Lü Shuxiang (, 1904–1998) was a Chinese linguist, lexicographer and educator, and a pioneer of modern Chinese linguists.

Overview

Lü Shuxiang was born in Danyang,

Jiangsu Province Jiangsu is a coastal province in East China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with its capital in Nanjing. Jiangsu is the third smallest, but the fifth most populous, with a population of 84. ...

. He studied Foreign Languages and Literature in the

National Central University National Central University (; abbreviated NCU; ) is a public research university based in Taiwan. It was founded in 1902 in Nanjing; initially located in Miaoli after moving to Taiwan, it relocated to Zhongli in 1962 and developed into a com ...

and graduated in 1926. He then taught in Danyang Middle School and

Suzhou High School The Suzhou High School of Jiangsu Province () is a public high school in Suzhou, Jiangsu, China. In 1035, the Northern Song politician and writer Fan Zhongyan founded the earliest predecessor of the current Suzhou High School, Suzhou Prefecture S ...

. In 1936, he went to England for postgraduate studies in the Anthropology Department of

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

and then in the Library Science Department of the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

. He returned to China in 1938 during the Second Sino-Japanese war, and held various professorships in

Yunnan University Yunnan University (YNU; zh, s=云南大学, p=, labels=no) is a provincial public university in Kunming, Yunnan, China. It is affiliated with the province of Yunnan, and co-funded by the Yunnan Provincial People's Government and the Ministry o ...

, Huaxi Union College and Jinling College, and later, the

. After the establishment of the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, Lü was a professor in the Chinese Department of

Tsinghua University Tsinghua University (THU) is a public university in Haidian, Beijing, China. It is affiliated with and funded by the Ministry of Education of China. The university is part of Project 211, Project 985, and the Double First-Class Constructio ...

from 1950 to 1952. Starting from 1952, he worked in the Institute of Languages in the

Chinese Academy of Sciences The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS; ) is the national academy for natural sciences and the highest consultancy for science and technology of the People's Republic of China. It is the world's largest research organization, with 106 research i ...

. He was a committee member and vice director of the important China Language Reform Commission. From 1978 to 1985, he was the chief editor of the journal ''Chinese philology''. From 1980 to 1985, he was the president of the Association of Chinese Linguistics. He was editor-in-chief of the authoritative ''

Xiandai Hanyu Cidian ''Xiandai Hanyu Cidian'' ( zh , s = 现代汉语词典 , t = 現代漢語詞典 , p = Xiàndài Hànyǔ Cídiǎn , l = Modern Han Language Word Dictionary ), also known as ''A Dictionary of Current Chinese'' or ''Contemporary Chinese Dictionary'' ...

'', and served on the editorial board for the ''

Encyclopedia of China The ''Encyclopedia of China'' () is the first large-entry modern encyclopedia in the Chinese language. The compilation began in 1978. Published by the Encyclopedia of China Publishing House, the encyclopedia was issued one volume at a time, be ...

''. In 1987, he was awarded honorary Doctor of Literature by the

Chinese University of Hong Kong The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) is a public university, public research university in Sha Tin, New Territories, Hong Kong. Established in 1963 as a federation of three university college, collegesChung Chi College, New Asia Coll ...

. He was an associate fellow in the

Russian Academy of Sciences The Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS; ''Rossíyskaya akadémiya naúk'') consists of the national academy of Russia; a network of scientific research institutes from across the Russian Federation; and additional scientific and social units such ...

in 1997. The artist and art educator Lü Fengzi (1886–1959), and the prominent Buddhist scholar Lü Cheng (1896–1989), were his cousins. In addition, he was the father-in-law to Chinese physicist Tang Xiaowei and uncle to

Peking University Peking University (PKU) is a Public university, public Types of universities and colleges in China#By designated academic emphasis, university in Haidian, Beijing, China. It is affiliated with and funded by the Ministry of Education of the Peop ...

educated scholar Lü Qisu.

Main works

* * * * * *

Translations

* * ('' Ethan Frome'')

References

*https://archive.today/20000521012708/http://www.cass.net.cn/y_09/y_09_01/y_09_01_14.htm {{DEFAULTSORT:Lu, Shuxiang 1904 births 1998 deaths Educators from Zhenjiang Writers from Zhenjiang Academic staff of Yunnan University Academic staff of the University of Nanking Academic staff of Tsinghua University Scientists from Zhenjiang Foreign members of the Russian Academy of Sciences 20th-century Chinese linguists People from Danyang