Asia Major was founded in Germany in 1923 by publisher and scholar Bruno Schindler (1882-1964). Including articles in German, French and English, the journal soon became the leading German outlet for scholarship on East Asia, attracting contributions from scholars in Germany and other parts of the world as well. The rise of National Socialism in Germany forced Dr. Schindler, who was Jewish, to leave Germany and emigrate to Britain in 1933, thus ending the original series.
In 1949, Schindler revived the journal in a "New Series," publishing under the aegis of the universities of Cambridge, London, and Oxford. The new series came to an end in 1975, the victim of economic difficulties in British universities at that time.
In 1988, Denis Twitchett revived the journal in its "Third Series" in the United States at Princeton University. In response to the growth of East Asian studies, the editors of the journal decided at this time to focus on China, rather than attempt to cover all of East Asia as the journal had in the previous two series.
In 1998, beset once again with economic difficulties, the editors of Asia Major began to look for a new location for the journal. With the support of Tu Cheng-sheng, Director of the Institute of History and Philology at Academia Sinica, the journal moved to Taiwan, where it is currently based. Asia Major has maintained its policy of focusing on China, and has expanded its editorial board to include a range of scholars from different parts of the world, reflecting the international character of its readership. We continued to publish regular issues throughout the period of transition, and for this reason the journal is still known as Asia Major, Third Series.
