Ancient Chinese Reader

Author: Xie Huiquan
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2001-03-01
Features: Chinese is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world, with a long history. The earliest materials that record the Chinese language, which we can see today, are the oracle bone script and bronze inscriptions from the Shang Dynasty, dating back over three thousand years. However, the origin of the Chinese language occurred much earlier than the Shang Dynasty, but there were no written records during that long period of history. Ancient Chinese, in contrast to modern Chinese, refers to the language of the ancient Chinese people. More precisely, it refers to the written and artistic language of the ancient Chinese people, known as "literary language" (including the language of literary works). During its long development, ancient Chinese gave rise to two forms: one is the ancient Chinese written and artistic language based on pre-Qin colloquial speech, which was used in imitating ancient styles in later dynasties, commonly referred to as "Classical Chinese"; the other is the "Classical Vernacular" that emerged from Northern dialects since the Tang and Song dynasties, used in popular works, and is the direct source of modern Chinese. The ancient Chinese discussed in this reader refers to "Classical Chinese," not "Classical Vernacular." This is mainly because "Classical Vernacular" is closer to modern Chinese, making the works easier to understand, whereas "Classical Chinese" differs significantly from modern Chinese, making the works more difficult to comprehend.