Described as "the father of Pinyin", or Chinese phonetic language, and hailed as the man who simplified Chinese, Zhou Youguang would have been 112 this Saturday.
In his honour, Google is changing its logo in 12 countries to a doodle, or illustration, of him and his contribution to Chinese language.
This is his story:
Love for China
"Bring light to the world". Born in Changzhou in 1906, Zhou Youguang showed interest in linguistics at the early age of 12; he graduated from high-school with honours.
Named Zhou Yaoping, he adopted the pen name "Yougang" because he wanted to "bring light" to the world.
Hard road to university. In 1923, Zhou enrolled the university of St. John's University, Shanghai. He was not able to attend because of financial woes, but friends and relatives raised the admission fee and helped him pay for tuition.
He graduated in 1927, majored in economics and took supplementary coursework in linguistics.
Sino-Japanese war. In 1933, he married Zhang Yunhe. He moved to Japan to continue his studies, but returned in 1937, at the start of the Sino-Japanese war.
After the Japanese were defeated in 1945 at the end of World War Two, Zhou worked in Sin Hua bank where he was stationed overseas, first in New York City and then in London.
"Modern, resurgent China". In 1949, he returned after the establishment of Communist China, excited to take part in a resurgent country. "We all thought that China had a very good opportunity to develop; we didn't expect the later turmoil. History misled us," Zhou told the Guardian.
Back in China, he taught economics at Fudan University in Shanghai. However, his path did not lead him to remain as an economist.
History misled us Zhou Youguang
Romanization of the language
Reforming the Chinese language . In 1955, the government placed Zhou at the head of a committee to reform the Chinese language.
He was called by Zhou Enlai, a person he met in his bank job who was now the second leader in China.
"Linguistics was just a hobby". Zhou initially declined, saying that linguistics was only his hobby, but he was not allowed to refuse the offer. He moved to Beijing, where he began a three-year effort, and developed the invention of Pinyin.
A pronunciation guide. Pinyin was made the official romanization in 1958. It is only a pronunciation guide, and not a substitute writing system.
"Mao disliked greatly the economists". His job protected him from Mao's policies. "Mao disliked greatly the economists - especially economic professors from America," Zhou said in an in interview. "By that time, I had shifted to the line of language and writing ... If I had remained in Shanghai teaching economics, I think I certainly could have been imprisoned for 20 years."
Chinese labour camp. But in 1969. accused of being a reactionary academic, he was sent to work in a labour camp where he worked in the rice fields. He spent more than two years there.
Once he was released, he went back home and continued writing about language.
Encyclopedia Zhou. In the 1980s, he helped oversee the translation into Chinese of the Encyclopedia Britannica, earning him the nickname of "Encyclopedia Zhou".
Critical of the government. Zhou was the author of more than 40 books, many of which were banned for being critical of the government. Around 10 of them were published after he turned 100.
Zhou was the author of more than 40 books, many of which were banned Around 10 of them were published after he turned 100. He started a blog on Sina and continued blogging until he was 105 years old.
Regarding the government, the linguist told AFP: "In all honesty I haven’t got anything good to say about Mao Zedong."
Chinese people becoming rich isn't important, human progress is ultimately progress towards democracy. Zhou Youguang
GOOGLE doodle hari ini menampilkan aksara Tionghoa atau yang biasa disebut pinyin. Bukan karena akan memperingati Hari Raya Imlek yang segera tiba, melainkan untuk memperingati hari kelahiran Zhou Youguang, sang pencipta romanisasi aksara Tionghoa yang lahir 13 Januari 1906.
Zhou Youguang lebih dikenal sebagai Bapak Pinyin. Dengan bantuan pinyin, ia telah mempermudah aksara Tionghoa dalam tulisan latin yang semula sangat sulit dipahami. Sistem ini mampu mengekspresikan karakter Tiongkok dalam alfabet Romawi. Pinyin secara harfiah berarti " suara mantra ".
Zhou Youguang sebagai pencipta pinyin meninggal setahun lalu di Beijing, tepatnya Jumat 14 Januari 2017 pada usia 111 tahun. Meskipun menjadi salah satu tokoh paling berpengaruh dalam sejarah Tiongkok, nyatanya masih sedikit yang diketahui orang tentang warga Beijing ini.
Berikut adalah lima fakta tentang Zhou yang telah membuat bahasa Mandarin jauh lebih mudah dipelajari seperti dikutip dari Time Out Shanghai.
1. Zhou Youguang bukan ahli bahasa tapi ahli ekonomi
Zhou belajar ekonomi di Universitas St John di Shanghai sebelum bekerja di Wall Street di New York sebagai pedagang selama tiga tahun pada tahun 1940-an. Linguistik atau ahli bahasa adalah hobinya yang kemudian mengubah kariernya. Semua bermula saat Zhou Enlai, Perdana Menteri Tiongkok saat itu, memintanya untuk memimpin sebuah komite untuk menciptakan sebuah sistem alfabet untuk bahasa Mandarin.
2. Membantu mengentaskan angka buta huruf di Tiongkok
Ketika Zhou memulai proyeknya untuk membuat bahasa Mandarin lebih dipahami bagi pemula, tingkat buta huruf di Tiongkok lebih dari 85 persen. Sekarang, sebagian berkat bantuan 26 huruf latin yang digunakan untuk mewakili ribuan karakter aksara Tionghoa, angka buta huruf di Tiongkok hanya sekitar 5 persen.
3. Menerbitkan lebih dari 40 buku, 10 di antaranya ditulis saat ia berusia 100 tahun
Mengubah sebuah bahasa yang rumit ke dalam beberapa huruf saja tentu bukan pekerjaan mudah. Meskipun demikian, Zhou ternyata mampu mewujudkannya, dan usia bukan menjadi halangan baginya. Dia dijuluki sebagai "Ensiklopedi Zhou" setelah karyanya menerjemahkan Ensiklopedi Britannica ke bahasa Tionghoa terwujud. Tercatat sebanyak 40 buku telah ia tulis sepanjang hayatnya hingga masa tuanya. Ironisnya, beberapa bukunya justru dinyatakan dilarang beredar di negaranya sendiri.
Sebelum diciptakannya sistem pinyin, sistem yang paling populer untuk menulis karakter aksara Tionghoa dalam alfabet Romawi adalah Wade-Giles. Sistem itu diambil dari nama dua orang diplomat Inggris yang merancangnya pada abad ke-19. Sebagai gambaran, pada sistem Wade-Giles, Beijing ditulis Peking. Ahli bahasa sepakat bahwa sistem Wade-Giles agak berat. Itu sebabnya pinyin dianggap lebih mudah dalam romanisasi aksara Tionghoa.
5. Jadi salah satu dari sedikit supercentenarian Tiongkok
Tak banyak orang yang dinyatakan panjang umur. Zhou Youguang menjadi satu dari sedikit kelompok yang disebut supercentenarian atau berusia di atas 110 tahun. Zhou mencapai usia 110 tahun pada 13 Januari 2016, satu tahun sebelum ia wafat pada usia 111 tahun. Wikipedia mencatat, hanya ada sekitar 10 orang supercentenarian di negeri tirai bambu itu yang tercatat secara apik dalam sejarah mereka, dan Zhou adalah salah satunya.
TAK terasa, hampir genap setahun Zhou Youguang meninggalkan kesedihan bagi dunia setelah kepergiannya pada 14 Januari 2017. Ekonom, bankir, sekaligus ahli bahasa ternama asal Tiongkok itu meninggal sehari setelah berulang tahun ke-111.
Ya, 13 Januari 1906 merupakan hari kelahiran sang pencipta sistem aksara Tionghoa yang disederhanakan ke dalam alfabet Romawi. Sistem yang kita kenal sebagai pinyin itulah yang membuat bahasa Mandarin menjadi mudah dipelajari oleh semua orang dari berbagai latar belakang bangsa yang menggunakan huruf latin, termasuk Indonesia.
Jasa Zhou Youguang sangat besar bagi dunia, karena aksara Tionghoa memang tak mudah dipelajari. Seorang anak asli Tiongkok pun membutuhkan pengorbanan yang besar selama berbulan-bulan untuk bisa menguasai karakter-karakter aksara dalam bahasa ibunya itu.
Tingkat kesulitan dalam aksara Tionghoa adalah tidak adanya alfabet seperti tulisan Romawi. Setiap kata dalam bahasa Mandarin diwakili oleh satu, dua, atau tiga gabungan karakter aksara.
Dalam kamus literasinya, ada sekitar 85.000 karakter aksara Tionghoa. Namun, hanya sekitar 7.000 karakter yang bisa dihafal karena memang sering digunakan dalam kehidupan sehari-hari masyarakat setempat.
Tak hanya menghafal, menulis karakter aksara Tionghoa pun bukan hal sepele seperti yang dibayangkan. Setiap titik, garis, dan entakan saat menggoreskannya harus tepat agar tak mengubah arti.
Bisa dibayangkan bagaimana bisa karakter aksara Tionghoa bisa diterapkan dalam teknologi. Untuk menulis dalam komputer misalnya, ribuan karakter yang harus diletakan pada keyboard. Repot tentunya.
Meskipun demikian, terciptanya sistem pinyin ciptaan Zhou Youguang mengubah seketika dilema itu. Menulis karakter aksara Tionghoa di layar komputer kini pun bisa dilakukan dengan keyboard QWERTY yang sudah umum digunakan. Juga sama mudahnya saat digunakan pada telefon seluler zaman sekarang.
Pada dasarnya, sistem pinyin mengkategorikan aksara Tionghoa ke dalam karakter awal yang berdiri sendiri dan karakter akhir berupa gabungan dua atau lebih karakter.
Ada sekitar 23 karakter awal (initial) yang umum dikenal dalam sistem pinyin:
b 波, p 破, m 摸, f 佛, d 大, t 他, n 那, l 拉, g 哥, k 科, h 哈, j 機, q氣, x 西, zh 之, ch 吃, sh 是, r 日, z 子, c 此, s 四, y 意, w 為
Selain itu ada 33 karakter gabungan (final) yang umum dikenal:
a 大, ai 帶, an 單, ang 幫, ao 刀, e 德, ei 給, en 本, eng 風, er 兒, i 一, ia 家, ian 年, iang 良, iao 了, ie 烈, in 林, ing 冰, iong 窮, iu牛, o 佛, ong 東, ou 否, u 不, ua 瓜, uai 怪, uan 管, uang 光, ue決, ui 對, un 均, uo 多, uu/v 旅.***
ZHOU Youguang was a Chinese linguist credited with formulating a new phoenetic alphabet to help translate Chinese to Romanized Western languages like English.
He died last year on the day after his 111th birthday - making today what would have been his 112th. Here's why he is being celebrated with a Google Doodle.
Google Zhou Youguang's Google Doodle pays tribute to his revolutionary Pinyin system
Who was Zhou Youguang?
Zhou Youguang was a Chinese economist, banker, linguist, sinologist and publisher known as the "father of Pinyin".
The system was developed to help with the Romanization of Mandarin Chinese which was then officially adopted by the Communist Chinese government in 1958.
Zhou said the task took about three years, and was a full-time job.
Google has marked his accomplishment with a Doodle on what would have been his 112th birthday.
It wrote: "Pursuing his love of language throughout his life, Youguang authored more than 40 books and translated the Encyclopedia Britannica into Chinese.
"Born on this day as Zhou Yaoping, this storied linguist later adopted the pen name ‘Yougang’ because he wanted to ‘bring light’ to the world.
"Today, we celebrate what would’ve been Yougang’s 112th birthday with a special place in the spotlight."
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What is a Google Doodle?
In 1998, the search engine founders Larry and Sergey drew a stick figure behind the second 'o' of Google as a message to that they were out of office at the Burning Man festival and with that, Google Doodles were born.
The company decided that they should decorate the logo to mark cultural moments and it soon became clear that users really enjoyed the change to the Google homepage.
In that same year, a turkey was added to Thanksgiving and two pumpkins appeared as the 'o's for Halloween the following year.
Now, there is a full team of doodlers, illustrators, graphic designers, animators and classically trained artists who help create what you see on those days.
Among recent Doodles were ones commemorating German scientist Robert Koch, Jan Ingenhousz (who discovered photosynthesis) and the 50th anniversary of kids coding languages being introduced.
Earlier in the year, the search giant celebrated the 2017 Autumn Equinox , which marked the official ending of summer and the coming of autumn.
