Classical Chinese facts for kids

Classical Chinese or literary Chinese is a traditional register of written Chinese. It is based on the grammar and vocabulary of ancient Chinese, so it is different from any modern spoken form of Chinese. Classical Chinese was once used for almost all formal writing before and during the beginning of the 20th century in China, and during various different periods in Korea, Japan and Vietnam. Among Chinese speakers, Classical Chinese has been largely replaced by written vernacular Chinese, or 白话/白話 báihuà ("plain speech"). Written Vernacular Chinese is a writing style very closely related to modern spoken Mandarin Chinese. At the same time, non-Chinese speakers have largely given up Classical Chinese, and use their local languages or dialects instead.

Although many words and phrases used in Classical Chinese have been replaced by words and phrases made up of different characters in Standard Chinese, many of the characters that were common in Classical Chinese can be found in modern Chinese words and phrases as well as retain their meanings. For example, while the word "to eat" is 食 (shí) in Classical Chinese, it is 吃 (chī) in Standard Chinese. However, the character 食 is still found in words related to food and eating like 食品 (shípĭn), which is the Standard Chinese word for "food". The chart below compares Classical Chinese words to the Standard Chinese words that replaced them.

Many modern Chinese words and phrases either came from northern dialects or are loanwords from other languages such as Mongolian or Korean.

Due to the changes of the spoken Chinese over the centuries, spoken Chinese lost many sounds that existed in older dialects, and therefore many words in Classical Chinese were beginning to sound too similar to each other. In other words, although documents written in Classical Chinese can be reasonably understood by someone who can read Chinese, they can be very difficult to understand when they are read aloud. One-syllable articles, or poems written in Classical Chinese in which every word in the poem is pronounced by the same syllable, are perfect examples that how impractical Classic is as a spoken language. The title of one poem 施氏食狮史 (Shī Shì Shí Shī Shǐ), known as the "Lion-Eating Poet of the Stone Den" in English, literally translates to "The Story of Shi Shi Eating Lions". Every single word of the poem is pronounced "shi", even though they have different tones. If the title were to be translated into Standard Chinese, it be read something like 施氏吃狮子的史诗 (Shī Shì chī shīzi de shǐshī).

Structurally, words in Classical Chinese tend to be much simpler because they are usually made up of one Chinese character, whereas most words in Standard Chinese are made of two to four characters. This is so that the writer can write what they want to write using as few characters as possible. Examples are found below.

Once again, due to the merging of Chinese sounds, extra characters are added to words in Standard Chinese to distinguish similar-sounding words that would otherwise be indistinguishable.

Examples of phrases in Classical Chinese is Confucius's famous quote 有教舞類 (yǒu jiào wǔ lèi), which roughly translates to, "In education, there should be no class distinction."

Modern use

Classical Chinese was used in international communication between the Mongol Empire and Japan. This letter, dated 1266, was sent from Khubilai Khan to the "King of Japan" (日本國王) before the Mongol invasions of Japan

; it was written in Classical Chinese. Now stored in Tōdai-ji, Nara, Japan. There are some grammar notes on it, which were to help Japanese speakers better understand it.]]

Classical Chinese was the main form used in Chinese literary works until the May Fourth Movement, and was also used extensively in Japan, Korea, and Vietnam.

Most government documents in the Republic of China were written in Classical Chinese until reforms in the 1970s, in a reform movement spearheaded by President Yen Chia-kan to shift the written style to vernacular Chinese.

Today, pure Classical Chinese is occasionally used in formal or ceremonial occasions. The National Anthem of the Republic of China (中華民國國歌), for example, is in Classical Chinese. Buddhist texts, or sutras, are still preserved in Classical Chinese from the time they were composed or translated from Sanskrit sources.

With the exception of professional scholars and enthusiasts, most people today cannot write in full Classical Chinese with ease. Most Chinese people with at least a middle school education are able to read basic Classical Chinese, because the ability to read (but not write) Classical Chinese is part of the Chinese middle school and high school curricula and is part of the college entrance examination.

Images for kids

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  The Classic of Poetry (詩經 or Shījīng), a collection of Chinese poetry, comprising 305 works dating from the 11th to 7th centuries BC

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  The shape of the Oracle bone script character for "person" may have influenced that for "harvest" (which later came to mean "year"). Today, they are pronounced rén and nián in Mandarin, but their hypothesized pronunciations in Old Chinese were very similar, which may explain the resemblance. For example, in the recent Baxter-Sagart reconstruction, they were /niŋ/ and /nˤiŋ/, respectively, becoming /nʲin/ and /nin/ in Early Middle Chinese.

See also

In Spanish: Chino clásico para niños