Yuen Ren Chao Papers

Yuen Ren Chao was the Agassiz professor emeritus of Oriental languages and literature at the University of California at Berkeley. He was the founder of modern linguistics in China. He designed a phonetic alphabet for Chinese that was officially adopted by the Government there in 1928 as ''National Romanization'' and was used for many years. The Yuen Ren Chao papers document the life and career of the celebrated linguist, phonologist, theorist, poet, and teacher. The materials include Chao’s personal and professional correspondence; his research files, readings, notes, and fieldwork material; the material generated by his work for governmental, intergovernmental, academic, and professional organizations; manuscripts for many of his major books and articles; course material and administrative documents related to his teaching; and his personal material. The collection is located in the Bancroft Library, and is open for research. Advance notice required for use. Detailed information can be found from this finding aid. This collection has been digitized but not yet available online.