Sengendou

A Chinese scholar of characters and phonology. His real name was Qian Xia. He was from Wuxing, Zhejiang Province. He graduated from Waseda University. He is a professor at Beijing University and Beijing Normal University. When he studied in Japan, he joined the China Tongwenghui and studied under revolutionary Chinese scholar Zhang Binglin along with Lu Xun. During the literary revolution, he was a member of the New Youth magazine and made a name for himself with his fierce debates on the abolition of Chinese characters, and is also known for having inspired Lu Xun to write Diary of a Madman. He later used his expertise to play a leading role in reforming the national language and characters as a key member of the Association for Preparatory Studies for the Unification of the National Language and the Association for the Promotion of the National Language Romanization. During the Second Sino-Japanese War, he remained in occupied Beijing with his close friend Zhou Zuoren, but died of illness while remaining non-cooperative with Japan. His major works include "The Phonetic Chapter of Character Studies" and "Important Essays on the Problems of Classical and Contemporary Literature."

[Hideo Kiyama July 20, 2018]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

中国の文字・音韻学者。本名銭夏。浙江(せっこう)省呉興の人。早稲田(わせだ)大学卒業。北京(ペキン)大学、北京師範大学教授。日本留学当時、中国同盟会に加わり、魯迅(ろじん)らとともに革命派の国学者章炳麟(しょうへいりん)に師事した。文学革命時代には『新青年』同人として漢字全廃論などの矯激な議論で鳴らし、魯迅に『狂人日記』を書かせたことも有名である。以後、専門を生かして、「国語統一籌備(ちゅうび)会」や「国語羅馬(ローマ)字促進会」の主メンバーとして、国語国字改革に指導的役割を果たした。日中戦争期、親友の周作人(しゅうさくじん)と占領下の北京にとどまりながら、対日非協力を貫いて病死。主著『文字学音篇(へん)』『重論経古今文学問題』など。

［木山英雄　2018年7月20日］

出典　小学館　日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)について　情報 | 凡例