Classical Chinese^[a] is the language in which theclassics of Chinese literature were written, fromc. the 5th century BCE.[2] For millennia thereafter, thewritten Chinese used in these works was imitated and iterated upon by scholars in a form now calledLiterary Chinese, which was used for almost all formal writing in China until the early 20th century. Eachwritten 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.

Starting in the 2nd century CE, use of Literary Chinese spread to the countries surrounding China, includingVietnam,Korea,Japan, and theRyukyu Islands, where it represented the only known form of writing. Literary Chinese was adopted as the language of civil administration in these countries, creating what is known as theSinosphere. Each additionally developed systems of readings and annotations that enabled non-Chinese speakers to interpret Literary Chinese texts in terms of the local vernacular.

While not static throughout its history, its evolution has traditionally been guided by a conservative impulse: many later changes in thevarieties of Chinese are not reflected in the literary form. Due to millennia of this evolution, Literary Chinese is only partially intelligible when read or spoken aloud for someone only familiar with modern vernacular forms. Literary Chinese has largely been replaced by written vernacular Chinese among Chinese speakers; speakers of non-Chinese languages have similarly abandoned Literary Chinese in favour of their own local vernaculars. Although varieties of Chinese have diverged in various directions from theOld Chinese words in the Classical lexicon, many cognates can still be found.

There is no universal agreement on the definition of "Classical Chinese". At its core, the term refers to the language used by theclassics of Chinese literature roughly from the 5th century BCE to the end of theHan dynasty (202 BCE – 220 CE). The form of Chinese used in works written before the 4th century BCE, like theFive Classics, is distinct from that found in later works. The term "pre-Classical Chinese" is used to distinguish this earlier form from Classical Chinese proper, as it did not inspire later imitation to a comparable degree despite the works' equal importance in the canon.^[3]

After the Han dynasty, the divergence of spoken language from the literary form became increasingly apparent. The term "Literary Chinese" has been coined to refer to the later forms of written Chinese in conscious imitation of the classics, withsinologists generally emphasizing distinctions such as the gradual addition of new vocabulary and the erosion of certain points of Classical grammar as their functions were forgotten. Literary Chinese was used in almost all formal and personal writing in China from the end of the Han dynasty until the early 20th century, when it was largely replaced bywritten vernacular Chinese.^[4] A distinct, narrower definition of the Classical period begins with the life ofConfucius (551–479 BCE) and ends with the founding of the Qin dynasty in 221 BCE.^[5][6][7]

Theadoption of Chinese literary culture in the Sinosphere amid the existence of various regionalvernaculars is an example ofdiglossia. The coexistence of Literary Chinese and native languages throughout China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam can be compared to the historical literary use ofLatin in Europe, that ofOld Church Slavonic in the Eastern Orthodox world, that of Arabic inPersia, or that ofSanskrit in South and Southeast Asia. However, unlike these examples, written Chinese uses alogography ofChinese characters that are not directly tied to their pronunciation. This lack of a fixed correspondence between writing and reading created a situation where later readings of Classical Chinese texts were able to diverge much further from their originals than occurred in the other literary traditions, adding a unique dimension to the study of Literary Chinese.

Literary Chinese was adopted in Korea, Japan, and Vietnam. TheOxford Handbook of Classical Chinese Literature states that this adoption came mainly from diplomatic and cultural ties with China, while conquest, colonization, and migration played smaller roles.^[8] Unlike Latin and Sanskrit, historical Chinese language theory consisted almost exclusively oflexicography, as opposed to the study of grammar and syntax. Such approaches largely arrived with Europeans beginning in the 17th century. Christian missionaries later coined the term文理 (wénlǐ; 'principles of literature', 'bookish language') to describe Classical Chinese; this term never became widely used among domestic speakers.^[9][10]

According to the traditional "burning of books and burying of scholars" account, in 213 BCEQin Shi Huang ordered the historical records of all non-Qin states to be burned, along with any literature associated with theHundred Schools of Thought. The imperial library was destroyed upon the dynasty's collapse in 206 BCE, resulting in a potentially greater loss. Even works from the Classical period that have survived are not known to exist in their original forms, and are attested only in manuscripts copied centuries after their original composition. The "Yiwenzhi" section of theBook of Han (111 CE) is the oldest extant bibliography of Classical Chinese, compiledc. 90 CE; only 6% of its 653 listed works are known to exist in a complete form, with another 6% existing only in fragments.[11]

Compared to written vernacular Chinese, Classical Chinese is terse and compact in its style, and uses some different vocabulary. Classical Chinese rarely uses words two or more characters in length.^[12]

Classical Chinese can be described as apro-drop language: itssyntax often allows either subjects or objects to be dropped when their reference is understood. Additionally, words are generally not restricted to use as certainparts of speech: many characters may function as either a noun, verb, or adjective. There is no generalcopula in Classical Chinese akin to how是 (shì) is used in modern Standard Chinese. Characters that can sometimes function as a copula in specific circumstances include為 (wéi; 'make', 'do') when indicating temporary circumstances, and曰 (yuē; 'say') when used in the sense of 'to be called'.^[13]

Classical Chinese has morepronouns compared to the modern vernacular. In particular, whereas modern Standard Chinese has one character generally used as a first-person pronoun, Classical Chinese has several—many of which are used as part of asystem of honorifics. Many final and interrogative particles are found in Classical Chinese.^[14]

Beyond differences in grammar and vocabulary, Classical Chinese can be distinguished by its literary qualities: an effort to maintainparallelism and rhythm is typical, even in prose works. Works also make extensive use of literary techniques such as allusion, which contributes to the language's brevity.

Prior to the literary revolution in China that began with the 1919May Fourth Movement, prominent examples of vernacular Chinese literature include the 18th-century novelDream of the Red Chamber. Most government documents in theRepublic of China were written in Literary Chinese until reforms spearheaded by PresidentYen Chia-kan in the 1970s to shift to written vernacular Chinese.^[15][16] However, most of the laws of Taiwan are still written in a subset of Literary Chinese. As a result, it is necessary for modern Taiwanese lawyers to learn at least a subset of the literary language.

Many works of literature in Classical and Literary Chinese have been highly influential in Chinese culture, such as the canon ofTang poetry. However, even with knowledge of its grammar and vocabulary, works in Literary Chinese can be difficult for native vernacular speakers to understand, due to its frequentallusions and references to other historical literature, as well as the extremely laconic style. Presently, pure Literary Chinese is occasionally used in formal or ceremonial contexts. For example, theNational Anthem of the Republic of China is in Literary Chinese.Buddhist texts in Literary Chinese are still preserved from the time they were composed or translated from Sanskrit. In practice there is a socially accepted continuum between vernacular and Literary Chinese. For example, most official notices and formal letters use stock literary expressions within vernacular prose.

Personal use of Classical phrases depends on factors such as the subject matter and the level of education of the writer. Excepting professional scholars and enthusiasts, most modern writers cannot easily write in Literary Chinese. Even so, most Chinese people with at least a middle school education are able toread basic Literary Chinese, because this ability is part of the Chinese middle school and high school curricula, and is a component of the college entrance examination. Literary Chinese in the school curriculum is taught primarily by presenting a literary work and including a vernacular gloss that explains the meaning of phrases. The examinations usually require the student to read a paragraph in Literary Chinese and then explain its meaning in the vernacular.

Contemporary use of Literary Chinese in Japan is mainly in the field of education and the study of literature. Learningkanbun, the Japanese readings of Literary Chinese, is part of the high school curriculum in Japan. Japan is the only country that maintains the tradition of creating Literary Chinese poetry based on Tang-eratone patterns.

Chinese characters are notphonetic and rarely reflect latersound changes in words. Efforts to reconstruct Old Chinese pronunciation began relatively recently. Literary Chinese is not read with a reconstructed Old Chinese pronunciation; instead, it is read with the pronunciations as categorized and listed in arime dictionary originally based upon the Middle Chinese pronunciation inLuoyang between the 2nd and 4th centuries. Over time, each dynasty updated and modified the official rime dictionary: by the time of theYuan andMing dynasties, its phonology reflected that of early Mandarin. As theimperial examination system required the candidate to compose poetry in theshi genre, pronunciation in non-Mandarin speaking parts of China such asZhejiang,Guangdong andFujian is either based on everyday speech, such as inStandard Cantonese, or is based on a special set of pronunciations borrowed from Classical Chinese, such as inSouthern Min. In practice, all varieties of Chinese combine the two extremes of pronunciation: that according to a prescribed system, versus that based on everyday speech. Mandarin and Cantonese, for example, also have words that are pronounced one way in colloquial usage and another way when used in Literary Chinese or in specialized terms coming from Literary Chinese, though the system is not as extensive as that ofMin orWu.

Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese readers of Literary Chinese each use distinct systems of pronunciation specific to their own languages. Japanese speakers have readings of Chinese origin calledon'yomi for many words, such as for "ginko" (銀行) or "Tokyo" (東京), but usekun'yomi when the kanji represents a native word such as the reading of行 in行く (iku) or the reading of both characters in "Osaka" (大阪), as well as a system that aids Japanese speakers with a Classical word order.

As pronunciation in modern varieties is different from Old Chinese as well as other historical forms such asMiddle Chinese, characters that once rhymed may not any longer, or vice versa. Poetry and other rhyme-based writing thus becomes less coherent than the original reading must have been. However, some modern Chinese varieties have certain phonological characteristics that are closer to the older pronunciations than others, as shown by the preservation of certain rhyme structures.

Another particular characteristic of Literary Chinese is its presenthomophony. Reading Classical texts with character pronunciations from modern languages results in many homophonous characters that originally had distinct Old Chinese pronunciations, but have since merged to varying degrees. This phenomenon is far more common in Chinese languages than in English: for example, each of the following words had a distinct Old Chinese pronunciation, but are now perfectly homophones with a pronunciation ofyì[î]^ⓘ in Standard Chinese:^[17]

The poemLion-Eating Poet in the Stone Den was composed during the 1930s by the linguistYuen Ren Chao to demonstrate this: it contains only words pronouncedshi[ʂɻ̩] with various tones in modern Standard Chinese. The poem underlines how language had become impractical for modern speakers: when spoken aloud, Literary Chinese is largely incomprehensible. However, the poem is perfectly comprehensible when read, and also uses homophones that were present even in Old Chinese.

Romanizations have been devised to provide distinct spellings for Literary Chinese words, together with pronunciation rules for various modern varieties. The earliest was theRomanisation Interdialectique by French missionariesHenri Lamasse [fr] of theParis Foreign Missions Society and Ernest Jasmin, based on Middle Chinese, followed by linguistWang Li'sWényán luómǎzì based on Old Chinese in 1940, and then by Chao'sGeneral Chinese romanization in 1975. However, none of these systems have seen extensive use.^[19][20]

• Classical Chinese poetry
• Gugyeol
• Giải âm
• Sino-Xenic vocabulary
  • Sino-Japanese vocabulary
  • Sino-Korean vocabulary
  • Sino-Vietnamese vocabulary
• Brushtalk

• Lewis, Mark Edward (2014).Chinese Philosophical Texts. University of Stanford.
• Eno, Robert (2010).Wenyanwen Primer. Indiana University.hdl:2022/23480.
• Kieschnick, John (2015).A Primer in Chinese Buddhist Writings. University of Stanford.