This article should specify the language of its non-English content, using {{lang}}, {{transliteration}} for transliterated languages, and {{IPA}} for phonetic transcriptions, with an appropriate ISO 639 code. Wikipedia's multilingual support templates may also be used.See why.(October 2023)
Almost all lexemes in Classical Chinese are individual characters one spoken syllable in length. This contrasts with modern Chinese dialects where two-syllable words are extremely common. Chinese has acquired many polysyllabic words in order to disambiguate monosyllabic words that sounded different in earlier forms of Chinese but identical in one region or another during later periods. Because Classical Chinese is based on the literary examples of ancient Chinese literature, it has almost none of the two-syllable words present in modern varieties of Chinese.
Classical Chinese has more pronouns compared to the modern vernacular. In particular, whereas Mandarin has one general character to refer to the first-person pronoun, Literary Chinese has several, many of which are used as part of honorific language, and several of which have different grammatical uses (first-person collective, first-person possessive, etc.).[citation needed]
In syntax, Classical Chinese words are not restrictively categorized into parts of speech: nouns used as verbs, adjectives used as nouns, and so on. There is no copula in Classical Chinese; 是 (shì) is a copula in modern Chinese but in old Chinese it was originally a near demonstrative ('this'), the modern Chinese equivalent of which is 這 (zhè).[citation needed]
Beyond grammar and vocabulary differences, Classical Chinese can be distinguished by literary and cultural differences: an effort to maintain parallelism and rhythm, even in prose works, and extensive use of literary and cultural allusions, thereby also contributing to brevity.
Many final particles (歇語字; xiēyǔzì) and[1] interrogative particles are found in Literary Chinese.[2]
學而時習之，不亦悅乎。 Learn and practice often, is it not a pleasure? —Analects
Pronoun
你的 'your'
Alternative for 'can' 能
何
Pronoun, often before the modal particles 哉 and 也
'why' 為什麼
'where' 哪裡
'what' 什麼
Adverb, or used in the first sentence before the verb, that question can be translated as 'how' 怎麼
乎
Preposition
於
Modal particle expressing doubt, praise, surprise, or to highlight the word in front
Expresses a question when placed at the end of a phrase
人不知而不慍，不亦君子乎。 Others fail to understand you, but you are not angered, is this not the mark of a gentleman?
乃
Preposition
於
Modal particle expressing doubt, praise, surprise, or to highlight the word in front
Expresses a question when placed at the end of a phrase
爾
'then'
'indeed'
'after all'
'namely'
乃懼，復造善脈者診之。 Then he got scared, and found someone who was good at pulse-reading to diagnose it. —Chapter 23 of Volume 2 of Pu Songling's 聊齋志異
Pronoun
'you'
'your
爲
Preposition, that the object, which is equivalent to 'substitute for', 'give', 'once upon a time', 'opposed', 'with', 'with regards to'
Preposition pointed out that the reason for the equivalent of 'because'
Preposition, that the passive, which is equivalent to 'be'
Verb
'make'
'for'
'become'
Preposition
'at'
'when'
Modal particle, often with the pronouns 何 or 焉
焉
Tone for the end of the sentence, equivalent to 啊 or 呢
生而有疾惡焉，順是，故殘賊生而忠信亡焉。 Humans were born with hatred; because people followed it, cruelty and brutality grew within them, and faithfulness died out (end of sentence).
Tone of the words express a standstill for the sentence
Pronoun
'he'
'them'
'it'
'here'
'where'
Pronoun equivalent to
豈 'how', 'what'
如何 'what'
以
Preposition indicating reason equivalent to 'in order to'. Originally derived from a noun meaning 'reason'.
故常無欲，以觀其妙。 Therefore, (people) often keep themselves void of desire, in order to see the secret of life. —Tao Te Ching 何其久也？必有以也！ Why does he take this long? There must be a reason! —"Mao Qiu", Classic of Poetry
Preposition indicating means
'with'
'using'
殺人以挺與刃，有以異乎？ To kill using a club or blade, is there anything to distinguish them? —Mencius
Preposition introducing action, where activity takes place within a certain period and location, equivalent to 'at', 'from'
Conjunction to indicate juxtaposition, a linked relationship, objective, or causality; similar to 而.
談笑以死。 They talked with laughter before they died (were executed). —Zhang Pu
其
Third-person possessive pronoun
未有仁而遺其親者也。 There has never been a humane person who abandoned his parents. —Mencius
Modal particle expressing doubt or possibility
其無後乎？ Surely he must not have any descendants? —Mencius
Modal particle expressing a softened imperative: an exhortation or wish (rather than a command)
其無廢先君之功！ Please do not destroy the previous sovereign's achievements! —Zuo Zhuan
且
'and'
'furthermore'
若
'if'
'assuming that'
夕惕若厲。 —Being careful every day as if there were dangers.
所
'that which'
也
Used at the end of the sentence to provide a positive, emphasizing or doubtful tone. If used within the sentence, indicates a pause to delay the mood.
其西有大山，天下至高者也。In the west of it there is a large mountain, (which is) the tallest under heaven.
因
'rely on'
'build on'
'inherit'
為高必因丘陵。To build high, one necessarily relies on hills and mounts. —Mencius 周因於殷禮。 Zhou inherits the rituals of Yin. —Analects
于
Preposition for place, reason; expression of action behaviour and the introduction of premises, time, motion, target, location, relationship between people, introduction to the object of comparison or analogy.
與
'and'
'with'
'to'
'for'
'give'
則
Conjunction
'just'
'still, but...'
'however'
'in that case'
者
Particle referring to people, objects, times, locations, etc. When placed after the subject, indicates a slight pause, or expresses determination.
之
Third-person object pronoun
民不畏死，奈何以死懼之？ The people do not fear death; how can one frighten them with it? —Tao Te Ching
Near demonstrative pronoun, 'this'
之子于歸，宜其室家。This lady goes to her marriage, befitting for her chamber and house. —"Tao Yao", Classic of Poetry
Possessive marker for personal pronouns similar to modern 的.
孫子曰：兵者，國之大事，死生之地，存亡之道，不可不察也。 Sun Tzu says: Of war, life-and-death's field, survival and extinction's way, should not be unexamined. The Art of War
Nominalization marker inserted between subject and predicate to convert a clause into a noun phrase. Can be thought of as an extension of (2) above.
喜怒哀樂之動乎中，必見乎外。 The welling of happiness, anger, grief, or pleasure in one's heart is always outwardly expressed.
Transitive verb 'to go'
吾欲之南海，如何？ I wish to go to the southern seas; what do you think?
曰
Speech indicator similar to 'says' or 'said'
翁笑曰：平昔不相往還，何由遺魂吾家？The old man laughed and said, "In normal days we don't have much of a relation, why would you want to call back the dead's soul in my house?"
亦
'also', 'too'
故
'therefore'
'cause'
'reason'
'happening'
'instance'
何以故？ Why is this? (lit. 'what caused this?')
將
Adverb
indicating future action ('will')
indicating uncertainty ('if')
將入門。 When they were about to enter the gate.
矣
Particle indicating completion
否則我終泯而子亦不起矣。 Otherwise, I will ultimately disappear, and you will also not rise again. —Truyền kỳ mạn lục
蓋
Sentence-initial particle indicating uncertainty
蓋莫之爲而爲者天。 It seems that one who does not do anything, but does it is heavenly. —Truyền kỳ mạn lục
猶
'to be like'
'still'
想彼念卿亦猶卿念彼。 Missing her, I remember you, also just like when I missed you, I remember her. —Truyền kỳ mạn lục
Content words
As with function words, there are many differences between the content words of Classical Chinese and those of Baihua. Below are synonyms used in the two registers. Some Classical Chinese words can have more than one meaning.
However, Classical Chinese words still exist among many chengyu, or Chinese idioms.
The Classical Chinese words and examples will be written in traditional characters, and the modern vernacular will be written in both simplified and traditional characters.
↑ Brandt, J. J. (1936). Introduction to literary Chinese (2ed.). H. Vetch. p.169. Retrieved 10 February 2012. PART III GRAMMATICAL SECTION THE FINAL PARTICLES (歇語字 hsieh1-yü3-tzu4) The Wenli-style abounds with so called final particles. These particles
↑ J. J. Brandt (1936). Introduction to literary Chinese (2nded.). H. Vetch. p.184. Retrieved 10 February 2012. PART III GRAMMATICAL SECTION THE INTERROGATIVE PARTICLES The Wen-li style particularly abounds with the interrogative particles.
Confucius, born Kong Qiu (孔丘), was a Chinese philosopher of the Spring and Autumn period who is traditionally considered the paragon of Chinese sages, as well as the first teacher in China to advocate for mass education. Much of the shared cultural heritage of the Sinosphere originates in the philosophy and teachings of Confucius. His philosophical teachings, called Confucianism, emphasized personal and governmental morality, correctness of social relationships, justice, kindness, sincerity, and a ruler's responsibilities to lead by virtue.
Standard Chinese is a modern standard form of Mandarin Chinese that was first codified during the republican era (1912‒1949). It is designated as the official language of mainland China and a major language in the United Nations, Singapore, and Taiwan. It is largely based on the Beijing dialect. Standard Chinese is a pluricentric language with local standards in mainland China, Taiwan and Singapore that mainly differ in their lexicon. Hong Kong written Chinese, used for formal written communication in Hong Kong and Macau, is a form of Standard Chinese that is read aloud with the Cantonese reading of characters.
Classical Chinese is the language in which the classics of Chinese literature were written, from c. the 5th century BCE. For millennia thereafter, the written Chinese used in these works was imitated and iterated upon by scholars in a form now called Literary Chinese, which was used for almost all formal writing in China until the early 20th century. Each written character corresponds to a single spoken syllable, and almost always to a single independent word. As a result, the characteristic style of the language is comparatively terse.
The School of Names, sometimes called the School of Forms and Names, was a school of Chinese philosophy that grew out of Mohism during the Warring States period. Followers of the School of Names were sometimes called Logicians or Disputers. Figures associated with it include Deng Xi, Yin Wen, Hui Shi, and Gongsun Long. A contemporary of Confucius and the younger Mozi, Deng Xi, associated with litigation, is cited by Liu Xiang as the originator of the principle of xíngmíng, or ensuring that ministers' deeds (xing) harmonized with their words (ming).
Gan Ning, courtesy name Xingba, was a Chinese military general serving under the warlord Sun Quan in the late Eastern Han dynasty. Originally a notorious pirate, he gave up the life of a marauder in the late 190s and became a subordinate of Huang Zu, the Administrator of a commandery in present-day east-central Hubei. Disheartened by Huang Zu's indifferent attitude towards him, Gan Ning eventually left Huang and made his way into Wu territory, where he found his calling and became a military officer under the warlord Sun Quan. Throughout his years of service under Sun Quan until his death, Gan Ning fought in numerous battles for his lord, including the battles of Jiangxia (208), Red Cliffs (208–209), Xiaoyao Ford (214–215) and Ruxu (217).
Lü Bu, courtesy name Fengxian, was a Chinese military general, politician, and warlord who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty of Imperial China. Originally a subordinate of a minor warlord Ding Yuan, he betrayed and murdered Ding Yuan and defected to Dong Zhuo, the warlord who controlled the Han central government in the early 190s. In 192, he turned against Dong Zhuo and killed him after being instigated by Wang Yun and Shisun Rui, but was later defeated and driven away by Dong Zhuo's followers.
Old Chinese, also called Archaic Chinese in older works, is the oldest attested stage of Chinese, and the ancestor of all modern varieties of Chinese. The earliest examples of Chinese are divinatory inscriptions on oracle bones from around 1250 BC, in the Late Shang period. Bronze inscriptions became plentiful during the following Zhou dynasty. The latter part of the Zhou period saw a flowering of literature, including classical works such as the Analects, the Mencius, and the Zuo zhuan. These works served as models for Literary Chinese, which remained the written standard until the early twentieth century, thus preserving the vocabulary and grammar of late Old Chinese.
Wu wei is an ancient Chinese concept literally meaning "inexertion", "inaction", or "effortless action". Wu wei emerged in the Spring and Autumn period. With early literary examples, as an idea, in the Classic of Poetry, it becomes an important concept in the Confucian Analects, Chinese statecraft, and Daoism. It was most commonly used to refer to an ideal form of government, including the behavior of the emperor, describing a state of personal harmony, free-flowing spontaneity and laissez-faire. It generally denotes a state of spirit or state of mind, and in Confucianism, accords with conventional morality.
Stanislas Aignan Julien was a French sinologist who served as the Chair of Chinese at the Collège de France for over 40 years and was one of the most academically respected sinologists in French scholarship.
Herrlee Glessner Creel was an American Sinologist and philosopher who specialized in Chinese philosophy and history, and was a professor of Chinese at the University of Chicago for nearly 40 years. On his retirement, Creel was praised by his colleagues as an innovative pioneer on early Chinese civilization and as one who could write both for specialists and for the interested general public with cogency, lucidity, and grace.
Yang Xiu (175–219), courtesy name Dezu, was an official and adviser serving under the warlord Cao Cao during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China.
A topic marker is a grammatical particle used to mark the topic of a sentence. It is found in Japanese, Korean, Quechua, Ryukyuan, Imonda and, to a limited extent, Classical Chinese. It often overlaps with the subject of a sentence, causing confusion for learners, as most other languages lack it. It differs from a subject in that it puts more emphasis on the item and can be used with words in other roles as well.
Grammatical particles, or simply particles, are words that convey certain grammatical meanings. The term is often applied to words that are difficult to classify according to traditional grammar. Both Classical Chinese and Modern Standard Chinese make use of particles. In Chinese, particles are known as zhùcí or yǔzhùcí . They belong to function words. In other words, they have no lexical meaning, but are used to indicate certain grammatical information. This contrasts with content words. Particles in Chinese usually take the neutral tone.: p. 238
The Amoy dialect or Xiamen dialect, also known as Amoyese, Amoynese, Amoy Hokkien, Xiamenese or Xiamen Hokkien, is a dialect of Hokkien spoken in the city of Xiamen and its surrounding metropolitan area, in the southern part of Fujian province. Currently, it is one of the most widely researched and studied varieties of Southern Min. It has historically come to be one of the more standardized varieties.
Hokkien is a variety of the Southern Min languages, native to and originating from the Minnan region, in the southeastern part of Fujian in southeastern mainland China. It is also referred to as Quanzhang, from the first characters of the urban centers of Quanzhou and Zhangzhou.
During the late Zhou dynasty, the inhabitants of the Central Plains began to make a distinction between Hua and Yi, referred to by some historians as the Sino–barbarian dichotomy. They defined themselves as part of cultural and political region known as Huaxia, which they contrasted with the surrounding regions home to outsiders, conventionally known as the Four Barbarians. Although Yi is usually translated as "barbarian", other translations of this term in English include "foreigners", "ordinary others", "wild tribes" and "uncivilized tribes". The Hua–Yi distinction asserted Chinese superiority, but implied that outsiders could become Hua by adopting their culture and customs. The Hua–Yi distinction was not unique to China, but was also applied by various Vietnamese, Japanese, and Koreans regimes, all of whom considered themselves at one point in history to be legitimate successors to the Chinese civilization and the "Central State" in imitation of China.
Some historical Chinese characters for non-Han peoples were graphically pejorative ethnic slurs, where the racial insult derived not from the Chinese word but from the character used to write it. For instance, written Chinese first transcribed the name Yáo "the Yao people " with the character for yáo猺 "jackal". Most of those terms were replaced in the early 20th-century language reforms; for example, the character for the term yáo was changed, replaced this graphic pejorative meaning "jackal" with another one – a homophone meaning yáo瑤 "precious jade".
The term "Classical Chinese" refers to the written language of the classical period of Chinese literature, from the end of the Spring and Autumn period to the founding of the Qin dynasty in 221 BC—or in a broader sense to the end of the Han dynasty in 220 AD. "Classical Chinese" is also often used for the higher language register used in writing during most of the following centuries, a register generally referred to as "Literary Chinese"; this article focuses on the grammar used during the classical period.
Yu Yue, courtesy name Yinfu, haoQuyuan, was a prominent scholar and official of Qing dynasty China. An expert in philology and textual studies, he taught and wrote prolifically on the classics and histories. Yu Pingbo was his great-grandson; one of his most important disciples was Zhang Taiyan.
Java arquebus refers to long-barreled early firearm from the Nusantara archipelago, dating back to the early 16th century. The weapon was used by Javanese armies, albeit in low number compared to total fighting men, before the arrival of Iberian explorers in the 16th century. In historical records, the weapon may be classified as arquebus or musket.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
