ABSTRACT
All human knowledge is, to varying degrees, conjectural or hypothetical in nature, and is produced by the creative imagination of human beings who encounter certain needs that have arisen in specific historical and cultural settings. This is the fundamental reason why I deem knowledge about China and scholarship in China–West studies as intellectual commodities. As intellectual products created by the human imagination, they are invariably subjective in nature. The subjectivity of Sinologism was intensified after China was brought into the global system of capitalism in modern times. The commodification of knowledge has caused China knowledge to deviate considerably from its original purposes. Nevertheless, scholars in the field do not self-consciously realize the subjectivity of their scholarship. This gives rise to sinologization. As intellectual commodities, both Sinologism and sinologization are derivatives of Sinology, and neither of them is Sinology per se. Rather, they are alienations of Sinology, China knowledge, and knowledge production. For this reason, Sinologism should be redefined as alienated knowledge in general and alienation of Sinology and China–West studies in particular.
