《史记》被动句研究 = The Investigation of Passive Voice in Shiji

Abstract

This thesis aims to discuss about the development of passive-voice syntactic structure in Classical Chinese during the Pre-Qin and Han Period. “Shiji” (Records of the Great Historian) is chosen primarily because of its extensive use of the passive-voice syntactic structure consisting of passive-voice with grammatical markers and passive-voice without grammatical markers. In the first chapter, there will be a general introduction on the definition as well as past research on the development of passive-voice structures in Classical Chinese. The literature examined in this thesis will also be introduced in detail here. For the second chapter, we will examine the past literature on passive-voice sentences in “Zuo Zhuan” and the forms of passive-voice sentences commonly used in the text which represents the era of late Spring and Autumn Period. For the third chapter, we will examine the past literature on passive-voice sentences in “Lüshi Chunqiu” (Master Lü’s Spring and Autumn Annals) and the forms of passive-voice sentences commonly used in the text which represents the era of Qin Dynasty. For the fourth chapter, we will delve into the original text of “Shiji” with modern Chinese translation to find out the forms of passive-voice sentences used in the text which represents the era of late Eastern Han Dynasty. A comparison of the variety of passive-voice sentences in the three classical texts will also be made at the end of the chapter. For the fifth chapter, we will investigate the differences and similarities between passive-voice sentences used in Classical Chinese and in Modern Chinese. Last but not least, a conclusion will be made to wrap up the thesis and speculate on further research on the topic.This thesis aims to discuss about the development of passive-voice syntactic structure in Classical Chinese during the Pre-Qin and Han Period. “Shiji” (Records of the Great Historian) is chosen primarily because of its extensive use of the passive-voice syntactic structure consisting of passive-voice with grammatical markers and passive-voice without grammatical markers. In the first chapter, there will be a general introduction on the definition as well as past research on the development of passive-voice structures in Classical Chinese. The literature examined in this thesis will also be introduced in detail here. For the second chapter, we will examine the past literature on passive-voice sentences in “Zuo Zhuan” and the forms of passive-voice sentences commonly used in the text which represents the era of late Spring and Autumn Period. For the third chapter, we will examine the past literature on passive-voice sentences in “Lüshi Chunqiu” (Master Lü’s Spring and Autumn Annals) and the forms of passive-voice sentences commonly used in the text which represents the era of Qin Dynasty. For the fourth chapter, we will delve into the original text of “Shiji” with modern Chinese translation to find out the forms of passive-voice sentences used in the text which represents the era of late Eastern Han Dynasty. A comparison of the variety of passive-voice sentences in the three classical texts will also be made at the end of the chapter. For the fifth chapter, we will investigate the differences and similarities between passive-voice sentences used in Classical Chinese and in Modern Chinese. Last but not least, a conclusion will be made to wrap up the thesis and speculate on further research on the topic.