"At the Shores of the Sky": Asian Studies for Albert Hoffstädt

by Paul W. Kroll (Editor), Jonathan A. Silk (Contributor), Alexander Lubotsky

Albert Hoffstädt, a classicist by training and polylingual humanist by disposition, has for 25 years been the editor chiefly responsible for the development and acquisition of manuscripts in Asian Studies for Brill. During that time he has shepherded over 700 books into print and has distinguished himself as a figure of exceptional discernment and insight in academic publishing. He has also become a personal friend to many of his authors. A subset of these authors here offers to him in tribute and gratitude 22 essays on various topics in Asian Studies. These include studies on premodern Chinese, Indian, Japanese, and Korean literature, history, and religion, extending also into the modern and contemporary periods. They display the broad range of Mr. Hoffstädt's interests while presenting some of the most outstanding scholarship in Asian Studies today.

324 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2020

About the author

Paul W. Kroll is Professor Emeritus of Chinese and a distinguished scholar of medieval Chinese literature, language, history, and religion, with a particular focus on the period from the late Han through the Tang dynasty. He earned his PhD from the University of Michigan in 1976 and went on to teach at the University of Colorado Boulder from 1980 to 2019. As the founding chair of the Department of Oriental Languages and Literatures (now Asian Languages and Civilizations), he played a pivotal role in shaping the study of Asian languages at the institution.
A leading figure in the field of Sinology, Kroll has held several editorial positions, including serving as editor for East Asia at the Journal of the American Oriental Society from 1984 to 2010, as well as its general editor and editor of its monograph series from 2000 to 2010. He also edited Tang Studies Journal from 1984 to 2006, was one of three editors of T'oung Pao: International Journal of Sinology from 2009 to 2017, and continues to contribute as an editor to monograph series such as Brill's Handbuch der Orientalistik (China section) and De Gruyter's Library of Chinese Humanities translation series.
His contributions to the field have been widely recognized through numerous grants and fellowships, including multiple ACLS fellowships (1979, 1985, 1996), CU faculty fellowships (1985, 1992, 2000), and a Guggenheim fellowship (2007–08). He has also been honored as President of the American Oriental Society (2006–07), a member of the Institute for Advanced Study (2008–09), and an elected member of the American Philosophical Society (2018).
Kroll's extensive body of work includes books such as Meng Hao-jan (1981), Dharma Bell and Dharani Pillar: Li Po’s Buddhist Inscriptions (2002), Studies in Medieval Taoism and the Poetry of Li Po (2009), and A Student's Dictionary of Classical and Medieval Chinese (2014, revised in 2017 and 2022). He has edited major collections, including Critical Readings on Tang China (2018) and Reading Medieval Chinese Poetry: Text, Context, and Culture (2014), and has contributed over eighty articles and book chapters on medieval Chinese literature and culture, addressing topics such as Daoist poetry, Tang literary criticism, and political and personal fate in early medieval verse.
Throughout his career, Kroll has played an instrumental role in advancing the study of medieval Chinese literature, offering deep insights into the linguistic, poetic, and religious traditions of China’s formative periods. His scholarship continues to shape the field, influencing scholars and students alike.