Did ancient emperors speak Mandarin or dialects?

In China's modern several major Chinese dialects, the northern dialect can be viewed as the ancient Chinese language developed over thousands of years in the vast northern region, while the rest of the dialects were gradually formed by the constant southward migration of northern residents throughout history. In the early days, the vast Jiangnan region was mainly inhabited by the ancient Yue ethnic group, who used the ancient Yue language, which was so far removed from ancient Chinese that they could not talk to each other. Later, there were several large-scale southward migration of Han Chinese from the north, which brought the ancient Chinese language of the north in different periods and dispersed it to various areas in the south of the Yangtze River, thus gradually forming the six major dialects which are obviously different from each other nowadays. There are three reasons for the differences between the present dialects: firstly, before the contact between the northern Chinese language and the southern ancient Vietnamese language, there were their own regional dialects; secondly, the northern Chinese language came down to the south at a different time, so naturally the Chinese language itself is not the same; thirdly, each of the southern dialects developed in a certain unique environment.

(1) Northern dialects (i.e., Guanhua)

Northern dialects account for three-fourths of the total Han Chinese population, and are distributed along the north-south cultural line (east of Tongzhou County - east of Nantong City - Yangtze River - north of Jingjiang County - Yangtze River -East of Zhenjiang City - West of Danyang County - West of Jintan County - West of Liyang County - South of Lishui County - North of Gaochun County - Guangde County Langxi County - Xuancheng City - Wuhu County North - Fanchang County - Nanling County East - Tongling County - Tongling City East - Qingyang County South East - Shitai County North Qingyang County southeast - Shitai County north - Pengze County - Hukou County south - Jiujiang City south - Ruichang City - Yangtze River - Huangshi City -Wuhan City South - Yangtze River - Linxiang County - Changde City - Yuanjiang River - Huaihua City - Jingzhou County - Taofang County -Yongzhou - Chenzhou - Guilin East - Hezhou - Liuzhou South - Hechi South - Baise) to the north of all Han inhabited areas. The official languages are generally categorized into six major regions, namely, the Northern Mandarin, the Qin-Jin dialect, the Lan-Yin Mandarin, the Central Plains Mandarin (Central Mandarin), the Southwestern Mandarin, and the Jianghuai Mandarin.

Northern Mandarin is divided into Jiao Liao Mandarin, Jilu Mandarin, Beijing Mandarin, and Northeast Mandarin. Jiao Liao Mandarin is distributed in Shandong Peninsula and Liaodong Peninsula; Jilu Mandarin is distributed in Hebei Province, western Shandong Province, and Ningcheng County, Inner Mongolia; Beijing Mandarin is distributed in Beijing, northern Hebei Province, and Chifeng City, Inner Mongolia; and Northeast Mandarin is distributed in Heilongjiang Province, Jilin Province, northern Liaoning Province, and northeastern Inner Mongolia.

Before the Western Zhou Dynasty partitioned the state of Yan, the residents of Beijing spoke the Donghu branch of the Mongolian language group of the Altaic language family. Later, due to the entry of Emperor Huangdi and his subsequent partition in Ji (present-day Guang'anmen, Xuanwu District, Beijing), Beijing began to speak the Longzhong dialect of Tianshui (the language of Emperor Huangdi); in particular, after the establishment of the Western Zhou, which partitioned the Zongzhong family in Yan (present-day Liulihe, Fangshan District, Beijing), and as Yan gradually grew stronger, most of the Eastern Hu were expelled, and Beijing began to speak the Guanzhong dialect of Baoji (a language of the Zhou family, which is similar to the language of the Emperor Yandi). Since then, Beijing has also been inhabited by Han Chinese and Mongolian-speaking peoples (Wuhuan, Xianbei, and Qidan), so the brand of Beijing's official dialect of Donghu gradually appeared, while the color of Guanzhong gradually faded. During the Liao, Jin and Yuan Dynasties, a large number of ethnic minorities used Beijing as their capital and stationed their troops there for a period of 430 years. The Beijing dialect deepened its contact with the Altaic language family and strengthened its ties with the northeastern official languages, and became politically separated from the Central Chinese official languages. It became the least divergent dialect, with the simplest phonetic structure and the fewest ancient sounds preserved, and was then known as Yuandadu dialect, which became the source of modern Beijing Guanhua. After the Ming Dynasty recovered Beijing, it immigrated more than 1.3 million Han Chinese from all over the world to the dilapidated Beijing. Because of the different origins of the Han Chinese at that time, the Han immigrants used the Yuan Dadu dialect, which was already spoken by a minority of the Han Chinese natives in Beijing, as the common language, and there was basically no difference between Yuan Dadu and the current Beijing Official Dialect. Thereafter, with the political and economic centralization of the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, and the production and circulation of a large number of ancient literary works, in the mid-Qing Dynasty, the Beijing dialect finally took the place of the Central Plains Yayin as the standard tone of the Chinese language. "The May Fourth Movement combined the spread of the vernacular language with the promotion of the Beijing dialect, and the vernacular language took the place of the literary language in the written language, so that a standardized modern Chinese national ****syntax (Beijing dialect) was basically formed with the initial unification of the written and spoken languages. In the Republic of China, it was called "Mandarin", and in New China it is called "Putonghua". After the founding of New China, the Beijing dialect spread to the Xinjiang province of Altay region of Burqin, Fuyun, Fuhai, Habahe, Jimunai, Tacheng region of Toli, Buksel, Shihezi city, Karamay city, Korla city northeast of the Bohu County.

After the Warring States period, a large number of Yan Chinese immigrated to the Northeast, and it was with Chinese immigrants from the Northeast that Yan man Weiman entered Korea to build a state. After the Yongjia Rebellion, a large number of Han Chinese in Beijing migrated to the northeast, but by the end of the Tang Dynasty all were assimilated by foreigners. During the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, the Khitan people captured a large number of Beijingers to enter the customs, these northeastern Han people speak Beijing official language laid the foundation for the development of the northeastern official language, the Jin soldiers occupied Beijing in 1122, all the Beijing city people were captured in the northeast, these Beijingers and the Liao dynasty Beijingers who came first, so that the northeastern official language began to take shape. During the Liao, Jin and Yuan Dynasties, Beijing and the Northeast were in the same country and had close contact with each other, while there was not much communication with the Chinese language in the Central Plains, so the Northeast Official Language was basically equivalent to the Beijing Official Language. After the Qing army occupied the northeastern territories of the Ming dynasty, it began to speak Northeastern Mandarin, and in 1644 the Manchus and Han Banners brought this dialect to Beijing, the home of the Northeasterners. 3 million Northeastern Han Chinese were living in the Northeastern China in 1620, but due to the fact that they followed the Qing army to the border, there were only 150,000 Northeastern Han Chinese left in the beginning of the Qing dynasty. In 1620, there were 3 million Han Chinese in the Northeast, but by the beginning of the Qing Dynasty there were only 150,000 Han Chinese left. After Xianfeng, the Han Chinese were allowed to enter the customs, and the Shandong Peninsula people crossed the Bohai Sea, and part of them settled in the uninhabited Liaodong Peninsula, forming a new distribution of Jiao Liao official language, and part of them continued to migrate northward, living in the eastern part of Jilin-Heilongjiang; the Hebei people who spoke Jilu official language went out of Shanhaiguan, and settled in the western part of Jilin-Heilongjiang. Settled in Jilin - Heilongjiang, Shandong people Hebei people originally manipulated with the Northeast official language is very close to the northern official language, immigration and have to pass through the Northeast official language of the north-central Liaoning, coupled with the Qing government sent officials to speak the Beijing official language, the Manchus in Jilin Heilongjiang, also speak the Northeast official language, so long ago in the northeast of the roots of the Northeast official language in the northeast of the Jilin Heilongjiang, the Shandong Hebei immigrants have become the common language.

During the Xia Dynasty, the western part of the present-day North China Plain was populated by Huaxia, and the eastern part by many y Huaxiaized Eastern Barbarians. During the Shang Dynasty, the Shang became fully Sinicized, and the Sinicization of many of the Eastern Barbarians deepened. During the Western Zhou Dynasty, the Eastern Barbarians of Qi and Lu were Sinicized and spoke the Qi dialect - Lu dialect (a fusion of the Zhou dialect and the Eastern Barbarians' language) respectively, and the Huaxia tribes in the western part of the North China Plain spoke the Zhao dialect - Yan dialect (the language of the Yellow Emperor), but the difference between these dialects was as great as the difference between the Fuzhou dialect - Southern Fujian dialect, the Gan dialect -Hakka, but these dialects differed as much as the differences between Fuzhou - Minnan, Gan, and Hakka. During the Warring States period, when the lords were fighting, the Qi, Lu, Zhao and Yan dialects were gradually unified under the influence of the Henan dialect (Yayan), the official language of the Central Plains, and the Qin and Jin dialects, and by the time of the Qin Dynasty, the Qi and Lu dialects had completely merged and converged. During the Yellow Turbans Rebellion and the Yongjia Rebellion, there were frequent population movements within North China, and the Qilu, Zhao, and Southeast Yan dialects became more and more mixed. The capital of Northern Song Dynasty was Kaifeng, and the Bianluo dialect was the only correct one in the world. At this time, Qilu, Zhao, Yan and Southeast Yan were all in the fringe area of Kyoto, **** the same geographic situation and economic conditions for the North China Plain dialects provide an opportunity for integration, the formation of Jilu official language. As for the independence of the Beijing dialect from the Jilu dialect, it is entirely because Beijing has always been a mixture of Eastern Hu and Han, and subject to the Liao and Jin dynasties, the long-term capital of the rule of the relevant. During the Yuan and Ming dynasties, the Jilu people migrated to Tianjin, Pinggu County of Beijing, Tangshan, and Qinhuangdao, expanding the distribution area of the Jilu dialect.

Early in the Western Zhou Dynasty, there existed on the Shandong Peninsula an Eastern Barbarians without the slightest degree of Sinicization, and their language was a fusion of the Tungus and Baiyue languages, similar to present-day Korean, and unrelated to the Qi dialect of the Chinese language at that time. Although Qi later annexed the Shandong Peninsula, the Chinese people of Qi still had no opportunity to communicate with these Eastern Barbarians. During the Yellow Turbans Rebellion and the Yongjia Rebellion, the Shandong Peninsula began to have considerable mobility with the people of Qi, so the Eastern Barbarians began to be in an open environment and were gradually Sinicized, and the Jiao Liao official language was formed. The demarcation line between Jiao Liao Mandarin and Jilu Mandarin is: Laizhou Bay - Weifang West - Linqu Northwest - Yiyuan East - Yishui South - Wulian South - Rizhao Northeast. The demarcation line with Northeastern Mandarin is: Huanren North - Kandian West - Fengcheng South - Xiuyan North - Haicheng South - Dawa South.

The Qin and Jin dialects are found in Shanxi Province, northern Shaanxi, the Inner Mongolian Hetao, northwest of Zhangjiakou, and west of Anyang in Xinxiang, Henan Province. The Qin-Jin dialect distribution area is closed to transportation, ten miles of different sounds, and the retention of ancient sounds is relatively stubborn, such as the retention of the incoming sounds. Since the dialect area has historically been a place where Han Chinese and Altaic ethnic groups have intermingled, some traces of ethnic minorities have also been left in the Qin-Jin dialect. During the Warring States period, the dialect occupied the western part of present-day Henan Province north of the Yellow River, and in 1722 the dialect occupied the Hetao region of Inner Mongolia.

The Lan-Yin official dialect is subdivided into eight fragments: Yinchuan City, Shizuishan City - Pingluo - Taole - Helan - Yongning - Qingtongxia - Lingwu - Wuzhong City - Zhongning - Tongtong Wuzhong - Zhongning - Tongxin - Zhongwei, Yanchi County in Ningxia, Lanzhou City - Yuzhong - Minqin, Yongdeng - Gaolan, Gulang - Tianzhu, the Hexi Corridor ( except Dunhuang and Jingtai), Urumqi City - Changji Prefecture - Bortala Prefecture - Altay City with Qinghe County - Tacheng (except Tori and Buxel) - Hami.

The Zhongyuan official language is distributed in the traditional settlement area of the ancient Huaxia people, north and south of the present Longhai line. The town of Awanping in Wujiang County, Suzhou City, part of the countryside east of Xuancheng City, Guangde County in southern Anhui Province, and Changxing County in Zhejiang Province belong to the Central Plains Mandarin isolate. The Central Plains Official Dialect is further subdivided into Henan dialect, Guanzhong dialect Dongfu dialect, Guanzhong dialect Xifu dialect, Qinlong dialect, Longzhong dialect, and South Xinjiang dialect.

The Henan dialect includes ninety-eight cities and counties in Henan Province, two cities and counties in southern Hebei Province, thirty-one cities and counties in southwestern Shandong Province, twenty-eight cities and counties in the Fen River Valley of southwestern Shanxi Province, twenty-two counties and cities north of the Huaihe River in Anhui Province, and Fengyang County - Bengbu City - Huoqiu County south of the Huaihe River - Jinzhai County, Xuzhou City, Jiangsu Province - Suqian City - Lianyungang City, Donghai County, Ganyu County, Shaanxi Province, Ankang City, Baihe County.

①The Yellow Emperor defeated the Yan Emperor, and the two united to defeat the Eastern Barbarians. The descendants of Yan and Huang in the western part of the North China Plain and the Fen River and Wei River Plain gradually merged into the Huaxia race, and Xia and Ji are the two branches of the Huaxia race. The Xia Dynasty ruled the western part of the Central Plain (Henan Province, southern Shanxi Province), and its language was the original Huaxia language of the fusion of Yan Huang; Ji ruled Beijing, and its language was the original Huaxia language of the Yellow Emperor.

②The Shang language was initially a y Chineseized Dongyi language, popular in the eastern Central Plains (now southwestern Lu - Ji'nan - northern Henan - northern Anhui - Xuzhou), the Shang Dynasty ruled the Central Plains for several hundred years, and the Central Plains of the Xia language gradually melted into today's Central Plains Official Language the prototype of today's official language of the Central Plains - the Huaxia language.

③The Huaxia language, with Luoyang as its standard sound, later became the generalized national language of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, and the language of the Book of Songs was Yayan, and Confucius used Yayan in his lectures instead of the Lu dialect, and he became the pioneer in promoting the national ****same language. During the Qin Dynasty, cultural policies such as the "Book of the same language" were implemented, which provided a political guarantee for the spread of the national ****same language. In the Han Dynasty, the elegant language evolved into the "common language and common language", and the "Dialect" compiled by Yang Xiong in the Western Han Dynasty was the first work on dialects in China, which used the "common language" to explain dialects of different places. During the Wei, Jin and North-South Dynasties, the "Tongyi", which was standardized by the Luoyang dialect, spread from the Central Plains to the north and the Jiangzuo area. The Wei Book of Xianyang Wang Xi biography of the Northern Wei Dynasty, Emperor Xiaowen ordered to "cut off the Hu language" and use the correct tone (Luoyang dialect) "records. In the Southern Dynasties, Song, Qi, Liang and Chen all built their capitals in Jinling (now Nanjing), and the Jinling dialect at that time was a copy of the Luoyang dialect.

4 Yang Guang, Emperor Yang of Sui Yang, made Luoyang the capital and moved tens of thousands of wealthy merchants and businessmen from all over the country to Luoyang to promote the correct pronunciation and language represented by Luoyang. During the Tang Dynasty, Luoyang dialect was still regarded as the basis for the ****same language of the Han people. For example, Kong Yingda's preaching and commentary on the scriptures, and the creative activities of Han Yu and Liu Zongyuan in literature promoted the widespread circulation of the written form of the ****same language of the Han nationality. In the Tang Dynasty, the requirements of phonetics were also put forward in the poems and compositions, that is, they should conform to the norms of Cheyun, which was passed down from Wei, Jin, and North and South Dynasties, with Luoyang phonetics as the standard sound. In the Northern Song Dynasty, Bianliang (now Kaifeng), Luoyang and Bianjing were very close to each other, and the voice passed down from the two places was called "Central Plains Yayin". As the capital of the Southern Song Dynasty was located in Hangzhou, the Central Plains Yayin also expanded its influence in Hangzhou, so much so that today's Hangzhou dialect still has many similarities with the Central Plains official dialect. However, at that time, Luoyang dialect was still in the position of a standardized tone, "the only one in the Central Plains is Luoyang, which has the most correct voice in the world" (Lu You, "Notes of Laoxuean", Volume VI). During the Northern Song Dynasty, the sound of the Central Plains was basically finalized, and it was almost identical to today's Henan dialect. The reason why today's Northern Official Dialect is similar to the Henan dialect is that historically the Northern Official Dialect area has long used the Henan dialect as a standard to regulate its own vocabulary and grammatical system.

⑤After the Jin people moved their capital to Beijing, the influence of the Henan dialect was extended to most of the areas ruled by the Jin people. During the Yuan dynasty, the sound of the Central Plains (Henan dialect) was widely spread, and the situation of "the same sound in the four seas" appeared. Yuan Zhou Deqing's "Zhongyuan Yinyun" was written "with the Central Plains as the rule, and the face of the four seas with the same sound". Yuan Dynasty Han Chinese people still take the sound of the Central Plains as the correct sound. From the early Ming Dynasty's "Hongwu Zhengyun" to the middle of the Qing Dynasty, scholars who taught the standardized tone were based on the elegant tone of the Central Plains. Meanwhile, with the centralization of politics and economy in the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, the production and circulation of a large number of ancient literary works (Yuan miscellaneous dramas, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Water Margin, Journey to the West, History of Confucianism, Dream of Red Mansions, etc.) gradually elevated the Beijing dialect to the status of standard tone. At the end of the Yuan and the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the textbooks for Koreans to learn Chinese, Lao Ki Da (老乞大) and Park Tong Thing (朴通事), were written in the standardized Peking dialect of the time. The Qing government issued a decree requiring officials at all levels and "all graduates, student members, gong supervisors, and students to learn the official language, which is standardized by the Beijing dialect". It was after the middle of the Qing Dynasty that the Beijing dialect took over the standardized status of the Central Plains Yayin. Chen Chongqing, a scholar of the Qing Dynasty, said: "The capital of China was built in Yan, and the world's voice was the first to honor the Beijing accent." As a result, the development and evolution of the Chinese national ****similar language has realized the transformation from the Central Plains elegant sound to the Beijing sound in terms of the standard sound, which has laid the foundation for the birth of the modern Chinese national ****similar language (Putonghua).

The Guanzhong dialect Dongfu dialect includes Xi'an, Tongchuan, Xianyang, Weinan, Shangxian-Lonan-Danfeng-Sanyang under Shangluo, Yichuan-Huanglong-Lochuan in northern Shaanxi, and Yijun-Huangling-Fuchuan in northern Shaanxi. -Yijun-Huangling-Fuxian in northern Shaanxi, and Ningxian in Gansu; the Guanzhong dialect Xifu includes Baoji City. Guanzhong dialect area is Yandi's hometown, matrilineal Yandi genus of Zhou language is Yandi language, Yandi language and the fusion of the summer language of the Yandi fusion of similar, but also due to geographic proximity, communication is frequent, so Guanzhong dialect and the Henan dialect of the Central Plains of the same official language.

The Qinlong dialect includes Yan'an, Ganquan, Fuxian, and Dingbian in northern Shaanxi, Lioyang, Mianxian, Nanzheng, Hanzhong, Chenggu, Yangxian, Xixiang, Hanyin, Ankang, Pingli, Xunyang, and Zhen'an in southern Shaanxi, Qingyang, Heshui, Zhenning, Huaqi, Huancheng, Zhenyuan, Pingliang, Jingchuan, Huating, Chongxin, and Lingtai in eastern Longyang, and Longxi, Zhangxian, Wushan, Gangu, Lixian, Xiho, Minxian, Dangchang, Zhouqu, and Wuxi in the south of Weihe. , Dangchang, Zhouqu, Wudu, Chengxian, Huixian, Kangxian, Liangdang, Wenxian (in addition to Bikou town), Lintan, Zhuoni, Dunhuang, the eastern end of the Hexi Corridor, Jingtai, Xining City, Qinghai Province, Huangzhong, Huangyuan, Menyuan, Mutual Aid, Guide, Hualong, Ping'an, Guyuan, Ningxia Province, Panyang, Lunde.

The Longzhong dialect includes Datong, Ledu, Minhe,循化, and Tongren in Qinghai Province, Haiyuan, Xiji, and Jingyuan in Ningxia Province, and Yongjing, Linxia, Hezheng, Guanghe, Kangle, Lintao, Weiyuan, Dingxi, Huining, Tongwei, Jingning, Zhuanglang, Qin'an, Zhangjiachuan, Qingshui, and Tianshui in Gansu Province. Historically, it has long been under the influence of the Qiang, and Guanzhong dialect has taken on a different character.

The South Xinjiang dialect includes Korla, Aksu, Kizilsu and Kizilsu prefectures, Kashgar, Hotan, Turpan and Yili prefectures.

The Southwest Official Dialect includes ten pieces: Sichuan Province, Chongqing Municipality, nineteen counties and cities in the western part of Hubei Province, northwestern part of Hunan Province, and southern part of Shaanxi Province, where it is spoken in the following areas: Liuba-Fuping-Ningshaan-Zhenping-Langao-Ziyang -Shiquan - Zhenba - Ningqiang, Gansu Province, Wenxian Bikou Town; Luzhou City - Yibin City - Leshan City - Xichang City, Guizhou Province, Tongzi - Renhuai -Yanhe-Injiang, Yunnan Province, Daguan-Suijiang-Shuifu, Neijiang City-Zigong City-Renshou County-Fushun County, Ya'an City -Asbestos County, Xianguan -Jianchuan -Binchuan -Eryuan -Yunlong -Lijiang City in northwestern Yunnan Province; Dali -Baoshan in western Yunnan Province Lucy; Kunming - Zhaotong - Qujing - Yuxi - Chuxiong - Yixue - Kaiyuan in east-central Yunnan Province; Guiyang City in Guizhou Province Anshun City in Guizhou Province, Ningnan County in Sichuan Province; 27 counties and cities centered on Zunyi - Liupanshui - Bijie in the north of Guizhou Province, Weixin - Yiliang - Zhenxiong in Yunnan Province, Xiushan County in Chongqing, Zhijiang - Huaihua - Fenghuang - Xinhuang in Hunan Province -Huaihua-Fenghuang-Xinhuang-Jishou; Zhenyuan-Cengong-Liping-Jinping-Taijiang in southeastern Guizhou Province, Jingzhou - Channel in Hunan Province; Kaili - Duyun - Guiding County in southern Guizhou Province; Xiangfan - Shiyan - Danjiangkou - Laohekou - Suizhou in northern Hubei Province Wuhan, Linxiang County in Hunan Province; Yongzhou and Chenzhou in southern Hunan Province; fifty-six counties and cities centered on Liuzhou-Guilin-Baise-Hechi in Guangxi Province; Changjiang County-Dongfang City-Danzhou City in Hainan Province -Sanya City, Hainan Province; and the military language spoken in parts of Sanya City. The demarcation line between the Southwest Mandarin and the Jianghuai Mandarin is to the west and south of a line running from Guangshui County - Anlu County - Yingcheng County - Huangpi - Huanggang City - Ezhou City - Herb County.

Shang Zhou Qin Han period, Dongting Lake also belongs to the primitive Chinese language and Tibetan-Burmese, Miao-Yao language, the fusion and formation of the Chu language, after the Yongjia chaos, moved into Hubei QinYongLiuJin people (Shaanxi Gansu, as well as a part of Shanxi) there are 60,000, appeared in the Southwest official language of the initial prototype. After the Anshi Rebellion, ten times more than the indigenous northern immigrants into the northern Dongting Lake, impact, culmination and eventually replaced the local Chu language, laid the foundation of the Southwest official language.

Jianghuai official language is distributed between the Huaihe River and the north-south cultural line, Fujian Nanping Chengguan, Changle County, Yangyu village belongs to the Jianghuai official language island. The demarcation line between the JAC and the Central Plains Official Dialect is as follows: Lianyungang Linhonghekou - Punan Town, Donghai County - Donghai Huangchuan - Donghai Baitabu - Donghai Pingming - Donghai Fangshan - Donghai Anfeng -Xinyi Heibu - Shuyang Yinping (Tongyang) - Fangwei Village, Shuyang Yanji Town - Shuyang Yuelai - Suqian Guanmiao - Suqian Dingzui - Siyang Cangji -Siyang Tuyuan - Sihong Caomiao - Sihong Jinliao - Sihong Chonggang - Sihong Shangtang - Sihong Fengshannan - Huaihe River -Fengyang County South -Bengbu City Southwest -Huaihe River -Huoqiu County East -Jinzhai County South.