Tā huā le shí nián kǎozhèng zhè bù gǔjí de zuòzhě.
He spent ten years researching the authorship of this ancient text.
Tips
history
考证 was the methodological core of 清代 (Qing dynasty) 考据学 (evidential research) - scholars like 顾炎武 and 戴震 reconstructed classical texts through philological evidence. The modern slang sense ('grinding for licenses/certifications') is a pun on the same characters.
usage
Among young Chinese in the 2010s and after, 考证 most often means 'go after professional certificates' (CPA, lawyer's license, teaching cert). The classical 'textual scholarship' sense survives mostly in academic writing.
