本文旨在探討十七世紀歐洲普遍語言思潮中，德意志學者萊布尼茨的通用字符構想及其漢字研究歷程。中西文化交流是十七世紀歐洲文化史上最明顯的標誌，來華的天主教會士不僅將西方科學與思想帶進中國，同時也將中國的學術文化傳播到西方。在歐陸本土，哲學領域正掀起一場普遍語言文字運動，而漢語漢字就在此時透過傳教士的書信及著作進入歐洲，於是歐洲學界興起一股研究中國的熱潮，伴隨歐洲本身哲學思想的發展潮流，形成一種特殊的、在西方學術思想框架下闡釋中國語言文字的漢學研究。萊布尼茨這位大思想家正好生長在這樣一個時代，因此他的學術研究以及對中國學問的熱情，自然與這個時代的發展脈絡相連結。本文分為六個部份，第一章為引論。第二章介紹萊布尼茨生平梗概及其學術背景。第三章透過援引當時幾部知名的漢學著作，闡述十七世紀歐洲學者、包括萊布尼茨對漢語漢字的一般知識。第四章論述普遍語言文字運動的起因，並介紹當時具有代表性的幾個普遍語言文字方案。第五章按年代順序，將萊布尼茨建制通用字符的構想與嘗試逐步展開，其間融入他畢生對漢字的探索歷程。最後一章為結語。
This paper aims to explore the European universal language thought in the seventeenth century, whereby the German scholar Leibniz's concept of general characters as well as his research on Chinese logography is to be dealt with. Concerning the cultural development of Europe, the most significant achievement which features the history of the seventeenth century is the discovering of China. The Jesuit missionaries not only brought Western science and ideas into China, but also spread the Chinese academics and culture to the West. At the same time, philosophical debates brought on a universal language movement in the continental mainland. As Chinese characters in time caught the European's sight through missionary letters and works, China study, accompanied by the philosophical interest in establishing a universal language, was booming. This resulted in the development of a special type of Sinology, particularly with regard to the Chinese language and characters, which were researched and explained in the framework of Western academic tradition. Leibniz, the great thinker, just grew up in this era, so that his passion for research as well as for the Chinese study was naturally linked with the cultural and academic trends of this era. The present paper is divided into six parts. The first chapter is introduction. The second chapter gives an outline of Leibniz's life and academic background. The third chapter quotes several well-known works of Sinology to elaborate seventeenth-century European scholars', including Leibniz's general knowledge of Chinese characters. The fourth chapter discusses the cause of the universal language movement, and then introduces several representative universal language projects. The fifth chapter tackles, in chronological order, the development of Leibniz's concept for general characters and the life-long study on Chinese characters. The last chapter is the conclusion.