Modern Chinese character research in the 20th century

Author: Su Peicheng
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2001-08-01
Features: Language is a system of symbols for recording language, and there is a close relationship between writing and language. Therefore, we must study writing in connection with language and examine the Chinese characters from the perspective of what kind of Chinese they record. What are modern Chinese characters? Modern Chinese characters refer to the characters used in modern Chinese, specifically the characters used in modern vernacular Chinese. The new branch of Sinology that takes modern Chinese characters as the research subject and establishes itself is modern Chinese characterology. The formation of modern Chinese characterology occurred at the beginning of the 20th century, and the formation of modern Chinese characters and their synchronization also took place at the beginning of the 20th century. Because modern Chinese characters play an important role in real life and are the characters we cannot live without for a day, research on them began as soon as they formed. Roughly speaking, the study of modern Chinese characters has now had over 100 years of history. In the history of humanity, 100 years is a fleeting moment. In just this 100-year span, the study of modern Chinese characters has grown from nothing to something, expanded from small to large, and has preliminarily formed its own disciplinary system and research methods, solving many problems in the learning and application of modern Chinese characters. Over 100 years of modern Chinese character research can be divided into two phases: the Republican period and the People's Republic period. The Republican period was the inception and infancy of modern Chinese character research, while the People's Republic period was its growth and development phase. Modern Chinese character research is very young and not yet mature, but it is full of vitality and on the rise.