Spring 2027

History of the Chinese Language

The course introduces Chinese historical linguistics, focusing on old poetic sound systems, modern Mandarin relations, and classical-vernacular syntax.

no offering record for this termCredits unavailable
Recorded instructors · Spring 2027 No instructors listed

Summary

1 / 5

Past student reviews · Hong Ming Zhang

The course packed a significant amount of material into every lecture, which could feel overwhelming despite the instructor's clarity on expectations.

What you’ll be able to do

  • Describe major phonetic and phonological shifts in the Chinese language.

  • Trace the evolution of Chinese word formation and sentence structures.

  • Investigate the origins and transformations of the Chinese writing system.

  • Explore the emergence and classification of major Chinese dialects.

  • Assess the role of historical events (such as dynastic changes, migrations, and foreign influences) in shaping the language.

Source: UW Guide

Grade history

↗
average GPA
letter grades
A
AB
B
BC
C
D
F

All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors

Prerequisites

Course map

ASIALANG 102, 356, or placement into ASIALANG 201

ASIAN 631 used by

“Used by” includes alternatives; linked courses may have other requirements. This is a best-effort interpretation; check the catalog requirements above.

Prerequisite text tree

Professors

Spring 2027

No instructors recorded for this selection.

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Calendar & sections

Spring 2027

Schedule loads here as you scroll.

SectionModeEnrolled / capacityWaitlist

Times are Central. Select a meeting for details; export includes recorded dates for the selected sections.

Meeting source records

No records available.

Student experience

the class

Past student reviews · Hong Ming Zhang

Hong Ming Zhang demonstrated deep expertise and clear expectations, though his lectures were dense and potentially overwhelming for some students.

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2020: 4.00 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=7 letter grades); Fall 2022: 4.00 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=7 letter grades); Spring 2024: 3.71 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=14 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Past student reviews · Hong Ming Zhang

The course packed a significant amount of material into every lecture, which could feel overwhelming despite the instructor's clarity on expectations.

Past student reviews · Hong Ming Zhang

The instructor was very clear about expectations, and students noted there were no surprises on the exams at all.

Topics

  • Chinese historical linguistics
  • Sound systems of the Shih-ching, T'ang poems, and Yuan songs
  • Historical relations to modern Mandarin sounds
  • Syntactic interaction between classical and vernacular Chinese
  • Origins and transformations of the Chinese writing system
  • Emergence and classification of major Chinese dialects

Skills

  • Describing major phonetic and phonological shifts in the Chinese language
  • Tracing the evolution of Chinese word formation and sentence structures
  • Investigating the origins and transformations of the Chinese writing system
  • Exploring the emergence and classification of major Chinese dialects
  • Assessing the role of historical events in shaping the language

Grades

Latest available · Spring 2024— not enough history to project Spring 2027.

average GPA
A / AB grades
letter grades
Instructor

Grade distribution · % of letter grades

A
AB
B
BC
C
D
F

Grades over time

Through Spring 2024

More grade details Grade mix, volume & source data

Not enough comparable courses for Spring 2027 in UW–Madison.

Sources & history

UW–Madison

Catalog & offerings

Descriptions, prerequisites, and recorded course offerings.

Catalog observation history

Observations at scan time; dates do not imply when a catalog change took effect.

Download part 1
Selected offering source records

No offering records for the selected term.

Raw records 
[]
Rate My Professors

Student reviews

Original comments behind the course and instructor summaries.

Read original reviews
Download part 1
Madgrades

Grade history

Recorded grade distributions by term, section, and instructor.

Explore recorded grades
Dataset & model

Recorded 2026-10-14

View the dataset on Hugging Face
Model outputs & technical records
Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B
LLM outputs across runs
Download part 1
Full model traces

Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.

Download part 1
Model & dataset provenance 
{
  "model": "Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B",
  "model_revision": "1d4bf0f2ff6012fd82039f2fa52739d0dd7c60c0",
  "task_version": "17",
  "output_id": "7cd2dc2eabe34e154b0df5627b6b6c40146c9f31955de9fda0559e8f4dc73df5",
  "requirements_status": "needs_review",
  "dataset_revision": "fc1811fa52e581ea57a35c0cf3343f8740a8ffbf",
  "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00"
}