Hans Bielenstein

Hans Bielenstein ( born April 8, 1920 in Stockholm ) is an American sinologist Swedish origin.

Life

Hans Bielenstein, the son of the priest Maximilian Bielenstein, studied history and Oriental Studies at the University of Stockholm. His academic mentor was the sinologist Bernhard Karlgren. Bielenstein reached 1945 Master's degree and licentiate in 1947. In 1952 he was a professor at the Canberra University College, where in 1953 he founded the School of Oriental Studies. Bielenstein was the first representative of Chinese studies at an Australian university.

In 1961 he moved to Columbia University in New York, where he led the Department of East Asian Languages ​​and Cultures initiated from 1969. In 1988, he stepped down as Dean Lung Professor of Chinese in retirement.

Biel Stein's research focuses on Chinese history. It deals with economic, trade, military and administrative history of the early Chinese empire. He devotes special interest the eras of the Han Dynasty to the Song Dynasty.

Writings (selection )

• The Restoration of the Han Dynasty, with Prolegomena on the Historiography of the Hou Han Shu. Stockholm / Gothenburg 1953
• The Bureaucracy of Han Times. Cambridge 1980. Reprint Cambridge 2009
• Diplomacy and trade in the Chinese world 589-1276. Leiden 2005 ( Handbook of Oriental Studies. Band 4.18 )