Junast (also Junastu and Zhaonasitu; 1934–2010) was a Chinese
linguist
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...
of
Mongolian ethnicity who specialized in the study of the
Monguor language
The Monguor language (; also written Mongour and Mongor) is a Mongolic language of its Shirongolic branch and is part of the Gansu–Qinghai sprachbund (also called the Amdo sprachbund). There are several dialects, mostly spoken by the Monguor peo ...
,
Eastern Yugur language
Eastern Yugur is the Mongolic language spoken within the Yugur nationality. The other language spoken within the same community is Western Yughur, which is a Turkic language. The terms may also indicate the speakers of these languages, which are ...
and the
'Phags-pa script.
Biography
Junast was born in
Horqin Right Middle Banner
Horqin Right Middle Banner (Mongolian script: ; ) is a banner in the east of Inner Mongolia, China, bordering Jilin province to the east. It is under the administration of Hinggan League. The local Mongolian dialect is Khorchin Mongolian. Th ...
county in
Inner Mongolia
Inner Mongolia, officially the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. Its border includes most of the length of China's border with the country of Mongolia. Inner Mongolia also accounts for a ...
in 1934. His father and grandfather were farmers, originally from
Chaoyang in
Liaoning
Liaoning () is a coastal province in Northeast China that is the smallest, southernmost, and most populous province in the region. With its capital at Shenyang, it is located on the northern shore of the Yellow Sea, and is the northernmost ...
. His father wanted him to have an education, so Junast was sent to a local private school from the age of eight, where he studied Chinese and Mongolian, including the
Confucian classics
Chinese classic texts or canonical texts () or simply dianji (典籍) refers to the Chinese texts which originated before the imperial unification by the Qin dynasty in 221 BC, particularly the "Four Books and Five Classics" of the Neo-Confucian ...
. In 1951 he passed the entrance exam for the Hinggan Middle School in
Ulan Hot, where he specialized in the
Mongolian language
Mongolian is the official language of Mongolia and both the most widely spoken and best-known member of the Mongolic language family. The number of speakers across all its dialects may be 5.2 million, including the vast majority of the residen ...
, but in the autumn of the following year he was accepted into the newly established Mongolian Languages and Literature program at the
Inner Mongolia Teachers College, despite having only been at high school for one year. In March 1953 he joined the
Communist Party of China
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victorious in the Chinese Civil ...
, and in September he was sent to study
Mongolian language
Mongolian is the official language of Mongolia and both the most widely spoken and best-known member of the Mongolic language family. The number of speakers across all its dialects may be 5.2 million, including the vast majority of the residen ...
at
Beijing University
Peking University (PKU; ) is a public research university in Beijing, China. The university is funded by the Ministry of Education.
Peking University was established as the Imperial University of Peking in 1898 when it received its royal charter ...
. After graduation, in 1954, he was assigned to teach at the Inner Mongolia Mongolian Specialist College (内蒙古蒙文专科学校).
In 1954 he went back to Beijing to participate in a survey of
Mongolic languages
The Mongolic languages are a language family spoken by the Mongolic peoples in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, North Asia and East Asia, mostly in Mongolia and surrounding areas and in Kalmykia and Buryatia. The best-known member of this language ...
, and on completion of this work he transferred to the National Minority Languages Research Institute of the
Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) is a Chinese research institute and think tank. The institution is the premier comprehensive national academic research organization in the People's Republic of China for the study in the fields of ...
. From 1955 to 1956 he engaged in fieldwork in
Qinghai
Qinghai (; alternately romanized as Tsinghai, Ch'inghai), also known as Kokonor, is a landlocked province in the northwest of the People's Republic of China. It is the fourth largest province of China by area and has the third smallest po ...
, collecting materials for the study of the Monguor language. He returned to Qinghai to study the Monguor language several more times during the 1950s and 1960s.
On the outbreak of the
Cultural Revolution
The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goal ...
, Junast was labelled a "May 16 element", and suffered beatings and abuse. From 1969 to 1973 he was sent for
re-education through labor
Re-education through labor (RTL; ), abbreviated ''laojiao'' () was a system of administrative detention on Mainland China. Active from 1957 to 2013, the system was used to detain persons who were accused of committing minor crimes such as pet ...
at a Cadre School. It was during this period that Junast started to study the
'Phags-pa script.
From 1977 onwards, the focus of Junast's research turned to the study of documents and monuments written in the 'Phags-pa script, with his first publication on the subject being a collection of
Yuan dynasty
The Yuan dynasty (), officially the Great Yuan (; xng, , , literally "Great Yuan State"), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after its division. It was established by Kublai, the fifth ...
official seals carved in the convoluted "seal script" form of the 'Phags-pa script. During the 1980s he published numerous articles on the 'Phags-pa script, culminating in a critical edition of the Yuan dynasty rhyming dictionary of Chinese in the 'Phags-pa script, ''
Menggu Ziyun
''Menggu Ziyun'' (, "Rimes in Mongol Script") is a 14th-century rime dictionary of Chinese language, Chinese as written in the 'Phags-pa script that was used during the Yuan dynasty (1271–1368). The only surviving examplar of this dictionary ...
''.
In 1988 Junast was invited to teach in Japan, and he accepted a position as visiting professor at the
Tokyo University of Foreign Studies
, often referred to as TUFS, is a specialist research university in Fuchū, Tokyo, Japan.
TUFS is primarily devoted to foreign language, international affairs and foreign studies. It also features an Asia-African institution.
History
The Uni ...
, where he remained until the mid-2000s. In 1994 he retired from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, but he continued to publish articles on the 'Phags-pa script, and was engaged in research on the computerization of the 'Phags-pa script.
He died in hospital in Beijing on 9 April 2010.
Works
* 1977. "Yuan Basibazi Zhuanshu Guanyin Jicun" 元八思巴字篆书官印辑存 (Collection of Yuan official seals in the 'Phags-pa seal script); ''Wenwu Ziliao Congkan'' 文物资料丛刊 16.
* 1980. "Lun Basibazi" 论八思巴字; ''Minzu Yuwen'' 民族语文 1980.1.
* 1981. "Basibazi Baijiaxing jiaokan" 八思巴字百家姓校勘. In ''Minzu Yuwen Lunji'' 民族语文论集. Beijing : Zhongguo Shehui Kexue Chubanshe.
* 1981. ''Dongbu Yuguyu Jianzhi'' 东部裕固语简志 (Introduction to the Eastern Yugur language). Beijing: Minzu Chubanshe.
* 1981. ''Tuzuyu Jianzhi'' 土族语简志 (Introduction to the Monguor language). Beijing: Minzu Chubanshe.
* 1982. "Nanhua Si cang Yuan Basibazi Mengguyu shengzhi de fuyuan yu kaoshi" 南华寺藏元八思巴字蒙古语圣旨的复原与考释.
* 1987. "Basibawen yuanyin zimu zixing wenti shang de liangzhong tixi" 八思巴文元音字母字形问题上的两种体系; ''Minzu Yuwen'' 民族语文 1987.4: 1–6.
* 1988. "Youguan Basiba zimu ė de jige wenti" 有关八思巴字母 ė 的几个问题; ''Minzu Yuwen'' 民族语文 1988.1: 1–8.
* 1989. "Basibazi zhong de ling shengmu fuhao" 八思巴字中的零声母符号; ''Minzu Yuwen'' 民族语文 1989.2: 29–36.
* 1990. 八思巴字和蒙古语文献·I研究文集 ('Phags-pa and Mongolian Documents Part 1: Research). Tokyo: Tokyo University of Foreign Studies.
* 1991. 八思巴字和蒙古语文献·II文献文集 ('Phags-pa and Mongolian Documents Part 2: Documents). Tokyo: Tokyo University of Foreign Studies.
* 2000. "Huihuwen zimu de Basibazi zhuyin" 回鹘文字母的八思巴字注音; ''Minzu Yuwen'' 民族语文 2000.4: 50–51.
* 2003. "Yizhong cong Basibazi tuotai erlai de wenzi" 一种从八思巴字脱胎而来的文字; ''Minzu Yuwen'' 民族语文 2003.1: 56–58.
* 2007 "Basibazi Mengguyu wenxian de yuyin xitong" 八思巴字蒙古语文献的语音系统 (The Mongolian Phonological System Reflected in Documents Recorded in the 'Phags-pa Script); ''Minzu Yuwen'' 民族语文 2007.2.
With
Yang Naisi
Yang Naisi (; 20 October 1927 – 5 March 2019), also known by his pen name Yang Daojing (), was a Chinese linguist and a research professor at the Institute of Linguistics of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. He was noted for his research ...
* 1987. ''Menggu Ziyun Jiaoben'' 蒙古字韵校本 (A critical edition of the
Mongolian Rhyming Dictionary). Beijing : Minzu Chubanshe.
References
External links
Article about Junaston the
Hudong
Baike.com (), formerly Hudong and Hoodong (), is a for-profit social network in Chinese, including the world's largest Chinese encyclopedia. It is one of the two largest wikis in China, along with Baidu Baike, claiming to have more than 18 milli ...
wiki
Biography of Junast at the Department of Northern China Minority Languagesat the
Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) is a Chinese research institute and think tank. The institution is the premier comprehensive national academic research organization in the People's Republic of China for the study in the fields of ...
Article about JunastCCTV program on the deciphering of extinct scripts
{{authority control
1934 births
2010 deaths
'Phags-pa script scholars
Linguists from China
Mongolists
People from Hinggan League
Writers from Inner Mongolia