China has a vast area and many ethnic groups, each place has its own dialect, the so-called hundred miles of different customs, ten miles of different sounds, this is a very common phenomenon. It was not until the founding of New China that Mandarin was introduced nationwide that this problem was completely resolved.
Communication between the chancellor and the emperor
Manchurian nobility originated in the Changbai Mountains, and in the early days of Nurhaci, let alone Chinese, it was Jurchen, and the pronunciation of each tribe was different. After unifying the Jurchen ministries, the Manchu script was only founded, and by the time Emperor Taiji succeeded to the throne, the promotion of the Manchu language was fruitful and became the official script.
During the Tiancong and Chongde periods, a large number of Han Chinese descended to the Qing Dynasty, manchu-Han exchanges gradually deepened, and many children of nobles began to learn Chinese, as for the general Eight Banners disciples, few of them could master Chinese proficiently. After the capital of The Shunzhi Dynasty was set in Beijing, the Manchu and Han cultures were integrated, and on the basis of the Ming Dynasty official dialect, some Manchu genes were integrated, which formed the official dialect of the Qing Dynasty. The so-called "official dialect" is actually very close to the current Mandarin.
During the Shunzhi period and the early Kangxi Dynasty, due to the long-term settlement in Beijing, it was no longer a problem for the flag people to speak fluent official dialect, but there were many Manchu ministers who could not yet write Chinese, so during this period, the ministers of Manchuria, Mongolia and even the Han military flag were usually played in Manchu.
Han Ministers naturally had no problems in writing Chinese, but because Han Ministers came from all over the country, many officials in terms of oral language had a strong dialect. In particular, officials in Guangdong, Fujian, Guangxi, and remote provinces had obstacles in playing correctly, but the emperor was not completely incomprehensible.
In other words, no matter which province the Qing dynasty officials came from, they were all able to speak official language. This is because they basically entered the military through the path of the imperial examination, and since the day they received their initial education, they have actually been learning the official language. Therefore, since the Song Dynasty, there has been a saying that "each of the four sides has its own dialect, and only the reader is then the right". This means that the words spoken by the reader are the right tone.
Theoretically, readers start from the enlightenment stages such as the "Three Character Classic" and "Thousand Character Text", and even enter the "Four Books" and "Five Classics", and study the eight strands of text, and each word has a standard pronunciation. This is the same as our current standard pronunciation in primary and secondary schools.
However, because each place has its own dialect, Mr. Teaching also has a situation of non-standard pronunciation, so the candidates in each place have a strong hometown tone after passing the examination. If it is a province of Zhili, Shandong, henan, etc., the problem is not big, and there are large communication barriers in the southern provinces and Yunnan-Guizhou region.
The problem of non-standard pronunciation by officials is widespread, and dialects are difficult to completely remove. However, those who were officials in the dynasty would be greatly improved due to the influence of the environment, and there was little problem in communicating with the emperor.
Nevertheless, every time the Qing emperor summoned a minister, he was often accompanied by a translator, usually a bodyguard by his side. For example, when Empress Dowager Cixi was in power, she summoned the military chancellor, and there were interpreters on standby at her side.
The Guangdong and Fujian officials who caused the emperor the most headache
As mentioned earlier, the exchanges between the emperor and the officials were basically understandable, but the officials in Guangdong and Fujian provinces gave the emperor a headache. We all know that these two provinces are now, and they are also the heaviest dialect accents, and many words are still not understood.
According to the Records of the Qing Dynasty, Kangxi and Yongzheng must be accompanied by interpreters when summoning officials from Guangdong and Fujian. It is not unusual to have a translator, but the imperial power of the emperor in the Qing Dynasty is highly concentrated, and all military and political affairs are never faked by others, and the most important secrecy between kings and subjects is the most important, so there is a translator in the middle, which is not only blindly delaying work, but also not conducive to secrecy.
The Yongzheng Emperor finally couldn't bear it, and he issued a holy decree in the sixth year of Yongzheng, saying: "Many people in Fujian and Guangdong do not understand the official language, and they are taught by local officials, and the court is limited to eight years, and those who are not familiar with official language are not allowed to send for the test." ”
Yongzheng is to start from the doll and solve this problem left over from history from the root. Since then, local officials in the two provinces have vigorously grasped the work of popularizing the official dialect, and the readers have not dared to be sloppy, because they cannot be familiar with and master the official language, and they cannot even enter the examination hall of the township examination.
Yongzheng was still a pragmatic emperor in the end, and when he promulgated the Holy Will, he also ordered officials from the two provinces to set up "Zhengyin Academy" in the local area, which means correction, in order to train readers to master the official language. Yongzheng was still not at ease, and specially let the local garrison Eight Flags be the teacher, because their pronunciation was the most standard.
The promotion of Zhengyin College is still very effective. Since the Qianlong Dynasty, the level of official language of Guangdong and Fujian officials has increased significantly, and there is no language communication barrier when the emperor summons him alone.
Communication between officials and the people is a big problem
In many Qing Dynasty film and television works, we often see the old master of Zhixian county when he was trying a case, and the people knelt in the hall to accept questions and defend. There should be no small discrepancy between this situation and the historical truth.
In the Qing Dynasty, local officials had a strict recusal system, and officials were not allowed to hold posts in their places of origin or sojourn, and all were required to practice regional recusal. And geographical avoidance is generally five hundred miles to start, or even farther. The Qing Dynasty did not strictly implement "southern people official north, northern people official south" as in the early Ming Dynasty, but inter-provincial appointments were also the norm.
Unlike the readers, ordinary people do not understand the official dialect at all, and the communication between the county and the people must rely on the translation of the scribe in the Yamen, of course, except for the provinces where the dialect is close to the official dialect.
The inability of Zhixian to communicate directly with the people is a very serious problem, not only reflected in the litigation trial, but also involves a wide range of aspects. Since it was not direct communication, the scribe who acted as a translator in the yamen was given an opportunity. If the will of the people is to be reflected to the old master of Zhixian County, only by spending money to find someone to present it in the form of words.