A Study On Mandarin Grammar With Texts For Exercises

The Mandarin Grammer by S.S.Schmidt is the first grammatical textbook on Chinese language published in Russian history that was specially written for higher education.In the social context of the time,the book was not only a practical teaching material on Chinese language,but also a comprehensive work that inherited the traditional Russian sinology and fully absorbed the achievements of European Chinese learning and research,and was also an early academic work that explained Chinese language with the theory of general linguistics.This paper is based on the first edition of the book,published in 1902,and combines with the biology of Schmidt and Schmidt's personal collections in the University of Latvia.The paper explores the features and values of the book from several perspectives,including its historical background,the study and research of Chinese language in Russia,the European history of Chinese learning,the world linguistics history and the Russian history of Chinese language education.The book was mainly based on the Russian tradition of studying and learning Chinese language.Thanks to the Orientalist training Schmidt received in Petersburg University,Russian Sinology,especially the traditional Chinese language teaching of the Petersburg University Sinology School,and the tradition of Russian language study had a profound influence on Schmidt's The Mandarin Grammer.First of all,in terms of the strengths of Russian studies of Chinese language,such as the grammatical analysis system and the analytical method of Chinese characters,Schmidt widely adopted the viewpoints of his predecessors,and proposed new ideas and methods of teaching suitable for the current social conditions based on the traditional sinology.In addition,he inherited the Russian tradition of learning Chinese in several other ways,such as continuing the traditional projects of Russian sinology research,focusing on Mandarin,Manchu as well as Mongolian at the same time,and providing linguistic documents on Japanese,Korean and Vietnamese,since Vladivostok Oriental College required that students master east Asian languages.Second of all,Schmidt inherited the basic views of Petersburg School on Chinese history,language and culture.He believed that Chinese cultures,including its language,could be scientifically understood and studied through general methods,in the same way as the cultures of other countries and regions.The Chinese language was not a "stagnant" and primitive low-level language,as some European Sinologists believed,but was consisted of motiveness relating to its own cultures,and required rational understanding.Third of all,the Petersburg Sinology School laid emphasis on the accumulation of historical facts.In his study of Chinese language,Schmidt collected and quoted abundant linguistic materials and examples,which was also one of the most prominent features of Vasilyev's disciples.The early Russian understanding of Chinese language mainly came from the treatises of members of the Eastern Orthodox Mission in Beijing,Westerners'textbooks on Chinese language and a large number of original Chinese books brought back from China.In other words,from the very beginning,Russians' understanding of Chinese language consisted of three perspectives.They not only inherited the research of their own people,but also took into account the research and learning materials of the West and from China.On one hand,Schmidt's book absorbed the latest research on Chinese language from the European and Chinese academic circles,which made it an academic work based on systematic and scientific literature reviews.It integrated the viewpoints,achievements and linguistic documents of other European sinologists,and from which drew further ideas,and thus became a summary and integrative masterpiece in the history of foreign compilation of textbooks on Chinese language at the turn of the 20th century.On the other hand,the application of Europeans' Chinese language learning materials in The Mandarin Grammer also lay in its classification and selection of all linguistic materials collected and finding the most suitable examples for the book.Finally,the features of The Mandarin Grammer also included the fact that Schmidt integrated the documents of previous European sinologists and linguists into his own grammatical system using scientific analytical methods.The author focused on the practical Chinese grammatical system,which is also what made his book stand out from the textbooks that only collected corpus compiled by some European sinologists.The Mandarin Grammer was not a collection of scattered grammar points.It gave emphasis to the generalization and summarization of Chinese grammar rules,and for the first time in history constructed a new set of practical Chinese grammatical system in the Russian context.This book played a vital role in the development of foreign scientific study on Chinese language since Ming and Qing Dynasties,and was also an important precondition for the development of modern Chinese language study in the international academic circle after the 20th century.It was highly significant.Judging from the history of European and Russian linguistic development,to the end of the 19th century,European and Russian linguistics had achieved major breakthroughs in the field of historical comparative linguistics after centuries of accumulation of methods and documents.Meanwhile,the ideas of general linguistics had been accepted by scholars.They had a profound influence on Russian linguists during the period,including Schmidt,and played a vital role in the compilation of foreign language textbooks.From the linguistic point of view,The Mandarin Grammer was the first grammatical work ever in the history of Russian sinology that attempted to study Chinese language with modern linguistic theories.On one hand,the book broadened the method and scope of general linguistics and historical linguistics research in the reference of Chinese language.On the other hand,it also enriched the methodology of Chinese language study with the new achievements of western linguistics.One can also tell from the history of the language itself that Chinese language experienced major changes during the period.As great social changes emerged at the end of Qing Dynasty,new and invented words became more and more in fashion.Northern spoken mandarin became the most important standard language in the communication between China and foreign countries,and the Vernacular Movement was already in the making.Another factor that cannot be ignored was the development of the western European linguistics.As a result of their development during the 19th century,the ideas of European historical comparative linguistics and general linguistics had become embedded in people's brains.The book can be regarded as a combination of the historical study of Chinese language and the practical study of Chinese grammar,and it proved the possibility and feasibility of applying the methods of historical comparative linguistics and general linguistics,which originated in the frame of Indo-European languages,on the study of Chinese language.Studying the book helps one examine the contribution of Chinese language to the theory and methodology of general linguistics from the perspective of "the other",explore the additional significance of Chinese language on the study of historical linguistics and general linguistics,and enhance one's understanding of Chinese language and its historical evolution from the perspective of historical linguistics and general linguistics.Last but not least,the publication and application of The Mandarin Grammer was highly significant for Russia's Chinese language education which aimed at cultivating practical talents at the turn of the 20th century.In this textbook on language practice,in order to help students understand its rules,the author was good at concrete description when depicting abstract grammar rules.He placed emphasis on the study of conditions,collocations,range of application and exceptions,combining with a large amount of selected examples,so that the grammar rules would appear precise,understandable and practical.In addition,the textbook also reflected the educational policy and history in Russia,the educational purpose and institution,the syllabus of Chinese curriculum and the teaching objectives of Vladivostok Oriental College,as well as Schmidt's idea of teaching.Therefore,to some extent,the textbook exhibited the historical progress of educational activities that occurred in a particular period(the turn of the 20th century)within a particular educational institution(Vladivostok Oriental College)guided by a particular educator(Schmidt)and aimed at a particular group of students(college students,military officers and others that were educated in Vladivostok Oriental College).This paper studies the history of Chinese language education in Vladivostok Oriental College at the turn of the 20th century,with the contents of the textbook as its core,and summarizes the features of the Russian history of Chinese language education during this period with the study of typical examples.All in all,the Russian sinologist Schmidt compiled and published The Mandarin Grammer in 1902 specifically for students of Chinese language in Vladivostok Oriental College.The author not only inherited the previous achievements and traditions of Russian sinology,especially the Petersburg University Sinology School,and adapted the rather mature Russian grammatical framework,but also opened his eyes to the world,and drew conclusions selectively on widespread and influential textbooks on Chinese language written by sinologists from other countries.In addition,he successfully adapted the latest methodology of Russian and European historical comparative linguistics and general linguistics,and described Chinese language in a scientific way using the achievements of Chinese traditional linguistics up to the end of Qing Dynasty.The grammatical textbook was the turning point in the Russian history of Chinese language education.This paper combines its original texts with other relevant documents to sort out the features and achievements of the book,and comprehensively studies its importance and value.