"Sinologist" is a documentary series produced by Insight Studios that focuses on overseas scholars who are active in China-related fields today. Their research involves Chinese history, philosophy, intellectual history, literature, art, folklore and other fields. The work of these sinologists embodies the integration of Chinese and Western cultures, paving the way for mutual understanding and learning. The films aim to show the academic journeys of overseas China scholars, to find out their methods of observation, as well as their per- sonal life stories - painting a portrait of the most important sinologists of our time.
Born in 1937, Swiss philosopher Iso Kern specialized in phenomenology until the age of 40. He participated in the editing of the research manuscripts (Forschungsmanuskripte) of German philosopher Edmund Husserl (1859-1938), who is known as the father of phenom- enology, and edited and published a three-volume edition of Husserl's collected works in 1973,“ Zur Phänomenologie der Intersubjek- tivität”.
The phenomenological interpretation of Wang Yangming's psychology is one of Iso Kern's greatest interests, for which he traveled to China to study Chinese language and philosophy, and in 2010 he published a monograph on the thought of the Chinese philosopher Wang Yangming “Das Wichtigste im Leben”.
He retired to the Swiss countryside to concentrate on his research. The film focuses on how a Western philosopher with a deep academ- ic background explores the ideas of Chinese philosophers, who are completely different from Western culture, and eventually finds a way to bridge the gap between Eastern and Western studies. The 50-minute film also tells the moving story of the life of a modern phi- losopher and how he faithfully practiced his ethical and theoretical principles.
| Producer | Liu Yi |
| Line Producer | Pan Jing Chen Xinda |
| Director of Photography | Darko Sintic |
| Editor | Sharon Feng |
