This book discusses the way Chinese scholars developed a national grammar. Chinese didn't develop grammar until China's contact with Western grammar books in the 19th Century. The first indigenous grammar was published in 1889. It included some traditional notions, but mainly imitated European grammar. It was followed by a number of other similar works. To move away from this imitation, a group of grammarians started to look into the Chinese tradition of commenting on classics. This led to a variety of alternative grammars. After the war, Western linguistics started to gain influence in...

This book discusses the way Chinese scholars developed a national grammar. Chinese didn't develop grammar until China's contact with Western grammar books in the 19th Century. It shows how the development of a national grammar cannot be studied separately from language policies and discussions on the national language.