Zhang Binglin

Zhang Binglin
章炳麟
Zhang Binglin in 1899
Born	(1869-01-12)12 January 1869 Yuhang, Zhejiang, Qing Empire
Died	14 June 1936(1936-06-14) (aged 67) Suzhou, Jiangsu, Republic of China
Political party	Tongmenghui Unity Party Republican Party Progressive Party
Spouse	Tang Guoli
Children	Zhang Dao (章導) Zhang Qi (章奇) Zhang Li (章㸚) Zhang Chuo (章叕) Zhang Zhan (章㠭) Zhang Lei (章㗊)
Chinese name
Chinese	章炳麟
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Zhāng Bǐnglín Wade–Giles Chang1 Ping3-lin2 IPA [ʈʂáŋ pìŋlǐn]
Chinese name
Chinese	章太炎
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Zhāng Tàiyán Wade–Giles Chang1 Tai3-Yen2 IPA [ʈʂáŋ tʰâɪjɛ̌n]

Zhang Binglin (January 12, 1869 – June 14, 1936), also known by his art name Zhang Taiyan, was a Chinese philologist,^[1] textual critic, philosopher, and revolutionary.

His philological works include Wen Shi (文始 "The Origin of Writing"), the first systematic work of Chinese etymology. He also made contributions to historical Chinese phonology, proposing that "the niang (娘) and ri (日) initials [in Middle Chinese] come from the ni (泥) initial [in Old Chinese]" (known as niang ri gui ni 娘日歸泥). He developed a system of shorthand based on the seal script, called jiyin zimu (記音字母), 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.