Classical Chinese is the most basic form of written language used in ancient Chinese documents. Its main characteristics include the following aspects:
1. Separation of words and phrases. Linguistic research believes that written language is produced and developed on the basis of spoken language. The two influence and promote each other, and they are very closely related. Classical Chinese was formed on the basis of pre-Qin spoken language, but with the passage of time, classical Chinese gradually distanced itself from the spoken language of later generations. From the Han and Wei dynasties to the Ming and Qing dynasties, due to official promotion and the need for imperial examinations, scholars deliberately imitated the language of the "Four Books and Five Classics" to write poems and articles, advocating for elegance. In this way, the distance between classical Chinese as a written language and the actual language used by people is getting wider and wider, resulting in the phenomenon of separation of speech and language.
2. Unchanging for a long time. Until the May 4th Movement, classical Chinese, as the dominant written language, was passed down and used from generation to generation, and its linguistic components remained basically unchanged. For example, some basic sentence patterns and the usage of commonly used function words in the pre-Qin period have been preserved in the classical Chinese of the past dynasties. Even the most active vocabulary among the three elements of language has strong stability in classical Chinese: some ancient words The meaning has long since disappeared in spoken language, but it is still used in classical Chinese. Although people in later generations will inevitably incorporate some of the spoken language of the time into their imitations, thus bringing about some subtle changes to classical Chinese, on the whole, classical Chinese still basically maintains its original appearance in terms of vocabulary system and grammatical system.
3. Concise writing. Most of the important classics in ancient my country were written in classical Chinese, and many of these immortal works have always been known for their simplicity and conciseness. It can be said that classical Chinese itself contains concise factors: first, monosyllabic words are dominant in classical Chinese, and there are relatively few disyllabic and multi-syllable words; second, classical Chinese is often omitted, and it is very common to omit subjects, objects, predicates, and prepositions. . In addition, famous writers in the past dynasties paid much attention to refining language and emphasized "small words and big meanings", so a strict and concise style of classical Chinese was formed.
4. Ancient and difficult to understand. As time passes, classical Chinese, which is separated from spoken language, becomes increasingly difficult to understand. Weird sentences, uncommon and archaic words, and many unfamiliar names, rules and regulations... all these become elusive "myths" in the eyes of beginners. Therefore, annotating ancient books and solving difficult problems has always been one of the tasks that literati and scholars have been diligently pursuing.
In the long historical process, classical Chinese has played an important role. It was classical Chinese that unified our multi-ethnic country with a vast territory and complex dialects in the written language. As a common form of written language throughout the dynasties, classical Chinese records the thousands of years of splendid civilization of ancient China. Classical Chinese is a huge treasure house. The long culture of the Chinese nation has been passed down, and classical Chinese has played an indispensable role.
However, on the other hand, classical Chinese also has very serious flaws, which have also caused some negative effects in history. This can be seen from the fierce criticism of classical Chinese during the May Fourth Movement: one of the shortcomings of classical Chinese is that it is not conducive to the popularization of literature and education. Because classical Chinese is far from the language actually used by people, learning and using classical Chinese has become a "patent" for a few scholars. This also contributed to the ignorance and backwardness of old China to a certain extent. Lu Xun said in "Qiejieting Essays: The Rebirth of Chinese Language": "The so-called Chinese characters and Chinese characters in China are no longer the property of everyone in China." The second flaw of classical Chinese is that it is not conducive to the free expression of ideas. "Words are the voice of the heart", language is the most important thinking tool for human beings. However, it is very difficult to think about classical Chinese as an "internal language". What's more, rigid writing also seriously constrains people's thinking. Mr. Ye Shengtao once wrote an article during the May Fourth Movement: "The main reason for the difficulty of learning Chinese writing is the difference in language. When Fang was writing, he first searched for materials and compiled them sequentially. His thoughts were consistent with his words, but he wanted to When the pen is on paper, it must be translated into classical Chinese, so what is written by the hand is not what the mind thinks. The process of translating is very laborious."