A French sinologist, Jacques Pimpaneau was born 12 September 1934. He discovered China in 1958 during a 2-year scholarship at Beijing University. He then taught at the Paris Institute of Oriental Studies (INALCO) from 1963 to 1999 except for a three-year gap in Hong Kong (1968-71) where he met Belgian sinologist Pierre Ryckmans, aka Simon Leys. Never prone to bow to the norms of academia he facilitated encounters between certain sinologists and situationist theoreticians such as René Viénet, a former student of his with whom he later co-directed a documentary film on revolution and the Chinese.
One of his passions is traditional Chinese puppetry which he learned and endeavoured to preserve with the Kwok On museum (first in Paris and then transferred to Lisbon).
He acted as private secretary to artist Jean Dubuffet and was also close to philosopher Georges Bataille towards the end of his life, and one of the few to attend his burial in 1962.
Since 1983 he has written numerous works on Chinese history and traditions, bibliographies and novels.
(see also Encounters and Monkey for more)