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.

Teaching and Use

Wenyan was the primary form used in Chinese literary works until the May Fourth Movement, and was also heavily used in Japan and Korea. Ironically, Classical Chinese was used to write the Hunmin Jeongeum in which the modern Korean alphabet (Hangul) was promulgated and the essay by Hu Shi in which he argued against using Classical Chinese and in favor of baihua. Exceptions to the use of wenyan were vernacular novels such as The Dream of the Red Chamber, which was considered low class at the time.

Related Topics:
May Fourth Movement - Hunmin Jeongeum - Hangul - Hu Shi - The Dream of the Red Chamber

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Today, pure wenyan is occasionally used in formal or ceremonial occasions. The National Anthem of the Republic of China on Taiwan (中華民國國歌, pinyin: zhōnghúa míngúo gúogē), for example, is in wenyan. In practice there is a socially accepted continuum between baihua and wenyan. A person writing a letter that is otherwise in baihua might include wenyan expressions and phrases to express that the matter being discussed is formal or serious and important. A letter written completely in wenyan would be considered quaint and old-fashioned, but hardly wrong and/or incorrect.

Related Topics:
National Anthem of the Republic of China - Taiwan - Pinyin

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Most Chinese people with at least a middle school education are able to read basic wenyan, because the ability to read (but not write) wenyan is part of the Chinese middle school and high school curricula and is part of the college entrance examination. Wenyan is taught primarily by presenting a classical Chinese work and including a baihua gloss that explains the meaning of phrases. Tests on classical Chinese are often essentially translation exercises that ask the student to express the meaning of a paragraph in baihua, using multiple choice.

Related Topics:
Middle school - High school - Curricula

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In addition, many works of literature in wenyan (such as Tang poetry) have major cultural influences. However, even with knowledge of grammar and vocabulary, wenyan can be extremely difficult to decipher, even by educated native speakers of Chinese, because of its heavy use of literary references and allusions as well as its extremely abbreviated style.

Related Topics:
Literature - Tang - Poetry - Cultural - Reference - Allusion

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~