What does the national common language mean?

Mandarin and standardized Chinese characters are the common languages of the country and are used all over the country, including ethnic autonomous areas and places where ethnic minorities live in compact communities.

China is a multi-ethnic, multilingual and multilingual country with 56 nationalities and 73 languages. Among the 30 writing ethnic groups, there are 55 scripts, of which 26 are in use.

Formulating the national common language and writing law, determining the status of Putonghua and standardized Chinese characters as the national common language and writing in the form of law, and specifying the scope of use of the national common language and writing are conducive to the social application of the language and writing, the communication between ethnic groups, the promotion of national unity and the maintenance of national unity.

At present, compared with the requirements of social development, the application of spoken and written languages is still lagging behind: dialects are prevalent in some areas, and the atmosphere of speaking Mandarin in public places has not really formed; It is not uncommon in society to abuse traditional Chinese characters and create simplified ones.

Some enterprises are keen on taking foreign names and making up transliteration words in marketing activities; The confusion in the use of language and characters in information technology products is also very prominent; Many publications, advertisements, shop signs, commodity packaging and instructions abuse foreign languages.

A large number of facts show that there is no law in language and writing work, and it only depends on policy documents, which is not standardized and authoritative. Only by formulating the national common language and writing law and bringing the language and writing work into the legal track can we meet the needs of social development and realize scientific and effective management.

This law regulates not the personal use of the national common language, but the social communication behavior.

Chapter II of the Law regulates the government behavior of using words in the national common language, mass media and public places, specifically targeting words in state organs, schools, publications, radio stations, television stations, film and television screens, public facilities and signboards, advertisements, commodity packaging and descriptions, names of enterprises and institutions, public service industries and information technology products.

Dialects, Traditional Chinese Characters and Variants

Besides the national language, Chinese also has dialects, which are objective and have their own use value. The promotion of Putonghua, which is commonly used throughout the country, is not to eliminate dialects, which will exist for a long time in certain fields and specific areas. Therefore, while this law stipulates the use of Putonghua, Article 16 also stipulates the special situations and areas where dialects are needed.

When we promote the standardization of Chinese characters, we don't require that traditional Chinese characters and variants can't be used in all occasions, but we should limit the use of traditional Chinese characters and variants to a certain extent. Article 17 of this law stipulates the scope of use of traditional Chinese characters and variant Chinese characters. Among them, calligraphy art refers to calligraphy works for appreciation.

National People's Congress-On the Law of People's Republic of China (PRC) on Common Language and Characters (Draft)