Joke Collection Website - Mood Talk - The way ancient people spoke.

The way ancient people spoke.

1. The classical Chinese was consistent with the spoken English in the pre-Qin period

About the pre-Qin period, the classical Chinese was consistent with the spoken English at that time, which was different from the current tendency to use disyllabic words. At that time, monosyllabic words prevailed in Chinese. The Analects of Confucius and Mencius can be said to be a record of spoken English at that time. "Isn't it fun to learn from time to time?" "Fish, what I want; Bear's paw is also what I want. "At that time, it was such a tone.

2. There was a disconnect in the Han Dynasty

About the Han Dynasty, there was a certain distance between spoken and classical Chinese. China's first book on dialects, Yang Xiong's Interpretation of Other Dialects by the Messenger of the Xuan Dynasty, not only explains dialects in common language, but also pays attention to explaining ancient sayings in modern language. As soon as the volume of Dialect was published, it was recorded as follows:

(To the general effect, the words "false", "crazy", "destructive", "Zhan" and "evil" all mean "zhi" ... they are different expressions differentiated from the old saying, and now they have been widely used in some places. )

Although both classical Chinese and spoken English are developing, the former is far behind the latter, and the distance is getting bigger and bigger. Unfortunately, because the oral literature at that time was far less abundant than the classical Chinese literature, there was still a lot of room for the study of oral Chinese in the Middle Ages.

3. Vernacular writing appeared in the Tang Dynasty

This situation changed in the Tang Dynasty, largely due to the great development of Buddhism. Because most of the potential believers are ordinary people with low educational level, for the purpose of spreading Buddhism and attracting believers, a large number of translated Buddhist scriptures and Buddhist stories mostly used spoken language at that time, which became an important source of early vernacular.

4. Classical Chinese in Song Dynasty was completely out of touch

By Song Dynasty, classical Chinese and spoken Chinese were completely out of touch. Scholars at that time may not be able to express the meaning of common spoken language in classical Chinese.

Literati and scholars in Song Dynasty sometimes used vernacular Chinese. For example, Su Shi likes to use "Hehe" most. When writing letters to his close friend and in-laws, colleagues and literary friend Xian Yuzijun, and Chen Jichang, the leading actor of lion roars, he added a sentence at the end: "Hehe." Zhu Xi, a great scholar, also commented on the history books in Zhuzi Yu: "The history of North and South is just a funny novel except what is taken from the mirror." The daily dialogue of Song people is so popular.

5. Popularization of spoken language in Yuan Dynasty

In Yuan Dynasty, because Chinese was not the mother tongue of rulers, even the imperial edicts often recorded the spoken language at that time directly. A Journey to the West by a Real Person in Changchun records an imperial edict written by Genghis Khan to Qiu Chuji. The full text is as follows:

Jia Chang, Marshal of Xuanchadu, gave an imperial edict to Emperor Jisi:

Qiu Shenxian, don't come to summer on your spring trip. It's hot and difficult on the road. Do you have to ride along the road to lay a good foundation? There's a lot of food on the road. Come? When you go to Xuandezhou and other places, do officials expect you to come? Boss, do the people have to come? Are you okay when you get up? I often think about you here. I have never forgotten you. Don't forget me.

November 15th.

6. Ming and Qing Dynasties

In Ming and Qing Dynasties, vernacular novels such as Water Margin, The Journey to the West's Dream of Red Mansions and Jin Ping Mei are too numerous to mention. It is not uncommon for the emperor to reply to the throne in vernacular. Zhu Yuanzhang, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, was furious when he heard that there was an attack by Japanese pirates along the coast.

"Tell the people to get their knives ready. When these guys come, kill them. Respect this. "

In contrast, does Yongzheng's confession to Nian Gengyao seem a lot more heartfelt?

7. In the May 4th vernacular movement, vernacular Chinese replaced classical Chinese.

The dual-track development of written language and spoken language, and the opposition between classical Chinese and vernacular Chinese did not end until the May 4th New Culture Movement. Hu Shi's "On Literary Improvement" advocated "not imitating the ancients" and "not avoiding vulgar words and sayings", which sounded the horn of the "vernacular movement" and finally made vernacular Chinese replace classical Chinese and become the written language of the Han nationality.