01-14-2017, 10:31 AM
Youguang Zhou (Chinese: 周有光; Zhou Yaoping, 13 January 1906 – 14 January 2017) was a Chinese linguist, sinologist, and supercentenarian, often credited as the "father of (Hanyu) Pinyin",[1][2] the official romanization for Mandarin in the People's Republic of China.
Zhou was born in Changzhou, Jiangsu Province on 13 January 1906.[1][3] Zhou enrolled in St. John's University, Shanghai, in 1923, where he majored in economics and took supplementary coursework in linguistics.[3] He left during the May Thirtieth Movement of 1925 and transferred to Guanghua University, from which he graduated in 1927.[3] Zhou spent time as an exchange student in Japan,[3] and spent his early career working as a banker and economist overseas (mainly in New York City), but returned to Shanghai[3] in 1949 when the People's Republic was established.[1][2]
In 1955, the government placed Zhou at the head of a committee to reform the Chinese language in order to increase literacy. While other committees oversaw the tasks of promulgating Mandarin Chinese as the national language and creating simplified Chinese characters, Zhou's committee was charged with developing a romanization to represent the pronunciation of Chinese characters.[1] Zhou said the task took about three years, and was a full-time job.[1] Pinyin was made the official romanization in 1958, although then (as now) it was only a pronunciation guide, not a substitute writing system.[4]
During the Cultural Revolution Zhou was sent to live in the countryside and be "re-educated", like many intellectuals at that time.[1][2] He spent two years in a labour camp.[5]
After 1980, Zhou worked with Liu Zunqi and Chien Wei-zang on translating the Encyclopædia Britannica into Chinese, earning him the nickname "Encyclopedia Zhou".[3] Zhou continued writing and publishing since the creation of Pinyin; for example, his book Zhongguo Yuwen de Shidai Yanjin 中國語文的時代演進, translated into English by Zhang Liqing, was published in 2003 as The Historical Evolution of Chinese Languages and Scripts.[6] In total he wrote ten books since 2000, some of which have been banned in China. In his old age he became an advocate for political reform, and was critical of the Communist Party of China's attacks on traditional Chinese culture when it came into power.[5]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhou_Youguang
Zhou was born in Changzhou, Jiangsu Province on 13 January 1906.[1][3] Zhou enrolled in St. John's University, Shanghai, in 1923, where he majored in economics and took supplementary coursework in linguistics.[3] He left during the May Thirtieth Movement of 1925 and transferred to Guanghua University, from which he graduated in 1927.[3] Zhou spent time as an exchange student in Japan,[3] and spent his early career working as a banker and economist overseas (mainly in New York City), but returned to Shanghai[3] in 1949 when the People's Republic was established.[1][2]
In 1955, the government placed Zhou at the head of a committee to reform the Chinese language in order to increase literacy. While other committees oversaw the tasks of promulgating Mandarin Chinese as the national language and creating simplified Chinese characters, Zhou's committee was charged with developing a romanization to represent the pronunciation of Chinese characters.[1] Zhou said the task took about three years, and was a full-time job.[1] Pinyin was made the official romanization in 1958, although then (as now) it was only a pronunciation guide, not a substitute writing system.[4]
During the Cultural Revolution Zhou was sent to live in the countryside and be "re-educated", like many intellectuals at that time.[1][2] He spent two years in a labour camp.[5]
After 1980, Zhou worked with Liu Zunqi and Chien Wei-zang on translating the Encyclopædia Britannica into Chinese, earning him the nickname "Encyclopedia Zhou".[3] Zhou continued writing and publishing since the creation of Pinyin; for example, his book Zhongguo Yuwen de Shidai Yanjin 中國語文的時代演進, translated into English by Zhang Liqing, was published in 2003 as The Historical Evolution of Chinese Languages and Scripts.[6] In total he wrote ten books since 2000, some of which have been banned in China. In his old age he became an advocate for political reform, and was critical of the Communist Party of China's attacks on traditional Chinese culture when it came into power.[5]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhou_Youguang
The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated Communist but instead the people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists -- Hannah Arendt.