Classical Chinese^{[lower-alpha 1]} is the language in which the classics of Chinese literature were written, from c. the 5th century BCE.^[2] For millennia thereafter, the written Chinese used in these works was imitated and iterated upon by scholars in the Sinosphere in a form now called Literary Chinese, which was used for almost all formal writing in China until the early 20th century. Its use is roughly comparable to that of Latin across post-Roman Europe. While not static throughout its history, its evolution has traditionally been guided by a conservative impulse: many changes found in the varieties of Chinese that later emerged are not reflected in the literary form. Due to millennia of this linguistic evolution, Literary Chinese is not intelligible when spoken aloud or read for an individual only familiar with modern vernacular Chinese.

Over time, Literary Chinese began to be used in Japan, Ryukyu, Korea, and Vietnam, where it was originally introduced as the prestige form of the only known writing system, before eventually being adapted to write the local languages, which belonged to completely different language families. Each of these countries have their own reading systems for Classical Chinese text, in addition to their own inventories of Chinese character forms.

Classical Chinese has largely been replaced by written vernacular Chinese among Chinese speakers; similarly, speakers of non-Chinese languages have largely abandoned Classical Chinese in favor of their respective local vernaculars. Although varieties of Chinese have diverged in various directions from the Old Chinese words in the Classical lexicon, many cognates can be still be found.

Nomenclature

The Classic of Poetry, a literary collection of 305 works dating from the 11th to 7th centuries BCE, written in what is generally termed "pre-Classical Chinese"

There is no universal agreement on the precise definition of "Classical Chinese". At its core, the term refers to the language found in the classics of Chinese literature written from around the 5th century BCE to the end of the Han dynasty in the 3rd century CE. It has been noted that the form of Chinese used in canonical works written before the 4th century BCE, such as the Five Classics, is distinct from that found in later works. Moreover, this older form did not foster comparable imitative traditions, despite the equivalent canonicity of the works. The term "pre-Classical Chinese" has thus been assigned to this earlier form of the language, and it is generally considered to be distinct from "Classical Chinese" proper.^[3]

After the end of the Han dynasty, the divergence of ordinary spoken language from the literary form became highly apparent. The term "Literary Chinese" has thus been coined to refer to the forms of written Chinese in conscious imitation of the earlier Classical canon, characterized by the addition of new vocabulary over the centuries, as well as the erosion of certain points of Classical grammar and syntax as their precise functions were forgotten. As such, Literary Chinese was used for almost all formal writing in China from the end of the Han dynasty to the early 20th century, when it was replaced en masse by written vernacular Chinese. A distinct, narrower definition of the Classical period ranges from the time of Confucius (551–479 BCE) to the founding of the Qin dynasty in 221 BCE.^[4][5]

Often, Literary Chinese is additionally referred to as "Classical Chinese", but sinologists generally emphasize the distinctions between the form used during the Classical period and imitative forms that followed. After the 2nd century CE, the Chinese language as spoken in various areas began to diverge, and thus written Literary Chinese became less and less representative of the varieties of Chinese spoken and understood by ordinary people. Although authors sought to write in the style of the classics, the likeness decreased over the centuries due to an imperfect understanding of older language conventions, as well as the addition of new vocabulary and influence from the writer's own spoken form of the language.^[6]

The use of Literary Chinese throughout the Sinosphere despite the existence of numerous regional vernaculars is an example of diglossia. The coexistence of Literary Chinese and native languages throughout China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam can be compared to the historical literary use of Latin in Europe, that of Arabic in Persia, or that of Sanskrit in South and Southeast Asia. However, unlike these examples, written Chinese uses a logography of Chinese characters that are not directly tied to their pronunciation. This lack of a fixed correspondence between writing and reading created a situation where later readings of classical Chinese texts were able to diverge much further from their originals than occurred in the other literary traditions, adding a unique dimension to the study of Literary Chinese.

Unlike Latin and Sanskrit, historical Chinese language theory consisted almost exclusively of lexicography, as opposed to the study of grammar and syntax. Such approaches largely arrived with Europeans beginning in the 17th century. Christian missionaries later coined the term 文理 (wénlǐ; 'principles of literature', 'bookish language') to describe Classical Chinese; this term never became widely used among domestic speakers.^[7][8]

Grammar and lexicon

Classical Chinese is distinguished from written vernacular Chinese in its style, which appears extremely concise and compact to modern Chinese speakers, and to some extent in the use of different vocabulary. Classical Chinese rarely uses words of two or more characters. This stands directly in contrast with modern northern Chinese varieties including Mandarin, in which words two to four characters in length are extremely common. Disyllabic words are also common within southern varieties, but distinctly less so than in northern varieties. Over time, varieties acquired many polysyllabic words in order to disambiguate monosyllabic words with distinct pronunciations that had since converged in a given locale, becoming homophones. An essay written in Classical Chinese might use half as many Chinese characters as in vernacular Chinese to relate the same ideas.

Classical Chinese can be described as a pro-drop language: its syntax often allows either subjects or objects to be dropped when their reference is understood. Additionally, words are generally not restricted to use as certain parts of speech: nouns are commonly used as verbs, adjectives as nouns, and so on. There is no copula in Classical Chinese: 是 (shì) serves this function in modern Standard Chinese, but in Old Chinese it was a near demonstrative ('this').

Classical Chinese has more pronouns compared to the modern vernacular. In particular, whereas modern Standard Chinese has one character generally used as a first-person pronoun, Classical Chinese has several—many of which are used as part of a system of honorifics. Many final^{[lower-alpha 2]} and interrogative particles are found in Classical Chinese.^[9]

Beyond differences in grammar and vocabulary, Classical Chinese can be distinguished by its literary qualities: an effort to maintain parallelism and rhythm is typical, even in prose works. Works also make extensive use of literary techniques such as allusion, which contributes to the language's brevity.

Historical use

Literary Chinese was adopted in Korea, Japan, and Vietnam. The Oxford Handbook of Classical Chinese Literature argues that this adoption came mainly from diplomatic and cultural ties with China, while conquest, colonization, and migration played smaller roles.^[10]

Modern use

A letter written in Literary Chinese sent from Kublai Khan to the "King of Japan" (日本國王) dated 1266, prior to the Mongol invasions of Japan. Grammar notes have been added to aid the understanding of Japanese speakers.

Classical Chinese was the main form used in Sinosphere literature until the 1919 May Fourth Movement. It was used to write the Hunmin Jeongeum proclamation in which the modern hangul alphabet was promulgated, and the essay by Hu Shih in which he argued against using Classical Chinese and in favor of written vernacular Chinese. Exceptions to the historical use of Classical Chinese include the vernacular novel Dream of the Red Chamber. Most government documents in the Republic of China were written in Classical Chinese until reforms in the 1970s, as part of a reform movement spearheaded by President Yen Chia-kan to shift to written vernacular Chinese.^[12][13] However, most of the laws of Taiwan are still written in a subset of Literary Chinese. As a result, it is necessary for modern Taiwanese lawyers to learn at least a subset of the literary language.

Many works of literature in Classical and Literary Chinese have been highly influential in Chinese culture, such as the canon of Tang poetry. However, even with knowledge of its grammar and vocabulary, works in Literary Chinese can be difficult for native vernacular speakers to understand, due to its frequent allusions and references to other historical literature, as well as the extremely laconic style. Presently, pure Literary Chinese is occasionally used in formal or ceremonial contexts. For example, the National Anthem of the Republic of China is in Literary Chinese. Buddhist texts in Literary Chinese are still preserved from the time they were composed or translated from Sanskrit. In practice there is a socially accepted continuum between vernacular and Literary Chinese. For example, most official notices and formal letters use stock literary expressions within vernacular prose.

Personal use of Classical phrases depends on factors such as the subject matter and the level of education of the writer. Excepting professional scholars and enthusiasts, most modern writers cannot easily write in Literary Chinese. Even so, most Chinese people with at least a middle school education are able to read basic Literary Chinese, because this ability is part of the Chinese middle school and high school curricula, and is a component of the college entrance examination. Literary Chinese in the school curriculum is taught primarily by presenting a literary work and including a vernacular gloss that explains the meaning of phrases. The examinations usually require the student to read a paragraph in Literary Chinese and then explain its meaning in the vernacular.

Contemporary use of Literary Chinese in Japan is mainly in the field of education and the study of literature. Learning kanbun, the Japanese readings of Literary Chinese, is part of the high school curriculum in Japan.^[14] Japan is the only country that maintains the tradition of creating Classical Chinese poetry based on Tang-era tone patterns.^[15]

Phonology

The shape of the character 人 'person' in oracle bone script may have influenced the character 年 'harvest', which later acquired the additional meaning of 'year'^{[lower-alpha 3]}

Chinese characters are not alphabetic and rarely reflect later sound changes in words. Efforts to reconstruct Old Chinese pronunciation began relatively recently. Classical Chinese is not read with a reconstructed Old Chinese pronunciation; instead, it is read with the pronunciations as categorized and listed in a rime dictionary originally based upon the Middle Chinese pronunciation in Luoyang during the 2nd–4th centuries. Over time, each dynasty updated and modified the official rime dictionary: by the time of the Yuan and Ming dynasties, its phonology reflected that of early Mandarin. Since the imperial examination required the candidate to compose poetry in the shi genre, pronunciation in non-Mandarin speaking parts of China such as Zhejiang, Guangdong and Fujian is either based on everyday speech, such as in Standard Cantonese, or is based on a special set of pronunciations borrowed from Classical Chinese, such as in Southern Min. In practice, all varieties of Chinese combine the two extremes of pronunciation: that according to a prescribed system, versus that based on everyday speech. Mandarin and Cantonese, for example, also have words that are pronounced one way in colloquial usage and another way when used in Classical Chinese or in specialized terms coming from Classical Chinese, though the system is not as extensive as that of Min or Wu.

Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese readers of Classical Chinese each use distinct systems of pronunciation specific to their own languages. Japanese speakers have readings of Chinese origin called on'yomi for many words, such as 銀行 (ginkō) or the name for Tokyo (東京), but use kun'yomi when the kanji represents a native word such as the reading of 行 in 行く (iku) or the reading of both characters in the name for the city of Osaka (大阪), as well as a system that aids Japanese speakers with a Classical word order.

Since pronunciation in modern varieties is different from Old Chinese or other historical forms such as Middle Chinese, characters that once rhymed may not any longer, or vice versa. Poetry and other rhyme-based writing thus becomes less coherent than the original reading must have been. However, some modern Chinese varieties have certain phonological characteristics that are closer to the older pronunciations than others, as shown by the preservation of certain rhyme structures.

Another particular characteristic of Classical Chinese is homophony. More than 2,500 years of sound change separates Classical Chinese from any modern variety, so when reading Classical Chinese in any modern variety of Chinese (especially Mandarin) or in Japanese, Korean, or Vietnamese, many characters which originally had different sounds have become homonyms. The famous poem Lion-Eating Poet in the Stone Den was written in the early 20th century by the linguist Chao Yuen Ren to demonstrate this; the poem contains only words that are now pronounced shi [ʂɻ̩] with various tones in modern Standard Chinese. The demonstration underlines how Classical Chinese has become an impractical language for modern Chinese speakers—when spoken aloud, Classical Chinese is largely incomprehensible. However, the poem is perfectly comprehensible when read, and often uses homophones that would not have been distinguishable even in spoken Old Chinese.

Words that have become homophones as a result of historic sound changes are far more common in Chinese than in English. For example, the following Old Chinese words, each of which historically had a distinct pronunciation, are now all pronounced as yì [î] ^ⓘ in Mandarin:

Romanizations have been devised to provide distinct spellings for Classical Chinese words, together with rules for pronunciation in various modern varieties. The earliest was the Romanisation Interdialectique by French missionaries Henri Lamasse of the Paris Foreign Missions Society and Ernest Jasmin, based on Middle Chinese, followed by linguist Wang Li's Wényán luómǎzì based on Old Chinese in 1940, and then by Chao's General Chinese Romanization in 1975. However none of these systems has seen extensive use.^[18][19]

See also

• Classical Chinese poetry
• Classical Chinese writers
• Gugyeol
• Sino-Xenic vocabulary
  • Sino-Japanese vocabulary
  • Sino-Korean vocabulary
  • Sino-Vietnamese vocabulary
• Brushtalk

Notes

References

External links

• Classical Chinese for Everyone, Bryan Van Norden, 2004
• Chinese Notes: Introduction to Classical Chinese, Alex Amies, 2013
• Chinese Texts: A Classical Chinese course, Mark Edward Lewis, 2014
• Literary Chinese, Robert Eno, 2012–2013 (to access the book use provided PDF index file)
• A Primer in Chinese Buddhist Writings, John Kieschnick, 2015
• Classical Chinese Lexicon, John Cikoski, 2011.
• Microsoft Translator releases literary Chinese translation (Microsoft Translator Blog, August 25, 2021)

Wikibooks has more on the topic of: Classical Chinese

Wikibooks has a book on the topic of: zh:文言

Literary Chinese edition of Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia