In this short film, Lionel Jensen reports on his early academic career, his research focus on the “intellectual history of China” and his time as a Visiting Fellow at the IKGF in 2011. In his research on the oeuvre and heritage of the Confucian scholar Zhu Xi (1130-1200) – one of the most popular Chinese philosophers besides Confucius - he investigates how intellectuals were involved in divination and mythology. Through this relecture, the classification of a “Chinese intellectual” acquires fresh dimensions beyond those classically ascribed to philosophers and intellectuals.