Lu Zhiwei

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Lu Zhiwei (Chinese: 陆志韦) (6 February 1894 – 21 November 1970) was a famous Chinese psychologist and linguist from Wuxing, Zhejiang.

Lu went abroad to the United States to study during 1915. In 1920, he graduated from the University of Columbia Psychology with the doctoral paper "Forgotten Condition". Lu returned to China that year and was hired in various academies in Nanjing. While he was teaching in the University of Nanjing, he became the first one to introduce the Pavlovian theories into China along with various other Western psychological ideas. In 1927, he arrived in Beijing and was hired as the professor of Yanjing University psychology . In 1933, he went to University of Chicago faculty of biology to pursue further education in psychology. He returned to China the next year and was appointed as the principle of Yanjing University.

During the onset of the Second Sino-Japanese War, the study of psychology was halted. Lu began to turn his devotion of research into the Chinese linguistics, and published various papers beginning in 1939. His published book "The Structure of Hanyu" was one of the first complete analysis of the Chinese language structure. Lu was also one of the original developers of Pinyin.

In August 1941, he was arrested by the Japanese Army along with several other employees of the Yanjing University. After being discharged, he began to research on the Classical Chinese and completed the first draft of "Introduction to Classical Pronunciation" in September 1943.

After the Second Sino-Japanese War was over, Lu was in charge to rebuild the Yanjing University. After the establishment of the People's Republic of China, Lu was transferred to the Chinese Academy of Science.

During the Cultural Revolution, he was criticized and persecuted like many other scholars at the time. In November 21, 1970, Lu died in Beijing due to illness.