Biography

He studied economics at St John's University in Shanghai. As a young man he lived in the US, and worked on Wall Street for a Chinese bank. He returned to China after the communist takeover in 1949.

His accomplishments protected him from some of the persecution that took place under Mao Zedong. However, he was later sent to the countryside of Ningxia for re-education during the Cultural Revolution.

He created the Pinyin writing system that turns Chinese characters into words using letters from the Roman alphabet. He and a Communist party committee spent three years developing the system in the 1950s. It changed the way the Chinese language was taught around the world, and helped increase literacy in China.

"In his later years, he became a scathing critic of the ruling Communist Party and an advocate for political reform, making him persona non grata at official events. He continued writing even after age 100, although many of his books were banned and the government censored discussion about his work online," the Los Angeles Times wrote.

Brother in law of Congwen Shen.

Ordinary people no longer believe in the Communist Party anymore. The vast majority of Chinese intellectuals advocate democracy.