Diff erent Ways to Become a Soviet Sinologist : A Note on personal choices

It is and always was an uneasy path for a Western scholar to become a sinologist. In the current research there were included interviews of 33 Russian sinologists. To analyze the value of different components in the process to become a sinologist there were chosen few major factors in the family and social background, early years and education. In half of the cases decision to go for Chinese studies was taken under the temporary circumstances during admission or studies at universities, and wasn’t a result of strong personal interest. This situation was tightly connected with the politics in the USSR, when in late 1940-s and early 1950-s it was decided to prepare big number of sinologists to help Chinese modernization.

It is and always was an uneasy path for a Western scholar to become a sinologist.Big difference between spoken and written languages, elaborated and complicated traditions and society, technology and religion in China -all of it make Chinese studies a diffi cult task even now, at the age of abundant information and widespread access to Internet.So obviously it was by times harder in the middle of the XX century, when most of the interviewed in current project started their studies.
We also shall not forget that all the interviewed managed to build a successful career, as in the project participated only those scholars, whoseachievements signifi cantly changed the science in Russia.As success in sinology generallyfi nely correlates with application of constant efforts for many years, it is quite logical to expect strong interest in China as a necessary motivation for all interviewed.

Materials and Methods
In the current research there were included interviews of 33 Russian sinologists 1 ; we can very well call all of them former Soviet sinologists, as all of them were born and studied at the time of the Soviet Union .To analyze the value of different components in the process to become a sinologist there were chosen few major factors in the family and social background, early years and education.Here is a brief description of the reasons for every title.Year of birth gave us necessary information about general political and economic situation in the USSR; Place of birth and early years opened up more precise information of the surroundings of the future scholar, and whether there were early visits to China or nearby areas; Parents and/or inner circle gave information, where possible, about social background and possible ties to China; Early memories about China is a highly emotional part about fi rst deep impression, connected to China, and where possible, there were given a translation of it 2 ; Higher education describes successful or unsuccessful attempts to enter institute or university and the course of the education, where it is important for the research; last fi eld, Major factor(s) concludes, which of the components was essential for the decision to become a sinologist.

Family background and/or early years in China
One of the interviewed was born in 1918; 5 -in 1920s; 15 in 1930s; 8in 1940s and 4 -in 1950s; so they represent at least several generations with very different circumstances during the childhood and teenage.Most of them spent their early years in big cities: 18 in Moscow; 3 in Leningrad, now Saint Petersburg; 3 in Vladivostok; by 1 from Baku, Kiev, Lvov (small number of sinologists from St. Petersburg and Vladivostok may be explained by the fact that the "Sinology: Oral History" project was located in Moscow).High number of successful sinologists from big cities is not a wonder: obviously there are always more educational chances for those who live there.

Education
Most of the interviewed remember their early impressions about China: many are connected with the World War II, Communist Party in China and the proclamation of the People's Republic of China in 1949; others -with Chinese goods and souvenirs, sometimes with books and movies about China.
1 Several interviews from the international project "Sinology: Oral History" in Russia there were included into this study, as there were not enough of information for the research.List of the interviews can be found at http://politics.ntu.edu.tw/RAEC/act02.php. 2 All translations were done by the author of the article.
But there is also rather surprising information: in half of the cases (17) decision to study China was made under the temporary circumstances, and not because of constant interest to this country.In most of cases these circumstances were connected with admission or education in universities and therefore with the political relationships between the USSR and China.In late 1940-s and 1950s, when the USSR started to send specialists to China, it was decided to increase the number of students in Chinese groups in many universities.It resulted in favorable situation to attend studies: if a student didn't manage to enter the faculty he desired, still he had good chances to go for Chinese specialization.Generally further careers were also strongly effected by political situation, but it will be a topic for another research.
From those of interviewed, whose choice to study China was connected with strong personal interest, there is only a limited number of cases, where it was due to family reasons (Chinese parents (1), early years in China (1), marriage to a Chinese (1)).In many situations interest to China started because of the news about the Communist Party in China, heard from the radio, newspapers or talks of elders.

Conclusion
From 33 interviewed Russian sinologists in half of the cases decision to go for Chinese studies was taken under the temporary circumstances during admission or studies at universities, and wasn't a result of strong personal interest.This situation was tightly connected with the politics in the USSR, when in late 1940s and early 1950-s it was decided to prepare big number of sinologists to help Chinese modernization.
But even though the choice was coincidental, all of them applied constant efforts and managed to become signifi cant specialists in Chinese studies.