Carl Arendt
Carl Arendt (1838–1902) was a German sinologist and diplomat.
Biography
Arendt was born on 1 December 1838 in Berlin, the son of a schoolmaster. He attended the Joachimsthal Gymnasium until 1952, and then studied linguistics at the then Friedrich Wilhelm University of Berlin (FWU Berlin) under Franz Bopp and Heymann Steinthal from 1856 to 1859.[1][2]
In 1865, he trained as an interpreter in Beijing, and subsequently worked for the German foreign service in China for over twenty years: as the head of the consulate in Tianjin (1865–1867 and 1869–1873) and as an interpreter at the legation in Beijing (1868 and 1874–1887).[2] Arendt was appointed professor of Chinese at FWU Berlin's Seminar for Oriental Languages from its foundation in October 1887.[3]
Arendt died during the night of 29/30 January 1902 after a short illness. During a leave of absence from his diplomatic posting in China, he had married Eveline Noah, a distant relative. They had five children, one of whom was the philologist Fritz Arendt.[1]
Selected works
- Handbuch der nordchinesischen Umgangssprache, mit Einschluss der Angangsgründe des neuchinesischen Officiellen und Briefstils. Erster Theil. Allgemeine Einleitung in das chinesische Sprachstudium [Handbook of Northern Chinese Colloquial Language, including the fundamentals of Modern Chinese Official and Letter Style. Part One. General Introduction to the Study of the Chinese Language]. W. Spemann. 1891.[4]
- Einführung in die nordchinesische Umgangssprache [Introduction to Northern Chinese colloquial speech]. W. Spemann. 1894.[5]
References
Sources
- Merklinghaus, Peter (1902). "Nekrolog auf Carl Arendt" [Carl Arendt obituary]. In Sachau, Eduard (ed.). Mittheilungen des Seminars für Orientalische Sprachen an der Königlichen Friedrich Wilhelms-Universität zu Berlin [Communications of the Seminar for Oriental Languages at the Royal Friedrich Wilhelm University of Berlin]. W. Spemann. pp. 174–176.
- ""Hochgeehrte Herren!" – Berliner Seminar für orientalische Sprachen 1887 feierlich eröffnet" ["Highly esteemed gentlemen!" - Berlin Seminar for Oriental Languages ceremonially opened in 1887]. uepo.de (in German). 6 August 2022. Retrieved 4 February 2026.
- "Arendt, Carl". China and the West database. University of Zurich. Archived from the original on 4 February 2026.
- Schlegel, Gustaaf (1892). "Review of Handbuch der nord-chinesischen Umgangssprache mit Einschluss der Anfangsgründe des neuchinesischen officiellen und Briefstils". T'oung Pao. 3 (2): 196–199. ISSN 0082-5433. JSTOR 4524940. Full access available to users of The Wikipedia Library.
- Schlegel, Gustaaf (1894). "Review of Einführung in die nordchinesische Umgangssprache". T'oung Pao. 5 (2): 164–169. ISSN 0082-5433. JSTOR 4525059. Full access available to users of The Wikipedia Library.
Further reading
- Leutner, Mechthild (2016). Kolonialpolitik und Wissensproduktion: Carl Arendt (1838-1902) und die Entwicklung der Chinawissenschaft [Colonial policy and knowledge production: Carl Arendt (1838-1902) and the development of Chinese studies] (in German). Berlin: LIT Verlag. ISBN 978-3-643-13592-6.
- Foy, Karl (1902). "Zur Persönlichkeit Carl Arendt's. Einige Erinnerungen." [On the personality of Carl Arendt. Some recollections.]. In Sachau, Eduard (ed.). Mittheilungen des Seminars für Orientalische Sprachen an der Königlichen Friedrich Wilhelms-Universität zu Berlin [Communications of the Seminar for Oriental Languages at the Royal Friedrich Wilhelm University of Berlin]. W. Spemann. pp. 177–182.