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In this vast expanse of China, there are many dialects, each village seems to have its own accent, and cities have their own characteristics. If you go back in history, even in ancient times, even emperors could not avoid the problem of dialects. However, the ancients had long understood this problem and took a series of measures to deal with it. Let's travel through time and delve into this interesting historical story.
During the Qing Dynasty, the princes and grandchildren began to receive a brutal court education from a very young age, one of which was to learn the four imperial religions: Manchu, Han, Mongolian, and Tibetan, and they had to be fluent in these four languages.
This standard makes modern people envious, especially considering that our current elementary school students usually start learning English only in the third grade. But this is not enough, because the dialects throughout the country are so diverse, even if they are proficient in the four imperial teachings, it is difficult to cover everything.
So, how did the ancients solve this dilemma? In fact, the answer is quite simple: formulate "official dialect", which is equivalent to today's Mandarin. This plan began as early as the Western Zhou Dynasty and lasted for more than 2,000 years, until the Ming and Qing dynasties. At first, the language of the Luoyang region became the official language, and then in the Yuan Dynasty, after the economic center of gravity shifted to Beijing, Beijing dialect gradually became the standard of official language.
During the Ming Dynasty, the standard tone already had the characteristics of Nanjing and Peking sounds, very close to modern Mandarin.
In 1867, the British Minister in Beijing, Witumar, mentioned in his "Self-Linguistic Collection": "The official language as a spoken medium belongs not only to the official and intellectual class, but also to nearly four-fifths of the imperial people." Mandarin not only became the language of royalty and officials, but also permeated all levels of society.
What's even more interesting is that the influence of official language can be seen even outside of China. At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the Chinese textbooks "Old Beggar" and "Park Shitong" compiled by Koreans used Beijing dialect as the standard sound.
This shows that the influence of official language is not limited to the country, but also affects neighboring countries.
For the emperor, it was crucial to understand the words of the ministers. Usually, the emperor's circle of communication was relatively small, and only a few ministers often communicated with the emperor. These ministers were either from the same region and spoke the same dialect, or people who had accompanied the emperor for a long time, and they were able to master the official language perfectly, so there was no language barrier.
For newly appointed officials or field officials, they needed to receive court training, including education in official language. This was to ensure that they were able to express themselves in standard official language when communicating with the emperor.
These trainings allowed them to overcome language barriers and communicate smoothly with the emperor.
However, to succeed in officialdom, it is necessary not only to be proficient in the four books and five classics, but also to master the official language. The importance of official language cannot be underestimated, and it is directly related to the status and future of an official. If an official's official pronunciation is problematic, it is likely to be despised, which will be a major obstacle to the official career.
Among the many dialects, the southern accent is considered the most difficult to understand. The Yongzheng Emperor was very disgusted by officials from Fujian Guang speaking in the dialect of the country, and even doubted their administrative ability.
He said: "Every time I introduce ministers and workers, only the people of Fujian and Guangzhou Provinces are still native and cannot understand it... Go to another province, and An can read the admonition, the judgment and the lawsuit, all of which are clearly experienced, so that the little migrant workers can know? This suggests that the Yongzheng Emperor emphasized that officials must have good pronunciation of official language to ensure that they can effectively perform their duties.
In order to solve this problem, the Yongzheng Emperor demanded that Fujian and Liangguang regions establish Zhengyin Academy, hire Mandarin instructors, and require Tongsheng, Xiucai, and Juren to learn Mandarin within eight years. Otherwise, they will not be allowed to take the exam.
This policy has sparked a nationwide upsurge in learning Mandarin.
However, it is interesting to note that in the early days of the Qing Dynasty, there was also a frequent phenomenon in the officialdom, known as "impersonation", that is, the phenomenon of immigration to the college entrance examination. This is similar to some phenomena in our modern society, during the Qing Dynasty, the cultural level of Jiangsu and Zhejiang was relatively high, while the directly subordinate areas were relatively poor. In order to take care of the directly subordinate region, the imperial court was in the middle
Special policies have been adopted in the selection of candidates to balance the selection opportunities in various places. However, as the phenomenon of "impersonation" increased, the Qianlong Emperor took more severe measures and set up a post called "Imperial History of Censorship", which was responsible for reviewing the accent of the examiner in order to prevent the "relocation examination".
In addition, he asked new officials to demonstrate their level of official language to ensure that they could perform their duties effectively.
The implementation of this policy has triggered a series of changes. In the twenty-fourth year of Qianlong, Zhejiang Shaoxing Prefecture sentenced Zhang Tingtai to try to use his connections to get the opportunity to meet Qianlong. However, when Qianlong asked about his origins, Zhang Tingtai stated that he was from Shuntianfu, which aroused Qianlong's suspicions. Qianlong could hear his Shaoxing accent through a few brief conversations, so he punished the censorship and transferred Zhang Tingtai to Fujian.
This incident became a sensation in the Qing officialdom at that time, and also showed the importance that the Qianlong Emperor attached to official language and his rigorous attitude towards language issues.
In general, ancient China made great efforts to resolve dialect differences. The use of official language has been successfully promoted in officialdom and society through the development of standards for "official language", as well as through education and censorship. This initiative not only helps to alleviate the communication barriers caused by dialects, but also promotes the inheritance and unity of culture. Mandarin became a link between cultures and an important link in the ancient Chinese political system.
In modern times, we may learn from the wisdom of the ancients. While respecting and passing on local cultures, we should also pay attention to the importance of a common language.