Abstract
Modern Chinese dialect studies originated from the nationwide Folk Song Collection Campaign launched by Peking University in 1918. An examination of articles on dialect issues published in the Folk Song Weekly reveals that these studies have evolved from verifying dialectal pronunciations and vocabulary for collected folk songs to developing phonetic symbols for dialects, as well as from focusing on the textual research of sounds and meanings to advocating field investigations. Through the efforts of scholars such as Shen Jianshi, Wei Jiangong, Zhou Zuoren, Dong Zuobin, Qian Xuantong, Rong Zhaozu, and Lin Yutang, dialects have evolved from a subsidiary issue in folk song collation into an independent research topic. This has promoted the establishment of the Dialect Investigation Society and eventually secured an independent status for dialect studies. Discourses during the campaign on the definition of dialects, survey methods, recording tools, and research content have largely become consensus in modern academia. The discussions on dialects during the campaign have also promoted the “external study” of dialects, thus laying the foundation for disciplines such as Chinese ethnolinguistics and cultural linguistics.
Key words
folk song /
Folk Song Collection Campaign /
Folk Song Weekly /
dialect
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Li Guotai.
Peking University’s Folk Song Collection Campaign and Modern Chinese Dialect Studies[J]. Chinese Journal of Language Policy and Planning. 2026, 11(2): 64-75 https://doi.org/10.19689/j.cnki.cn10-1361/h.20260205
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