Chinese Studies have played a central role in research and teaching at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice for decades. Building on this tradition, Edizioni Ca’ Foscari publishes Open Access research on China, from antiquity to the present day, and its interactions with the rest of the world, welcoming contributions that span the humanities and social sciences and adopt both disciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches.

Sinica venetiana is Edizioni Ca' Foscari's flagship series dedicated to the study of ancient, modern, and contemporary China. It publishes monographs and critical editions covering culture, history, literature, art, economics, politics, international relations, and the environment, promoting interdisciplinary research and dialogue across different fields of scholarship.

Research on China also finds a place in other series within our catalogue, where it is explored in relation to different themes, geographical areas, and methodological approaches. Marco Polo. Studies in Global Europe-Asia Connections explores historical and contemporary connections between Europe and Asia, with particular attention to trans-Eurasian interactions. The series welcomes transcultural and interdisciplinary studies that contribute to international scholarly debates on exchange, circulation, and encounters among societies, cultures, and ideas. Masters, Texts and Sources of the East highlights rare, original, and often overlooked primary sources, making them accessible to the scholarly community. The series publishes documentary, oral, audiovisual, and textual materials while promoting interdisciplinary research across linguistics, philology, literature, history, anthropology, and the arts. Translating Wor(l)ds examines translation as both a practice of linguistic and cultural mediation and a research tool in the humanities. The series provides an international forum for the study of translation involving the languages of Asia and North Africa, highlighting transcultural dynamics and exchanges between linguistic and cultural traditions.

Our publishing programme also includes art and exhibition catalogues dedicated to encounters between China, Venice, and the wider world, such as Venice and Suzhou. Water Cities along the Silk Roads (2022) and Obiettivo seta | Reframing Silk (2026).

Our journals provide additional international forums for research on China and East Asia. Annali di Ca’ Foscari. Serie orientale publishes research on the languages, literatures, religions, philosophies, history, arts, societies, institutions, economies, politics, and international relations of Asia and North Africa, with particular attention to studies that cut across geographical and cultural boundaries. RIDAO – East-Asian Law Journal is dedicated to the study of East Asian law, bringing together comparative legal scholarship and area studies expertise.

Scientific Editors of the Book Series

• Sinica venetiana: Tiziana Lippiello, Chen Xiaoming.
• Marco Polo. Studies in Global Europe-Asia Connections: Sabrina Rastelli, Scientific Editor; Elisabetta Ragagnin, Vice-Editor.
• Masters, Texts and Sources of the East: Giuliano Boccali.
• Translating Wor(l)ds: Nicoletta Pesaro.

Scientific Editors of the Journals

• Annali di Ca’ Foscari. Serie orientale: Antonio Rigopoulos, Scientific Editor; Aldo Ferrari, Deputy Editor.
• RIDAO – East-Asian Law Journal: Renzo Cavalieri, Giorgio Fabio Colombo and Giuliano Lemme, Scientific Editors.

The teaching of Chinese language and culture at Ca’ Foscari began in 1966. Within only a few years, the University developed into one of Italy’s leading centres for teaching and research on China, gaining recognition both nationally and internationally.

This development was shaped in particular by the work of the eminent sinologists Lionello Lanciotti and Mario Sabattini, whose teaching and research laid the foundations of a distinctive Venetian school of Chinese Studies. Both scholars also maintained close ties with the European scholarly community and served for many years on the Board of the European Association for Chinese Studies.

From its origins, Chinese Studies at Ca’ Foscari combined rigorous linguistic and philological training with an openness to new subjects and methodologies. Alongside classical language, literature, philosophy and archaeology, research progressively expanded to encompass Chinese law, the history of women, relations between Venice and China, modern and contemporary history, modern language and literature, art, society and cultural change.

This approach, grounded in a solid knowledge of the Chinese language and in an awareness of the importance of culture for understanding contemporary China, was transmitted to successive generations of scholars. From the 1980s onwards, they further consolidated Ca’ Foscari’s role as a major centre for Chinese Studies and broadened its expertise across the humanities and social sciences.

Edizioni Ca’ Foscari’s publishing programme builds on this intellectual heritage by publishing Open Access research on China that explores its history, cultures, and transformations through a wide range of disciplinary and methodological approaches.

From 21 to 25 July 2026, Ca’ Foscari hosts the 26th biennial conference of the European Association for Chinese Studies (EACS), one of the leading international events devoted to Chinese Studies.

Organised by the EACS in collaboration with the Department of Asian and North African Studies at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, the conference brings together scholars from Europe and around the world, with contributions ranging from traditional Sinology to studies of modern and contemporary China.

The full programme, venue information and practical guidance for participants are available on the official EACS Conference 2026 website.