Ernst Schwarz (sinologist)

Ernst Schwarz (6 August 1916, Vienna - 6 September 2003, Münichreith) was an Austrian sinologist and translator.

Life

Ernst Schwarz came from a Jewish merchant family from Vienna. His father, Desiderius Schwarz, and his mother, Bertha Schwarz had a shop in Mariahilfer Straße. He had a brother (Egon, 1904–1976), and two sisters (Lilly, 1908–1972 and Francis, 1909–2000). He studied Egyptology and medicine at the University of Vienna. After the annexation of Austria to the German Reich in March 1938, he was forced to leave the country. He traveled to Shanghai by sea with his brother Egon. There he learned Chinese through self-study, while he worked as a physical education teacher. Occasionally he stayed in Buddhist monasteries. In 1945, he worked in Nanjing as a translator; in 1946–47 he taught English literature at the university there. From 1947 to 1950, he was secretary at the Austrian embassy in Nanjing. Subsequently, he worked again as a translator, this time for the Foreign Languages Press in Beijing. From 1958 to 1960, he taught English at the University of Hangzhou, however, due to political problems during the time of the Great Leap Forward, he was forced to leave the People's Republic of China.

After staying in Great Britain and Belgium, he finally arrived in the GDR. Between 1961 and 1970, he taught Chinese language and literature as a research assistant and later as a lecturer at the East Asian Institute of the Humboldt University in East Berlin. In 1965, he received a doctorate in philosophy. After he retired from the University, he worked as a freelance translator and held occasional lectures at the Diplomatic Academy in Vienna. Chancellor Bruno Kreisky arranged him a teaching position at the Diplomatic Academy. He was personally acquainted with Trade Minister Fritz Bock, a childhood friend, Foreign Minister Rudolf Kirchschläger, Science Minister Hertha Firnberg, Health Minister Ingrid Leodolter, Friedrich Hoess diplomat, and Chief Magistrate Josef Bandion, among others.

In 1993, he returned from Berlin to Vienna. In 1994, it came to light that he worked for the State Security Service of the GDR (Stasi); he admitted his espionage activities without publicly repenting it. He retired to Münichreith in the Waldviertel, Lower Austria, where he spent his latter years.

Ernst Schwarz was best known for his translations of classical poems and philosophical texts from Chinese, which proved to be very popular with the reading public and they set high standards concerning Tao Yuan-Ming, Confucius and Lao Tse in the German-speaking world.

His autobiography, Tausend Tore hat die Wahrheit, (A Thousand Gates have the Truth), published in Berlin in 2001, is no longer in print.

In 1981, Ernst Schwarz received the F.-C.-Weiskopf Prize and in 1992 the Golden Medal of Honour of Vienna (Ehrenmedaille der Bundeshauptstadt Wien). He is the father of actress Melan Schwarz aka Marijam Agischewa.

Selected works

• Die klassische chinesische Literatur und das Weltbild Chinas im Feudalzeitalter, Berlin 1964
• Zur Problematik der Qu Yuan-Forschung, Berlin 1965 (thesis)
• Der Glücksbegriff in China, Vienna 1976
• Stein des Anstoßes, Berlin 1978
• Damit verdien ich mir mein Paradies. Unbekannte Bildwerke in den Domen zu Magdeburg und Stendal (Gedichte), Berlin 1986
• Der alte Mönch. Gedichte zu chinesischen Tuschezeichnungen, Berlin 1990
• Die Weisheit des alten China, Munich 1994
• Das Leben des Bodhidharma, Düsseldorf [u.a.] 2000

Anthologies

• Der Reiter im grünen Gewand (Chinas Völker erzählen; Folge 1), Beijing 1964; new edition in three volumes: Die schönsten Volkssagen aus China - Der Reiter im grünen Gewand ISBN 7-119-03828-1, Die Legende vom Reis ISBN 7-119-03829-X, Das langhaarige Mädchen ISBN 7-119-03830-3 (Beijing, Verlag für fremdsprachige Literatur 2005).
• Chrysanthemen im Spiegel. Klassische chinesische Dichtungen, Berlin 1969
• Lob des Steinquells. Koreanische Lyrik, Weimar 1973
• Der Ruf der Phönixflöte, Berlin 1973
• Von den müßigen Gefühlen. Chinesische Liebesgedichte aus 3 Jahrtausenden, Leipzig [u.a.] 1978
• Shih-fu Wang: Das Westzimmer, Leipzig 1978
• Chinesische Liebesgedichte, Frankfurt (Main) 1980
• So sprach der Weise. Chinesisches Gedankengut aus 3 Jahrtausenden, Berlin 1981
• Li Tsching-dschau & Dschu Schu-dschen: Chinesische Frauenlyrik. Tzi-Lyrik der Sung-Zeit, Munich 1985
• Vom Weg allen Geistes. Sentenzen aus dem alten China, Berlin 1985
• Das gesprengte Grab, Berlin 1989
• So sprach der Meister, Munich, 1994
• Agischewa, A. & Schwarz, E.: Die heilige Büffelfrau. Indianische Schöpfungsmythen, Munich 1995
• Ein Spiegel ist des Weisen Herz. Sinnsprüche aus dem alten China, Munich 1996
• Schwarz, E. & Agischewa, A.: Der Trank der Unsterblichkeit. Chinesische Schöpfungsmythen und Volksmärchen, Munich 1997
• Die Glocke schallt, die Glocke schweigt. Zen-Buddhistische Weisheit, Zürich [u.a.] 1999
• Der rechte Weg. Chinesische Weisheiten, Berlin 2000

Translations

• Po-tsan Chien: Kurzer Abriß der chinesischen Geschichte, Beijing 1958 (with Chün-chêng Shao and Hua Hu)
• Tschin Dshao-jang (Qin Zhaoyang): Dorfskizzen, Beijing 1956
• Yubao Gao: Meine Kindheit, Beijing 1962
• Konfuzius: Gespräche des Meisters Kung, Munich 1985
• Li Tai Bo: Li Tai-bo, Berlin 1979
• Laudse (Laozi): Daudedsching (Tao Te King), Leipzig 1970 and Munich 1995
• Li Nan-li: Lo Tsai, der Tigerjäger und andere Geschichten, Beijing 1958
• Tao Yüan-ming: Pfirsichblütenquell, Leipzig 1967
• Gung Schu T.: Schu Ting, Berlin 1988
• Yuanwu: Bi-yän-lu. Aufzeichnungen des Meisters vom Blauen Fels, Munich 1999

Further reading

• Günther Albrecht, Kurt Böttcher, Herbert Greiner-Mai and Paul-Günter Krohn: Schriftsteller der DDR. 2., unchanged edition. Bibliographisches Institut, Leipzig 1975.
• Konrad Herrmann: Begegnungen mit Ernst Schwarz. Books on Demand, Norderstedt 2012.
• Eva Jancak: Dreizehn Kapitel. Selbstverlag, Vienna 2014.