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Cecilia Lindqvist

セシーリア・リンドクヴィスト

Cecilia Lindqvist

Aliases: 林西莉 / Lin Xili / Cecilia Norman

Profile

Gender
Female
Born
1932-06-04 （Lund）
Died
2021-09-27 age 89
Nationality
Sweden
Languages
Swedish, Chinese
Religion
Unknown
Residence History
Sweden → China

Career

Occupations
Sinologist, professor, author
Active Years
1963-2021

Awards

August Prize
1989
Work: Tecknens rike
Category: Best Fiction
Organization: The August Prize Foundation
Result: winner
August Prize
2006
Work: Qin
Category: Best Non-Fiction
Organization: The August Prize Foundation
Result: winner

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Kingdom of Characters

1989 Non-fiction

A book explaining the history of Chinese characters

Chinese charactersOrigin of Hanzi

China: Empire of Living Symbols

1991 Non-fiction

Traces modern Chinese characters back to Neolithic bone markings

Evolution of charactersAncient China

Qin

2006 Non-fiction

Book about the seven-stringed zither guqin

GuqinChinese music

Bibliography

  • China from the Inside (with Sven Lindqvist, 1963)
  • Asian Experience (with Sven Lindqvist, 1964)
  • Traveling with Aaron (1969)
  • What Would Mao Say? (with Sven Lindqvist, 1979)
  • China (with Sven Lindqvist, 1980)
  • Characters Kingdom (1989)
  • China: Empire of Living Symbols (1991)
  • Qin (2006)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Detailed historical descriptionCultural analysis
Recurring Motifs
Chinese charactersGuqinChinese culture

Health

  • Malnutrition
    1960年代中国滞在時
    Lost her hair but continued studies

Legacy

Renowned Sinologist who won the August Prize twice, one of the few authors to do so

Trivia

  • First visited China at 28 with a letter from the King of Sweden
  • Studied guqin under Wang Di
  • Became ill from low-protein Chinese diet but persisted in studies