Hans van Ess studied sinology, turkic studies and philosophy at the University of Hamburg. After his MA on the Late Han philosopher Zhongchang Tong in 1986 he studied at Fudan in Shanghai from 1986 to 1988 before returning to Hamburg. PhD in sinology at the University of Hamburg in 1992 with a thesis on erudition and politics in Han times. From 1992-1995 area manager at the German Asia-Pacific Business Association in Hamburg, responsible for German business trading with China, Korea and Mongolia. Between 1995-1998 assistant professor at the Institute for Sinology of the University of Heidelberg. 1998 habilitation with a thesis on the history of Neo-Confucianism of the twelfth century. Since October 1998 chair at the Institute for Sinology at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich (LMU). In 2015 elected president of the Max-Weber-Foundation – German Institutes in the Humanities abroad (until 2023). From 2013-2019 vice-president International Affairs at LMU, since 2019 vice-president for research at LMU Munich. 

　　His scholarly main interests are Chinese history of thought with a special focus on Confucianism, ancient Chinese historiography and literature, as well as the history of early modern Inner and Central Asia with a special focus on Mongolian and Manchu history.