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Zhou Youguang

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Zhou Youguang
周有光
Zhou in the 1920s
Born
Zhou Yaoping

(1906-01-13)13 January 1906
Changzhou, Jiangsu Province, Qing Empire
Died(2017-01-14)14 January 2017
(aged 111 years, 1 day)
Beijing, China
Alma materSt. John's University; Guanghua University
Known for"Father of Pinyin"; supercentenarian
Notable workThe Historical Evolution of Chinese Languages and Scripts
Political partyChina Democratic National Construction Association
Spouse
Zhang Yunhe
​
​
(m. 1933; invalid reason 2002)​
Children2
Chinese name
Chinese周有光
Birth name
Chinese周耀平

Zhou Youguang (Chinese: 周有光; pinyin: Zhōu Yǒuguāng; 13 January 1906 – 14 January 2017) was a Chinese economist, banker, linguist, sinologist, and supercentenarian, known as the "father of Pinyin",[1][2] a system for romanization of Mandarin Chinese which was officially adopted by the Chinese government in 1958, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in 1982, and the United Nations in 1986.[3]

Education and early career

Zhou was born as Zhou Yaoping in Changzhou, Jiangsu Province, on 13 January 1906.[1][4] At the age of ten, he and his family moved to Suzhou, Jiangsu Province. In 1918, he entered Changzhou High School (江蘇省立第五中學), during which time he first took interest in linguistics. He would graduate in 1923 with honours.[5]

Zhou enrolled the same year in St. John's University, Shanghai where he majored in economics and took supplementary coursework in linguistics.[6] He almost was not able to attend: due to his family's poverty, they could only afford for him to attend a less prestigious university. However, his friends and relatives fundraised 200 yuan for the admission fee, and also helped him pay for tuition.[5] He left during the May Thirtieth Movement of 1925 and transferred to Guanghua University, from which he graduated in 1927.[4]

On 30 April 1933, Zhou married Zhang Yunhe (), and the couple went to Japan for Zhou's studies.[4] Zhou first was an exchange student at the University of Tokyo, later transferring to Kyoto University due to his admiration of the Japanese Marxist economist Hajime Kawakami, who was a professor there at the time. However, after Kawakami's arrest because he joined the outlawed Japanese Communist Party in January 1933, Zhou would never get the chance to be his student. On 30 April 1934, Zhou Youguang and Zhang Yun celebrated the first anniversary of their marriage, and also that year their son, Zhou Xiaoping (), was born.[5]

In 1937, due to the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War, Zhou and his family returned to Shanghai, where he would work at a time for Sin Hua Bank before entering public service as a deputy director at the National Government Ministry of Economic Affairs Bureau, Chongqing Office (國民政府經濟部農本局任重慶辦事). After the 1945 Japanese defeat in World War II, Zhou would go back to work for Sin Hua where he was stationed overseas: first in New York, and then London. During his time in the United States, he would twice meet Albert Einstein.[4]

He participated for a time in the China Democratic National Construction Association (中國民主建國會), but in 1949 returned to Shanghai[4] when the People's Republic was established.[1][2]

Designing Pinyin

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.[7] Pinyin has largely replaced older romanization systems such as Wade-Giles.[3]

Later activities

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.[8]

After 1980, Zhou worked with Liu Zunqi and Chien Wei-zang on translating the Encyclopædia Britannica into Chinese, earning him the nickname "Encyclopedia Zhou".[4] 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.[9] From 2000 he wrote ten books, 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.[8] In an interview with NPR in 2011, Zhou hoped to see the day China changed its position on the Tiananmen Square killings in 1989, which he said ruined Deng Xiaopeng's reputation as a reformer.[10]

Personal life

Zhou Youguang at home in Beijing in 2012

Zhou was married to Zhang Yunhe from 1933 until her death in 2002; the couple had two children.[1][11]

In early 2013, Zhou and his son were interviewed by Dr. Adeline Yen Mah at their residence in Beijing. Dr. Mah documented the visit in a video and presented Zhou with a Pinyin game she created on iPad.[12] Zhou became a supercentenarian on 13 January 2016 when he reached the age of 110.[13] He was one of the few supercentenarians known for reasons other than their longevity.

Zhou died on 14 January 2017 at his home in Beijing, a day after his 111th birthday.[14][15][16]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g "Father of pinyin". China Daily. 26 March 2009. Retrieved 12 July 2009. Reprinted in part as Simon, Alan (21–27 January 2011). "Father of Pinyin". China Daily Asia Weekly. Hong Kong. Xinhua. p. 20.
  2. ^ a b c Branigan, Tania (21 February 2008). "Sound Principles". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 July 2009.
  3. ^ a b Margalit Fox (14 January 2017). "Zhou Youguang, Who Made Writing Chinese as Simple as ABC, Dies at 111". The New York Times.
  4. ^ a b c d e f 李懷宇 (8 December 2005). "周有光：与时俱进文章里 百年风云笑谈中·南方社区·南方网" [Zhou Youguang: A lifetime of unstable situations and being laughed at]. 南方网 (in Chinese). Retrieved 15 January 2017.
  5. ^ a b c 金玉良 (2003). "苏州杂志2003第2期-周有光忆学生时代" [Zhou Youguang's Time as a Student] (in Chinese). Journal of Suzhou University. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
  6. ^ 李怀宇 (Li Huaining) (8 December 2005). 周有光：与时俱进文章里 百年风云笑谈中 (in Chinese). 南方网 (Southcn.com). Retrieved 12 July 2009.
  7. ^ Ramsey, S. Robert (1989). The Languages of China. Princeton University Press. p. 145. ISBN 978-0-691-01468-5.
  8. ^ a b Lim, Louisa (19 October 2011). "At 105, Chinese Linguist Now A Government Critic". National Public Radio. Retrieved 19 October 2011.
  9. ^ Youguang Zhou 周有光. The Historical Evolution of Chinese Languages and Scripts; 中國語文的時代演進, translated by Zhang Liqing 張立青. Ohio State University National East Asian Language Resource Center. 2003.
  10. ^ http://www.npr.org/2011/10/19/141503738/at-105-celebrated-chinese-linguist-now-a-dissident
  11. ^ 偉坤, 牛; 宋宇晟 (26 January 2015). 周有光之子、氣象學家周曉平遺體告別式舉行 (in Chinese). China: Beijing Evening News. Retrieved 23 February 2015.
  12. ^ "Dr. Adeline Yen Mah meets the founder of Pin Yin Youguang Zhou". chinesecharacteraday.com. 14 March 2013.
  13. ^ Lai, Kitty (15 January 2016). "Zhu ni shengri kuaile! Father of Pinyin turns 110 years old, celebrates with a strawberry-topped cake". Shanghaiist. Retrieved 16 January 2016.
  14. ^ ""汉语拼音之父"周有光去世 享年112岁". sina.com.cn (in Chinese). 14 January 2017. Retrieved 14 January 2017.
  15. ^ Associated Press (14 January 2017). "Zhou Youguang, Father of Chinese Romanization System, Dies". ABC News. American Broadcasting Company. Retrieved 14 January 2017.
  16. ^ Zhang Dong (14 January 2017). ""汉语拼音之父"周有光去世 享年112岁" (in Chinese). sina.com. Retrieved 14 January 2017.

Further reading

External links

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