Classical Chinese

Classical Chinese is an old way of using the Chinese language. Important books were written in this style, starting around the 5th century BCE. For many years, scholars in China used this style for almost all formal writing. It is very short and uses each written character to stand for a single word, which can be hard to understand without learning special skills.

Beginning in the 2nd century CE, this style of writing spread to countries like Vietnam, Korea, Japan, and the Ryukyu Islands. These places were influenced by Chinese culture. It became the main way for officials and scholars in these areas to talk to each other. Each country also made its own ways to read and explain these texts using their own languages.

Even though it changed a little over time, Classical Chinese stayed mostly the same, unlike everyday speech. Today, most people use their own modern languages for writing instead of this old style. However, many words in modern languages still have roots from Classical Chinese.

Definition

"Classical Chinese" is the style of Chinese used in important books from around the 5th century BCE to the end of the Han dynasty (202 BCE – 220 CE). Books written even earlier, like the Five Classics, use a style called "pre-Classical Chinese."

After the Han dynasty, everyday speech and formal writing began to differ. This later style, called Literary Chinese, was used for formal writing in China until the early 20th century. It changed over time, adding new words and losing some old grammar rules. The main Classical period started with the life of Confucius (551–479 BCE) and ended when the Qin dynasty began in 221 BCE.

Function

Further information: Adoption of Chinese literary culture

The adoption of Chinese literary culture spread to places like Korea, Japan, and Vietnam because of strong ties with China. This is similar to how Latin was used in Europe or Arabic in Persia. But Chinese writing is different because the characters keep the same meaning, no matter how they are said.

Many important books were lost over time. For example, after the Qin dynasty fell around 206 BCE, many records and books were destroyed. Even the books we have today from that time are copies made much later, not the originals. The oldest list of these old books comes from a book called the Book of Han, written around 90 CE, but most of the books it mentions are now lost.

Modern use

Before 1919, many important stories in China were written in a special old style called Literary Chinese. Even in the 1970s, important papers in Taiwan were still written this way. Today, some laws in Taiwan still use this style, so lawyers there need to understand it.

Reading old books written in Literary Chinese can be hard, even if you know the words, because they use short sentences and refer to other old stories. Sometimes, special events or ceremonies still use this old style of writing. For example, the National Anthem of the Republic of China is written in Literary Chinese. Many old Buddhist books are also kept in this style.

In schools, students in China learn to read Literary Chinese. They study old texts and learn how to understand them in modern Chinese. In Japan, learning to read Literary Chinese is part of school, and they even write poetry using old patterns from China.

Pronunciation

Further information: Old Chinese phonology and Middle Chinese

In early and medieval China, reading often meant reading aloud, similar to Europe at the time. The phrase "the sound of reading" came to mean studying texts and education.

The writing system only gave hints about how words were pronounced when characters were first made. Most characters were made by combining a part that suggested the sound with another part that gave a clue to the meaning. Over time, as pronunciations changed, these connections became less clear.

During the Eastern Han period, scholars began talking about how to pronounce difficult words by comparing them to other words. These talks showed that people in different regions pronounced words differently.

A method called fanqie, developed in the 2nd century CE, helped describe the exact pronunciation of single-syllable words by using pairs of known words. Later, during the Northern and Southern dynasties, authors described the tones of the language, and dictionaries began to list the pronunciations of characters used in classics.

The most successful dictionary was the Qieyun (601), created by Lu Fayan. It became the official standard for pronunciation, especially for poetry and writing used in the imperial examinations. Over time, it was revised many times.

By the time of the Yuan and Ming dynasties, dictionaries reflected the sounds of early Mandarin. In areas like Zhejiang, Guangdong, and Fujian, people used either everyday speech or special pronunciations borrowed from Classical Chinese when reading Literary Chinese.

Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese readers each have their own ways of pronouncing Literary Chinese words. Japanese speakers, for example, have special readings for many words.

As pronunciation changed over time, words that once rhymed no longer did, making old poems and writings harder to understand when spoken. However, some modern Chinese languages still preserve older rhyme patterns.

Literary Chinese also has many words that sound the same in modern Chinese but had different sounds in the past. The poem Lion-Eating Poet in the Stone Den was written in the 1930s to show how difficult Literary Chinese can be to say aloud, even though it is easy to read.

Grammar and lexicon

Classical Chinese is a very short and simple style of writing. It uses fewer long words than modern Chinese, often just one character per word. This makes the language very brief and sometimes hard to understand without special learning.

In Classical Chinese, sentences can leave out words like "I" or "me" when it's clear who is being talked about. Words can also change roles — the same character might work as a noun, a verb, or an adjective, depending on how it's used. Unlike today’s Chinese, there isn't a special word like “is” to connect things. Instead, other words are used in certain ways to show meaning.

This ancient style also has more ways to talk about people with respect. It uses special ending words to show questions or emotions. Writers of Classical Chinese also focused on making their sentences sound balanced and musical, even when they were telling stories. They often referred to earlier stories to make their points quickly.