Li Jinxi
| Li Jinxi | |
|---|---|
| Born |
February 2, 1890 Xiangtan, Hunan Province, China |
| Died | March 27, 1978 (aged 88) |
| Occupation | Linguist, lexicographer, character reformer, educator |
| Home town | Xiangtan, Hunan Province, China |
Li Jinxi (Chinese: 黎锦熙; pinyin: Lí Jǐnxī; February 2, 1890 - March 27, 1978) was a Chinese linguist and educator. In 1911, he graduated from the Hunan Teachers College. He participated in the China Alliance Committee in his early years and launched the September 3rd Society 九三学社 in 1946. He was the chief editor of Changsha Newspaper and professor of Hunan No.1 Normal College. After that he held the positions of the Dean of the College of Arts of Beijing Normal College (now Beijing Normal University), Peking University, Yanjing University, the National Northwest Joint University (now Northwest University), Hunan University and Beijing Normal University as the president of Literary College. After 1949, he became the president of the Chinese Language College of Beijing Normal University, a committee member of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, a committee member of the Chinese Writing Reform Committee, and the standing committee of the September 3rd Society.
He devoted his life to studying and teaching language, making great achievements on the Chinese grammar. He made great contributions to the Writing Reform, and was regarded as "The Father of the Chinese phonetic alphabet".
Born into a wealthy family, Li Jinxi diligently studied classic works from his childhood. He also learned poetry, painting, engraving and flute. From the age of 12, he began to write diaries, and never stopped in the following 70 years. In 1905, he passed the imperial examination at the county level and obtained a xiucai degree. In 1906, he was admitted to the No.1 Middle School of Hunan Province (湖南省立一中). In 1907, he studied at the Beijing Railway School (北京铁路学校). In 1908, he was admitted to Hunan Advanced Normal School (). After his graduation, he took the editor of Changsha Daily (长沙日报), and in the same year, he joined the Chinese Revolutionary Alliance led by Sun Zhongshan. In 1912, he started the Hunan Public Newspaper (湖南公报) with Zhang Pingzi. He wrote many famous editorials and comments. Besides, he was the compiler of the Compilation Bureau of Hunan Province (湖南省立编译局). He chose Journey to the West (西游记) as the text when compiling the teaching materials, to much surprise of the educational circles. For Li, foundation of the new country was bound to the reform of the old education system, where primary and secondary school students were still bound to learn the Four Books and Five Classics, and practice the outdated eight-legged essay writing.
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