There are many dialects in our country, why is Cantonese so influential?

Guangdong was the earliest region to open up to the outside world in modern China and was also the forefront of reform and opening up in the 1980s.

Therefore, Guangdong people are the first to come into contact with Western civilization, and their minds are the most liberated. They have the most people going out to explore, and they also have the most Cantonese people living all over the world.

While Cantonese people are traveling around the world, they also bring their language, Cantonese, to every corner of the world.

Cantonese is not only the official language of Hong Kong and Macau, but also the third largest language in the United States, Canada and other countries, and the fourth largest language in Australia.

So some people say that Cantonese is a language with a wide influence in the world, and was even defined as a language by the United Nations UNESCO in 2010.

In everyone’s mind, Cantonese is just a local language. Why does Cantonese have such great influence and is designated as a language by the United Nations? The origin of Cantonese

Cantonese is the main language used in Guangdong and Guangdong in mainland China. There are also many people who speak Cantonese in Hainan (Hainan originally belonged to Guangdong Province before the province was established). In Hong Kong and Macau, Cantonese It is also the dominant language.

Cantonese is widely spoken by Chinese in Southeast Asia, such as those in Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Indonesia.

Cantonese is also commonly used by Chinese in Europe and North America.

On the surface, Cantonese is a dialect because it is called Cantonese and linguistically known as Lingnan language. But if we go back to the roots, it is an indisputable fact that Cantonese comes from the north.

The history of the spread of Cantonese to the south can be traced back to the Qin and Han dynasties in ancient China. Guangdong people come from the north

The Lingnan region was still a foreign land during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. It had no connection with the Central Plains regime. Even the most powerful regime in the southern Liangxiang region, Chu State, had no influence on it.

At that time, the Lingnan area was called barbarians or "Baiyue". The people living here were all ethnic minority clan tribes who practiced slash-and-burn farming. They have nothing to do with the world and live a peaceful and comfortable life.

But at the end of Qin, an army marched into Lingnan, disrupting their peaceful life. This army was the Qin army led by Zhao Tuo from Hebei.

Zhao Tuo was originally ordered by the King of Qin to recover South Vietnam, but when he arrived here, the Chen Sheng and Wu Guang uprising broke out in the Central Plains, and the army was isolated here. Zhao Tuo took the opportunity to become king and established a country in Panyu - -In the South Vietnam Kingdom, the city of Guangzhou was also built at that time.

Due to the dominance of Zhao Tuo from the north, the culture and language of the northern Central Plains region are also dominant in Lingnan; therefore, the language here was inevitably influenced by the Central Plains language from the beginning.

In the summer of 112 BC, Liu Che, the seventh emperor of the Han Dynasty, sent 100,000 troops to launch a war against the South Vietnam Kingdom, and the South Vietnam Kingdom was destroyed in the winter of 112 BC. By this time, the Han nationality had already taken shape, and the Chinese language and culture had also taken shape. It is not difficult to imagine the impact on this place.

After that, the Central Plains saw constant battles and frequent wars, entering a rather long and turbulent period - the separation of the Three Kingdoms, the replacement of the Wei Kingdom by the Han Dynasty, the usurpation of Wei by the Jin Dynasty, the Rebellion of the Eight Kings, the Five Husbands in China, and the confrontation between the Northern and Southern Dynasties. The Sui Dynasty was unified until the rise of Li Yuan and Li Shimin and his son to establish the Tang Dynasty.

At this time, the group of Cantonese people has stabilized. They are composed of three major groups: Cantonese, Chaoshan and Hakka. But in any case, the long-term war in the Central Plains caused many northerners to flee here, which had an important impact on the population structure of the Lingnan region.

In other words, the large-scale migration of Central Plains people southward strengthened the presence of northerners in Lingnan. When they moved south, they naturally brought their customs, culture and language with them.

An indisputable fact is that almost all traditional Cantonese families have their own "genealogy". It records which area of ??the Central Plains they came from and when they moved to Guangdong.

Strictly speaking, in the Lingnan area, except for the Yao and other ethnic minorities who are natives, the vast majority of people from Guangdong and Guangxi are immigrants from the Central Plains. And there is no dispute that the word "Cantonese" or the word "Cantonese" was created by the Han people in Lingnan.

In 1127 AD, the Northern Song Dynasty fell, the Southern Song Dynasty established its capital in Lin'an, and the Han people once again moved south on a large scale.

In the early Yuan Dynasty, some people said that "there is no China after Yashan". This statement is a bit exaggerated. However, before and after the establishment of the Yuan Dynasty, many Han people in the Central Plains and the Yangtze River Basin also migrated south on a large scale. It is not an exaggeration.

At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, in order to protect themselves during the tug of war, the Han people in some areas of the Central Plains put up a two-sided placard. One side said welcome to Dayuan and the other side said welcome to Zhu Yuanzhang. When the Yuan Dynasty came, they put it on The "Welcome Dayuan" side was facing outward, and Zhu Yuanzhang came and turned the sign over.

One day there was a strong wind and the signs fell down, which annoyed the Ming army. As a result, the people of the Central Plains were unlucky again and were massacred. Ten houses were empty and deserted.

Zhu Yuanzhang had no choice but to move residents from Shanxi and other places to the Central Plains. Where did the original Han people in the Central Plains go? Those who could run still ran to the south.

So, after the conquest and influence of the Liao, Jin, Mongolian and other ethnic groups, the Chinese language in the Central Plains region is no longer pure and has become a mixed Chinese language. Only the Chinese language in the Lingnan area was least affected and is pure ancient Chinese. 3. Cantonese speakers are too domineering

Because modern trading ports were along the coast, and the earliest port to open along the coast was in Guangdong. Therefore, Cantonese people came into contact with Western civilization much earlier than those in the Mainland. Cantonese people are open-minded and have novel ideas. They go out to explore more and make more achievements.

Most of the influential overseas Chinese industrial and commercial tycoons in Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, Europe and the United States are from the Lingnan area. Their influence plays a decisive role among overseas Chinese. This is also an important factor in the huge influence of Cantonese overseas.

Some people compare the influence of the Lingnan people in China, Hong Kong, Macao, Southeast Asia, Europe and the United States with the influence of the Jews in the world, which is not unreasonable.

Strictly speaking, Cantonese is the authentic ancient Chinese, while the Mandarin we speak is an improved Chinese that has been "integrated".

Cantonese has richer tones and a sense of music. It is indeed a beautiful language, so it is inherited and welcomed everywhere.