Lothar Ledderose

At a time when China is becoming increasingly important, it is also becoming increasingly important to understand China. Much remains to be done. Chinese writing is the most complicated system of forms that mankind has created, and a unique feature of Chinese culture. An analysis of this system allows us to understand the fundamental otherness of China, in education, religion and politics.

Lothar Ledderose is senior professor of the art history of East Asia at the University of Heidelberg. He is leading a long-term project of the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities on the study of Buddhist stone inscriptions in China. In 2005 he received the Balzan Prize.

In the series China