Chen Li (1810–1882) was a
Cantonese
Cantonese is the traditional prestige variety of Yue Chinese, a Sinitic language belonging to the Sino-Tibetan language family. It originated in the city of Guangzhou (formerly known as Canton) and its surrounding Pearl River Delta. While th ...
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. Located on the south bank of the Qiantang River estuary, it borders Ningbo to the east, Taizhou, Zhejiang, Taizhou to the south ...
prefecture in
Zhejiang province
)
, translit_lang1_type2 =
, translit_lang1_info2 = ( Hangzhounese) ( Ningbonese) (Wenzhounese)
, image_skyline = 玉甑峰全貌 - panoramio.jpg
, image_caption = View of the Yandang Mountains
, image_map = Zhejiang i ...
, moving to
Nanjing
Nanjing or Nanking is the capital of Jiangsu, a province in East China. The city, which is located in the southwestern corner of the province, has 11 districts, an administrative area of , and a population of 9,423,400.
Situated in the Yang ...
in the early
Ming dynasty
The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...
.
Chen's grandfather moved to
Guangzhou
Guangzhou, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Canton or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, southern China. Located on the Pearl River about nor ...
, 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 was a civil service examination system in History of China#Imperial China, Imperial China administered for the purpose of selecting candidates for the Civil service#China, state bureaucracy. The concept of choosing bureau ...
seven times.
He also sat examinations at the
Xuehaitang Academy in Guangzhou, headed by
Ruan Yuan
Ruan Yuan (; 1764–1849), courtesy name Boyuan (伯元), art name Yuntai (芸臺), posthumous name Wenda (文達), was a Chinese historian, politician, and writer of the Qing dynasty who was the most prominent Chinese scholar during the first ...
, 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, l=reverse cut) 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 ...
'') used to indicate pronunciations of words in the ''
Guangyun
The ''Guangyun'' (''Kuang-yun''; ) is a Chinese rhyme 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 ...
'', a
Song dynasty
The Song dynasty ( ) was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 960 to 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song, who usurped the throne of the Later Zhou dynasty and went on to conquer the rest of the Fiv ...
redaction of the ''
Qieyun
The ''Qieyun'' () is a Chinese rhyme dictionary that was 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 ' ...
'' 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 language, Chinese recorded in the ''Qieyun'', a rime dictionary first published in 601 and followed by several revised and expande ...
, and demonstrate subtle differences from those of the later
rhyme tables.
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 conduct ...
, 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, which originated with Han Yu (768–824) and Li Ao (772–841) i ...
with the analytical methods of
Han learning, 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 ( zh, c=朱熹; ; October 18, 1130April 23, 1200), formerly romanized Chu Hsi, was a Chinese philosopher, historian, politician, poet, and calligrapher of the Southern Song dynasty. As a leading figure in the development of Neo-Confuci ...
, the founder of Neo-Confucianism, was also concerned with philology.
References
Works cited
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Further reading
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External links
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Chen Liat 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
19th-century Chinese scholars
Linguists from China
Writers from Guangzhou
Scientists from Guangdong