Ao Shiying A native of Jiangxi.

Served as a special compiler for the Chinese Dictionary Compilation Office.

In 1930, he recorded over 70 dialects at the Peking University Phonetics and Music Laboratory along with Liu Bannong, Bai Dizhou, Wei Jiangong, and others. He also read the first sentence of Sun Yat-sen’s will, “I have devoted myself to the National Revolution for forty years,” in the Qingjiang dialect of Jiangxi, which was recorded by linguist Zhao Yuanren and used for phonetic analysis. This indicates his participation in early Chinese dialect investigation.

In 1932, during the circulation of the manuscript “Xu Fangyan” written by Dai Zhen of the Qing Dynasty, he inscribed “Respectfully viewed by Ao Shiying of Jiangxi” and stamped his seal in Peiping. The manuscript was jointly appreciated by many prominent scholars of the Republic of China era (such as Hu Shi, Fu Sinian, Gu Jiegang, Zhang Binglin, Luo Changpei, etc.). Ao Shiying’s inclusion among them demonstrates his certain academic status.

After 1934, during Fu Tong’s tenure as president, he taught at Anhui University.

In 1946, he taught the “I Ching” at Central University.

From May to October 1947, he was a main contributor to the “Zhengqi Weekly.” The purpose of the newspaper was to uphold the righteousness of overseas Chinese society, increase the knowledge of modern youth, guide compatriots in their policies of establishing themselves and serving the country, and also serve as a forum for assisting construction and discussing academics.

After 1949, he presided over the affairs of the Chinese Department at Anhui Normal University.

Major Achievements:

  • “Chronology of Chinese Literature”, published by Peiping Lida Book Company in 1935, is one of the important early works that systematically sorted out the development of Chinese literature using a chronological style. Reprinted by Taiwan Wenhai Publishing House in May 1971.