Classical Chinese

Classical Chinese or Literary Chinese is a traditional style of written Chinese using grammar and vocabulary very different from any modern spoken form of Chinese. Classical Chinese was used for almost all formal correspondence before the 20th century, not only in China but also in Korea, Vietnam and Japan. Among Chinese speakers, classical Chinese has been largely replaced by Vernacular Chinese (baihua), a style of writing that is much closer to modern spoken Chinese, while speakers of non-Chinese languages have largely abandoned Classical Chinese in favor of local vernaculars.

Definitions

While the terms Classical Chinese and Literary Chinese are commonly used interchangeably, this is not strictly accurate. Sinologists generally agree that they are in fact different things. By most academic definitions, Classical Chinese (古文, Pinyin Gŭwén, "Ancient Writing"; or more literally 古典漢語 Gŭdǐan Hànyŭ "Classical Chinese") refers to the written language of China from the Zhou Dynasty, and especially the Spring and Autumn Period, through the end of the Han Dynasty. Classical Chinese is therefore the language used in many of China's most influential books, such as the Analects of Confucius, the Mencius and the Daodejing.

Related Topics:
Sinologists - Pinyin - Zhou Dynasty - Spring and Autumn Period - Han Dynasty - Analects of Confucius - Mencius - Daodejing

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Literary Chinese (文言文, Wényánwén, "Literary Writing", or more colloquially just 文言 Wényán) is the form of written Chinese used from the end of the Han Dynasty to the early 20th century when it was replaced by vernacular written Chinese (Baihua). Literary diverged more and more from Classical as the languages of China became more and more disparate and as the Classical written language became less and less representative of the spoken language. At the same time, Literary Chinese was based largely upon the Classical language, and writers frequently borrowed Classical language into their Literary writings. Literary Chinese therefore shows a great deal of similarity to Classical Chinese, even though the similarity decreases over the centuries.

Related Topics:
Han Dynasty - Baihua - Spoken language

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This situation can be compared to the coexistence of the Latin language and the Latin-derived Romance languages in Europe. The Romance languages continued to evolve, while Latin stayed relatively fixed. By the middle ages though, Latin included many usages that would have baffled the Romans. The coexistence of Classical Chinese and the native languages of Korea, Japan, and Vietnam can be compared to the use of Latin in countries that natively speak non-Latin-derived Germanic languages or Slavic languages. This also corresponds to the position of Classical Arabic relative to the various regional vernaculars.

Related Topics:
Latin - Romance languages - Europe - Middle ages - Romans - Germanic languages - Slavic languages - Classical Arabic

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