HSK 5 · Article · 579 characters · Listen: mandarinthewild.com/library/read/who-invented-pinyin-zhou-youguang

拼音是谁发明的?

Who invented pinyin? The story of Zhou Youguang

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每个měigè学xué中文zhōngwén的de人rén,第一dìyī天tiān学xué的de往往wángwǎng不是búshì汉字hànzì,而是érshì拼音pīnyīn:b、p、m、f,还有háiyǒu那nà四sì个gè小小xiáoxiǎo的de声调shēngdiào符号fúhào。今天jīntiān,从cóng小学生xiǎoxuéshēng的de课本kèběn到dào手机shǒujī上shàng的de输入法shūrùfǎ,到处dàochù都dōu离不开líbukāi拼音pīnyīn。可是kěshì你知道吗nǐzhī-dàoma?牵头qiāntóu设计shèjì这zhè套tào拼音pīnyīn的de人rén,竟然jìngrán是shì一yí位wèi在zài华尔街huá’ěrjiē工作gōngzuò过guò的de银行家yínhángjiā。

他tā叫jiào周有光zhōuyǒuguāng,1906年nián出生chūshēng在zài江苏jiāngsū常州chángzhōu。他tā早年zǎonián攻读gōngdú经济学jīngjìxué,毕业bìyè后hòu进入jìnrù了le金融界jīnróngjiè。1946年nián,银行yínháng派pài他tā去qù了le纽约niǔyuē,在zài华尔街huá’ěrjiē待dāi了le一yí段duàn时间shíjiān。1949年nián以后yǐhòu,他tā回到huídào上海shànghǎi,在zài复旦大学fùdàn-dàxué教经济学jīngjìxué。倘若tǎngruò没有méiyǒu后来hòulái那次nàcì意想不到yìxiǎngbúdào的de调动diàodòng,他tā大概dàgài会huì当dāng一辈子yíbèizi经济学家jīngjìxuéjiā。

那次nàcì调动diàodòng发生fāshēng在zài1955年nián。当时dāngshí,中国zhōngguó的de文盲wénmáng非常fēicháng多duō,政府zhèngfǔ希望xīwàng找到zhǎodào一种yìzhǒng更gèng有效yǒuxiào的de途径tújìng,帮助bāngzhù大家dàjiā认rèn汉字hànzì、说shuō普通话pǔtōnghuà。周恩来zhōu’ēnlái总理zónglǐ想起xiángqǐ周有光zhōuyǒuguāng年轻niánqīng时shí对duì语言yǔyán文字wénzì颇pō有yǒu兴趣xìngqù,就jiù把bǎ他tā调diào到dào北京běijīng,参加cānjiā文字改革wénzì-gǎigé的de工作gōngzuò。周有光zhōuyǒuguāng推辞tuīcí说shuō,自己zìjǐ只是zhǐshì个gè业余yèyú爱好者àiháozhě,得到dédào的de回答huídá却是quèshì:“这zhè是shì一yí项xiàng新xīn工作gōngzuò,大家dàjiā都dōu是shì业余yèyú的de。”

周有光zhōuyǒuguāng和hé同事tóngshì们men花huā了le大约dàyuē三sān年nián时间shíjiān。他们tāmen比较bǐjiào了le以前yǐqián各种gèzhǒng用yòng字母zìmǔ拼写pīnxiě汉语hànyǔ的de方案fāng’àn,最后zuìhòu决定juédìng用yòng世界shìjiè上shàng最zuì常见chángjiàn的de拉丁字母lādīng-zìmǔ,再zài加上jiāshàng四sì个gè声调shēngdiào符号fúhào。1958年nián,《汉语拼音方案》正式zhèngshì通过tōngguò。从cóng那nà以后yǐhòu,拼音pīnyīn进jìn了le小学xiǎoxué课堂kètáng,孩子háizi们men先xiān学xué拼音pīnyīn,再zài靠kào拼音pīnyīn认字rènzì。1982年nián,它tā又yòu成chéng了le国际guójì标准biāozhǔn,今天jīntiān外国wàiguó地图dìtú上shàng印yìn着zhe的de“Beijing”,就是jiùshì这么zhème来lái的de。

人们rénmen叫jiào他tā“汉语拼音hànyǔ-pīnyīn之父zhīfù”,他tā自己zìjǐ却què总是zǒngshì很hěn谦虚qiānxū,说shuō这zhè点diǎn工作gōngzuò微不足道wēibùzúdào。更gèng令人lìngrén惊叹jīngtàn的de是shì他tā的de晚年wǎnnián:一百yìbǎi岁suì以后yǐhòu,他tā还hái出版chūbǎn了le十多shíduō本běn书shū。109岁suì生日shēngrì那天nàtiān,他tā自嘲zìcháo道dào:“上帝shàngdì太tài忙máng了le,把bǎ我wǒ忘wàng了le。”2017年nián1月yuè,在zài过guò完wán111岁suì生日shēngrì的de第二天dì’èrtiān,周有光zhōuyǒuguāng在zài北京běijīng去世qùshì。

下次xiàcì你nǐ在zài手机shǒujī上shàng用yòng拼音pīnyīn打dǎ出chū“你好níhǎo”的de时候shíhou,不妨bùfáng想xiǎng一yì想xiǎng这位zhèwèi从cóng华尔街huá’ěrjiē回来huílái的de老人lǎorén。正是zhèngshì他tā和hé同事tóngshì们men设计shèjì的de这zhè套tào字母zìmǔ和hé声调shēngdiào,让ràng无数wúshù人rén更gèng容易róngyì地de走进zǒujìn了le汉字hànzì的de世界shìjiè。

Key words

WordPinyinMeaning
往往wángwǎngoften; frequently; usually
毕业bìyèto graduate; graduation
进入jìnrùto enter; to get into
待dāiwhen; once (待…后)
当dāngwhen; at the time of
拼音pīnyīnpinyin (romanization of Chinese)
套tàocover; case; sheath (as in 手套)
派pàito send; to dispatch
政府zhèngfǔgovernment
认rènto recognize; to know (as in 认得)
调diàoto adjust; to tune
业余yèyúamateur

English (for the teacher)

Anyone learning Chinese usually starts on day one not with characters but with pinyin: b, p, m, f, and those four little tone marks. Today pinyin is everywhere, from primary school textbooks to the input methods on our phones. But did you know? The man who led its design was, of all things, a banker who had worked on Wall Street.

His name was Zhou Youguang, and he was born in Changzhou, Jiangsu, in 1906. As a young man he studied economics, and after graduating he went into finance. In 1946 his bank sent him to New York, and he spent some time on Wall Street. After 1949 he went back to Shanghai and taught economics at Fudan University. If not for one unexpected transfer, he would probably have stayed an economist all his life.

That transfer came in 1955. At the time a great many people in China could not read, and the government wanted a more effective way to help everyone learn characters and speak Mandarin. Premier Zhou Enlai remembered that Zhou Youguang had been very interested in language and writing when he was young, so he moved him to Beijing to work on script reform. Zhou Youguang demurred that he was only an amateur, but the answer he got was: “This is a new job; everybody is an amateur.”

Zhou and his colleagues spent about three years on it. They compared all the earlier schemes for spelling Chinese with letters, and in the end chose the world's most common alphabet, the Latin one, plus four tone marks. In 1958 the Scheme for the Chinese Phonetic Alphabet was officially adopted. From then on pinyin went into primary school classrooms: children learned pinyin first, then used it to learn characters. In 1982 it also became an international standard, and that is where the “Beijing” printed on foreign maps today comes from.

People call him the “father of pinyin”, but he himself was always modest and said this bit of work hardly mattered. Even more amazing was his old age: after turning a hundred he published more than ten books. On his 109th birthday he joked at his own expense: “God is too busy; he has forgotten me.” In January 2017, the day after his 111th birthday, Zhou Youguang died in Beijing.

Next time you type 你好 in pinyin on your phone, spare a thought for this old man who came back from Wall Street. It was the letters and tones he and his colleagues designed that made the world of Chinese characters easier to enter for countless people.