Prof. Dr. Christian Schwermann

Principal Investigator

Ruhr-Universität Bochum
Faculty of East Asian Studies
Department of Chinese Language and Literature
Universitätsstraße 134
D-44780 Bochum
Phone: +49 234 32 29253
christian.schwermann@rub.de

Christian Schwermann.jpg
© Barbara Frommann

Academic Profile

Christian Schwermann focuses on the historical semantics of dependency in Early China (ca. 1200 to 200 B.C.E.) paying particular attention to its economic aspects. Whereas previous research described ancient Chinese societies along the conceptual lines of "slavery" and "freedom", a closer look at the old Chinese lexicon reveals that there was no such polar conceptual dichotomy. Instead, there was a wide range of terms designating various degrees of dependency, many of them referring to types of temporary forced labor and related to the punishment of crimes (punitive labor). It was likely only since the fourth century B.C.E. that it was possible for people to be bought and sold on markets. It was also likely around this time that a mode of production remotely resembling ancient slave economies emerged.However, even this mode of production is reflected in the sources and can be analyzed in terms of forced labor. That being said, this slavery-resembling mode does not seem to have been the predominant mode of production in Early China.

1 book, 2 edited volumes, 17 articles and reviews. Ca. 150 invited talks and lectures, and ca. 120 supervised M.A., B.A. and Ph.D. theses.

2014
Habilitation and Venia legendi in Sinology, University of Muenster, Germany

1999–2005
Ph.D. in Sinology, Unversity of Bonn, Germany

1991–1999
M.A. in Sinology and English Language and Literature, University of Bonn, Germany

1987–1990
M.A. in Sinology, Japanology, Ancient, Medieval and Modern History, University of Bonn (Germany) and Sichuan University (Chengdu, China)

since 2016
Professor for Language and Literature of China, Ruhr University Bochum, Germany

2010–2016
Research Associate at the Department of Sinology, Institute of Oriental and Asian Studies, University of Bonn, Germany

2009–2010
Teacher of Chinese and English at the Geschwister-Scholl Comprehensive School Dortmund, Germany

2001–2009
Research Associate at the Department of Sinology of University of Bonn, Germany

  • German Resarch Foundation (DFG) (subproject SFB 1167, since 2016)

Total sum of approximately € 325,000.

  • 2015. With Wang Ping. "Female Human Sacrifice in Shang-Dynasty Oracle-Bone Inscriptions." InThe International Journal of Chinese Character Studies/世界漢字通報 1(1): 49–83.
  • 2014. As editor. With Raji C. Steineck. That Wonderful Composite Called Author. Authorship in East Asian Literatures from the Beginnings to the Seventeenth Century. East Asian Comparative Literature and Culture 4. Leiden: Brill.
  • 2014. "Rhetorical Functions of Quotations in Late Pre-Imperial and Early Imperial Memorials on Questions of Civilian-Military Leadership." In Asiatische Studien/Études Asiatiques 68(4): 1069–1114.
  • 2014. "Composite Authorship in Western Zhōu Bronze Inscriptions. The Case of the ‘Tiānwáng guǐ’ 天亡簋 Inscription." In That Wonderful Composite Called Author. Authorship in East Asian Literatures from the Beginnings to the Seventeenth Century, edited by Christian Schwermann and Raji C. Steineck, 30–57. Boston: Brill.
  • 2012. With Karl-Heinz Golzio and Shiro Yukawa. "Schlechte Namen, Leserlenkung und Herrscherkritik in antiken chinesischen Texten." In Auf der Suche nach der Entwicklung menschlicher Gesellschaften. Festschrift für Hans Dieter Ölschleger zu seinem sechzigsten Geburtstag von seinen Freunden und Kollegen, edited by Günther Distelrath, Ralph Lützeler, and Barbara Manthey, 539–594. Berlin: EB-Verlag.
  • 2011. "Gattungsdynamik in der traditionellen chinesischen Literatur. Von der ʻErläuterung’ (shuō) zur ʻErzählung’ (xiǎoshuō)." In Was sind Genres? Nicht-abendländische Kategorisierungen von Gattungen, edited by Stephan Conermann and Amr El Hawary, 47–85. Berlin: EB-Verlag.
  • 2011. 'Dummheit' in altchinesischen Texten. Eine Begriffsgeschichte. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.
  • 2007. "Feigned Madness, Self-Preservation and Covert Censure in Early China." In Zurück zur Freude. Studien zur chinesischen Literatur und Lebenswelt und ihrer Rezeption in Ost und West. Festschrift für Wolfgang Kubin, edited by Marc Hermann and Christian Schwermann, 531–572. Sankt Augustin: Institut Monumenta Serica.
  • 2007. As editor. With Marc Hermann. Zurück zur Freude. Studien zur chinesischen Literatur und Lebenswelt und ihrer Rezeption in Ost und West. Festschrift für Wolfgang Kubin. Monumenta Serica Monograph Series 57. Sankt Augustin: Institut Monumenta Serica.
  • 2005. "Collage-Technik als Kompositionsprinzip klassischer chinesischer Prosa. Der Aufbau des Kapitels ʻTāng wèn’ (Die Fragen des Tāng) im Liè zǐ." In Komposition und Konnotation – Figuren der Kunstprosa im Alten China, edited by Wolfgang Behr and Joachim Gentz, 125–157. Munich: Iudicium Verlag.
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