The Radiance of the Other: Sinology and the Dialogical Path to Humanity’s Future

Abstract This article presents a series of dialogues between Xuetao Li and Helwig Schmidt-Glintzer on five themes of Sinology, and aims to rethink the significance and future of Sinology in the 21st century. From their respective cultural traditions, the two scholars explore the transcultural mission of Sinology in the context of information technology, cultural identity, and global ethics. They discuss issues of epistemic representation, the philosophical limits of language, the reconstruction of global ethics, and the methodological potential of Sinology as a “humanistic laboratory”. The article critically examines the institutional instrumentalization and diplomatic appropriation of Sinology, and advocates for its role as a “processual humanities” – not serving domination but constructing an epistemic platform for shared human futures. Drawing on intellectual resources such as Mozi, Heidegger, Deleuze–Guattari, and Waldenfels, the article illuminates the cultural-philosophical dimensions of Sinology as both an “open diapositif ” and a “habitable foreignness” ( be-wohnbare Fremde ), showing that transcultural Sinology is not merely about China, but fundamentally about humanity’s response to the future.