History of Gan Chinese facts for kids
The history of Gan Chinese tells us about how the Gan language, a type of Chinese spoken in parts of China today, has changed over a very long time. This story goes all the way back to the start of the Qin dynasty. We can split this long history into different periods: Old Gan, Late Old Gan, and Middle Gan.
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Old Gan: The Beginning of Gan Chinese
Old Gan, sometimes called Proto-Gan, was spoken from the start of the Qin dynasty up to the later part of the Han dynasty.
Around 221 BC, a general named Tu Sui was sent by the Qin dynasty to southern China. His mission was to take control of the Baiyue territory. About 500,000 soldiers then settled in places like Yugan and Nankang. This was the first time a large group of Chinese people settled in the area now known as Jiangxi.
Later, in 202 BC, the Han dynasty set up a new area called Yuzhang Prefecture. After this, the number of people living there grew very quickly.
Late Old Gan: New Settlers and Changes
Late Old Gan was spoken between the 3rd and 6th centuries. During this time, many new people moved from the Central Plain (the central part of China) to the south. These new settlers brought their own ways of speaking, which started to influence and change Late Old Gan. This process is called sinicization.
Some experts believe that Late Old Gan, along with Hakka Chinese and a dialect called Tongtai, might have been a common language (a lingua franca) used by many people during the Southern and Northern Dynasties period.
Even with these changes, Late Old Gan was still quite different from the official language spoken by the government. A book called History of Southern Dynasties tells an interesting story about this:
Hu Xiezhi from Nanchang was offered a noble marriage by the Emperor. The Emperor sent people from the palace to teach Hu's children the official language. Two years later, the Emperor asked if his family had learned the official language. Hu replied that his family had not, but the imperial teachers had already started speaking Gan!
This story shows that Gan was strong enough to influence even those who came to teach the official language.
Middle Gan: Stability and Research
Middle Gan was the form of Gan spoken during the Tang and Song dynasties, from the 6th to the 13th century. The last major movement of people from the Central Plain into Jiangxi happened because of a big event called the An Lushan Rebellion. After this time, the Gan language became more stable and settled.
Researchers have studied the rhyming patterns of poets from Jiangxi during this period. This helps them understand what Middle Gan sounded like. They have found that the modern Gan language still has many features from this older time.
For example, some rhyming sounds from Middle Gan match up with different rhyming sounds in modern Gan. This shows how the language has kept some of its old characteristics.
Late Middle Gan: Further Changes
Late Middle Gan was spoken from the Yuan to the Ming dynasties, which was from the 13th to the 17th century.
During this period, some specific changes happened in the way Gan was spoken:
- A sound like 'l' (called semi-coronal) became clearly different from sounds like 'n' (called alveolar stops).
- "Muddy" consonants (sounds made with a relaxed voice) started to merge with "aspirated" consonants (sounds made with a puff of air).
- The 'm' sound at the end of words (called a syllable coda) changed and merged into an 'n' sound.
Early Modern Gan: Modern Times Begin
Early Modern Gan was the form of Gan spoken from the Qing dynasty (17th century) up to the start of modern times.
A textbook from the mid-19th century called Lei Zi Meng Qiu has helped experts understand the Nanchang dialect of Gan from that time. They found that Gan has been quite stable since then. For instance, the 'm' sound at the end of words had already merged into an 'n' sound, and the language used seven different tones.
During this period, people from Western countries also started to study Gan. Edward Harper Parker, a British diplomat, was the first Westerner to write down Gan speech. He noticed that his friend Wen-yuan from Fuzhou combined "muddy" consonants with "aspirated" consonants, just like the changes mentioned in Late Middle Gan.
Also, Bibles were translated and published in some Gan dialects during this time.
See also
