The International Symposium on the Major Project of the National Social Science Fund of China (NSSFC): Overseas Chinese Grammatical Studies:

To initiate the Major Project of the National Social Science Fund of China (Guojia Shehui Kexue Jijin Zhongda Xiangmu), “Overseas Chinese Grammatical Studies: History and Database Construction (Jingwai Hanyu Yufaxue Shi ji Shujuku Jianshe)”¹ (Project No.: 16ZDA209), with Prof. Shao Jingmin 邵敬敏 of Liberal Arts College of Jinan University (Jinan Daxue Wenxue Yuan)² as the principal investigator, an international symposium³ was successfully held at Jinan University in Guangzhou of China during March 18–19, 2017.

In his keynote speech, Prof. Shao said that the project aimed at making a full-scale systematic investigation on overseas Chinese grammatical studies and tracking their development.⁴ A vital component of the project is the support from scholars around the world, in terms of their knowledge of the field and of various locations.

The project has five sub-projects covering (i) the United States and America; (ii) Europe and Africa; (iii) Southeast Asia and Oceania; (iv) Japan and Korea; and (v) Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. The five sub-projects are led by Prof. Audrey Yen-Hui Li (University of Southern California, USA), Prof. Chong Qi 齐冲 Université Paris Diderot-Paris 7, France), Prof. Kang-Kwong Luke 陆镜光 (Nanyang Technological University, Singapore), Prof. Shi Dingxu 石定栩 (Guangdong University of Foreign Studies (Guangdong Waiyu Waimao Daxue, China), and Prof. Zhao Chunli 赵春利(Jinan University, China). The project will be implemented in two stages. Stage I focuses on data and literature collection, including information of publications, conferences, academic organizations, academic activities and biographies of key overseas Chinese grammarians. Stage II is on the developmental phases of overseas Chinese grammatical studies based on the literature, personal interviews or communication. (Shao 2017, 4)

The project is expected to produce a five-volume book on the history of overseas Chinese grammatical studies, each volume focusing on a particular area. A sketch of the historical development of overseas Chinese grammatical studies will be presented first, followed by descriptions of the linguistic theories involved, the key overseas Chinese grammarians, inter-disciplinary studies and applied studies of Chinese grammar. A database will be constructed simultaneously, covering all the information related to overseas Chinese grammatical studies. The plan is to publish 3–5 review articles on the leading linguistic journals at the same time. (Ibid., 4–5)

An Academic Advisory Committee was set up for the project, consisting of Prof. William Shi-Yuan Wang (The Hong Kong Polytechnic University), Prof. Lu Jianming (Peking University) and Prof. James Hao-Yi Tai (National Chung Cheng University). (Ibid., 7)

The participants discussed in great detail issues to be investigated and difficulties to be anticipated. Possible solutions to the problems were proposed and specific tasks were assigned to various teams.