Li Fanwen
Li Fanwen | |
---|---|
Born | November 1932 |
Citizenship | China |
Known for | Dictionary of the Tangut language |
Awards | Wu Yuzhang Prize for Humanities and Social Sciences (2002) |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Linguistics |
Institutions | Chinese Academy of Social Sciences |
Academic advisors | Luo Fuyi |
Li Fanwen (simplified Chinese: 李范文; traditional Chinese: 李範文; pinyin: Lǐ Fànwén) (born November 1932) is a Chinese linguist and Tangutologist.
Biography
Li Fanwen was born in
When Li Fanwen arrived at Ningxia, he was disappointed to find that there were no opportunities to study the Tangut script and language, and instead he was assigned to
Up to that time, Li Fanwen had been studying the Tangut script and language by himself from whatever books he could get hold of, and had no formal training in Tangut. Nevertheless, by the early 1970s he had already created more than 30,000 vocabulary cards for Tangut on his own initiative, with the intention of eventually compiling a Tangut-Chinese dictionary.[3]
In January 1972, when Premier
This opportunity gave Li Fanwen access to much new material, and he was able to complete the first draft of his dictionary in 1976. Although the dictionary was initially accepted for publication by the Cultural Relics Publishing House, it was eventually rejected after expert review of the manuscript concluded that it was not yet mature. For the next few years, Li Fanwen made detailed studies of primary Tangut sources such as Wen Hai (文海 "Sea of Characters") and Tong Yin (同音 "Homophones") in order to fill in the missing gaps in the dictionary coverage. In April 1984, on his way to visit the renowned Japanese Tangutologist,
By late 1992, the new draft of Li Fanwen's Tangut-Chinese dictionary was almost complete, but he was not satisfied with the system of phonetic reconstruction that he was using, so after the Taiwan Tangutologist
In 2008, a revised and expanded edition of Li Fanwen's Tangut-Chinese dictionary, with 6,074 entries, was published. The new edition was computer typeset using a Tangut font developed by Jing Yongshi (景永時).
In addition to his work on Tangut language, Li Fanwen has also published a comprehensive history of the Western Xia and a study of the Song dynasty Chinese dialect spoken in the north-west of China.
Li Fanwen currently holds professorships at
, and is the honorary head of the Ningxia Academy of Social Sciences.In 2013 Li Fanwen won the Prix Stanislas Julien for his Tangut-Chinese dictionary.[8]
Works
- 1980. Xi Xia Yanjiu Lunji 西夏研究論集 (A Compilation of Xixia Studies). Ningxia.
- 1984. Xi Xia Lingmu Chutu Canbei Cuibian 西夏陵墓出土殘碑粹編 (A Collection of Fragments of Memorial Inscriptions from the Western Xia Tombs). Beijing.
- 1986. Tongyin Yanjiu 同音研究 (Study of the Homophones). Yinchuan.
- 1994. Songdai xibei fangyin: Fan han heshi zhang zhong zhu dui yin yanjiu 宋代西北方音——《番汉合时掌中珠》对音研究 [The Northwest Chinese Dialect at Song Times: Transliteration in Fan-Han Heshi Zhang-zhong-zhu]. Beijing.
- 1997. Xia Han Zidian 夏漢字典 (Tangut-Chinese Dictionary). Beijing.
- 2005. Xi Xia Tong Shi 西夏通史 (Comprehensive History of the Western Xia). Beijing and Yinchuan.
- 2008. Xia Han Zidian 夏漢字典 (Revised edition of Tangut-Chinese Dictionary). Beijing.
With Luo Fuyi 羅福頤
- 1982. Xixia Guanyin Huikao 西夏官印匯考 (Collected Study of Official Seals of the Western Xia). Yinchuan.
References
- ^ "李范文" (in Chinese). Ningxia University. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
- ^ a b Xia Han Zidian (Beijing, 2008) page 11
- ^ 李范文25年破译“天书”
- ^ Xia Han Zidian (Beijing, 2008) pages 12-13
- ^ Xia Han Zidian (Beijing, 2008) page 14
- ^ Xia Han Zidian (Beijing, 2008) page 3
- ^ "Prix 2013". Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres. Retrieved 2013-11-14.
External links
- (in Chinese) About Li Fanwen and his Tangut-Chinese Dictionary