The following
outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to sinology:
Sinology is the study of China and things related to China. In today's usage, the term most often refers to work by non-Chinese or Chinese living outside China. Sino- is derived from
LatinSinae or Sinim ("the Chinese"), the origin of which is debatable. In the context of
area studies, sinology is usually known as Chinese studies.
Sinosphere – refers to a grouping of countries and regions that are currently inhabited with a majority of
Chinese population or were historically under
Chinese cultural influence. It is also known as Chinese cultural sphere and
Chinese character cultural sphere.