Development of Spoken Chinese language/ dialects
Shang dynasty
The Chinese civilization originated in the areas of Yellow River. It is recorded that were around 1800 clans and tribes inhabiting areas along the Yellow River towards the end of the Shang dynasty. As activities and commercial increased, the need for lingua franca arose. It is generally believed that the earliest form of such lingua franca took shape on basis of the language spoken in what is known as Yinxu in the West of Henan province which was the capital of Shang dynasty between 1324 to 1067 BC. Jiaguwen is the written and highly condensed as counterpart of this lingua franca.
Zhou dynasty
The subsequent Zhou dynasty marked the beginning of the feudal system with more than 130 states established and covering various dialectally differentiated areas in the early period of the dynasty. Wars among the states resulted in the separating small polities into several states.
Local dialects distinctive of the major states developed which marking the beginning of the differentiation of Chinese dialects into several major groups.
As the increasing administrative, diplomatic, cultural and military exchanges between central government and local states or among the states themselves, the need for standard language or lingua franca for formal communication purposes arose. Such standard spoken Chinese called yayan or elegant speech in the Confucian Analects during Western Zhou period has won full recognition both in terms of its importance and its distinctness from other local dialects.
According to the historical records, yayan was the standard language taught in every school in the whole states of Zhou dynasty. It was used extensively for educational, diplomatic and cultural activities. In the Analects, yayan was the language used in the classic literary works such as Shu Jing(Book of history), Shi Jing (Book of odes) as well as on ceremonial functions. Yayan was based upon the language that evolved from the lingua franca of the Shang dynasty and was spoken in Central China around today’s Henan province which had been the main centre of political, commercial and social activities since Xia dynasty and Shang dynasty.
Based on the geographical features of that area, the language was known as the dialect of the He Luo ‘Yellow Rier and Luo River’ or Zhongzhou ‘Central China’ area. In short, Zhongzhou dialect was the foundation of yayan. From the Eastern Zhou onwards, Luoyang and Kaifeng was the two major cities in the area served as capitals of many imperial dynasties which further enhanced the status of Zhongzhou dialect as the foundation of the standard spoken Chinese across the whole country. This status was more or less maintained through successive dynasties over the next two thousand years.
There was a period where wars often broke out, therefore dynasties founded in the north of China moved their capitals to the south of the Yangtze River where the local dialects were much different from Zhongzhou. The first large migration from the north to the south occurred during Wei Jin period when the royal court of Jin Yuandi (317-322) moved from Luoyang to present-day Nanjing. This marked the beginning of the spread of Zhongzhou dialect to that area.
During the same period, states were established at the North of China by non-Han ethnic groups. They were readily assimilated into Han culture and adopting Chinese language as their main and official language. The Han culture as a whole was considered far more prestigious than their own. As a result, both in the north and south dynasties were using Zhongzhou dialect as their standard spoken language.
Linguistic features and uses of standard pronunciation, and the difference between the standard and other dialects were common topic in writing during that period. Standard pronunciation was codified and promulgated across the land.
The subsequent Zhou dynasty marked the beginning of the feudal system with more than 130 states established and covering various dialectally differentiated areas in the early period of the dynasty. Wars among the states resulted in the separating small polities into several states.
Local dialects distinctive of the major states developed which marking the beginning of the differentiation of Chinese dialects into several major groups.
As the increasing administrative, diplomatic, cultural and military exchanges between central government and local states or among the states themselves, the need for standard language or lingua franca for formal communication purposes arose. Such standard spoken Chinese called yayan or elegant speech in the Confucian Analects during Western Zhou period has won full recognition both in terms of its importance and its distinctness from other local dialects.
According to the historical records, yayan was the standard language taught in every school in the whole states of Zhou dynasty. It was used extensively for educational, diplomatic and cultural activities. In the Analects, yayan was the language used in the classic literary works such as Shu Jing(Book of history), Shi Jing (Book of odes) as well as on ceremonial functions. Yayan was based upon the language that evolved from the lingua franca of the Shang dynasty and was spoken in Central China around today’s Henan province which had been the main centre of political, commercial and social activities since Xia dynasty and Shang dynasty.
Based on the geographical features of that area, the language was known as the dialect of the He Luo ‘Yellow Rier and Luo River’ or Zhongzhou ‘Central China’ area. In short, Zhongzhou dialect was the foundation of yayan. From the Eastern Zhou onwards, Luoyang and Kaifeng was the two major cities in the area served as capitals of many imperial dynasties which further enhanced the status of Zhongzhou dialect as the foundation of the standard spoken Chinese across the whole country. This status was more or less maintained through successive dynasties over the next two thousand years.
There was a period where wars often broke out, therefore dynasties founded in the north of China moved their capitals to the south of the Yangtze River where the local dialects were much different from Zhongzhou. The first large migration from the north to the south occurred during Wei Jin period when the royal court of Jin Yuandi (317-322) moved from Luoyang to present-day Nanjing. This marked the beginning of the spread of Zhongzhou dialect to that area.
During the same period, states were established at the North of China by non-Han ethnic groups. They were readily assimilated into Han culture and adopting Chinese language as their main and official language. The Han culture as a whole was considered far more prestigious than their own. As a result, both in the north and south dynasties were using Zhongzhou dialect as their standard spoken language.
Linguistic features and uses of standard pronunciation, and the difference between the standard and other dialects were common topic in writing during that period. Standard pronunciation was codified and promulgated across the land.
Sui, Tang dynasty
The institution of keju (imperial examination system) initiated in the Sui and Tang dynasties where officials at all levels were selected from people who passed rigorous examinations administered by the imperial court had played a significant motivating role in the process. This is because the rhyming writing constituted an important part of the official examination that aspiring scholar to follow standard pronunciation.
Among the most influential rhyming dictionaries compiled to codify the standard pronunciation was Qieyun. Qieyun was first compiled in the Sui dynasty, annotated and revised later in Tang and Song dynasties. It serves as most reliable source of the phonological system at that time. Although references for the standard pronunciation in the late Tang and Song dynasty were mostly anecdotal and scanty, but Standard spoken language of Northern Song can be assumed it was based on the Zhongzhou dialect.
Yuan, Ming, Qing dynasty
The traditional view is that it was replaced by the Beijing dialect as early as in the Yuan dynasty which capital was established in Beijing that called as Dadu. (Bao 1955: R.Li 1990)
Whereas the national standard pronunciation in the Ming dynasty and the early Qing dynasty was called as guanhua (Mandarin), Tongyin (general pronunciation) etc. However, the dialect of Beijing known as beiyin (the Northern pronunciation) was treated in the literature.
It was as late as around the mid nineteenth century that the Beijing dialect gained ascendancy over the Nanjing dialect. There seem to be several factors that contributed to the replacement of the Nanjing dialect by Beijing dialect.
* the capital of three successive dynasties spanning several hundreds of years where Beijing had
become increasingly influential due to its political, economic and social centre.
Until when the Qing dynasty was established. Manchuria language also played its role as one of the official language during Qing dynasty besides of Han language.
The traditional view is that it was replaced by the Beijing dialect as early as in the Yuan dynasty which capital was established in Beijing that called as Dadu. (Bao 1955: R.Li 1990)
Whereas the national standard pronunciation in the Ming dynasty and the early Qing dynasty was called as guanhua (Mandarin), Tongyin (general pronunciation) etc. However, the dialect of Beijing known as beiyin (the Northern pronunciation) was treated in the literature.
It was as late as around the mid nineteenth century that the Beijing dialect gained ascendancy over the Nanjing dialect. There seem to be several factors that contributed to the replacement of the Nanjing dialect by Beijing dialect.
* the capital of three successive dynasties spanning several hundreds of years where Beijing had
become increasingly influential due to its political, economic and social centre.
Until when the Qing dynasty was established. Manchuria language also played its role as one of the official language during Qing dynasty besides of Han language.
Modern Standard Chinese
The year of 1840 marked a turning point in the modern history of China where the Opium War erupted and China suffered a traumatic defeat. It was then Language Reform was started to take place.
The modernization of Chinese language and writing system was the goal for reform and movement.
There was desirability for adopting a unified form of Chinese language which known as guoyu (Modern Standard Chinese). The most influential and famous scholar was Wu Rulun advocated ‘ Unification of the national language’ as a slogan which initiated the Guoyu Yundong or known as National Language Movement’.
The year of 1840 marked a turning point in the modern history of China where the Opium War erupted and China suffered a traumatic defeat. It was then Language Reform was started to take place.
The modernization of Chinese language and writing system was the goal for reform and movement.
There was desirability for adopting a unified form of Chinese language which known as guoyu (Modern Standard Chinese). The most influential and famous scholar was Wu Rulun advocated ‘ Unification of the national language’ as a slogan which initiated the Guoyu Yundong or known as National Language Movement’.
Promotion of Guoyu before 1949
The competence to speak guoyu was highlighted as one of the major objectives to be achieved through reform. The Committee for Guoyu Promotion of the Ministry of Education was set up in 1935, which was aimed to coordinate the nation-wide popularization of guoyu.
The momentum in the National Language Movement had been built up since the 1910s was however brought to a halt by the invasion of Japanese troops in 1937. In 1944, the Ministry of Education intended to resume the undertaking and the programme of the National Language Movement which was composed of five major tasks including to promote guoyu across the country.
The competence to speak guoyu was highlighted as one of the major objectives to be achieved through reform. The Committee for Guoyu Promotion of the Ministry of Education was set up in 1935, which was aimed to coordinate the nation-wide popularization of guoyu.
The momentum in the National Language Movement had been built up since the 1910s was however brought to a halt by the invasion of Japanese troops in 1937. In 1944, the Ministry of Education intended to resume the undertaking and the programme of the National Language Movement which was composed of five major tasks including to promote guoyu across the country.
Promotion of Putonghua after 1949
After the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, there was much more effort on the language reform. In comparison with the situation before 1949, the government in the 1950s played a more active role to coordinate the activities of reform. National language was named as Putonghua. The Northern dialects with Beijing dialect was chosen as foundation to the standard pronunciation. New dictionaries were published.
The reason Guoyu was discarded in favour of Putonghua because its sounds somehow Han-chauvinistic in taking the language of one ethnic group, then Han as the national language which seems ignoring the fact that there are more than fifty officially recognized ethnic groups in China which speak over eighty different languages ( Atlas 1987/1991; Ramsey 1987).
A Central Working Committee on Promotion of Putonghua was established which aimed to coordinate the nationwide promotional campaigns. The promulgation of Hanyu pinyin in 1958 which known as a newly designed phonetic scheme, had been proved to be a useful tool in the promotion of Putonghua especially in the Southern dialect areas.
As a result, Putonghua become the language of instruction in all schools, working language in government and administration, language used in media such as radio and television broadcasting and the most important is to become lingua fraca among speakers of various local dialects.
After the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, there was much more effort on the language reform. In comparison with the situation before 1949, the government in the 1950s played a more active role to coordinate the activities of reform. National language was named as Putonghua. The Northern dialects with Beijing dialect was chosen as foundation to the standard pronunciation. New dictionaries were published.
The reason Guoyu was discarded in favour of Putonghua because its sounds somehow Han-chauvinistic in taking the language of one ethnic group, then Han as the national language which seems ignoring the fact that there are more than fifty officially recognized ethnic groups in China which speak over eighty different languages ( Atlas 1987/1991; Ramsey 1987).
A Central Working Committee on Promotion of Putonghua was established which aimed to coordinate the nationwide promotional campaigns. The promulgation of Hanyu pinyin in 1958 which known as a newly designed phonetic scheme, had been proved to be a useful tool in the promotion of Putonghua especially in the Southern dialect areas.
As a result, Putonghua become the language of instruction in all schools, working language in government and administration, language used in media such as radio and television broadcasting and the most important is to become lingua fraca among speakers of various local dialects.
Challenges
A lot of ethnic group dialects facing the crisis. Criticism: promotion of Putonghua and no dialect writings especially after 1949. For example: Manchu (ethnic group) facing the language crisis which also lead to the crisis or shortage of language experts and difficulties in translating and interpreting the official documents of Qing dynasty which still in the progress of research.
A lot of ethnic group dialects facing the crisis. Criticism: promotion of Putonghua and no dialect writings especially after 1949. For example: Manchu (ethnic group) facing the language crisis which also lead to the crisis or shortage of language experts and difficulties in translating and interpreting the official documents of Qing dynasty which still in the progress of research.
Reference :
Chen, P. (1999). Modern Chinese : History and Sociolinguistics. United Kingdom :
Cambridge University Press.
張岱年 (1993). 傳統文化與現代化 (Chinese Culture : Tradition & Modernization). 北京:
中華書局
國際漢學研討會編輯組 (1994). 國際漢學研討會論文集(Collected Papers International
Conference on Chinese Studies). Long Champ Enterprise.
Retrieved from http://course.bnu.edu.cn/course/gdhy/zljc/zgwh/6.htm
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