About
Zhou Youguang, born Zhou Yaoping in 1906 in Changzhou, was a Chinese economist and linguist. After studying economics, he worked as a banker in New York and London, then taught at Fudan University. In 1955, Premier Zhou Enlai appointed him to lead the committee for reforming the written language. He designed the Hanyu Pinyin romanization system, officially adopted in 1958 and became the international standard ISO 7098 in 1982. He also contributed to the Chinese translation of the Encyclopædia Britannica and published over 40 books, several after his 100th birthday. He died in 2017 at age 111.
* 1906-01-13 — † 2017-01-14
Major works
- Hanyu Pinyin Fang'an (1958)romanization system
Key milestones
- 1955Appointed by Zhou Enlai to lead the committee for reforming the Chinese language.
- 1958Official adoption of Hanyu Pinyin by the Chinese government.
- 1982Pinyin becomes the international standard ISO 7098.
Themes
LinguisticsWriting reformLiteracyEducationChinese culture
Sources: id.loc.gov · english.ecnu.edu.cn · data.library.sh.cn