Esotericism between Europe and East Asia: How the “Esoteric Distinction” Became a Structure in Cross-Cultural Interpretation

Abstract

Different understandings of “esoteric” are the main subject and the demarcation line of several fields of study. However, the history of this term is either neglected or distorted by specific historiographical paradigms. Tracing European writings on China and Japan from the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries, this article demonstrates that “esoteric” language was central to scholarship on Asia, shaping common terms that remain in use today. By showing how the emergence and development of an “esoteric distinction” between teachings and practices was linked to cross-cultural interpretation and translingual practices, the article argues that this distinction was not a mere projection of European concepts, but rather the result of cultural exchanges that need to be carefully studied on a case-by-case basis within their concrete historical contexts. To better understand the negotiations of what many today would call “esotericism,” a decentered historiography is needed that considers the global history of general terms.