这篇演说原名《汉学的内涵与状况》(What and How Is Sinology?)当年曾以单行本面世,后载于美国唐代研究学会所编《唐学报》8—9辑(1990—1991)。译文有所删节,但较多保留了追溯汉学史的部分,为使文题相符,改用现在这个题目。当代美国汉学中的文学研究,深受新批评等流派和比较文学平行思潮的影响,往往采用新涌现的诗学理论和审美原则去审视作品。薛教授则强调从小学入手吃透汉籍的细微和微妙之处。这是本文的写作背景。 The speech was originally entitled “What and How Is Sinology?”, Which was published as a solo bank in the same year. It was later published in Series 8-9 (1990-1991) of the Tang Journal compiled by the Tang Institute of Research in the United States. The translation has been abridged, but more to retain the history of retrospective Sinology, in order to match the text, switch to the current topic. Contemporary American Sinology literature research, by the new criticism and other schools of thought and comparative literature parallel trend of thought, often using the emerging poetics and aesthetic principles to examine the work. Professor Xue emphasizes the nuances and subtleties of learning Chinese from primary school. This is the writing background of this article.