Mandarin Monday: HerStory in Chinese Linguistics

Compared to the diverse array of first-person pronouns throughout history, options for third-person pronouns have been a bit more limited. The few on the list like 其 qí、之 zhī, and 彼 bǐ do not provide the listener with any details about the subject, and this leaves the listener to make assumptions based on the context. More often than not, people will assume the figure is male which, in no uncertain terms, has negatively impacted the development of female narratives. 

By the time the “Mandarin Chinese” campaign started in the early 20th century, people had begun to use "他 tā" for all third-person pronouns in a dialogue. However, when scholars began translating texts originally written in Latin languages they realized an inherent problem. That is, there were no corresponding words for “he” and “she” in Chinese. At first, people attempted to use phrases such as “他女 tā nǚ" or "那女的 nà nǚ de" to indicate the gender of the person, however, these options were thought to be redundant, awkward, and altogether clunky. Later, some literati picked up the character “伊 yī” from a dialect and frequently used it in literature penned during the early stage of the Republic of China. Yet, this choice still couldn’t definitively solve the problem since not everyone was familiar with the dialect of origin.

In 1917, linguistician, literati, and educator Liu Bannong, the pioneer of the New Culture Movement in China, proposed using “她 tā” as the official translation for “she” in English. He believed that this character was well adapted to “他,” the third-person pronoun that had been widely adopted in society, but was distinctive enough and emphasized the gender identity of the subject. However, quite a few scholars were resolutely against the change. They believed there was no need to create such a character since the general pronouns for the first and second person in the Chinese language do not discern gender identities. What's more, “她“ was so rarely used throughout history that many printing houses didn’t even have a copy of it, which these scholars argued would risk stifling the creation of new texts. Nevertheless, the ensuing debate around the usage of “她” actually drew public attention to the character, thus extending its recognition beyond the literati and scholarly community.

Meanwhile, during the May Fourth Movement and a number of other social justice campaigns that took place around that time, the roles that women could play in society were largely expanded, and more female intellectuals began telling their stories, which up until that point had been largely neglected. In 1920, Liu published an essay entitled “她’字问题 tā’ zì wèntí The Question About the Character ‘Her’, in which he elaborated on the necessity of a feminine third-person pronoun, and why the character “她” makes an ideal candidate. At the end of the essay, he suggested that there should be another third-person pronoun 它 tā that would be used to refer to non-living objects.

Moreover, Liu wrote a poem called “How Could I Not Miss Her?” which was transcribed into a piece of music by the famous musician Zhao Yuanren. Over the following decades, this tune was performed by countless singers, further elevating the otherwise little-known character to household status.

Despite being recognized as an official character by China's government, the controversy around “她” lingers to this day. Some people think it enables the male gaze in literature, while others insist that to achieve real equality, the radical used in “他” should not be “人 rén human" but “男 nán men." However, it is undeniable that the invention of “她” is a significant step forward in modernizing the Chinese language, effectively providing another perspective for everything from Chinese literature to historical documents.

And with all that fascinating Herstory out of the way, here are some frequently used general third-person pronouns in Chinese.

他 tā He
The most commonly used third-person pronoun in Chinese. After the invention of “她”, it usually indicates that the gender of the subject is male. However, in some cases, it can also be a non-gendered word that refers to the third-person in general. For example, when there is a group of people with mixed genders, a speaker tends to use “他们 tāmen” rather than “她们 tāmen“ to refer to them, and in phrases like “他杀 tāshā homicide," the character “他” does not have an implied gender.

她 tā She
The third-person pronoun that indicates the subject is female. Sometimes, people also refer to the thing they deeply love as “她” like their homeland, vocation, etc... 

它 tā It 
The third-person pronoun for all creatures and nonliving matter besides humans. It is also common for people to use it to refer to babies, bodies, and other things that do not have clear gender tendencies or developed personalities. In Taiwan, “它” is the third-person pronoun for plants, fungus, and nonliving matter, specifically.

牠 tā It (for animals)
The third-person pronoun for animals, more frequently used in Taiwan than in mainland China. However, animals can also be referred to as “他” or “她” if they have clear gender tendencies. Likewise, it also shows the intimacy between the object and subject.

祂 tā It (for divinity)
A less commonly used third-person pronoun that refers to divine entities, spirits, and ancestors who have passed away. 

Despite the fact that all of these pronouns have different meanings and suit various occasions, they all share the same pronunciation, which means many native Chinese speakers have a hard time distinguishing the third-person pronouns when referring to someone else in daily conversation. 

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