can overcome the prejudiced view of early twentieth-century reformers and we can more objectively regard China's past as an important segment of our common human experience."Robert Hegel (Interview)
On His Book True Crimes in Eighteenth Century China: Twenty Case Histories
Rorotoko December 18, 2009


Selected publications

* * * * * * "The Sights and Sounds of Red Cliffs: On Reading Su Shi," ''Chinese Literature: Essays, Articles, Reviews'' (CLEAR) (Volume 20 1998): 11-30. * * * *


References


Citations


Sources

; Works cited * * * * ** also online at
Interview with Robert Hegel
, MCLC Resource Center, The Ohio State University. {{DEFAULTSORT:Hegel, Robert 1943 births Columbia University alumni Washington University in St. Louis faculty American sinologists Living people Michigan State University alumni China Airlines Group people Case Western Reserve University faculty