I graduated with a diploma in German and English literature from the University of Jena (then East Germany) in 1985. After some years as a private and high school teacher, I studied Sinology, Japanology and Philosophy in Munich and Beijing and received a PhD in Sinology from the University of Hamburg in 2000. I taught early Chinese literature and philosophy at several German universities and conducted a three-year research project in manuscript studies at the University of Hamburg. After one year as a Creel Research Fellow at the University of Chicago, I joined CU Boulder in Fall 2007.

My publications include the monograph Guan ren: Texte der altchinesischen Literatur zur Charakterkunde und Beamtenrekrutierung (2005), two edited volumes on early Chinese manuscripts, as well as various articles in European, American, and Chinese journals. My most recent book, The Embodied Text: Establishing Textual Identity in Early Chinese Manuscripts, has been published by E.J. Brill (Leiden) in January 2013. I study Warring States and Early Imperial politico-philosophical literature with a particular interest in questions of rhetorics and redactional strategies in texts such as Guanzi, Guoyu, Hanfeizi, Laozi, Lunyu, Mengzi, Xunzi. My work has a strong focus on textual criticism, the formational history of texts, and the methodology of studying early Chinese manuscripts.

Matthias L. Richter CV