Sinology is the study of China, which usually requires a foreign scholar to have command of the Chinese language. In China, sinologists are sometimes admirably and affectionately called "experts on China" (中國通).

Sinology began with the missionaries, like Father Iakinf, that went to China and studied language, cultures and beliefs. They translated some parts of Classical Chinese literature into Latin and other Western languages, and the Bible into Chinese. They also wrote many letters from China that were avidly read when China began to be considered politically or economically interesting enough.

Later, some secular scholars replaced missionaries and sinology won its place as a classic field of study in many universities.

In Japan, Sinology (Shinagaku 支那学 in Japanese) was established with an effective combination of traditional Confucian study and Western Sinology. It was later reorganized as a part of Oriental Study.

Famous recognized sinologists:

• Nikita Yakovlevich Bichurin, Russian
• Séraphin Couvreur , French
• Herlee G. Creel , U.S.
• Rafe de Crespigny
• John DeFrancis, U.S.
• Paul Demiéville , French
• J.J.L. Duyvendak
• John K. Fairbank, U.S.
• Otto Franke , German
• Jacques Gernet , French
• Herbert Giles, British
• Marcel Granet , French
• Kuwabara Jitsuzo , Japanese
• François Julien , French
• Stanislas Julien, French
• Pyotr Ivanovich Kafarov, Russian
• Bernhard Karlgren, Swedish
• Naito Konan, Japanese
• James Legge, Scottish
• Simon Leys, Belgian
• Paul Linebarger, U.S.
• Perry Link , U.S.
• Henri Maspero , French
• Joseph Needham, British
• Jean-Pierre-Abel Rémusat, French
• Erwin Ritter von Zach , Austrian
• Jonathan Spence, U.S.
• Léon Vandermeersch
• Thomas Francis Wade, British
• Arthur Waley
• Richard Wilhelm, German
• Karl A. Wittfogel, German American