Wang Zhao (linguist)

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Wang Zhao
王照

Wang Zhao[a] (1859 – 1933) was a Chinese linguist and advocate of modern phonetic writing. Wang was from Ninghe, Tianjin in the province of Zhili. He created a syllabary for Chinese writing based on Mandarin called the Mandarin Alphabet (官话字母; 官話字母; Guānhuà zìmǔ). While this system is no longer used, Wang was the first to formally suggest the adoption of a national language for China based on Mandarin.

Life[edit]

Wang Zhao lost his father when he was young and was raised by his uncle. In 1894, he was awarded the Jinshi Enke during the First Sino-Japanese War.[1] In April of the twenty-first year of Guangxu, the museum was dismantled, and he was appointed as the chief of the Ministry of Rites.[2] In 1898, he and Xu Shichang co-organized the No. 1 Primary School in Fengzhi of Eight Banners. During the 1880 Reform, he wanted to submit a letter to advise the Guangxu Emperor to honour Empress Dowager Cixi "to travel to China and foreign countries". After the Emperor Guangxu read the book, he ordered the six officials of the Ministry of Rites to be dismissed, who had obstructed the letter. After the failure of the Hundred Days' Reform, Wang fled to Japan.

Wang secretly returned to China in 1900, amid the Boxer Rebellion. In late May he arrived in Shanghai, where he visited the Baptist missionary Timothy Richard.[3] After arriving in Tianjin, he resided with a distant relative for roughly a year. During this time, Wang took his primary inspiration for the design of the Mandarin Alphabet from the Subtle Explorations of Phonology (音韻闡微; Yīnyùn chǎnwēi), a rime dictionary commissioned by the Kangxi Emperor and published in 1726.[4] In March 1904, the Qing court detained him after his reappearance in Beijing. Wang was ultimately pardoned and offered his old position back, but he did not accept.[5][6] After Puyi ascended to the throne, the Pinyin Mandarin Newspaper violated the taboo of the Regent Prince Zaifeng.[7] During the 1911 Revolution, Jiang Yanxing, the governor of the Jiangbei governor's office, sent Wang Zhao as a representative to Shanghai to attend the meeting of the provincial governor's office representative federation. After the revolution, he lived in Nanjing.

In 1913, he served as vice-chairman of the Union of Pronunciation Union, and later resigned. As S. Robert Ramsey tells it in his account of the proceedings:

Few of the delegates at the 1913 conference on pronunciation seem to have had any idea of what they were up against. The negotiations were marked by frustratingly naïve arguments. "Germany is strong," it was said, "because its language contains many voiced sounds and China is weak because Mandarin lacks them." But if linguistic knowledge was in short supply, commitment to position was not. Passions were hot, and frustrations grew. Finally, after months of no progress, Wang Zhao, the leader of the Mandarin faction, called for a new system of voting in which each province would have one and only one vote, knowing full well that the numerically superior Mandarin-speaking area would then automatically dominate. Delegates in other areas were incensed. The situation became explosive. Then, as tempers flared, Wang Rongbao, one of the leaders of the Southern faction, happened to use the colloquial Shanghai expression for "ricksha," wangbo ts'o. Wang Zhao misheard it for the Mandarin curse wángba dàn, "son of a bitch [literally turtle’s egg]," and flew into a rage. He bared his arms and attacked Wang Rongbao, chasing him out of the assembly hall. Wang Rangbao never returned to the meetings. Wang Zhao’s suggestion to change the voting procedure was adopted, and after three months of bitter struggling, the Mandarin faction had its way. The conference adopted a resolution recommending that the sounds of Mandarin become the national standard.[8]

In his later years, he studied classics and advocated education to save the country. In 1933, Wang Zhao died.[9]

Family[edit]

The great-grandfather Wang Xipeng, was the chief soldier and died in the First Opium War. He has a brother Wang Xie and a younger brother Wang Zhuo.

Books[edit]

  • Preface to Liang Shuming's Preface to Mr. Wang Xiaohang's Wencun
  • "Mandarin Alphabet School Series"
  • "Pinyin to Wenbaijia Surname"
  • "Pinyin Dialogue Three Character Classic"
  • "Pinyin Conversation with Thousand Characters"
  • "Mandarin Alphabet Vocabulary"
  • "Mandarin Alphabet Readings"
  • "Water East Collection"
  • "Book of Mandarin Pinyin for Beginners"
  • "Mandarin Harmonic Alphabet"

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ Chinese: 王照; pinyin: Wáng Zhào, courtesy name Xiaohang (小航), art names Luzhong Qiongshi (蘆中窮士), Shuidong (水東)

References[edit]

Citations[edit]

  1. ^ Records of Emperor Dezong, Tongtian, Chongyun, Dazhongzhizhi, Weiwu, Ren, Filial Piety, Wisdom, Wisdom, Frugality, Kuan, Diligence and Jingjing" (Volume 340): 20 years of Guangxu. First. May. Ding Choushuo. ... ○ Cxu. Introduced to the new jinshi. The decree, the top three Zhang Jian, Yin Mingshou, Zheng Yuan, and Ye Jing were awarded non-official positions. Wu Junsun, Shen Wei, Li Jiaju, Xu Renjing, Zhu Qixun, Wu Tingzhi, Li Qiaofen, Li Zuishen, Rao Zhixiang, Liang Shiyi, Lu Shikui, Zou Yihong, Liu Tingchen, Xia Qiyu, Wang Yiyuan, Yuan Tong, Yu Puyuan, Feng Enkun, Chu Yinghan, Li Zhuohua, Zhang Qigan, Wang Tingshao, Guan Mianjun, Lin Yue, Yao Shumi, Jing Jing, Huang Bingxiang, Chen Zhaochang, Pei Ruqin, Guo Yucai, Weng Chengqi, Hu Juxian, Jiang Heng, Sha Yuanbing, Zhang Qifan, Dashou, Zhang Kun, Fan Rong, Zhang Qin, Wu Jingxiu, Xiong Xiling, Chen Junyao, Li Chengli, Zhu Xien, Wang Yingmian, Zhou Shaochang, Qi Zhongjia, Zhang Huaixin, Wang Huili, Tan Wenhong, Cheng Youqi, Wang Zhao, Shen Yunpei, Lin Bingzhang, Hong Jinbiao, Cai Chen, Xia Shuli, Xiao Liyan, Li Qingqi, Ye Dake, Yulong, Sun Minggao, Chen Deming, Yu Jinfang, Tan Shaoqiu, Ye Danian, Liang Wencan, Shen Peng, Wu Shizhao, Zhang Xiangling, Gui Kui, Sun Tongkang, Yin Chunyuan, Zhang Linyan, Wang Hu, Jiang Chunlin, all of them were changed to Shuji Shi of the Hanlin Academy.
  2. ^ Records of Emperor Dezong of the Great Qing Dynasty, Tongtian Chongyun, Dazhongzhizhizheng, Wei Wuren, Xiaoruizhi, Duanjian, Kuanjian, Qinjing Emperor" (Volume 366): 21st year of Guangxu. B not. April. Ding Si. ...by telex to introduce the staff of the Jiawu Branch. Obtained the decree... Chen Zhaochang, Zhai Huapeng, Li Qingqi, Jing Jing, Yu Jinfang, Guo Yucai, Hu Jiyuan, Wang Zhao, Tan Wenhong, Qiling, all of them were used as subordinates
  3. ^ Tsu 2022, pp. 17–18.
  4. ^ Tsu 2022, pp. 20–30.
  5. ^ Tsu 2022, pp. 30–34.
  6. ^ ^ 3.0 3.1 Liang Shuan, Dictionary of Chinese Writers: Modern Volume, Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, 1997, p. 29
  7. ^ Masako Aoki, Kojiro Yoshikawa, etc., Nostalgia for Chinese Culture, Shanghai: Fudan University Press, 2005
  8. ^ The Languages of China (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1987), pp. 7-8.
  9. ^ Recalling the Revolution of 1911, Beijing: Literature and History Information Publishing House, 1981, p. 348

Works cited[edit]

  • Tsu, Jing (2022), Kingdom of Characters: The Language Revolution That Made China Modern, New York: Riverhead, ISBN 978-0-735-21472-9
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