Berthold Laufer
Encyclopedia
Berthold Laufer was a German
-American
anthropologist and orientalist
.
Laufer was born in Cologne
to a Jewish family. He attended the Friedrich Wilhelms Gymnasium from 1884-1893. He continued his studies in Berlin (1893–1895) and completed his doctorate degree at the University of Leipzig
in 1897. The following year he emigrated to the United States where he remained until his death. He carried out ethnographic fieldwork on the Amur River and Sakhalin Island during 1898-1899 as part of the Jesup North Pacific Expedition
. He worked as assistant in Ethnology
at the American Museum of Natural History
(1904–1906), became a lecturer in Anthropology and East-Asiatic Languages
at Columbia University
(1905–1907). The rest of his career he spent at the Field Museum in Chicago. (cf. obituary JAOS 55.4 (1934): 349-362). He died upon leaping from the roof of the hotel in which he lived in Chicago.
From "Lasting Impressions: Chinese Rubbings from the Field Museum" Brochure (The Field Museum of Chicago)
When Berhold Laufer came to The Field Museum in 1908, he was one of the few scholars in America who could speak and write the Chinese language fluently. He made the study of the Chinese language and culture his life's work. "I have come to love the land and the people," he once wrote. "I feel myself to be better and healthier as a Chinese than as a European." As Curator of Asian Ethnology in the Department of Anthropology at the Field, he made two major expeditions to China in 1908 and 1923, and his acquisitions form the core of the Museum's Chinese collections.
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
-American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
anthropologist and orientalist
Oriental studies
Oriental studies is the academic field of study that embraces Near Eastern and Far Eastern societies and cultures, languages, peoples, history and archaeology; in recent years the subject has often been turned into the newer terms of Asian studies and Middle Eastern studies...
.
Laufer was born in Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
to a Jewish family. He attended the Friedrich Wilhelms Gymnasium from 1884-1893. He continued his studies in Berlin (1893–1895) and completed his doctorate degree at the University of Leipzig
University of Leipzig
The University of Leipzig , located in Leipzig in the Free State of Saxony, Germany, is one of the oldest universities in the world and the second-oldest university in Germany...
in 1897. The following year he emigrated to the United States where he remained until his death. He carried out ethnographic fieldwork on the Amur River and Sakhalin Island during 1898-1899 as part of the Jesup North Pacific Expedition
Jesup North Pacific Expedition
The Jesup North Pacific Expedition was a major anthropological expedition to Siberia, Alaska, and the north west coast of Canada. The purpose of the expedition was to investigate the relationships between the peoples at each side of the Bering Strait...
. He worked as assistant in Ethnology
Ethnology
Ethnology is the branch of anthropology that compares and analyzes the origins, distribution, technology, religion, language, and social structure of the ethnic, racial, and/or national divisions of humanity.-Scientific discipline:Compared to ethnography, the study of single groups through direct...
at the American Museum of Natural History
American Museum of Natural History
The American Museum of Natural History , located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, United States, is one of the largest and most celebrated museums in the world...
(1904–1906), became a lecturer in Anthropology and East-Asiatic Languages
East Asian languages
East Asian languages describe two notional groupings of languages in East and Southeast Asia:* Languages which have been greatly influenced by Classical Chinese and the Chinese writing system, in particular Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese .* The larger grouping of languages includes the...
at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
(1905–1907). The rest of his career he spent at the Field Museum in Chicago. (cf. obituary JAOS 55.4 (1934): 349-362). He died upon leaping from the roof of the hotel in which he lived in Chicago.
From "Lasting Impressions: Chinese Rubbings from the Field Museum" Brochure (The Field Museum of Chicago)
When Berhold Laufer came to The Field Museum in 1908, he was one of the few scholars in America who could speak and write the Chinese language fluently. He made the study of the Chinese language and culture his life's work. "I have come to love the land and the people," he once wrote. "I feel myself to be better and healthier as a Chinese than as a European." As Curator of Asian Ethnology in the Department of Anthropology at the Field, he made two major expeditions to China in 1908 and 1923, and his acquisitions form the core of the Museum's Chinese collections.
Literary works
- 1899 Petroglyphs on the Amoor, Oct. 1899
- 1909 ChineseCulture of ChinaChinese culture is one of the world's oldest and most complex. The area in which the culture is dominant covers a large geographical region in eastern Asia with customs and traditions varying greatly between towns, cities and provinces...
potteryPotteryPottery is the material from which the potteryware is made, of which major types include earthenware, stoneware and porcelain. The place where such wares are made is also called a pottery . Pottery also refers to the art or craft of the potter or the manufacture of pottery...
of the Han-dynastyHan DynastyThe Han Dynasty was the second imperial dynasty of China, preceded by the Qin Dynasty and succeeded by the Three Kingdoms . It was founded by the rebel leader Liu Bang, known posthumously as Emperor Gaozu of Han. It was briefly interrupted by the Xin Dynasty of the former regent Wang Mang...
, 1909 - 1911 JadeJadeJade is an ornamental stone.The term jade is applied to two different metamorphic rocks that are made up of different silicate minerals:...
, 1911 http://www.archive.org/details/fieldiana10chicuoft - 1914 Chinese clayClayClay is a general term including many combinations of one or more clay minerals with traces of metal oxides and organic matter. Geologic clay deposits are mostly composed of phyllosilicate minerals containing variable amounts of water trapped in the mineral structure.- Formation :Clay minerals...
figureFigureFigure may refer to:*A shape, drawing, or representation*Figure, wood appearance*Musical figure, distinguished from musical motif*Shaping a mirror on a reflective telescope*Noise figure, in telecommunication*Dance figure, an elementary dance pattern...
, 1914 - 1915 The diamondDiamondIn mineralogy, diamond is an allotrope of carbon, where the carbon atoms are arranged in a variation of the face-centered cubic crystal structure called a diamond lattice. Diamond is less stable than graphite, but the conversion rate from diamond to graphite is negligible at ambient conditions...
, 1915 http://www.archive.org/details/fieldiana15chicuoft - 1917 The Beginnings of PorcelainPorcelainPorcelain is a ceramic material made by heating raw materials, generally including clay in the form of kaolin, in a kiln to temperatures between and...
in ChinaChinaChinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, 1917 http://www.archive.org/details/fieldiana15chicuoft - 1928 The Giraffe in History and Art, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago.
Works in Tibetan Studies
- Laufer, Berthold (1898/1899). “Ueber das va zur. Ein Beitrag zur Phonetik der tibtischen Sprache.” Wiener Zeitschrift für die Kunde des Morgenlandes 12: 289-307; 13: 95-109, 199-226; reprinted in Kleinere Schriften von Berthold Laufer. Ed. Hartmut Walravens. Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner Verlag, 1976: 61-122.
- 1914. “Bird divination among the Tibetans (notes on document Pelliot no 3530, with a study of Tibetan phonology of the ninth century)” T’oung Pao 15. (1914): 1-110; Hartmut Walravens and Lokesh Chandra, eds. Sino-Tibetan Studies, vol 2. New Delhi: Rakesh Goel, 1987: 354-463.
- 1916–18. “Loan Words in Tibetan,” T’oung Pao 17, 404-552; Hartmut Walravens and Lokesh Candra, eds. Sino-Tibetan Studies. Vol 2. New Delhi: Rakesh Goel, 1987: 483-632.
- 1916. “The Si-hia language: A Study in Indo-Chinese Philology”, T'oung Pao 17, 1-126.
Collections
- Kleinere Schriften von Berthold Laufer. Hartmut Walravens, editor, Sinologica Coloniensia; Ostasiatische Beiträge der Universität zu Köln, Bde. 2, 7, 13. Franz Steiner, Wiesbaden, 1976-1992 (3 Volumes). A collection of many of his essays and many relevant documents.
- Sino-Tibetan Studies. Hartmut Walravens and Lokesh Candra, eds., 2 Vols., Rakesh Goel, New Delhi, 1987.
Further reading
- Hartmut Walraevens, Popular Chinese Music a Century Ago: Berthold Laufer's Legacy, Fontes Artis Musicae, Vol. 47, 2000, p. 345-352.
External links
- Division of Anthropology, American Museum of Natural History - Objects from Laufer China Expedition 1901-1904 (section Collections Online, option Collections Highlights).
- Field Museum press release Berthold Laufer, Father of the Collection
- Field Museum Library Special Collections Laufer Materials The Library of the Field Museum contains many of the print materials from Laufer's personal collections. Search the Library Card Catalog
- A mixture of Laufer essays, biodiversity bibliography