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Peter Peverelli The History of Modern Chinese Grammar Studies The History of Modern Chinese Grammar Studies Peter Peverelli The History of Modern Chinese Grammar Studies Peter Peverelli Faculty of Economic & Business Administration VU University Amsterdam Amsterdam , The Netherlands ISBN 978-3-662-46503-5 ISBN 978-3-662-46504-2 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-3-662-46504-2 Library of Congress Control Number: 2015936142 Springer Heidelberg New York Dordrecht London © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2015 T his work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifi cally the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfi lms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. T he use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specifi c statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. T he publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. Printed on acid-free paper S pringer-Verlag GmbH Berlin Heidelberg is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com) Acknowledgments Many persons and institutions have in various ways contributed to the present study. I hereby wish to express my gratitude to all of them. However, some of them deserve special mention. First of all, there is the Royal Dutch Academy of Sciences, which provided a grant to do research in the PRC in 1981. In China, the fi rst institution to be mentioned is the Chinese Department of Peking University, especially Mr. Lu Jianming, who on many occasions acted as an intermediate between me and the bureaucracy. Also, Profs. Wang Li and Zhu Dexi should be mentioned for giving me valuable background information. Many other staff members of this department also did the utmost to make my stay at Beida a very pleasant one, even when I returned a year later to teach Dutch at the same university. A t the Chinese Department of Shandong University, there is Prof. Ma Songting, who kindly let me read the manuscript of his own work on Chinese grammar studies. T he Chinese Department of Nanjing University arranged for me to visit the Nanjing Library, where I spent many fruitful days. In Shanghai’s Fudan University, my special gratitude goes to Prof. Zhang Shilu. In spite of his old age, he spent a whole afternoon with me to give me most important background information. Finally, I wish to thank my wife for unremittingly urging me to fi nish this d issertation, even when I already had given up academic life for more worldly pursuits. March 1986 Peter Peverelli v Contents 1 Introduction .............................................................................................. 1 1.1 The Aim of This Study ....................................................................... 1 1.2 The Chinese Language and Beginnings of Grammar Studies in Traditional Chinese Philology ........................................... 3 1.3 The Defi nition and Scope of Grammar Studies ................................. 10 1.4 Beginnings of Grammar Studies in Traditional Chinese Philology .............................................................................. 13 1.4.1 Beginnings of Grammar Studies ............................................ 13 1.4.2 Reasons for the Lack of Grammar Studies ............................ 18 1.5 The Teaching of Foreign Languages in China and Early Western Studies of Chinese Grammar ............................... 21 1.5.1 The Study of Foreign Languages in China ............................ 21 1.5.2 Early Western Studies of Chinese Grammar .......................... 23 1.6 Language Policy and Grammar Studies in Twentieth- Century China ............................................................... 27 1.6.1 Language Policy in Twentieth-Century China ....................... 27 1.6.2 An Overview of Modern Chinese Grammar Studies .................................................................... 31 1.7 Problems Pertaining to the History of Modern Chinese Grammar Studies ................................................................................ 35 1.7.1 The Problem Areas in Chinese Grammar Studies .................. 35 1.7.2 The Reference Works ............................................................. 36 2 The Mashi Wentong .................................................................................. 39 2.1 Introduction ........................................................................................ 39 2.1.1 The Authors of the Mashi Wentong ....................................... 39 2.1.2 The Authorship of the MSWT................................................ 41 2.2 The Grammatical System of the MSWT ............................................ 42 2.2.1 The Parts of Speech ................................................................ 43 2.2.2 The Grammatical Functions ................................................... 50 2.2.3 The Sentence Positions .......................................................... 52 vii viii Contents 2.2.4 Syntax ..................................................................................... 54 2.2.5 Examples of Analysis ............................................................. 63 2.3 Evaluation of the MSWT ................................................................... 67 3 The Period of Imitation (1898–1930) ....................................................... 71 3.1 Introduction ........................................................................................ 71 3.2 Zhang Shizhao’s “Intermediate Chinese Grammar” .......................... 75 3.2.1 Comments on the Conspectus ................................................ 77 3.3 Chen Chengze’s “A Draft of Chinese Grammar”............................... 80 3.4 Yang Shuda’s “Advanced Chinese Grammar” ................................... 85 3.5 Liu Fu’s “Comprehensive Discussion on Chinese Grammar” ........... 88 3.6 Jin Zhaozi’s “Study of Chinese Grammar” ........................................ 94 3.7 Li Jinxi’s “New Grammar of the National Language” ....................... 97 3.8 Recapitulation .................................................................................... 104 4 Innovation and Maturation (1930–1949) ................................................ 107 4.1 Introduction ........................................................................................ 107 4.2 New Approaches to Grammar in the 1930s ....................................... 113 4.2.1 Wang Li .................................................................................. 113 4.2.2 Meng Qi’s “Words and Sentences” ........................................ 120 4.3 The Discussion on “Innovation of Grammar” .................................... 124 4.3.1 Object and Methodology of Grammar Studies ...................... 124 4.3.2 One-Line System vs. Two-Line System ................................. 125 4.3.3 Monosyllabic vs. Polysyllabic ............................................... 129 4.3.4 Wenyan vs. B aihua; Diachronic vs. Synchronous .................. 130 4.3.5 Liao Shuqian’s “Vernacular Grammar” ................................. 131 4.4 Wang Li’s “Modern Chinese Grammar” ............................................ 133 4.4.1 Basic Grammatical System .................................................... 133 4.4.2 Secondary Topics ................................................................... 137 4.4.3 Evaluation of Wang’s Grammar ............................................. 138 4.5 Lü Shuxiang’s “Outline of Chinese Grammar” ................................. 141 4.5.1 The Grammatical System ....................................................... 141 4.5.2 Evaluation of Lü’s Grammar .................................................. 145 4.6 Gao Mingkai’s “Theory of Chinese Grammar” ................................. 147 4.6.1 Outline of the Grammatical System ....................................... 147 4.6.2 Evaluation of Gao’s Grammar................................................ 150 5 The Age of Standardization...................................................................... 153 5.1 Introduction ........................................................................................ 153 5.2 The Grammar Section’s “Talks on Modern Chinese Grammar” ............................................................................. 158 5.2.1 Outline of the Grammatical System ....................................... 158 5.2.2 Evaluation of “Talks on Modern Chinese Grammar” ................................................................. 162 Contents ix 5.3 Lü Shuxiang and Zhu Dexi’s “Talks on Grammar and Rhetorics” .................................................................................... 165 5.3.1 Outline .................................................................................... 165 5.3.2 Evaluation of “Talks on Grammar and Rhetorics” ................. 168 5.4 Zhang Zhigong’s “Essentials of Chinese Grammar” ......................... 168 5.4.1 Outline of the Grammatical System ....................................... 168 5.4.2 Evaluation of “Essentials of Chinese Grammar” ................... 172 5.5 The Provisional System ...................................................................... 173 6 Summary and Conclusions....................................................................... 177 6.1 An Overview of Modern Chinese Grammar Studies ......................... 177 6.2 An Appraisal of Modern Chinese Grammar Studies.......................... 182 Appendix .......................................................................................................... 185 Bibliography .................................................................................................... 187 Index ................................................................................................................. 197