漢學家高羅佩(Robert Hans van Gulik, 1910-1967)是一個非同等閑的人物。高羅佩漢學涉獵的範圍極廣，從宗教到鑑賞，公案到琴，秘戲圖到動物文化史等，都有研究，連出版的國度也五花八門，遍及全世界。然而，高羅佩學術興趣的焦點，多在同時代傳統漢學家的視野之外，別出心裁，相當冷門，有琴、硯、書、畫、動物（包括馬與猿）、春宮與悉曇等至少七項。從今天的眼光看，高羅佩的著作圍繞上述七項中心所自成之體系，都與「新史學」(New History)有關，特別是與作為「新史學」的一部分的「新文化史」(New Cultural History)有關，並與「新文化史」中的「物質文化」(Material Culture)的研究更息息相關。學術界迄今尚未對此展開研究，本文就此作初步探討，拋磚引玉。

As a great sinologist of the 20th century, Robert Hans van Gulik produced a series of important books on Chinese history, literature, religion, and culture. His works were unique in perspectives and approaches. Robert van Gulik demonstrated a keen interest in Chinese zithers, animals, ink-stones, criminal cases, and sexology. While these works are appreciated by the scholarly world, few people have studied them in the context of material culture studies. This paper is a preliminary effort to study van Gulik's works through the perspective of material culture studies, trying to throw new light on the value of these works.