Erwin Ritter von Zach (1872-1942), Gesammelte Rezensionen.

• Author: Knechtges, David R.
• Position: Erwin Ritter von Zach (1872-1942 - Book review

Erwin Ritter von Zach (1872-1942), Gesammelte Rezensionen: Chinesische Geschichte, Religion und Philosophie in der Kritik. Edited by HARMUT WALRAVENS. ASIEN-UND AFRIKA-STUDIEN 22 DER HUMBOLDT-UNIVERSITAT ZU BERLIN. WIESBADEN: HARRASSOWITZ VERLAG,2005. [ero]48.

This is a collection of the book reviews of the early twentieth century Sinologue Erwin Ritter von Zach (1872-1942). In an age in which book reviews count for very little as scholarly achievement or for tenure, it may seem odd that someone would compile a collection of scholarly book reviews that date to the 1920s and 1930s. However, Erwin von Zach was not an ordinary book reviewer. Nor was he an ordinary scholar. Zach came from an aristocratic Austrian family. (1) In his early life he mastered Greek philology, medicine, and mathematics before taking up the study of Chinese, Tibetan, and Manchu. Although he studied briefly at Leiden with Gustav Schlegel (1840-1903), Zach basically was an autodidact. Fiercely independent and contemptuous of establishment scholars' work, he assiduously avoided pursuing a career in the European academy. From 1901 to 1919, he worked for the Austro-Hungarian consular service, and for a brief period after that, for the Dutch consular service in the Netherlands East Indies. In 1925, Zach resigned to devote himself full-time to scholarly work. He took up residence in Weltevreden, a suburb of Batavia, where he steadily churned out a large number of translations, including the complete poetry of Yu Xin, Han Yu, Du Fu, and Li Bo, and ninety percent of the Wen xuan. Zach died on 19 January 1942 when the Dutch merchant ship that was taking him and German refuges to Ceylon was sunk by a Japanese torpedo plane.

Even while Zach was employed as a consular officer, he managed to find time to do scholarly work. His first major publications were corrections to Herbert Giles' Chinese-English Dictionary. Zach presented portions of this work to fulfill the requirements for the doctorate at Vienna University. (2) Before retiring to Batavia, Zach had regularly published book reviews in European Sinological journals such as T'oung Pao and Asia Major. However, Zach's criticisms were often strong to the point of being offensive. He also did not hesitate to take on the great Sinological giants, including Paul Pelliot, whom Zach referred to as the "soi-disant Papst der Sinologie." After enduring Zach's stinging criticisms for several years, Pelliot issued the following decree that...