Ancient Chinese 8000 Words

Author: Wu Sanxian
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-12-01
Features: The history of the Chinese language is long, and the documentary materials are very rich. Chronologically, from the beginning of written records to the early 20th century May Fourth New Culture Movement, the language preserved in ancient books over these three thousand years all falls within the scope of ancient Chinese. Most scholars believe that ancient Chinese can be divided into two systems with different characteristics: one is the ancient written language of the upper ancient Chinese period, which was formed based on pre-Qin spoken language, as well as works written by later writers in this written language, commonly known as classical Chinese; the other is the ancient vernacular that emerged since the Tang and Song dynasties, based on Northern dialect. The main subject of this book is classical Chinese, including classical Chinese prose and poetry, with very little involvement of ancient vernacular. In addition to clarifying doubts about common words, the book also appropriately introduces some historical and cultural knowledge. Taking names and places as examples. Ancients had given names, courtesy names, and aliases, with some people having multiple aliases. In classical texts, when writing or recording events, in addition to referring to people by their aliases, there were also ways to address them by their official titles or by their place of origin, which was quite complex. Names of places were the same; many places had ancient names or aliases in addition to their current names, and if one was not familiar with the details, it often led to misunderstandings. To help readers overcome the obstacles they encounter while reading, this book collects some frequently used names and places, arranging names in chronological order and places by administrative divisions. Although it is a small effort, it can sometimes solve major problems. The history of the Chinese language is long, and the documentary materials are very rich. Chronologically, from the beginning of written records to the early 20th century May Fourth New Culture Movement, the language preserved in ancient books over these three thousand years all falls within the scope of ancient Chinese. Most scholars believe that ancient Chinese can be divided into two systems with different characteristics: one is the ancient written language of the upper ancient Chinese period, which was formed based on pre-Qin spoken language, as well as works written by later writers in this written language, commonly known as classical Chinese; the other is the ancient vernacular that emerged since the Tang and Song dynasties, based on Northern dialect. The main subject of this book is classical Chinese, including classical Chinese prose and poetry, with very little involvement of ancient vernacular. In addition to clarifying doubts about common words, the book also appropriately introduces some historical and cultural knowledge. Taking names and places as examples. Ancients had given names, courtesy names, and aliases, with some people having multiple aliases. In classical texts, when writing or recording events, in addition to referring to people by their aliases, there were also ways to address them by their official titles or by their place of origin, which was quite complex. Names of places were the same; many places had ancient names or aliases in addition to their current names, and if one was not familiar with the details, it often led to misunderstandings. To help readers overcome the obstacles they encounter while reading, this book collects some frequently used names and places, arranging names in chronological order and places by administrative divisions, although it is a small effort, it can sometimes solve major problems.