Zhou Zumo


Zhou Zumo, courtesy name Yansun, was a Chinese linguist regarded as one of the leading phonologists in modern China. He also carried out research in paleography, exegesis, and philology.

Biography

Zhou was a native of Beijing, with family roots in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province.
In 1932 he entered the Department of Chinese Language and Literature at the National Peking University and studied phonology under Luo Changpei. His graduation thesis was entitled "The Sound System of the Original Yupian within the Tenrei Banshō Meigi ".
During his youth, Zhou attended the elementary and middle schools affiliated with Beijing Normal University. Later, he taught for a considerable period in the Department of Chinese Literature at Fu Jen Catholic University, which at the time was one of the predecessor institutions of the Faculty of Humanities of Beijing Normal University.
In 1936 he passed the entrance examination to the Language Division of the Institute of History and Philology. Even before graduating from Peking University, he was commissioned by this institute to collate the Song edition of the Guangyun. In 1938, the collated edition, Guangyun jiaoben, was published by the Commercial Press in Beijing.
In 1958 the first volume of Studies on the Development of Rime Categories from the Han to the Southern and Northern Dynasties, co-authored with Luo Changpei, was published by the Science Press.
In issue no. 7 of the journal Zhongguo Yuwen in 1952, Zhou published the article "Some Problems Concerning the Learning of Chinese by Non-Han Students". This is considered the first academic article on the didactics of teaching Chinese as a foreign language in China.
In particular, his publications on phonology are held in high esteem. The Hanyu da zidian, for example, makes use of Zhou’s publications on Fangyan, Luoyang qielan ji, Tang Wudai yunshu jicun, and Da Song chongxiu guangyun.

Publications

According to the Research Center for Chinese Poetry, Capital Normal University, his major works include:Wènxuéjí – collection of studies and essays Hàn Wèi Jìn Nánběi Cháo yùnbù yǎnbiàn yánjiū – study of the development of rime categories from the Han, Wei, and Jin to the Northern and Southern Dynasties Guǎngyùn jiàoběn – collated edition of the Guangyun Guǎngyùn jiàoběn Fāngyán jiàojiān – notes on dialects in the collated Guangyun edition Luòyáng Qiélán Jì jiāoshì – collated and annotated edition of the Luoyang Qielan Ji Ěryǎ jiàojiān – collated and annotated edition of the Erya Fāngyán jiàojiān – collated and annotated edition of the Fangyan Shìmíng jiàojiān – collated and annotated edition of the Shiming Táng Wǔdài yùnshū jí cún – collection of rhyme books from the Tang and Five Dynasties period Guǎngyùn sìshēng yùn zì jīn yīn biǎo – modern pronunciations of rime characters in the four tones of the Guangyun Hànyǔ yīnyùn lùnwén jí – collection of papers on Chinese phonology Hànyǔ cíhuì jiǎnghuà – lectures on Chinese vocabulary Zhōu Zǔmó xuéshù lùnzhuó zìxuǎn jí – selected academic writings of Zhou Zumo Zhōu Zǔmó yǔyán wénzì lùnjí – collection of essays on language and script Zhōu Zǔmó yǔyánxué lùnwén jí – collection of linguistic essays by Zhou Zumo