ABSTRACT
Romania had only sporadic and limited interactions with China before the proclamation of the People’s Republic of China, and thus Romanian sinology emerged only during the Cold War, after the first Romanian students were sent to study in China. Sinology in Romania was mostly limited to language and culture studies and translations, while almost all sinologists developed a friendly attitude toward China. Combined with the limits imposed by the authoritarian nature of the regime and the close friendship between China and Romania, most of the papers, publications, and research about China were focused on non-controversial, non-political topics. While no students went to China during the Cultural Revolution, they continued to study Chinese in Romania, setting the stage for an expansion of sinology as an academic discipline after the fall of communism. Since 1990 the number of Romanian universities providing Chinese courses and students learning Chinese has increased considerably, as has the number of Romanians studying in China. While most Romanian sinologists continued to focus on language, translation, and cultural studies, some developed expertise in political, geopolitical, and sociological research.
