Western missionaries contributed largely to Chinese lexicography. Their involvement was basically a practical rather than a theoretical one. In order to preach

Francisco Varo's Arte de la Lengua Mandarina, completed ca. 1680, is the earliest published grammar of any spoken form of Chinese and the fullest known descript

Francisco Varo (1627-1687), a Spanish Dominican based in the province of Fujian, was legendary for his superb mastery in Mandarin. His Vocabulario de la Lengua

An incisive, multi-faceted study of a Spanish-Chinese manuscript grammar of the seventeenth century, The Language of the Sangleys presents a fascinating, new ch

A collection of case-studies on Ritual and Performance spanning four continents, this book offers an insightful travel guide through a thick forest of approache