Vernacular Chinese

Although linguists have made great progress in describing and classifying the regional varieties of Chinese over the last century, their classification does not necessarily correspond to how these regional variants have traditionally been viewed and categorized. Thus, although the first-level divisions of Chinese are often referred to as "languages", they do not always correspond to linguistic or cultural self-identity. It is customary in China to refer to the speeches of cities and provinces, even though these provincial boundaries c ...

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Identification of the varieties of Chinese, Identification of the varieties of Chinese - Self-descriptions of speakers of regional variants, Identification of the varieties of Chinese - Implications of the language / dialect distinction, Identification of the varieties of Chinese - Comparison with Europe, Identification of the varieties of Chinese - Comparison with India

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China - Zhongguo. China is called Zhongguo in Mandarin Chinese (Simplified: 中国, Traditional: 中國; also romanized as Jhongguo or Chung-kuo), which is usually translated as "Middle Kingdom", but could also be translated as "Central State" or "Central Country". Zhong (中) means "middle" or "center" while guo (国 or 國) means "country," "kingdom," "state," or "land", referring to the claim that Chin ...

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China, China - Terminology, China - Zhongguo, China - China, China - History, China - Chinese Pre-history, China - Political history, China - Territory, China - Historical overview, China - Historical political divisions, China - Geography and climate, China - Economy, China - Society, China - Demographics, China - Culture, China - Religion, China - Arts scholarship and literature, China - Science and technology, China - Miscellaneous topics

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Dream of the Red Chamber - The Jia clan. common ancestor | ,-------------------------------------------+----------------------------. | | Jia Yan Jia Yuan Duke of Ning-guo ...

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Dream of the Red Chamber, Dream of the Red Chamber - Synopsis, Dream of the Red Chamber - Fiction / Reality, Dream of the Red Chamber - Textual Problems, Dream of the Red Chamber - Early 80-chapter versions, Dream of the Red Chamber - Chen Weiyuan and Gao E's 120-chapter version, Dream of the Red Chamber - Family trees of the main characters, Dream of the Red Chamber - The Jia clan, Dream of the Red Chamber - The Wang family

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The following is the text in Hanyu Pinyin, written according to the recommended orthography (which recommends writing numbers in Arabic numerals, so the number shí is written as 10). Unfortunately, the recommended orthography, in this case, would remove the effects of the homophony. Therefore, the number 10 has also been written in Hanyu Pinyin. « Shī Shì shí shī shǐ » Shíshì shīshì Shī Shì, shì shī, shì shí shí shī. Shì shíshí shì shì shì shī. Sh� ...

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Lion-Eating Poet in the Stone Den, Lion-Eating Poet in the Stone Den - The text, Lion-Eating Poet in the Stone Den - Comment

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One can classify Chinese writing into the following basic types: Wenyan (文言) (Classical Chinese) Baihua (白話/白话) (Vernacular Chinese) Written colloquial Chinese (in particular, written colloquial Cantonese) Poems and other Chinese constrained writings The relationship between the Chinese spoken and written languages is complex. This complexity is compounded by the fact that the numerous variations of spoken Chinese have gone through centuries of evolution since at least the late-Han Dynasty. However, w ...

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Chinese written language, Chinese written language - Written standards, Chinese written language - Transcending intelligibility of speech, Chinese written language - Chinese characters, Chinese written language - Character forms, Chinese written language - Writing direction

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The Beiyang government entered World War I on the side of the Triple Entente in 1917, on the condition that all German spheres of influence, such as Shandong, would be returned to China. However, Japan also entered the war as an Allied power and proceeded to attack German interests in China and annexed German spheres of influence when the war ended. In early 1919, the victorious nations of World War I convened a peace conference in Paris. The representatives of the Chinese government put forth the following requests: abolish all ...

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May Fourth Movement, May Fourth Movement - Background, May Fourth Movement - The outbreak and course of the May Fourth Movement, May Fourth Movement - Historical significance and the New Cultural Movement

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The map on the right depicts the subdivisions ("languages" or "dialect groups") within Chinese. The traditionally recognized seven main groups, in order of population size are: Mandarin 官話/官话 or 北方方言(old name) Wu 吳/吴 Cantonese 粵/粤 Min 閩/闽 Xiang 湘 Hakka 客家 or 客 Gan 贛/赣 In parentheses above are the culturally dominant or representativ ...

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Chinese language, Chinese language - Spoken Chinese, Chinese language - Language or language family?, Chinese language - Written Chinese, Chinese language - Chinese characters, Chinese language - History, Chinese language - Influence on other languages, Chinese language - Sounds, Chinese language - Romanization, Chinese language - Other Transcriptions, Chinese language - Morphology, Chinese language - Loanwords, Chinese language - Grammar

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The standardized phonology of Standard Mandarin is reproduced below. Actual reproduction varies widely among speakers, as everyone (including national leaders) inadvertently introduces elements of his/her own native dialect. By contrast, television and radio announcers are usually chosen for their pronunciation accuracy. Below is the phonology of Standard Mandarin. Standard Mandarin - Initials. The following is the initial inventory of Standard Mandarin as represente ...

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Standard Mandarin, Standard Mandarin - History, Standard Mandarin - Phonology, Standard Mandarin - Initials, Standard Mandarin - Finals, Standard Mandarin - Tones, Standard Mandarin - Romanization, Standard Mandarin - Standard Mandarin and Beijing dialect, Standard Mandarin - Standard Mandarin and other dialects, Standard Mandarin - Accents, Standard Mandarin - Role of standard Mandarin

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Chinese society - Socio-economic development. Hong Kong fully urbanised during the post-war period and has developed into a major financial centre and a world city. As one of the "East Asian Tigers" it saw a high growth rate and rapid industrialisation between the early 1960s and 1990s. Today, economic reforms on mainland China appear to have succeeded financially and have resulted in a booming economy in the last two decades, resulting in, among other things, a rising class of nouveau riche and middle class; whereas Hongkongers may be seen as "old money".

Chinese society, Chinese society - Demographics, Chinese society - Culture, Chinese society - Gender, Chinese society - Hong Kong, Chinese society - Socio-economic development, Chinese society - Culture, Chinese society - Individualism and collectivism, Chinese society - Social relations, Chinese society - Civil society

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Mencius outlined the Three Subordinations. A woman was to be subordinate to her father in youth, her husband in maturity, and her son in old age. A cliche of classical texts, which is repeated throughout the tradition, is the familiar notion that men govern the outer world, while women govern the home. In the Han dynasty, the female historian Ban Zhao wrote the Lessons for Women, advice on how women should behave. She outlines the Four Virtues women must abide by, proper virtue, proper speech, proper countenance, proper merit. The "three subordinations and the four virtues" is a common four-charac ...

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Chinese society, Chinese society - Demographics, Chinese society - Culture, Chinese society - Gender, Chinese society - Hong Kong, Chinese society - Socio-economic development, Chinese society - Culture, Chinese society - Individualism and collectivism, Chinese society - Social relations, Chinese society - Civil society

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In Chinese society, collectivism has a long tradition based on Confucianism, where being a 'community man' (qúntǐ de fènzǐ) (群体的分子) or someone with a 'social personality' (shèhuì de réngé) (社会的人格) is valued. Additionally, there is the shìgu (世故) personality type, who is worldly and committed to family. Individualist thinking in China was formed by Lao Zi and Taoism. He taught that individual happiness is the basis of a good society and saw the state, with its "laws and regulations more numerous than th ...

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Chinese society, Chinese society - Demographics, Chinese society - Culture, Chinese society - Gender, Chinese society - Hong Kong, Chinese society - Socio-economic development, Chinese society - Culture, Chinese society - Individualism and collectivism, Chinese society - Social relations, Chinese society - Civil society

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Chinese social relations are social relations typified by a reciprocal social network. Often social obligations within the network are characterized in familial terms. The individual link within the social network is known by guanxi (关系) and the feeling within the link is known by the term ganqing (感情). Social relations are often expressed by the exchange of gifts. An important concept within Chinese social relations is the concept of face and many other Oriental cultures. A Buddhist- ...

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Chinese society, Chinese society - Demographics, Chinese society - Culture, Chinese society - Gender, Chinese society - Hong Kong, Chinese society - Socio-economic development, Chinese society - Culture, Chinese society - Individualism and collectivism, Chinese society - Social relations, Chinese society - Civil society

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Chinese language    General Chinese    Singapore Mandarin For Standard Mandarin     EFEO     Gwoyeu Romatzyh     Hanyu Pinyin     Latinxua Sinwenz     Lessing-Othmer     Mandarin Phonetic Symbols II     Postal System Pinyin     Tongyong Pinyin     Wade-Gile ...

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Standard Mandarin, Standard Mandarin - History, Standard Mandarin - Phonology, Standard Mandarin - Initials, Standard Mandarin - Finals, Standard Mandarin - Tones, Standard Mandarin - Romanization, Standard Mandarin - Standard Mandarin and Beijing dialect, Standard Mandarin - Standard Mandarin and other dialects, Standard Mandarin - Accents, Standard Mandarin - Role of standard Mandarin

Read more here: » Standard Mandarin: Encyclopedia II - Standard Mandarin - Romanization

Main article: Culture of China China's traditional values were derived from the orthodox version of Confucianism/conservatism, which was taught in schools and was even part of imperial civil service examinations. However, the term Confucianism is somewhat problematic in that the system of thought which reached it high-water mark in Qing Dynasty imperial China was in fact composed of several strains of thought, including Legalism, which in many ways departed from the original spirit of Confucianism; indeed by the height of imper ...

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Chinese society, Chinese society - Demographics, Chinese society - Culture, Chinese society - Gender, Chinese society - Hong Kong, Chinese society - Socio-economic development, Chinese society - Culture, Chinese society - Individualism and collectivism, Chinese society - Social relations, Chinese society - Civil society

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By the official definition of the People's Republic of China, standard Mandarin uses: The phonology or sound system of Beijing. A distinction should be made between the sound system of a dialect or language and the actual pronunciation of words in it. The pronunciations of words chosen for Standard Mandarin -- a standardized speech -- do not necessarily reproduce those of the Beijing dialect. The pronunciation of words is a standardization choice and occasional standardization differenc ...

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Standard Mandarin, Standard Mandarin - History, Standard Mandarin - Phonology, Standard Mandarin - Initials, Standard Mandarin - Finals, Standard Mandarin - Tones, Standard Mandarin - Romanization, Standard Mandarin - Standard Mandarin and Beijing dialect, Standard Mandarin - Standard Mandarin and other dialects, Standard Mandarin - Accents, Standard Mandarin - Role of standard Mandarin

Read more here: » Standard Mandarin: Encyclopedia II - Standard Mandarin - Standard Mandarin and Beijing dialect

起来！不愿做奴隶的人们！ 把我们的血肉，筑成我们新的长城！ 中华民族到了最危险的时候， 每个人被迫着发出最后的吼声。 起来！起来！起来！ 我们万众一心， 冒着敌人的炮火，前进！ 冒着敌人的炮火，前进！ 前进！前进！进！ Qĭlái! Búyuàn zuò núlì de rénmen! Bă wŏmen de xuèròu zhùchéng wŏmen xīn de chángchéng! Zhōnghuá Mínzú dào liǎo zùi wēixiăn de shíhòu, ...

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March of the Volunteers, March of the Volunteers - Origins as National Anthem, March of the Volunteers - Cultural Revolution and later history, March of the Volunteers - Lyrics Current and Original, March of the Volunteers - Lyrics 1978-1982

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From an official point of view, standard Mandarin is theoretically something like a lingua franca — a way for Han Chinese and non-Han ethnic groups speaking a wide variety of mutually unintelligible of languages to communicate with each other. The very name of "Putonghua", or "ordinary speech", reinforces this idea. In implementation, however, standard Mandarin is sometimes given the aura of the "only right language", and other languages or dialects, both Chinese and non-Chinese, have shown signs of greatly losing ground to stan ...

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Standard Mandarin, Standard Mandarin - History, Standard Mandarin - Phonology, Standard Mandarin - Initials, Standard Mandarin - Finals, Standard Mandarin - Tones, Standard Mandarin - Romanization, Standard Mandarin - Standard Mandarin and Beijing dialect, Standard Mandarin - Standard Mandarin and other dialects, Standard Mandarin - Accents, Standard Mandarin - Role of standard Mandarin

Read more here: » Standard Mandarin: Encyclopedia II - Standard Mandarin - Role of standard Mandarin

In Chinese, for the first-person plural there are usually two forms: 咱们 / 咱們 zánmen — the inclusive (i.e. "you and I", "we, including you") 我们 / 我們 wǒmen — the exclusive (i.e. "we, without you"). This distinction is not rigorously maintained by many speakers outside of the Beijing region, the tendency being to generalize the use of 我们 / 我們. ...

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Chinese pronouns, Chinese pronouns - The possessive pronoun, Chinese pronouns - The reflexive pronoun, Chinese pronouns - Pronouns in imperial times and self-deprecatory, Chinese pronouns - Inclusive and exclusive first-person plural

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The national standard can be very different from a local Mandarin speech, to the point of being unintelligible. In addition, since standard Mandarin is taught as a second language across all China, it is also very common for two people who both believe themselves to be speaking standard Mandarin to require a translator. Nevertheless, efforts by the PRC, ROC, and Singapore to promote standard Mandarin as the stan ...

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Standard Mandarin, Standard Mandarin - History, Standard Mandarin - Phonology, Standard Mandarin - Initials, Standard Mandarin - Finals, Standard Mandarin - Tones, Standard Mandarin - Romanization, Standard Mandarin - Standard Mandarin and Beijing dialect, Standard Mandarin - Standard Mandarin and other dialects, Standard Mandarin - Accents, Standard Mandarin - Role of standard Mandarin

Read more here: » Standard Mandarin: Encyclopedia II - Standard Mandarin - Standard Mandarin and other dialects

Wenyan was the primary form used in Chinese literary works until the May Fourth Movement, and was also heavily used in Japan and Korea. Ironically, Classical Chinese was used to write the Hunmin Jeongeum in which the modern Korean alphabet (Hangul) was promulgated and the essay by Hu Shi in which he argued against using Classical Chinese and in favor of baihua. Exceptions to the use of wenyan were vernacular novels such as The Dream of the Red Ch ...

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Classical Chinese, Classical Chinese - Definitions, Classical Chinese - Pronunciation, Classical Chinese - Grammar and Lexicon, Classical Chinese - Teaching and Use

Read more here: » Classical Chinese: Encyclopedia II - Classical Chinese - Teaching and Use

The novel is conjectured to be semi-autobiographical, mirroring the fortunes of Cao Xueqin's own family. It was also intended to be a memorial to the women Cao knew in his youth: friends, relatives and servants. The novel is a detailed, episodic record of the lives of the extended Jia family, made up of two clans (the Ning-guo and Rong-guo houses), which occupies two large family compounds in the capital, Beijing. Originally extremely wealthy, with a female member was made an Imperial Concubine, the family eventually fell into disfavour with the Em ...

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Dream of the Red Chamber, Dream of the Red Chamber - Synopsis, Dream of the Red Chamber - Fiction / Reality, Dream of the Red Chamber - Textual Problems, Dream of the Red Chamber - Early 80-chapter versions, Dream of the Red Chamber - Chen Weiyuan and Gao E's 120-chapter version, Dream of the Red Chamber - Family trees of the main characters, Dream of the Red Chamber - The Jia clan, Dream of the Red Chamber - The Wang family

Read more here: » Dream of the Red Chamber: Encyclopedia II - Dream of the Red Chamber - Synopsis