This book provides a collection of articles on early encounters of Western missionaries and scholars with the languages of the Sinosphere. These encounters had a considerable impact on the history of Chinese linguistics in the West and in the East. The volume focuses on Western and Chinese linguistic perspectives within their historical and sociological contexts. Thus, it provides a bridge between West and East, linguistics and history. Particular emphasis lies on the special influence Taiwanese linguistic studies have on the history of linguistic studies of East Asian languages. Many of the early grammatical works on Chinese languages are closely connected to Taiwan and Taiwanese languages. Additionally,