The first grammar of Chinese written in Chinese, entitled Mǎshì wéntōng 馬氏文通, was published in 1898; the original woodblock edition of that year was superseded by the moveable-types edition of 1904. The presently accepted view is that it was compiled by Mǎ Jiànzhōng 馬建忠 (1845–1900). The title is mostly translated as Basic Principles for Writing Clearly and Coherently by Mister Mǎ, based on Mair (1997:20). Literally, wén tōng mea…