Research Of Chinese Grammar By Joseph Hesser, A German Missionary In China In The Early 20th Century

This thesis uses comparative analysis method analyzing a Chinese Grammar course book titled Chinese Grammar for German Chinese language learners and appendix of most- used vocabulary. It's written by Joseph Hesser, a German Steyler missionary in Shangdong Province and was published in 1905. Up until now, Joseph Hesser's Chinese Grammar and his other works for teaching Chinese as a foreign language haven't been analyzed with a scientific method. The author does a pioneering research here and tries his best to introduce and emphasize Hesser's contribution to Chinese language teaching both at that time and at the present day.The first chapter provides the readers with the attitude of the author and a general overview of the thesis.In the second chapter, the author clarifies the reason why he chose this topic. The author also declares here that he regards Joseph Hesser's work as an typical example for researching and emphasizing the importance of the western missionaries' work in China and their contribution to teaching Chinese as a foreign language in the late Qing period. What Hesser has contributed to the teaching Chinese to German language speakers enjoys a pioneering significance. His didactics features pertinency and practicability. Furthermore, the research of Joseph Hesser's life and his work can be hardly found in both western and Chinese researches.The third chapter provides the historical background which also has an introducing and supplementary character. First of all, the author introduced Joseph Hesser and his life, followed by a concise introduction of his Order Steyler Missionary Society. Afterwards, the author explains the historic, cultural and political background of the western missionaries in the late Qing period, including a short historical overview about the German in Shandong Province at that time. In the end of the chapter, The author introduces Joseph Hesser as a western missionary in China in the late Qing period and provides the readers with his work as well as the story of his life in order to achieve better and deeper understanding.The fourth chapter together with the fifth one are the keystone of this thesis. At first, the author uses the comparative analysis method to analyze the vocabulary and the grammar in his work. Comparing the research situation at that time with the research nowadays, the author analyzes and explains the advantages and the disadvantages appear in Hesser's grammar book. The analysis shows that in the field of vocabulary, although Hesser's Grammar wasn't categorized by him in the sense of the mordern standard of the vocabulary research, it's still possible to categorize the words based on the achievement of the research nowadays, in which the author sets an example. After this, the author researches Hesser's grammar part exemplarily and draws the conclusion that the basic and important grammatical rules and systematic clarifications have already been mentioned by Hesser in his grammar book. Hesser's grammar book wasn't influenced by the traditional Chinese written language, but came from Mandarin, which is very close to Putonghua nowadays. The author regards it as another sign which shows the practicability and moderness of Hesser's grammar book.The fifth chapter shows the contribution Hesser made to the research of teaching Chinese as a foreign language. Firstly, the author states Hesser's contribution in the field of education in general, then he analyzes Hesser's didactics. Here it shows that Hesser is a great practitioner and for him the practicability lies in the center of his book. After that, the author researches concretely the tone, phonetic transcription and the dialect Hesser used in his book. But this analysis points out the huge "deficit" in his grammar book. He underestimated the importance of the tone in Chinese language. Moreover, he neglected them in his grammar book. With the help of comparative analysis method, the author also compares the difference between the first and the second edition of Hesser's grammar book. Furthermore, he compares Hesser's work with the works of another two contemporary missionaries as well as a German sinologist Georg von der Gabelentz in the 19th century. It emphasizes here that Hesser's grammar book is an independent work and is more suitable for the beginners of the Chinese language learning than any other works by some other authors. Moreover, the author researches Hesser's grammar using another work from Hesser and draws the conclusion that this work, to some extent, can be understood as a certain continuation of his Chinese Grammar. In the end, the author indicates the meaning of the theological terms Hesser used in the last part of this chapter.In the last chapter, the author concludes Hesser's life and his work and ascertains its enduring importance mostly in the field of didactics and practicability.