Introduction to "MaShi WenTong"

张楠

Abstract As the first works of Chinese grammar， "MaShi WenTong" has epoch-making significance in the history of Chinese grammar. It marks that Chinese grammar study has become an independent science. This research intends to generalize "WenTong".

Key words grammar; MaShi WenTong

中图分类号：H146 文献标识码：A DOI：10.16400/j.cnki.kjdkx.2015.10.012

1 Introduction

As the first Chinese grammar studies by our Chinese， "MaShi WenTong"（"WenTong"， forshort） marks the formal birth of Chinese grammar studies. Ma Jianzhong， the author of "WenTong"， assisted Li Hongzhong① in the activities of "YangWu"② after study abroad in France. He has a good command of western languages， such as English， French， ancient Greek and Latin， etc， as well as our Chinese ancient books and records.

"WenTong"， well-organized and with its grand scope， deserves to called a linguistic classical works.（Gong Qianyan，2000：232） As a result， domestic scholars have done much research about "WenTong". For instance， Lv Shuxiang， Wang Li， Gong Qianyan（2000）， Zhang Wanqi（1987）， Wang HaiFen（1991）， Chen Changlai（2002）， Song Shaonian、Shao Yonghai、Zhang Meng， Lu Jianming、Shen Yang、Yuan Yulin、Li Zuofeng（2003）， etc. Large number of books and articles about "WenTong" spread throughout our country. Those researches of "WenTong" touches upon all aspects， including its era background， the purpose of writing， research objectives， method of analysis， research of words， research of sentences， and also its limitations， achievements， historical position， etc. In spite of these abundant achievements， the research， related "WenTong" to some western discourse analysis studies， is rare.

2 Gist Of Its Contents

There are ten volumes in "WenTong". Volume One is named "ZhengMing"， which MaShi also calls "definition". Here， the total number is 23 definitions. This volum accounts for defining the 26 noun terminology， including word， sentence element， status， sentence， phrase and clause， pause， etc. Then it talks about word from Volume Two to Volume Nine， among which notional word from Volume Two to Volume Six， and the left are about function word.

MaShi divides notional word into five categories， that is， noun， pronoun， verb， adjective， adverb. Also， the function word has its four classification， preposition， conjunction， modal particle， interjection.

All the eight volumes， covering from Volume Two to Volume Nine， discuss the function and role of words in phrases， clauses or sentences. The last volume， Volume Ten， is about phrase， clause and sentence. This volume has summarized and complemented the previous nine volumes by making a further discussion about all the sentence elements and the classifications of pause， phrase， clause and sentence.endprint

3Source Of Academic Thinking; Research Objectives and Method Of Analysis

MaShi's research on Chinese grammar， on one hand， builds its theoretical foundation on Latin grammar， which is based on Indo-European traditional grammar. On the other hand， "WenTong" inherits our forefathers" achievements.

MaShi's research objectives are writings in classical Chinese from pre-Qin dynasty， Western Han dynasty and Easter Han dynasty to HanYu③， which， in his view， were the models of articles and could be imitated by followers. So， MaShi took it for granted that all articles should follow this pattern. Otherwise， it had no right to be counted as the so-called articles. Just as the preface says，

“上稽经史，旁及诸子百家，下至志书小说，凡措字遣辞，苟可以述吾心中之意以示今而传后者，博引相参，要皆有一成不变之例。愚故罔揣固陋，取四书、三传、史、汉、韩文为历史文词升降之宗，兼及诸子、语、策，为之字栉句比，繁称博引，比例而同之，触类而长之，……辑为一书，名曰文通。”（《马氏文通·序》，2002：10）

（Any essays， from Confucian classics， history， various schools of thought and their exponents during the period from pre-Qin times to the early Han dynasty， to local annals and novels， have been quoted as long as they remain unchanged in language structure and grammar. According to my own standard， I did a research on a large scale and then edited this book named "WenTong".）Also， in introductory remarks， it says，

“此书为古今来特创之书。凡事属创见者，……必确有凭证而后能见信于人。为文之道，古人远胜今人，则时运升降为之也。……今所取为凭证者，至韩愈氏而止。”（《马氏文通·例言》，2002：16）

（This book is a special creation. As far as writing concerned， the ancients are superior to the moderns. So all my quotations are those pre-HanYu.）

He continues，

“诸所引书，实文章不祧之祖，故可取证为法。其不如法者，则非其祖之所出，非文也。”（《马氏文通·例言》，2002：17）

（Those essays are from esteemed founding father. So they can be modeled. On the contrary， those against the grammar law， in fact， can not be considered as articles at all.）Thus it proves that MaShi's research objectives are classical.

As for his method of research， it is "imitative". MaShi has explained Chinese language grammar in accordance with western grammar and system. The introductory remarks express，

“此书在泰西名为葛郎玛。葛郎玛者，音原希腊，训曰字式，犹云学文之程式也。各国皆有本国之葛郎玛，大者相似;所异者音韵与字形耳。……此书系仿葛郎玛而作。”（《马氏文通·例言》，2002：15）

（This book is called "GeLangMa" in the West， whose pronunciation originates in Greek. "GeLangMa" just means the principles and laws. And all countried have their own "GeLangMa"， which are actually similar. The only difference lies in sounds and character patterns. In a word， this book does imitate "GeLangMa".） It also shows in its epilogue that，endprint

“斯书也，因西文已有之规矩，于经籍中求其所同所不同者，曲证繁引以确知华文义例之所在。”（《马氏文通·后序》，2002：13）

（This book models itself on western grammar and tried to draw the rules from Confucian classics.）

However， when MaShi was writing "WenTong"， in spite of imitating Latin grammar， he also found many characteristic laws of Chinese grammar， which has made great contributions to grammar research of our ancient Chinese. Therefore， it is clear that "WenTong"， instead of mechanically imitating Latin grammar and then indiscriminately copying， demonstrates its own originality.

In conclusion， "WenTong" not only emphasizes language materials， but also stress method of research， such as analysis， synthesis， deductive method， inductive method. Consulting western grammar， "WenTong" recognizes the common character of grammar. What"s more， it also pays much attention to the peculiarity of ancient Chinese and then manages to seek the characteristic grammar facts of Chinese language.（张万起，1987：179）

Note

① Li Hongzhang， （1823-1901）， the leader of the party of "YangWu" at the late of Qing dynasty.

② Activities of "YangWu"， during 60-90 in 19th century， when Emperor TongZhi and then Emperor GuangXu in power， the Qing Government advocated adopting western capitalist nations" modern scientific production technology in order to develop our national industry.

③ HanYu，（768-824）， a writer and philosopher in Tang dynasty of China.

Reference

[1] 陈昌来.二十世纪的汉语语法学[M].书海出版社，2002.

[2] 龚千炎.龚千炎语言学论集[M].京华出版社，2000.

[3] 李佐丰.上古汉语语法研究[M].北京广播学院出版社，2003.

[4] 马建忠.马氏文通[M].商务印书馆，2002.

[5] 王海芬.马氏文通与中国语法学[M].安徽教育出版社，1991.

[6] 张万起.马氏文通研究资料[C].中华书局，1987.endprint