The Institute of Linguistics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), was established in June 1950 as one of the first research institutes in the field of philosophy and social sciences since the founding of Chinese Academy of Sciences. The Institute of Linguistics has been affiliated with the newly established CASS since 1977. The previous directors of the Institute, in chronological order, were Luo Changpei, Lü Shuxiang, Li Rong, Liu Jian, Jiang Lansheng, Shen Jiaxuan, Liu Danqing and Zhang Bojiang. The present leadership of the Institute consists of Secretary of the CPC Committee Yu Xinhua, Deputy Secretary and Deputy Director Wang Feng, and Deputy Director Li Aijun.

The current research directions and tasks of the Institute are: to study the history and current state of the Chinese language, including fundamental research in various sub-fields of linguistics such as phonetics, phonology, semantics, syntax, lexicology and philology. Additionally, there is a focus on theoretical explorations of linguistics as well as applied research in fields such as corpus linguistics, psycholinguistics, lexicography and language acquisition.

The Institute of Linguistics is also responsible for the preparation and revision of Xinhua Dictionary and Modern Chinese Dictionary. The former is the first modern Chinese dictionary since the founding of People’s Republic of China, and the latter is China’s first standardized mid-size dictionary of modern Chinese.

 
Starting from the left on the first row: Luo Changpei, Ding Shengshu, Lu Zhiwei
Starting from the left on the second row: Lü Shuxiang, Li Rong, Liu Jian
Starting from the left on the third row: Wu Zongji, Zhou Dingyi, Shao Rongfen

The Institute now comprises 11 units, including research groups of Chinese Syntax and Semantics, Historical Linguistics I, Historical Linguistics II, Chinese Dialectology, Contemporary Linguistics, Applied Linguistics, Phonetics and Speech Science, as well as editorial office of Zhongguo Yuwen, office of Lexicography, the editorial office of Xinhua Dictionary, the office of Innovative Lexicology and Lexicography .

The Institute also consists of two functional departments, namely Office of Comprehensive Administration and Office of Academic Research Affairs, the latter of which is also responsible for graduate management.

Affiliated with the Institute are two research centers: CASS Research Center for Lexicology & Lexicography, and Corpus and Computational Linguistics Center.

The Institute launches three academic journals in Chinese language and linguistics: Zhongguo Yuwen（bimonthly, founded in 1952), Dialect (quarterly, founded in 1979), and Contemporary Linguistics (bimonthly, founded in 1961, formerly known as Linguistics Resources, and later Trends in Linguistics and Linguistics Abroad). The Institute also published monographs in Chinese language and linguistics. The titles include Historical Linguistics, Grammatical Studies and Explorations, Old Chinese Studies, Interactional Linguistics and Chinese Language Studies, Collected Papers on Dialect Grammar, and Journal of Linguistic Typology, etc.

The Institute serves as the host unit for the Chinese Language Society (CLS) and the Chinese Dialect Society (CDS). The Secretariat of the Phonetics Subcommittee of the Chinese Language Society is also located within the Institute of Linguistics. Each society is responsible for editing the respective journals: Journal of Chinese Linguistics (Chinese Language Society), Journal of Chinese Dialectology (Chinese Dialect Society) and Chinese Journal of Phonetics (Phonetics Subcommittee of the Chinese Language Society). The research group of Lexicography and the Research Center for Lexicography in the Institute are the leading units of the Chinese Lexicographical Society’s Language and Dictionary Professional Committee.

The Institute has undertaken extensive teaching responsibilities and graduate management service at the college of humanities of University of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, which is now led by Zhang Bojiang. The Institute offers two authorized majors under the first-level discipline of Chinese Language and Literature — Chinese Philology and Linguistics and Applied Linguistics, leading to the Master of Arts, and Doctor of Philosophy degrees. 

The Institute has established postdoctoral research stations for Chinese Philology, and Linguistics and Applied Linguistics, recruiting state-funded and project-funded postdoctoral fellows.