19世纪末20世纪初，在西方面临经济和战争危机，而东方不断寻求解放和进步的背景下，出生于爱沙尼亚的德国贵族后裔赫尔曼・凯泽林伯爵，放弃了地质学研究职业，踏上了通过旅行，感知各国文化，探讨人生意义，并为西方文明寻找出路的路途。

从1911年开始，凯泽林先后到访北非、印度、东南亚、中国、日本和美国，完成了自己的全球之旅。他在旅行中，以可以随时变化形象的古希腊之神普罗透斯为楷模，努力摆脱西方人和他个人的视角，不抱成见地客观观察每一个文明，彻底融入到当地文化之中，洞察和发现它们当中的闪光点和缺陷，例如崇尚神秘学，拥有丰富哲学内涵和人生意义，等级分明，贫苦而又很知足自洽的印度文化；注重礼仪和道德，深谙生活之道，培养完美的普通人但却忽视个人主观意念的中国文化；敏感而残忍，追求与自然的统一，重视集体主义和皇权，努力学习西方的日本文化。凯泽林从跨文化角度平等地看待东西方文化，认为不同文化之间是可以相互学习和借鉴的。他也通过旅行来探究各国文化，用融合东西方文化的方式来完善自己的“意义”哲学，明确了意义与表达之间的关系，认为对形而上的精神的追求是人生的意义所在，而智慧的传播是活生生的，是可以通过人与人之间精神的“受精”来完成的，哲学是可以对人的现实生活进行指导的。

以意义哲学为指导，凯泽林在20世纪二十年代创办了一个其影响遍及整个德国和欧洲的“智慧学院”，他运用东方智慧，实践东方教学方法，进行精神训练，探索培养完美人格的实践方法。在每年举办一次的“交响乐”式大会中，凯泽林担任指挥，确定会议主题，汇集各界文化人士发表演讲，传递某种意义。会后，则通过讨论、独居和冥想，培养门徒的哲学素养，启发它们接受意义的哲学智慧。在“智慧学院”的活动中，凯泽林自始至终都以东西方思想的融合为基调，力图站在全球和全人类的角度上去找寻意义，寻求不同文化的出路和人类实现自我的共同完美之路。

凯泽林坚信：东方智慧是和西方文明平等的智慧，西方文明提倡理性、科学，东方文明更注重内心的觉知和感受以及形式的塑造和自然的和谐，每种文明都有自己的特点，不存在谁更先进的问题。他试图以综合世界所有文化的方案，把当时在西方和东方已存在的、建立在形而上学基础上的精神流派联系起来，从而使这些精神流派获得新质。凯泽林的融合东西文化，重视精神和意义的哲学体系也许过于理想主义，特别是在那个两次世界大战之间、东西方文化各不认同的时代，它并没有真正实施和形成的基础，但是并不妨碍它成为世界文化融合和探讨的勇敢尝试和成功范例。

研究凯泽林的东方文化观、综合东西方文化的意义哲学与他创建的“智慧学院”，有助于我们了解20世纪初西方社会、德国文化团体对东方文化的认知与接受情况，发现东西方文化融合汇通的思想路径，为当今时代东西方文化交流提供借鉴。

At the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, in the context of the economic and war crisis in the West, and the continuous pursuit of liberation and progress in the East, Count Hermann Keyserling, a descendant of German nobility born in Estonia, gave up his career in geological research and embarked on a journey to perceive the cultures of various countries, explore the sense of life, and find a way out for Occidental civilization.

Starting in 1911, Keyserling completed his global tour by visiting North Africa, India, Southeast Asia, China, Japan and the United States. During his travels, he took the ancient Greek god Proteus, whose image could change at any time, as a model. He tried to get rid of the occidental perspective and his own personal perspective, objectively observed each civilization without holding an opinion, thoroughly integrated into the local culture, observed and discovered the bright spots and defects in them, such as respecting the occult, rich in philosophy and sense of life, hierarchical, poor and contented Indian culture; A Chinese culture that emphasizes etiquette and morality, understands the way of life, and cultivates perfect ordinary people while ignoring individual subjective thoughts; Sensitive and cruel Japanese culture that pursuing unity with nature, valuing collectivism and imperial power, and striving to learn Occident. Keyserling treats Oriental and Occidental cultures equally from a transcultural perspective, believing that different cultures can learn from each other. He also explored the cultures of various countries through travel, perfected his philosophy of “Sense” by integrating Oriental and Occidental cultures and clarifyed the relationship between meaning and expression. He believed that the pursuit of metaphysical spirit is the sense of life, and the spread of wisdom is alive and can be accomplished through the “fertilization”（Logos）of the spirit between people. Philosophy can guide people's real life.

Guided by the philosophy of Sense, Keyserling founded a “wisdom School” in the 1920s, whose influence spread throughout Germany and Europe. He applied Oriental wisdom, practiced Oriental teaching methods, conducted spiritual training, and explored practical methods for cultivating perfect personalities. In the annual “symphonic” conference, Keyserling acts as conductor, sets the theme, and brings together cultural figures from all walks of life to deliver speeches and convey a certain sense. After the meeting, through discussion, solitude and meditation, the disciples were cultivated in philosophical literacy and inspired to accept the philosophical wisdom of sense. In the activities of the “Wisdom School”, Keyserling has always been the integration of Oriental and Occidental ideas as the keynote, trying to find sense from the perspective of the whole world and mankind, seeking the way out of different cultures and the common perfect road for human self realization.

Keyserling firmly believes that Oriental wisdom is equal to the wisdom of Occidental civilization. Occidental civilization advocates rationality and science, while Oriental civilization pays more attention to inner awareness and feelings, form shaping and natural harmony. Each civilization has its own characteristics, and there is no question of who is more advanced. He tried to integrate all the cultures of the world by linking the existing spiritual schools in the Occident and the Orient, which were based on metaphysics, so that these spiritual schools could acquire new qualities. Keyserling's philosophical system of integrating Occidental and Oriental cultures and attaching importance to spirit and Sense may be too idealistic, especially in the era between the two world Wars when Oriental and Occidental cultures disagreed, and it was not really implemented and formed, but it did not prevent it from becoming a brave attempt and successful example of world cultural integration and discussion.

The study of Keyserling's view of Oriental culture, his philosophy of sense integrating Oriental and Occidental cultures and his “Wisdom School” can help us understand the cognition and acceptance of Oriental culture by Occidental society and German cultural groups in the early 20th century, and find the ideological path of the integration of Oriental and Occidental cultures, which can provide references for the cultural exchanges between the Orient and the Occident in the present era.