On January 14, 2017 (December 17, 2016 in the lunar calendar), Zhou Youguang, the "father of Chinese Pinyin", passed away at the age of 112. Zhou Youguang, the father of Chinese Pinyin On January 14, 2017, Zhou Youguang, a famous linguist in my country and the "father of Chinese Pinyin", passed away at the age of 112. Zhou Youguang was born in 1906. He specialized in economics in his early years. When he was nearly 50 years old, he "became a monk halfway" and participated in the design of the Chinese Pinyin scheme. He was known as the "father of Chinese Pinyin". Just yesterday, Mr. Zhou Youguang had just celebrated his 112th birthday. Report on January 13, 2017: Famous linguist Zhou Youguang laughed and said on his 112th birthday that God had forgotten him Zhou Youguang (left) took a photo with Zhang Sengen. Photo taken on November 25, 2016. Zhou Youguang, a famous linguist in China, celebrated his 112th birthday (imaginary year) on the 13th. This knowledgeable scholar was once called "Zhou Baike" by his brother-in-law and great writer Shen Congwen. His rigorous academic, optimistic and open-minded person has always been "popular" for himself. Zhang Sengen, a professor at the Graduate School of China Academy of Social Sciences, said in an interview with reporters that Mr. Zhou Youguang is a scholar who does not admire fame and fortune."People who have met him recently have seen his expression and demeanor so aloof, and they all respect him from the bottom of their hearts." From economist to linguist, the Zhou family's ancestral home is Yixing. When he was ten years old, Zhou Youguang moved to Suzhou with his family and entered the new school that was initially established at that time to study. After graduating from high school, Zhou Youguang was admitted to St. John's University in Shanghai, and later transferred to Guanghua University to continue his studies. After graduating from college, he and his wife Zhang Yunhe went to Japan to study. In 1935, Zhou Youguang gave up his studies in Japan and returned to Shanghai to teach at Guanghua University and work part-time in the Bank of Shanghai. Before the age of 50, Zhou Youguang was a financier and economist. After the age of 50, he moved from Shanghai to Beijing to engage in language and writing research: in 1955, he went to Beijing to participate in a language reform conference. After the meeting, he decided to stay in Beijing and change language. It is precisely because of his participation in the formulation of the Hanyu Pinyin plan, the design and promotion of the Hanyu Pinyin system that Zhou Youguang is honored by many people as the "father of Hanyu Pinyin". However, he himself has always felt that it was not good to be called this way. He said to Zhang Sengen many times: "People who have read my book will never casually put that crown on my head." His niece Mao Xiaoyuan once mentioned in an interview with a reporter from Chinanews. com,"Uncle feels that Chinese Pinyin has appeared very early and has a development process. Don't give all the credit to one person. He didn't want this to happen. Uncle has many opportunities to be famous and beneficial, but he never pursues this." In 1991, Zhou Youguang shifted his attention from studying pinyin, writing, etc. to exploring issues such as cultural studies and changes in the times. The scope of reading, thinking and research became wider and wider, and the field of writing became wider and wider. According to Zhang Sengen, about half of the more than 40 books Zhou Youguang has published so far were completed after retirement. Mr. Zhou Youguang "In life, Mr. Zhou Youguang has a positive and optimistic attitude; academically, he is always full of curiosity about the world. He once told me that he had thought seriously about the world. "Ye Fang, one of the planners and editor-in-charge of" Zhou Youguang's Selected Works ", also mentioned in an interview with a reporter from Chinanews. com," This is probably Lao Zhou's summary of his life." Strict academic research: Zhou Youguang is not afraid of criticism from others and hopes to hear different voices on academic issues. He has always been strict and welcomes criticism. Zhang Sengen pointed out that since the early 1920s, Mr. Zhou Youguang has been paying attention to language and writing and realized the important role of language and writing in social development and human progress. Therefore, he said,"Language distinguishes mankind from beasts, and writing distinguishes civilization from barbarism. Education distinguishes advanced from backward." "Lao Zhou (Note: refers to Zhou Youguang, the same below) once joked that he had switched from an economics professor to research in linguistics and philology since the age of 50. The former gave up halfway, while the latter gave up halfway. The two" half "characters combined are a circle, a 'zero'. In fact, the successes, achievements and achievements he has achieved in his academic career have reached a near-complete state." Zhang Sengen commented. Entering the era of globalization, Zhou Youguang worked hard to promote Chinese modernization and pointed out that educational modernization is the foundation of national modernization, and Chinese modernization is the prerequisite of educational modernization. Zhang Sengen said: "In addition to his contribution to Hanyu Pinyin, Lao Zhou's academic achievements in creating modern Chinese character science, studying comparative philology, and studying Chinese information processing and uncoded input methods have had far-reaching influence." Zhou Youguang does not shy away from others 'criticism. In the "Epilogue" of the book "Zhou Youguang's Centenary Dictation", Zhou Youguang advocated "not being afraid of mistakes": he believed that mistakes were inevitable in his century-old oral history, so he was not only afraid of criticism from others, but also hoped to hear different opinions. "The Dead is Like Water: Zhou Youguang's Centenary Dictation" book seal. Photo provided by the publishing house "In order to pursue truth, Lao Zhou welcomes readers to criticize his articles. For the sake of academic development, he will never be a peacemaker." Zhang Sengen said with a smile. "For example, if he disagreed with some of Mr. Ji Xianlin's academic views, he would directly point out, but the article was written very gently and without emotion at all." Optimism and humble: An old man who treats people generously In the eyes of many relatives and friends, Zhou Youguang is both a sharp-thinking scholar and an old man who treats people generously. Every year on his birthday, many people visit him. Ye Fang once said that in recent years, Zhou Youguang has been very weak, and it is very strenuous to sit for so long and listen to others."But he is very tolerant and will not stop others from speaking and quietly waits for them to leave. It's a high personality." Because he worked and lived in Beijing, Mao Xiaoyuan would visit his uncle from time to time. There was no fixed time, sometimes a few days apart, sometimes a week or two. Mao Xiaoyuan said that every time they came to his uncle's house, the old man would be very happy. Optimism is another impression people around you have of Zhou Youguang. Zhang Sengen recalled that Mr. Zhou Youguang was very weak when he was young. A fortune-teller said that he could only live to be 35 years old, but now he has lived longer than three 35 years old."Mr. Zhou said humorously: You can't blame the fortune-teller, that's because science is developed; he can live healthy. Also, God has forgotten him. He started at the age of 81, and as a year old, he would continue to read, think and write from the beginning." "Old Zhou suffered two fatal blows in his later years. One was when he lost his wife at the age of 98, and the other was when he lost his heir, Zhou Xiaoping, at the age of 110. Because he has vitality and determination that ordinary people don't have, he survived." Zhang Sengen revealed that on December 5, 2016, Zhou Youguang was hospitalized for three weeks due to fever. However, on the 27th of that month, he was discharged safely and returned home."At the moment, he has tenaciously crossed the threshold of 112 years old. He has really returned to his childhood, returned to his original nature, and returned to his 'baby'. He is unwilling to speak much, but only uses gestures and eyes to express his existence. Today, he is really speechless." The current Zhou Youguang still attracts the attention of academic circles. Zhang Sengen said that people who have seen Zhou Youguang recently have seen how aloof his expression and demeanor are, and they admire him from the bottom of their hearts."I just hope that he has no pain and can live simply, and move slowly towards my old friends hope that he will create the goal of living to 120 years old." Zhou Youguang was with his mother and family when he was young (Zhou Youguang, the second from the right). In 1924, the four sisters of the Zhang family took a group photo (Zhang Yunhe on the left, Zhang Yuanhe on the right) In 1930, Zhang Yunhe was in Nanxiang, Shanghai. In 1938, Zhou Youguang and Zhang Yunhe were in Chongqing South Hot Spring. In 1946, the third brother-in-law was in Shanghai (from left: Gu Chuan, Shen Congwen, Zhou Youguang). In 1947, Zhou Youguang lived in New York. Zhou Youguang and his wife In the summer of 1977, Zhou Youguang and Zhang Yunhe were in Jingshan Front Street, Beijing. In April 1979, Zhou Youguang attended the Documentation Technical Conference sponsored by the International Organization for Standardization. 1986 Gathering of scholars in the language field (from left: Ji Xianlin, Lu Shuxiang, Xu Guozhang, Zhou Youguang, Ma Xueliang). In 1988, Zhou Youguang and Zhang Yunhe were in San Francisco. In 1989, Zhou Youguang and Zhang Yunhe celebrated Yu Pingbo's 90th birthday together. In his later years, Zhang Yunhe and Zhang Zhaohe took photos with their sisters. In his later years, Zhou Youguang and Zhang Yunhe had another birthday. Zhou Youguang loves to drink black tea and coffee, and likes to discuss world affairs with young friends. Zhou Youguang's wife, Zhang Yunhe, is famous for her "Kunqu Opera Diary" and the family magazine "Water". She was the "Second Sister of the Zhang family" who studied computer science in 86. Zhou Youguang and his wife and his "brother-in-law" Shen Congwen and his wife (from left: Zhang Yunhe, Zhou Youguang, Shen Congwen, Zhang Zhaohe). Zhou Youguang and his great-grandson Zhou Andi are in front of the typewriter.