The quantity and quality of Julien's scholarship earned him wide renown, and caused him to become the leading European scholar of China during the 19th century.

[1] Born at Orléans on 13 April 1797, Julien initially struggled to obtain higher education due to his family's relative poverty.

[1] He studied at the college in Orléans before transferring to the Collège de France, where he initially focused on Greek language and literature before branching out into Arabic, Hebrew, Persian, and Sanskrit.

In the same year he published an edition of The Rape of Helen of Coluthus, with versions in French, Latin, English, German, Italian and Spanish.

[2] The work was published in Paris with the lengthy title Meng Tseu vel Mencium inter Sinenses philosophos, ingenio, doctrina, nominisque claritate Confucio proximum, edidit, Latina interpretatione, ad interpretationem Tartaricam utramque recensita, instruixit, et perpetuo commentario, e Sinicis deprompto, illustravit Stanislaus Julien.

For some years his studies had been directed towards the vernacular literature of the Chinese, bringing out translations of Hoei-lan-ki 灰闌記 (L'Histoire du cercle de craie), a drama in which occurs a scene curiously analogous to the Judgement of Solomon; and the 趙氏孤兒 Zhao shi guer [Tchao-chi kou eul], The Orphan of Zhao, or Orphan of the House Tcho.

Meanwhile, in 1839, he had been appointed joint keeper of the Bibliothèque Royale, with the special superintendence of the Chinese books, and shortly afterwards he was made administrator of the Collège de France.

Among the many subjects to which he turned his attention were the native industries of China, producing the Histoire et fabrication de la porcelaine chinoise 景德鎮陶錄 Jingdezhen Taolu.