Chen Li (1810–1882) was a

Cantonese Cantonese ( zh, t=廣東話, s=广东话, first=t, cy=Gwóngdūng wá) is a language within the Chinese (Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Canton) and its surrounding a ...

scholar of the evidential research school, known for his contributions to historical Chinese phonology. Chen Li's family originally came from

Shaoxing Shaoxing (; ) is a prefecture-level city on the southern shore of Hangzhou Bay in northeastern Zhejiang province, China. It was formerly known as Kuaiji and Shanyin and abbreviated in Chinese as (''Yuè'') from the area's former inhabitant ...

prefecture in

Zhejiang province Zhejiang ( or , ; , also romanized as Chekiang) is an eastern, coastal province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable cities include Ningbo and Wenzhou. Zhejiang is bordered by Jiang ...

, moving to

Nanjing Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), Postal Map Romanization, alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu Provinces of China, province of the China, People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and t ...

in the early

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...

. Chen's grandfather moved to

Guangzhou Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and Chinese postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, sou ...

, where his two sons remained after his death. Chen Li was the first in his family to register as a Guangzhou resident. He passed the provincial examination in 1832, but was unsuccessful in the

imperial examination The imperial examination (; lit. "subject recommendation") refers to a civil-service examination system in Imperial China, administered for the purpose of selecting candidates for the state bureaucracy. The concept of choosing bureaucrats by ...

seven times. He also sat examinations at the Xuehaitang Academy in Guangzhou, headed by

Ruan Yuan Ruan Yuan (; 1764–1849), courtesy name Yuntai (云台), was a Chinese historian, politician, and writer of the Qing Dynasty who was the most prominent Chinese scholar during the first half of the 19th century. He won the ''jinshi'' degree i ...

, and taught there as co-director for several decades from 1840. In his pioneering ''Qièyùn kǎo'' (切韻考 "An examination of the ''Qieyun''", 1842), Chen systematically analysed the pairs of characters (''

fanqie ''Fanqie'' ( zh, t= 反切, p=fǎnqiè) is a method in traditional Chinese lexicography to indicate the pronunciation of a monosyllabic character by using two other characters, one with the same initial consonant as the desired syllable and one ...

'') used to indicate pronunciations of words in the ''

Guangyun The ''Guangyun'' (''Kuang-yun''; ) is a Chinese rime dictionary that was compiled from 1007 to 1008 under the patronage of Emperor Zhenzong of Song. Its full name was ''Dà Sòng chóngxiū guǎngyùn'' (, literally "Great Song revised and ex ...

'', a

Song dynasty The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the res ...

redaction of the ''

Qieyun The ''Qieyun'' () is a Chinese rhyme dictionary, published in 601 during the Sui dynasty. The book was a guide to proper reading of classical texts, using the ''fanqie'' method to indicate the pronunciation of Chinese characters. The ''Qieyun'' ...

'' dictionary published in 601. Chen was able to enumerate the initials and finals of the phonological system of these dictionaries, now known as

Middle Chinese Middle Chinese (formerly known as Ancient Chinese) or the Qieyun system (QYS) is the historical variety of Chinese recorded in the '' Qieyun'', a rime dictionary first published in 601 and followed by several revised and expanded editions. The ...

, and demonstrate subtle differences from those of the later

rhyme table A rime table or rhyme table () is a Chinese phonological model, tabulating the syllables of the series of rime dictionaries beginning with the ''Qieyun'' (601) by their onsets, rhyme groups, tones and other properties. The method gave a significa ...

s. This analysis would be repeated, though less thoroughly, in the 20th century by the Swedish linguist

Bernhard Karlgren Klas Bernhard Johannes Karlgren (; 15 October 1889 – 20 October 1978) was a Swedish sinologist and linguist who pioneered the study of Chinese historical phonology using modern comparative methods. In the early 20th century, Karlgren conducte ...

, who was unaware of Chen's work at the time. Chen's collected essays (東塾集 ''Dōngshú jí''), published in 1892 after his death, include a much-quoted early description of the phonology of Cantonese in comparison with the categories of Middle Chinese. Chen was one of several Guangzhou scholars who sought to reconcile the moral concerns of

Neo-Confucianism Neo-Confucianism (, often shortened to ''lǐxué'' 理學, literally "School of Principle") is a moral, ethical, and metaphysical Chinese philosophy influenced by Confucianism, and originated with Han Yu (768–824) and Li Ao (772–841) ...

with the analytical methods of

Han learning Han learning (), or the Han school of classical philology, was an intellectual movement that reached its height in the middle of the Qing dynasty (1644–1912) in China. The focus of the movement was to reject neo-Confucianism in order to return ...

, a reaction against Neo-Confucianism ("Song learning"). In his ''Hànrú tōngyì'' (漢儒通義 "Comprehensive meanings of the Han Confucians", 1856), Chen defended the philosophical significance of Han learning. In later works he argued that

Zhu Xi Zhu Xi (; ; October 18, 1130 – April 23, 1200), formerly romanized Chu Hsi, was a Chinese calligrapher, historian, philosopher, poet, and politician during the Song dynasty. Zhu was influential in the development of Neo-Confucianism. He con ...

, the founder of Neo-Confucianism, was also concerned with philology.

References

Works cited * * * * * *

External links

*
Chen Li
at the

Chinese Text Project The Chinese Text Project (CTP; ) is a digital library project that assembles collections of early Chinese texts. The name of the project in Chinese literally means "The Chinese Philosophical Book Digitization Project", showing its focus on books ...

, with scans of several of his books. {{Authority control 1810 births 1882 deaths Middle Chinese Qing dynasty writers Chinese scholars Linguists from China Writers from Guangzhou Scientists from Guangdong

References

Further reading

External links