Gu Yanwu
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Gu Yanwu (Chinese: 顧炎武) (1613 - 1682), also known as Gu Tinglin (顧亭林), was a Chinese philologist and geographer. A native of Jiangsu, he was born with the name Jiang (絳). He spent his youth in anti-Manchu activities, when the Ming Dynasty had been overthrown. He never served the Qing Dynasty. Instead, he traveled throughout the country and devoted himself to studies.
Inspired by Chen Di, who had demonstrated that the Old Chinese has its own phonological system, Gu divided the rimes of Old Chinese into 10 groups, the first one to do so. His positivist approach to a variety of disciplines, and his criticism of Neo-Confucianism had huge influence on later scholars. His works include Yinxue Wushu (音學五書), Ri Zhi Lu (日知錄) and Zhao Yu Zhi (肇域志).
[edit] References
- He Jiuying 何九盈 (1995). Zhongguo gudai yuyanxue shi (中囯古代语言学史 "A history of ancient Chinese linguistics"). Guangzhou: Guangdong jiaoyu chubanshe.
[edit] Further reading
- Willard J. Peterson, 'The Life of Ku Yen-wu (1613-1682)', Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, Vol. 28 (1968), pp. 114-156
