Zhang Binglin

Zhang Binglin
章炳麟
Zhang Binglin c. 1900
Born(1869-01-12)12 January 1869
Died14 June 1936(1936-06-14) (aged 67)
Political partyTongmenghui
Unity Party
Republican Party
Progressive Party
SpouseTang Guoli
Children
  • Zhang Dao (章導)
  • Zhang Qi (章奇)
  • Zhang Li (章㸚)
  • Zhang Chuo (章叕)
  • Zhang Zhan (章㠭)
  • Zhang Lei (章㗊)
Chinese name
Chinese章炳麟
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinZhāng Bǐnglín
Wade–GilesChang1 Ping3-lin2
IPA[ʈʂáŋ pìŋlǐn]
Chinese name
Chinese章太炎
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinZhāng Tàiyán
Wade–GilesChang1 Tai3-Yen2
IPA[ʈʂáŋ tʰâɪjɛ̌n]

Zhang Binglin (January 12, 1869 – June 14, 1936), also known by his art name Zhang Taiyan, was a Chinese philologist,[1] textual critic, philosopher, and revolutionary.

His philological works include Wen Shi (文始 "The Origin of Writing"), the first systematic work of Chinese etymology. He also made contributions to historical Chinese phonology, proposing that "the niang (娘) and ri (日) initials [in Middle Chinese] come from the ni (泥) initial [in Old Chinese]" (known as niang ri gui ni 娘日歸泥). He developed a system of shorthand based on the seal script, called jiyin zimu (記音字母), later adopted as the basis of zhuyin. Though innovative in many ways, he was skeptical of new archaeological findings, regarding the oracle bones as forgery.

An activist as well as a scholar, he produced many political works. Because of his outspoken character, he was jailed for three years by the Qing Empire and put under house arrest for another three by Yuan Shikai.

  1. ^ Elisabeth Kaske (2008). The Politics of Language in Chinese Education: 1895 – 1919. BRILL. pp. 409–. ISBN 978-90-04-16367-6.