Zhang Binglin, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death

Zhang Binglin

Chinese linguist

Date of Birth: 25-Dec-1868

Place of Birth: Yuhang District, Zhejiang, China

Date of Death: 14-Jun-1936

Profession: writer, politician, professor, sociologist, philosopher, linguist

Zodiac Sign: Capricorn

Zhang Binglin (January 12, 1869 – June 14, 1936), also known as Zhang Taiyan, was a Chinese philologist, textual critic, philosopher, and revolutionary. His philological works include Wen Shi (?? "The Origin of Writing"), the first systematic work of Chinese etymology.
He also made contributions to historical Chinese phonology, proposing that "the niang (?) and ri (?) initials [in Middle Chinese] come from the ni (?) initial [in Old Chinese]" (known as niang ri gui ni ????).
He developed a system of shorthands based on the seal script, called jiyin zimu (????), later adopted as the basis of zhuyin.
Though innovative in many ways, he was skeptical of new archaeological findings, regarding the oracle bones as forgery. An activist as well as a scholar, he produced many political works.
Because of his outspoken character, he was jailed for three years by the Qing Empire and put under house arrest for another three by Yuan Shikai.