The difference between classical Chinese and vernacular Chinese

1. The difference between classical Chinese and vernacular Chinese "Classical Chinese and vernacular Chinese have existed since ancient times, but their names have only become popular in recent decades."

Both of them are written language, but the difference is "classical Chinese", which means the language that only reads the text without saying it. Vernacular, white is spoken, and Chinese is spoken, which roughly means spoken language. "

(Zhang Zhongxing's Classical Chinese and Vernacular Chinese) It can be seen that the distance from spoken Chinese is the biggest difference between classical Chinese and vernacular Chinese. But in fact, the relationship between classical Chinese and spoken English is quite close, but the so-called spoken English standards are different.

Because classical Chinese is the written language of ancient Chinese based on pre-Qin spoken language, and the spoken language we speak here is based on the northern dialect since Tang and Song Dynasties, the written language of modern Chinese used by everyone today is formed on this basis. In the initial stage of the development of Chinese, language and writing were integrated. Now we feel that those profound ancient books and records are actually vernacular works at that time.

For example, the "brushwork" in Shangshu that makes people feel "groggy" is mostly the spoken language recorded at that time, and "Han Shu Yi Wen Zhi" says: "The author of the book is an ancient order. Give orders to the people and listen to the executed if you don't stand up. "

"Order" means "notice", while "keeping his word" means a notice written immediately without polishing. Take the Book of Songs as an example. We know that most of the "winds" in it are folk songs, and what is certain is that many of them are directly created orally.

The other Analects of Confucius is a quotation from Confucius, and its relationship with spoken language is self-evident. Due to historical changes, the written language remains the same, but people's oral English will inevitably change in daily communication, so from about the Six Dynasties, there were obvious signs of separation between classical Chinese and oral English.

However, because Chinese characters are ideographic, the difference in pronunciation does not hinder people's understanding in reading, so the inconsistency of language and characters is not an urgent matter, and it has not attracted enough attention. At the same time, because the ancient books and records of the pre-Qin and Han dynasties were written in classical Chinese, and these works were the source of China culture, later generations of scholars consciously insisted on an archaized writing method, which was equivalent to artificially aggravating the inconsistency between words and characters, and finally formed the long-term inconsistency between China words and characters.

It is this kind of creative behavior that seems to deviate from the law of language development, but it has created a miracle that Chinese civilization has lasted for thousands of years, which also expresses China people's absolute confidence in their cultural attitude on the other hand. Of course, in real life, there are also some oral works that conform to people's oral communication habits, starting with Shi Shuo Xin Yu and Yan Family Instructions, and all the way to Dunhuang Bianwen, Tang and Song quotations, Song and Yuan plays and Ming and Qing novels. It should be said that every dynasty and generation has produced a large number of vernacular works, but they have failed to shake the dominant position of classical Chinese, and most of them can only be seen in the folk.

All this was not reversed until the late Qing Dynasty. At that time, foreign forces were powerful and the country was ill-fated At first, China people's cultural self-confidence was shaken, which is the premise and fundamental reason for the cultural changes in China in the future.

It is this mentality that makes China people put tradition in the dock for the first time and count its crimes, and classical Chinese, as the main carrier of traditional culture, is bound to bear the brunt. So Huang Zunxian wanted to "write my mouth by hand", while Qiu advocated "respecting vernacular Chinese and abandoning classical Chinese", which can be said to be a precedent for the vernacular movement.

We must have a clear understanding of this situation. Originally, the reflection on history in every era is a normal reaction and an inevitable step for the development and progress of traditional culture.

However, it is an extremely irresponsible historical attitude to shirk the responsibility of national decline in tradition, and it is even more absurd to put this sin in classical Chinese. However, due to the possible danger of national subjugation, rational treatment of traditional culture has become the most unacceptable behavior of China people, and any calm thinking will be dismissed as reactionary thinking, while radicalism, which represents patriotism, has gradually become the mainstream trend of thought in China society.

So in the new culture movement of 19 17, the vernacular movement was pushed to the extreme. In June 5438+that year 10, Hu Shi published "My humble opinion on literary improvement" in New Youth. Although it is from the perspective of improving literature, its main purpose is to advocate vernacular literature. He believes that "vernacular literature is the authenticity of China literature". Later, he wrote a history of vernacular literature to demonstrate this view.

Chen Duxiu also published "On Literary Revolution" in February, echoing Hu Shi's "Eight Propositions" with "Three Principles". This tandem really opened the curtain of the vigorous Cultural Revolution, and there was never a quiet moment in China.

19 18 all the articles in "new youth" were written in vernacular Chinese, and then various vernacular magazines such as trendy and weekly review were published like mushrooms after rain, and vernacular Chinese became a common practice. 1920 In September, the Ministry of Education ordered schools across the country to use Putonghua for one or two years from this fall.

At this point, the vernacular Chinese has achieved an officially recognized legal status. However, when we look back and relive this period of history, we can easily find that it is the leading figures who punched and kicked in the vernacular movement that actually benefited classical Chinese.

Their familiarity with the application of classical Chinese and traditional culture is not comparable to that of ordinary people. It is obviously not difficult for them to find some flaws in traditional culture. At the same time, their knowledge of classical Chinese has not disappeared because of the negation of classical Chinese, which makes it easier for them to apply vernacular Chinese.

However, in the vernacular movement, the beneficiaries of classical Chinese did not mention all the benefits of classical Chinese, but denounced it as "the evil of Tongcheng and the fallacy of literary selection" Classical Chinese is like a plague, which makes people afraid to avoid it. However, these people dressed themselves up as Shennong who tasted all kinds of herbs. After experiencing the hardships of classical Chinese, they warned the world of the dangers of classical Chinese, which fully embodied a fearless spirit. For example, Lu Xun said that "young people should not read ancient books".

However, fresh blood and inexperienced young people have a lot of discrimination. A thousand words of bitter words can't resist the patriotic slogan of "taking up arms and shouting", so this movement to criticize classical Chinese has a trend of "following the crowd" It is worth mentioning that Cha.

2. The difference between classical Chinese and modern Chinese has been divided into classical Chinese and vernacular Chinese since ancient times, while classical Chinese is the official language and belongs to written language. Vernacular Chinese is the language used by ordinary people in conversation. Ordinary people know nothing about classical Chinese, let alone using it as a daily conversation. However, the vernacular Chinese is the Chinese with the absolute majority in the history of China, and modern Chinese evolved from this parallel Chinese. Mainly refers to the language system established after the May 4th New Culture Movement, especially the grammar system. It can be seen from the existing ancient literary works such as Tang and Song vernacular literature, Yuan Zaju, and three words and two beats in Ming Dynasty that ancient vernacular and modern vernacular are not as different as classical Chinese. If you can't verify their pronunciation, at least their grammar and words are clear on paper. The ancient vernacular Chinese came from the May 4th modern vernacular literature.

3. The difference between classical Chinese and vernacular Chinese In fact, classical Chinese can generally be explained word by word, and it is not easy to make mistakes.

Follow-up: the difference between ancient vernacular and modern vernacular Answer: Chinese can be simply divided into three parts: classical Chinese, ancient vernacular and modern vernacular. From the unified language in Qin and Han dynasties to the ancient vernacular in the Republic of China, it has been common since the Republic of China. Have you read Lu Xun's articles? It is a typical ancient vernacular.

Most of us can't read classical Chinese, half understand ancient vernacular, and basically understand modern Chinese. The ancient vernacular Chinese is between classical Chinese and modern vernacular Chinese, and it is mixed with the social and cultural background when the article was written. People who don't know the background often misunderstand the author's meaning.

Generally speaking, it is like this. Supplement: Lu Xun's article was not combined with the background at that time, and few people could understand it.

So I read everyone's articles except Lu Xun's. I would rather read classical Chinese with a dictionary of common words in ancient Chinese than read Lu Xun's (except, of course, what the teacher asks).

Follow-up: Is the ancient vernacular the same as Cantonese today? Answer: Not the same. During the Qin and Han Dynasties, the ancient vernacular was equivalent to the current standard mandarin, and everyone said it was the ancient vernacular.

It can only be said that language has changed greatly since the historical development. Supplement: The ancient vernacular is the intangible cultural heritage of China, and it is a kind of inheritance.

We even learned English from foreigners. There is no point if you don't learn what our ancestors left behind. Follow-up: how can we understand? How to understand Zuo Zhuan, Lv Chunqiu and Guiguzi without notes? How many years have you studied?

4. The difference between classical Chinese and vernacular Chinese Classical Chinese is a written language in China, which mainly includes the written language based on spoken language in the pre-Qin period.

Commonly known as "yes." During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, no articles were invented to record characters, but bamboo slips, silks and other things were used to record characters, and silks were expensive, bamboo slips were huge and the number of words recorded was limited. In order to record more things on a roll of bamboo slips, unimportant words must be deleted.

It can be said that "classical Chinese" is the earliest "compressed" format of written records in the world. Later, when "paper" was used on a large scale, the habit of using "official documents" among the ruling classes had been finalized, and the ability to use "classical Chinese" had evolved into a symbol of reading and literacy.

Compared with classical Chinese, vernacular Chinese is an article written in vernacular Chinese, which is also called stylistic writing. The formal style in ancient times was classical Chinese.

In ancient times, before the Eastern Han Dynasty, bamboo slips and silks were used. Because the file carrier inevitably requires concise writing. Papermaking was invented in vernacular Chinese in the Eastern Han Dynasty. With the technical progress and the invention of movable type printing in Song Dynasty, all these laid a material foundation for the emergence of vernacular Chinese.

I feel that classical Chinese is compact and difficult to understand compared with modern languages, but the word capacity is high, and a word often contains a lot of content. The vernacular language is relatively easy to understand and the content is simple.

5. What are the similarities and differences between classical Chinese and vernacular Chinese? Classical Chinese is a kind of written language in China, which mainly includes written language based on spoken language in the pre-Qin period. Commonly known as "what is it". During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, no articles were invented to record words. Bamboo slips and silks were used to record words, but silks were expensive, bamboo slips were bulky and the number of words recorded was limited. In order to "roll" bamboo slips, it is necessary to delete unimportant words. It can be said that "classical Chinese" is the earliest "compressed" format of written records in the world. Later, when "paper" was used on a large scale, the habit of using "official documents" between the ruling classes had been finalized, and the use of "classical Chinese" had evolved into a symbol of reading and literacy. Compared with classical Chinese, vernacular Chinese is also called style of writing. Use of bamboo slips, silks, etc. As a document carrier, concise words are inevitably needed. Papermaking was invented in vernacular Chinese in the Eastern Han Dynasty. With the improvement of technology and the invention of movable type printing in Song Dynasty, these laid a material foundation for the emergence of vernacular Chinese.

6. What's the difference between classical Chinese and vernacular Chinese? First, different ideas. 1. Classical Chinese is a written form based on the elegant spoken language of ancient Chinese. In ancient times, there was little difference between classical Chinese and common spoken English.

Today's classical Chinese is an article composed of an ancient written language in China, mainly including the written language based on spoken language in the pre-Qin period. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, there were no articles for writing, but bamboo slips, silk books and other things were used to write.

With the change of history and the evolution of spoken language, the difference between classical Chinese and spoken language has gradually expanded, and "classical Chinese" has become the exclusive language of scholars. 2. The vernacular refers to a kind of "China written language".

It was formed on the basis of spoken language since the Tang and Song Dynasties. At first, it was only used in popular literary works, such as Bianwen in Tang Dynasty, scripts and novels in Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, and some academic works and official documents after Song and Yuan Dynasties. It was not until the May 4th New Culture Movement that it was widely used in the whole society.

Second, the characteristics are different. 1. The characteristics of classical Chinese are: separation of speech and writing, concise writing. Compared with vernacular Chinese (including spoken and written language), the characteristics of classical Chinese are mainly manifested in grammar and vocabulary.

2, vernacular, simple and popular, in language, vivid, pungent, rough, full of life, expressive. Throughout the May 4th vernacular movement, we can see that it absorbed the western vocabulary resources and grammatical structure extensively, and developed in many aspects such as language, writing and thought.

This movement is not only a "self-sufficient change within the language", but also closely related to the innovation of the whole thinking concept and the national modernization movement. The contest between "vernacular Chinese" and "classical Chinese" is also a collision of two different value systems and social ideologies to a great extent.

Iii. Different historical origins 1. Mr. Wang Li, a famous linguist and educator, pointed out in "Ancient Chinese": "Classical Chinese refers to the written language of ancient Chinese formed on the basis of pre-Qin spoken language and the language in the ancient works of later writers." Classical Chinese, that is, articles written in classical Chinese, that is, ancient classical Chinese works and works imitating it in past dynasties.

Classical Chinese, as a written stereotyped writing language, has been used for two or three thousand years, from pre-Qin philosophers and poems in Han Dynasty to ancient Chinese prose in Tang and Song Dynasties and stereotyped writing in Ming and Qing Dynasties. In other words, classical Chinese is the ancient written language of China and the source of modern Chinese.

2. The style reform since the late Qing Dynasty can be divided into three stages: new style, vernacular and popular language. The "new style" in the late Qing Dynasty is colloquial "popular classical Chinese".

The "vernacular Chinese" in the May 4th period is like a "record" with a little amplification. In 1930s, "popular language" advocated thorough colloquialism, and the style reform was mature.

As early as the Tang and Song Dynasties, some people came out to oppose sentence breaking and format constraints. In the Tang Dynasty, Han Yu (768-824) advocated prose and opposed parallel prose, which was called "the decline of eight generations of literature".

Eight Dynasties: Eastern Han Dynasty, Wei and Jin Dynasty, Song Dynasty, Qi Dynasty, Liang Dynasty, Chen Dynasty and Sui Dynasty. Parallel prose originated in the Han and Wei Dynasties and matured in the Southern and Northern Dynasties. It pays attention to antithesis and temperament, and the four characters and six characters alternate, which is called "Si Liu Wen".

Han Yu opposed this style which attached importance to form and bound thoughts, and advocated classical Chinese which was close to spoken language and free expression, so that the style was restored to the era before it was bound by parallel prose, so it was called the "ancient prose movement". The names "ancient prose" and "innovation" are actually.

Temples in the Tang Dynasty promoted Buddhism and attracted people by telling stories. Show pictures and rap stories.

The picture is called "disguised form" and the rap script is called "variant". Prose and poetry appear alternately, all prose.

Later generations developed into drums and tanci. This is early vernacular literature.