Bulletin Summer 1979

Interview ： Professor D.C. Lau Professor D. C. Lau was born in Hong Kong in 1921. He read Chinese at the University of Hong Kong, and in 1946 went to Glasgow, where he read philosophy. He has been teaching Chinese philosophy at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London since 1950. In 1965 he was appointed to the Readership in Chinese Philosophy ， and in 1970 to the Chair of Chinese, at the University of London. He has published new translations of the L a o Tzu, Mencius and Analects, and hopes to complete the translation of the Four Books by translating The Great Learning and The Doctrine of the Mean. His Lu X ü n Xiao Shuo J Í : Vocabulary has just come off the press. Professor Lau was awarded the degree of Doctor of Laws ， honoris causa, in 1975 by this University in recognition of his dedication to and achievements in the promotion of Chinese culture overseas. Professor Lau joined the Department of Chinese Language and Literature of this University in 1978-79. Q. You have expressed grave concern over the confusion in the Cantonese pronunciation of written Chinese. What do you think has led to such confusion? A. For hundreds of years, the pronunciation of written Chinese had remained more or less unchanged because throughout China, the same classics were taught and each written character was pronounced according to the fan ch'ieh (反切） spelling set down in ancient rhyme books. The correct pronunciation was thus passed on from generation to generation through the teaching and rote learning of these classics in old-style private schools. After the Revolution of 1911, a new type of school came into being, where classics were no longer taught and the traditional method of teaching the pronunciation of Chinese characters was abandoned. This change inevitably created many problems for regions where books were taught in the local dialect. The present confusion in Hong Kong over Cantonese pronunciation is, to put it bluntly, attributable to teachers who cannot be bothered to look up in dictionaries or rhyme books the characters the pronunciation of which they are not too sure of. The mass media have also contributed to the present state of affairs. Broadcasters are often unaware that some characters have more than one pronunciation or are pronounced differently when read and when spoken. Take for example the character 玩 in the term 玩耍 ‘wan 3 sa 2 '(to play). Since the expression is a colloquial one, the character should be pronounced 'wan 3 ' and not 'wun 3 ', a pronunciation reserved for reading. I have, in fact, heard the character mispronounced on television. And I can think of many more 4