Is Mandarin Chinese a Split-Ergative Language?

In recent research, it has been suggested that Mandarin Chinese exhibits ergative-absolutive features, making it a 'mixed-pivot language' or a 'split-ergative language' (see, e.g., Ye & Pan 2017; Du & Wu 2019; Yu & Jin 2020).This paper argues against this view both theoretically and empirically: theoretically, syntactic ergativity is a subtype of morphological ergativity, which Mandarin lacks; empirically, Mandarin employs no marking for core arguments and does not distinguish between A/S/O.The paper concludes that: (ⅰ) Mandarin lacks both morphological and syntactic ergative features; (ⅱ) ergative syntax is not necessarily related to the typology of split-ergativity, and the analysis of Mandarin as a 'syntactic mixed / split-ergative' language lacks evidence; (ⅲ) there is a fundamental difference between 'ergative syntax' and 'syntactic ergativity', and Mandarin is not a syntactic mixed / split-ergative language, but a neutral one.