Language Planning in China

Language Planning in China
Volume 4
Language Policies and
Practices in China
Edited by
Li Wei (李嵬)
Volume 4
Li Yuming
Language Planning
in China
The Commercial Press

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Preface
This book, entitled Language Planning in China, contains 30 papers which were
all written when I was holding office of the Director of the Department of Lan-
guage Information Administration of the Ministry of Education. These papers
have demonstrated dual emphasis on theory and practice, when investigating
linguistic issues encountered by the Chinese society at the beginning of the 21st
century. Most results of the investigation have directly informed language plan-
ning activities of China. Going over this book, the reader can basically under-
stand the thinking behind and the progress made by the various language plan-
ning endeavours of China in the past decade.
Language Life is the theoretical starting point of this book. The notion has
attracted more and more attention from the academic world in the past 20 years,
and is now much better understood. Language life mainly refers to different
kinds of social activities that involve language use, language knowledge and
language technologies, as well as the learning and study of them. It is one of
the most important social activities of mankind. Thus, it is language life, instead
of language per se, that a government should manage.
Language life should be the basis of any language planning. Good language
planning should not only reflect objectively the reality of language life, but
should also guide the development of language life. The basic goal of language
planning is to achieve harmony in language life, which should also be regarded
as the criterion for evaluating the merits and shortcomings of any language
planning endeavour.
For the translated version of this book to be published, enormous effort of
a whole group of people was called for. Thanks to the Editor-in-chief of the
Commercial Press, Dr. Zhou Hongbo, who earnestly planned and drove for the
publication of this translated version. Professor Li Wei of the University of
London, a distinguished scholar who excels in both English and Chinese lan-
guage studies, not only helped to line up De Gruyter, but has also provided
precious suggestions in the selection of papers. I would like to thank Professor
Bernard Spolsky sincerely for the Foreword he wrote, which has added much
value to the book. Professor Chan Shui-duen of the Hong Kong Polytechnic Uni-
versity helped to organize a translation team comprising language and linguistic
experts who contributed a lot of their precious time out of their busy schedules
to translate my works. She also helped to proofread the entire collection, on top
of translating a number of papers herself. Dr. Xu Xiaoying, Associate Professor
of Beijing Normal University, helped to coordinate the different parties, while
the editing work was carefully taken up by Dr. Dai Wenying, Editor of the
vi Preface
Commercial Press. My colleagues at the Department of Language Information

Administration and my peer scholars who regard themselves as the “Language
Life party members” have enlightened me with their wisdom and practical expe-
riences. I owe all of them my deepest gratitude!
Finally, I would like to give special thanks to De Gruyter. On top of publish-
ing this book, De Gruyter has also entered into an agreement with the Commer-
cial Press to publish the English version of Language Situation in China series
and other related works on continuous basis. This has greatly facilitated the
understanding of the language planning theory and practices of contemporary
China by the rest of the world.
Li Yuming
15 August, 2014, Beijing
Translated by CHAN Shui Duen (陈瑞端)

Department of Chinese & Bilingual Studies,
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
chsdchan@polyu.edu.hk
Foreword by Bernard Spolsky
“It is language life, instead of language per se,

that a government should manage.”
—Li Yuming
In a footnote in a recent paper on language management in the People’s Re-

public of China (PRC) (Spolsky, 2014), I predicted that the appearance in English
of work by Li Yuming will provide critically important information on the topic.
Three volumes of the English version of Language Situation in China, an official
annual report by the State Language Commission of China and edited by Li
Yuming are now out (Li Yuming and Li Wei, 2013, 2014, 2015) and their descrip-
tion of language management activities confirms this. The present new collection
of translation of Li Yuming’s own writing provides more than just information,
but by revealing the opinions of a scholar who was long involved in language
management in China, forms the basis for an understanding of language manage-
ment not just in the PRC but wherever it is undertaken. It is therefore a distinct
pleasure and honor then to be invited to write the foreword.
Li Yuming’s key contribution is made clear in the sentence I have quoted
above, a recognition that the language use and users are of more central rele-
vance to the field than the specific language itself. While it is true that Li stresses
the importance of a standard variety in allowing the free flow of information, he
recognizes the critical value of other varieties, the fāngyán, which he translates
as “dialects”, the regional varieties or “topolects” which make up the Chinese
linguistic ecology. His recognition of the importance of bilingualism and bi-
dialectalism to a healthy language ecosystem is matched by his repeated call
for the addition of international languages to Chinese language capability.
In reading his work, one recognizes the full awareness that monolingualism
is a limitation, a lesson that many language policy makers could well learn. Li
stresses the importance of bilingualism and multilingualism, calling attention
to the way in which ethnic minority languages have developed and become
part of plurilingual proficiency of multilingual communities. Li lists as the
“natural language resources” of China Putonghua, Chinese dialects and characters,
minority national languages and dialects and writing, and foreign languages,
both spoken and written. He recognizes further that these resources are not
fixed, but developing and changing, and that there are important gaps requiring
continued research and development. He calls especially for further efforts to
raise the status of foreign languages. This open-minded receptiveness to other
than the standard dominant language is rare in language activists.
viii Foreword by Bernard Spolsky
Of course, given the enormous size of China and the complexity of its ethnic
and linguistic patterning, any attempt at language management poses a very
serious challenge. One advantage that the PRC had when it started major lan-
guage reforms was that for 2000 years there had been an effort to build on the
existence of the writing system an acceptance of a standard central variety. The
success of this endeavor is the popular belief that the topolects are dialects of
Chinese rather than distinct language varieties. The other factor supporting PRC
language management is the strong authority of the central government, more
capable than most of implementing its policy. One thinks of the difficulty faced
by a federal system like that of the United States, where one of the key political
struggles continues to be that between the central and the state governments. At
the same time, strong local loyalty as well as size and complexity work to main-
tain linguistic diversity even as the efficiency of a dominant standard language
is recognized.
Another distinctive feature of the Chinese situation is the effect of the
writing system in producing the strong sense of nationhood and of having a
common language. Having a single system that can be read in the various
topolects is enormous support for acceptance of the notion of a common lan-
guage, which is the meaning of Putonghua. But there are also costs involved,
in learning the characters and in using computers. These are met in part by the
managed simplification of characters and by the availability of Pinyin as an
initial teaching medium and for computer input.
There are other interesting special features about the Chinese situation.
One that I have not seen widely discussed is the effect of the one-child policy,
which one might guess contributes to language stability. When there are larger
families, as soon as the oldest child goes to school, younger children too start to
be exposed to the influences of community and school language; when there is
only one child, presumably parental influence lasts longer.
Another is the importance that the political leadership has assigned to
language policy. There are similar cases of course in Turkey under Atatürk,
Singapore under Lee Kuan Yew, and Malaysia where prime ministers intervened
directly in language management. Under the PRC, while language management
policy appears to be formulated by commissions and committees made up of
linguists, information specialists, educators, and politicians, important decisions
are commonly announced by national leaders. At the same time, it is important
to note that there are underlying differences of opinion that need to be taken
into account and that explain policy changes: such issues as simplification
of the writing system, recognition of regional dialects, acceptance of minority
varieties, have all led to considerable debate which has resulted in continual
modification.
Foreword by Bernard Spolsky ix
Another major influence on changes in the linguistic ecology of China has

been the mass migration from the countryside with its normal conservatism
to urban areas where diversity encourages shift towards a common variety.
This process is becoming increasingly common throughout the world and the
Chinese example could well be worth studying.
This collection of writing by Li Yuming then goes well beyond its topic of
Chinese language planning, and could well form the basis for a guide to the
field of language management as a whole. It demonstrates clearly what my
paper claimed, the sophistication of Chinese language management. Its publica-
tion will hopefully help build up a valuable possibility of cooperation between
Chinese and Western scholars of language policy and management.
References
Spolsky, Bernard. 2014. Language Management in the People’s Republic of China. Language,
90(4), e165–e175.
Li, Yuming & Li, Wei (Eds.). 2013. The Language Situation in China (Vol. 1). Berlin and Beijing:
De Gruyter Mouton and Commercial Press.
Table of contents
Preface v
Foreword by Bernard Spolsky vii
Chapter 1
Three major linguistic issues of mankind in contemporary societies 1
Chapter 2
On mother tongue 17
Chapter 3
On planning of language function 39
Chapter 4
Some considerations on enhancing the national language capability 53
Chapter 5
Language is also a “hard power” 71
Chapter 6
On levels of language life 87
Chapter 7
On field language planning 105
Chapter 8
Characteristics of language life in contemporary China 123
Chapter 9
On foreign language planning in China 145
Chapter 10
The status of authoritative dialect in language standardization 157
Chapter 11
A supplement to The Status of Authoritative Dialects in Language
Standardization 175
Chapter 12
Building up bilingual and bi-dialectical competence 185
xii Table of contents
Chapter 13
On the establishment of Chinese Language Resource Audio Database 199
Chapter 14
Some thoughts on the standardization of lexical items 215
Chapter 15
On terminology 229
Chapter 16
Reflection on the modernization of lexicography in China 247
Chapter 17
On Zhongguo Yuyan Shenghuo Lüpishu (Green Paper on the Language
Situation in China) 263
Chapter 18
Issues of the Chinese language in the information age 281
Chapter 19
Language tasks in the information age 299
Chapter 20
The work of language standardization in the information age 313
Chapter 21
Constructing the grand platform of China Character Set 329
Chapter 22
On annotation of language knowledge in the corpus 341
Chapter 23
The needs for language learning and teaching Chinese as foreign
language 357
Chapter 24
The significance of a study on the history of the international dissemination of
Chinese 373
Chapter 25
Contemporary China: the core of international education of the Chinese
language 379
Table of contents xiii
Chapter 26
The intension and extension of qieyinzi 387
Chapter 27
The proposition of universal education in the Qieyinzi Movement 407
Chapter 28
Late Qing script reformers’ view of dialects 427
Chapter 29
Late Qing script reformers’ views on language unification 445
Chapter 30
Centenary of the promulgation of the state resolution Proposal for Establishing
a Common National Language 469
Index 489
Chapter 1
Three major linguistic issues of mankind in
contemporary societies
Abstract: In the domain of language planning, many human societies have been
involved in the discussion of three major issues since ancient times: language
problems, linguistic resources, and language rights. These three major issues
will be expounded on in this paper against the backdrop of the language situa-
tions in China and the world today. In connection with these issues, topics
related to language survey, planning of language functions in the 21st century
China, as well as the duties of the State Language Commission will also be
discussed.
Keywords: language planning, language problems, linguistic resources, language

rights
0 Introduction
Language problems, linguistic resources, and language rights are the major
“linguistic issues” attracting common concern by many human societies, and
some of the issues have been discussed since ancient times. Understanding
these three major issues is significant for formulating language plans and con-
ducting language works. The United Nations proclaimed 2008 the International
Year of Languages, calling for studies and understanding of the linguistic issues
that attract most attention in contemporary human societies.
1 Language problems
In the past, the main objective of language planning was to resolve various
problems that languages brought to society. Language problems consist of three
aspects: 1) Language communication across communities; 2) language pressures;
and 3) language endangerment. Over the past century, and especially since the
founding of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), a great number of persons
with high aspirations have done huge amount of work to resolve language
problems in China, making indelible contributions to the construction and
2 Chapter 1
development of the country. That said, while we enter the new millennium, there
are still language problems that need to be resolved by means of focused lan-
guage planning.
1.1 Language communication

Of the many functions of language, the most important and most basic one is
undoubtedly to serve as an instrument of communication. Language is, at the
same time, also an instrument of thought, a carrier of culture, and one of the
symbols of a nation. The forming of a nation’s unified market inevitably requires
the unification of a nation’s language. The formation of an international market,
in particular the development of an “integrated world economy” during the pro-
cess of globalization, also calls for timely communication of information on a
world scale. However, dialectal divisions and language differences have severely
hindered human communication. Substantial amount of work had been done
in the promotion of a national common language and for foreign language edu-
cation by the Chinese people in the 20th century, in order to foster language
communication throughout the country.
1) Defining and popularizing the Han nationality’s common language
Over more than a century, a great deal of work has been done to facilitate lan-
guage communication, the most important of which was to define the Han
nationality’s common language. Three items of work have been performed to
define and popularize the common language:
a) Active promotion of Putonghua;

b) Simplification, sorting, and standardization of Chinese scripts; and
c) Formulation and popularization of the Hanyu Pinyin ‘Chinese Phonetic
Alphabet’ Scheme1.
Today, the Internet has provided us a virtual space in which many of the human
sensory experiences are recreated. Influenced by the virtual world, major
changes have taken place in our ways of living and thinking. With the Internet
1 On January 10, 1958, Premier Zhou Enlai delivered a report entitled Current Language Reform
Tasks at a meeting held by the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consul-
tative Conference. In this report, he pointed out: “The Language reform tasks of our time are:
simplification of Chinese characters, promotion of Putonghua, and design and implementation
of Hanyu Pinyin.” These three aspects of language work is still in progress up to this day.
The simplification of the Chinese characters and the related works includes the sorting and
standardization of the characters as well.
being an invention of the West, Western languages, especially the English lan-
guage, is therefore predominately used on the Internet. This has, however,
resulted in de facto discrimination, both linguistically and technically, against
languages other than English, and has marginalized many of them. One of the
major tasks of China’s language work in the new era is therefore to accelerate
the pace of informatization of the Chinese language, for the purpose of seizing
the virtual space.
The first law that China enacted in the new century is the Law of the People’s
Republic of China on the Standard Spoken and Written Chinese Language. This
law stipulates Putonghua and the simplified Chinese characters as the standard
spoken and written form of the Chinese language. In the wake of China’s eco-
nomic advances and rising status in the international arena, the Chinese lan-
guage has also become a language that people from other parts of the world
are eager to learn. Since the World Chinese Conference in 2005, the spread of
the Chinese language to other countries has been swifter than at any time in
the past. The huge demand in learning Chinese should of course be entertained
as much as possible. A Singaporean scholar has pointed out that the promotion
of the Chinese language is not merely China’s business; it involves the common
interests of Chinese all over the world. He even stated that it involves the core
interests of Singapore, and he and his colleagues are willing to work together
with their Chinese colleagues to spread the Chinese language to the world. There
is reason to these statements, and China’s scholars should respond to them both
academically and in action.
2) Enhance foreign language education
Education in foreign languages is another means of facilitating linguistic com-

munication. Education in foreign languages has a long history in China and
can be traced back to the Qin and Han dynasties (221 B.C.–220 A.D.). However,
foreign language education in the modern sense did not begin until the end of
the Qing Dynasty (around 1906). (Gao 2006) With over a century’s development,
China has now the largest population of foreign language learners, but encoun-
tering problems in both linguistic and technical aspects. In addition, foreign lan-
guage education also concerns China’s “cultural sovereignty”. Foreign language
ability is an important asset that the Chinese people could not afford to re-
linquish. They should try their very best to learn foreign languages, and learn
them properly. The reasons are:
a) Without foreign language ability, the Chinese will miss a lot of opportunities
in the international arena.
4 Chapter 1
b) More and more world-class meetings are being held in China, such as the
Beijing Olympics and the Shanghai Expo. Providing foreign language services
in such kind of international events is a big challenge that China has to
face. Moreover, riding on China’s rapid economic development since its
opening up, people from different parts of the world are beginning to divert
their attention to China in the hope of seeking opportunities and finding
jobs in the country. Expatriate communities also begin to emerge in China.
For instance, South Korean communities have already taken shape in Beijing,
Shanghai, and Shandong. These communities need to be provided with
services such as medical and health, education, post and communications,
safety and security, and so forth. All of these services involve the use of
foreign languages. Foreign language education has therefore been placed
on the agenda of the government’s social administration.
c) Increasing number of Chinese citizens travel to foreign countries to study
and work. Knowledge of foreign languages is one of the attributes required
for becoming a “world citizen.” A good many cities in China have begun to
teach foreign languages in kindergartens and elementary schools, but China
lacks an environment conducive to the learning of foreign languages, and it
also does not possess sufficient number of competent foreign language
teachers. Many schools adopt foreign languages as the medium of instruc-
tion for certain content courses, but often resulted in students performing
poorly in both the foreign language and the content courses. (Li 2003)
In recent years, China sees a trend of its people obsessed with learning one
single foreign language. English seems to be the only choice whenever a foreign
language is referred to, and that “connecting with the world” implies “connect-
ing in English.” There are altogether close to two hundred countries and regions
in the world, yet many of us know nothing about the languages used in these
places. In the old days, our main aim of learning foreign languages was to learn
the advanced cultural knowledge of the West. It now appears that such aim is
much too simplistic. Well-thought-out plans regarding foreign language provi-
sion should be drawn up, by taking into consideration China’s national interests
and its future development. Foreign languages, too, are national resources, and
introduction of any new language to China can contribute to the building up of
the country’s linguistic resources. The United States attached little importance to
foreign language education in the past. Such situation is being remedied rapidly
under the instruction of the U.S. government. The trend of learning one single
foreign language also does not comply with the foreign language strategy for
China’s future development. Gradual improvements are being made, but the
measures lack vigor and the plans are ineffective.
1.2 Language pressures

Language pressures are first of all manifested by the fact that language transla-
tion and language popularization involve huge costs, as do language education
and language studies. On the one hand, language education, such as bilingual
or trilingual education, requires substantial amount of investment by individuals
as well as the society in terms of time, energy and finance. On the other hand,
language unification may trigger a series of social conflicts and bring pressure
to the society. At the present state, there are three main types of linguistic rela-
tionship that require proper handling by China:
a) The relationship between the native language and foreign languages. Many
people expressed resentment in the preferential policies on foreign lan-
guages in areas such as tertiary education opportunities, employment and
promotions, and are deeply worried about the future status of the native
language. A common negligence of the importance of the native language
is also observed.
b) The relationship between Putonghua and other Chinese dialects: Some years
ago, a number of delegates to local people’s congresses and people’s political
consultative conferences held in the southern dialectal regions have ex-
pressed their concern on issues related to the use of dialects. Some districts
have also proposed slogans for the protection of dialects.
c) The relationships among ethnic languages: There are fifty-six ethnicities and
a large number of different languages spoken in the vast territories of China.
According to the latest studies, there are approximately one hundred twenty
or so varieties of ethnic languages in China (the status of some of these
languages have yet to be determined). (Sun et al 2007) Ethnic equality is
also manifested in the equality of ethnic languages.
Harmony in sociolinguistic life would be impossible if these relationships are

not handled properly. It may even lead to social and cultural conflicts. The dis-
integration of the former Soviet Union, the secession of Pakistan, the disputes
between the two major linguistic communities (Francophone and Anglophone)
in Canada, the many political crises in Belgium and so forth, were all inter-
mingled with language problems. (Zhou 2001; He and Zhou 2010)
1.3 Language endangerment

There are around five thousand to six thousand languages in the world today
(some people maintain that there exist approximately seven thousand spoken
6 Chapter 1
languages). The speakers of 96 percent of these languages account for only 4

percent of the world population. It is anticipated that 96 percent of the human
languages may die out within this century. The Proposal on Establishment
of Foundation for Endangered Languages points out that the world is facing a
linguistic disaster of unprecedented proportions and we are at a critical juncture
in the human linguistic history. (Xu 2001) In 1995, Endangered Languages Fund
(ELF) of the United States also pointed out in its proclamation of establishment
that language extinctions run through history, but there have never been large-
scale extinctions of the kind that we are presently encountering. A large number
of endangered languages will extinguish, unrecorded and unremembered, if
most of us remain indifferent to such critical situation. Language endangerment
is already a major issue of world concern. (Xu 2001)
Wurm (1991) points out that the main reasons for the decline and endanger-
ment of languages are:
a) the death of speakers of the language(s);

b) changes in linguistic ecology (as in the decline of Manchu and Hui languages
in China);
c) ethnic conquests; and
d) voluntary shift for different reasons.
The above reasons are of course well justified. Yet we notice that informatiza-
tion has become a major factor accounting for the extinction of many languages.
Digitalization has brought about extreme inequity among languages, and this
inequity has caused the speedy decline of increasing number of languages.
Many languages and scripts that cannot be used on the Web face the possibility
of dying out. China also sees the loss of some of its linguistic resources during
this process. Change in living conditions of human beings is definitely an impor-
tant factor leading to the decline of languages and dialects. The expansion of
strong languages also poses threats to some weaker languages. One salient
example is the English language which assumes the role of a world language.
It is constantly increasing in strength and extent, and has accelerated the
demise of many other languages.
Many people are not aware of the value of language diversity. Our concern
for the diversity of the world in which we live has been earlier and greater than
our concern for mankind’s own diversity. Today, many people have awoken to
such matters as protecting endangered species and protecting cultural heritages,
but not many people show concern for preserving languages that qualify us
to be the “human beings” we are. The extinction of languages will mean that
many linguistic specimens will be lost irrevocably, the cultural bondage broken,
and the historic memories forever gone.
2 Linguistic resources
Languages could generate “problems” that affect social communication and
harmony in human relationships. They are at the same time important cultural
and economic resources of the human society. In the past, we often focused on
problems created by languages and divert our attention mostly to resolving the
problems. Nowadays we must place more emphasis on treating languages as
resources. If one sees languages as problem that adversely affect social com-
munication and human harmony, one will direct one’s effort toward linguistic
unity and shows no concern on the extinction of languages. If one sees lan-
guages as important cultural and economic resources, one will make efforts to
protect and develop these resources, maintain the diversity of languages, and
work hard to rescue endangered languages. (Chen 2008:7–8)
2.1 Languages are linguistic resources
Languages are, first and foremost, linguistic resources. First, we should know
the characteristics of languages. Every language is a special linguistic specimen
with unique features that other languages are unable to replace. For example,
the tonal system (the “level,” “rising,” “falling,” and “entering” tones) of the
Chinese language and their modifications are rarely encountered in languages
elsewhere in the world. The Kazakh language has more than 350 terms for the
colors of horses, more than 100 terms to describe a fine steed, and more than
600 terms for other features of horses. Such an amazing phenomenon could
hardly be found among non-equestrian peoples. (Jiang 2004: 215)
Second, we should know the linguistic history, which can always be re-
flected in the synchronic situation of the languages concerned. For example,
out of ancient Chinese emerged the Yue (Cantonese) dialect(s), the Min (Fujian)
dialect(s), the Kejia dialect(s), the Gan (Jiangxi) dialect(s), the Wu (southern
Jiangsu and northern Zhejiang) dialect(s), the Xiang (Hunan) dialect(s), the
Guanhua (Mandarin) dialect, and so forth. Also for example, there are fewer
tone categories in the northern Chinese dialects than in southern Chinese dia-
lects. The ethnicities lived in northern China were speakers of the Altai language
family which contains no tonal features whereas many of the southern ethni-
cities speak tonal languages with a fairly large number of tone categories. As a
consequence of interaction and integration between the Han Chinese people and
these ethnic groups, the Han Chinese language came in contact and merged
8 Chapter 1
with the languages of these ethnic groups, resulting in the northern Chinese
dialects having fewer tones than the southern Chinese dialects2.
Third, language (and dialectal) contacts can foster language developments.
For example, the modern Chinese language, in the course of its developments
over the 20th century, has been fairly heavily influenced by such languages as
English, Japanese, and Russian in terms of vocabulary and grammar. During
the last twenty or more years, Putonghua vocabulary has been influenced by
the Yue, Wu, and Beijing dialects. Again for example, the Chinese language lost
virtually all of its courtesy terms by the end of the Cultural Revolution, after
which the Chinese language has been, and still is, reconstructing its system of
courtesy terms. This process of reconstruction is heavily influenced by a number
of foreign languages. Languages are constantly developing and evolving, and
an important fact in linguistic development is the borrowing of linguistic ele-
ments and the selection and carrying forward of traditional elements. Com-
parisons of different linguistic specimens from different languages can help us
reconstruct the history of languages and explore the various circumstances of
language contacts.
2.2 Languages are cultural resources

Both the spoken and written languages of an ethnicity embody the intellectual
qualities of that ethnicity and often become its totemic symbols. Moreover, 80
percent of culture is passed down and retained by means of spoken and written
languages. There are more ethnicities in the world that have no written language
than those who do. Their cultures are carried on chiefly by means of spoken
languages. Examples are ethnic groups in China, such as the Oroqen, Qiang,
Dongxiang, Bonan, and She. On 20 May, 2006, the State Council of China
approved the first list of state-level non-material cultural heritages containing
altogether 519 items, and requested that works in protecting, managing, and
rationally utilizing these non-material cultural heritages be conducted properly
in accordance with the announcement of the State Council on strengthening
cultural heritage protection. Every item on the list – legends, stories, work
chants, ballads, traditional operas and so forth – involves both the spoken and
written languages.
It is worth noticing that the so-called sciences of the modern world failed
to either extract or integrate the world knowledge of the various ethnic groups.
2 For detailed discussion on the interaction between the Han language and the Altaic lan-
guages, see Aisin Gyoro 2004.
For example, traditional medicine of the Chinese, Tibetan, Mongolian, and Miao
ethnic groups have not been included in the system of medical science. Some
countries even regard them as witchcraft! Even the Chinese themselves argue
whether these constitute science. Languages contain the genes of human cultural
development. Their diversity is just as important as biodiversity. If a language
becomes extinct, the cultural genres they contain can never be retrieved again.
2.3 Languages are economic resources

One thing not to be ignored is the fact that a number of new linguistic profes-
sions and linguistic industries have gradually taken shape in the present era.
Languages have now roles to play in the domains of economy and high-end
science and technology. They have become important resources for economic
development. Examples are the English teaching industry, the language transla-
tion industry3, the stenography profession4, computer character-set supply, and
the language information processing software industry5. Many people in China
are suffering from language disability, such as those suffering from deaf-mutism,
stuttering, cleft lip, artificial larynx, aphasia and language development retar-
dation. They all need therapeutic treatment, and a new profession – speech
therapist – should be set up. The nature of language as a linguistic resource
carrying economic implication will become more prominent as we make more
progress in the information era.
2.4 General survey of languages in China

Languages, as resources, need to be protected and developed. The “linguistic
resource” concept has not found a position anywhere in the Chinese society
and there is a lack of basic policy protection. Even academic research in this
3 According to the statistics of the China Foreign Languages Publishing Administration, the
market size of the translation industry in China is around 21 billion RMB in 2005, and the
output value of China’s translation market surpassed RMB 30 billion in 2006.
4 The Circular on Printing and Distributing the Seventh Batch of Standards for 14 Professionals
(2003, No. 19) issued by the General Office of the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, officially
stated that stenographers are national professionals, whose status is to be certified by means
of training. There are three levels of certification: stenographic clerk, stenographer, and senior
stenographer.
5 Master of Engineering programmes in machine translation and language engineering are on
offer by the School of Software & Microelectronics of the Peking University.
10 Chapter 1
area is quite scarce, especially in such aspects as the development and pro-
tection of the intellectual rights of electronic language resources. The State
Language Commission of China has, in recent years, vigorously appealed for
the implementation of a general survey of languages in China. The well-respected
linguist Zhou Youguang has also been advocating the same. The purpose of
conducting a general survey of languages is to obtain information about the
language situation in China, to record and preserve China’s linguistic resources,
to exploit these resources, so as to rescue and preserve China’s verbal culture.
The State Language Commission began to evaluate the feasibility and validity
for the survey in 2007, and started to carry out pilot study in 2008.
There have been two major language surveys in the history of the PRC. The
first was the 1956 survey of the Han and ethnic minority languages conducted
according to the instructions of the State Council. The chief item surveyed was
the language structures, with a purpose of facilitating the learning of Putonghua
in dialectical and ethnic minority regions and to create writing systems for
ethnic groups that lacked written languages. This survey was conducted by
seven teams in 1,849 counties. It laid the foundations for our understanding of
China’s ethnic minority languages and Chinese dialects. The second one took
place in 1999. Eleven ministries and commissions, including the Ministry of
Education, jointly conducted the survey on the use of languages and scripts in
China. The main concern then was the situations of language use in the country.
The survey involved 1,063 counties (cities, districts) nationwide and 470 thousand
subjects. (Office of the Survey of Language Use in China 2006) Besides these
surveys, many scholars and a number of governmental institutions in China
have constantly conducted surveys of smaller scale and studies of present-day
languages, playing a substantial role in researching and protecting China’s
linguistic resources.
The present general language survey should draw upon the good practices
of the two previous surveys, to come up with better description of language
categories, their distribution, user groups and changes in language use. Such
information would be essential for the construction of a permanent multi-media
linguistic data bank and for the production of detailed multi-media language
maps that can be passed on to our next generations6.
Human culture is recorded and transmitted in three forms: 1) that carried by
material objects, such as buildings, sculptures, pictures, apparels and acces-
sories, unearthed relics, and so forth; 2) that recorded in written documents;
and 3) that contained in oral languages. The first type of culture needs to be
interpreted by languages. The latter two types are both borne by language
6 For more on this survey, see Li, 2008b:5–7.

(including scripts). Clearly, it is virtually impossible to talk about the diversity of

culture without involving languages. China has a long-standing tradition
of preserving, sorting, and utilizing written documents – a tradition that has
always been given importance. In April 2007, the State Council of China issued
the Notice on the Third National Survey of Cultural Relics, initiating a state action
in the new century for collecting and sorting out cultural artifacts7. However,
verbally-carried culture is often overlooked. If the general language survey
could be implemented with emphasize also put on the collection of cultural ele-
ments, i.e. collection and recording linguistic materials with unique features in
various localities by means of structured interviews and/or folksongs com-
pilation, thereby increasing the cultural content of linguistic materials, then the
survey could contribute substantially to the construction of an extensive data
bank of China’s verbal culture. The significance of which will be profound.
Languages and their dialects are precious non-material culture that cannot
be renewed or fully replaced when lost. They are the precondition for achieving
cultural and linguistic diversity. Setting up a linguistic data bank by conducting
a general survey of languages in China would mean setting up a knowledge
bank or “gene bank” for Chinese culture. This would be a major and efficacious
measure for preserving and exploiting linguistic resources. China is one of the
countries in the world with the most abundant linguistic resources. Proper pro-
tection of China’s linguistic resources will also mean making contribution to
mankind as a whole.
3 Language rights
Language rights is an ancient and yet novel topic. It involves a range of con-
tents, yet many of them still have not come up with any conclusion. That said,
the right to one’s mother tongue is a right acknowledged worldwide. It includes
the right to learn the mother tongue, the right to use the mother tongue, the
right to research on the mother tongue (and perhaps the right to give up one’s
mother tongue?). In 1999, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO) designated February 21st of every year as “World Mother
Language Day.” China, a member state of UNESCO, has begun holding Mother
7 In 1956 and 1981, China conducted two national surveys of cultural relics. The third nation-
wide general survey of cultural relics started in April 2007 and will conclude in December 2011.
It will be carried out in three stages. The standard reference time of the survey is December 30,
2007.
12 Chapter 1
Language Day activities since 2006. Some international organizations are propos-
ing to make learning foreign languages a language right as well.
Language rights, including that of the individual and of groups of people,
is closely related to the right of citizens of all nations to survive and to develop.
To uphold the language rights of all people is of utmost importance. Australia
has experienced a grave lesson. From 1910 to 1970, it implemented a policy of
assimilation with regard to its aboriginal population and some 100 thousand
aboriginal children were forcibly taken from their families by the government
to be educated by the white people, causing this “stolen generation” to lose
their ethnic language and culture. On 12 February 2008, at the inauguration of
the 42nd Australian Parliament, the newly appointed Prime Minister, Kevin
Rudd, offered an unreserved apology to the aborigines on behalf of the govern-
ment and Parliament of Australia. Actually a mere apology was insufficient, many
aborigines also demanded compensation of their loss. This was a well-known
legal case involving deprivation of language rights and cultural rights.
The safeguarding of language rights may, in theory and practice, be con-
ducted at two levels: the legislative and the judiciary. The definition of language
rights should of course be worked out at the legislative level, whereas the safe-
guarding of language right ought mostly to be done at the judiciary level. At
present, work at the judiciary level should be particularly emphasized. There
are many advantages of safeguarding language rights at the judiciary level.
Doing so enables the individual’s language rights to receive genuine protection,
thus obviates controversies and social unrest that may be triggered by indivi-
duals trying to protect their own rights. The Soviet Union resolved language
problems basically at the legislative level. Its disintegration was accompanied
by language conflicts and language wars. To this day, language wars have yet
to end in the regions of the former Soviet Union. (“Language Situation in China”
Taskforce 2007: 340–360) The United States, on the other hand, basically
resolves language problems at the judicial level. There are fewer language
conflicts; the conflicts that took place were of smaller scale and at relatively
low level.
4 Building a harmonious language life

Taking into consideration the current language situation in China, there are
three basic duties of the State Language Commission:
a) To ensure a smooth information flow from linguistic perspective, and to sup-

port the development of the country’s information industry for safeguarding
the interest of the country in all the information domains. Of course, a

number of preconditions need to be met to ensure a smooth information
flow (including that flow of government decrees and military orders), but
language definitely is an important condition since 80% of human informa-
tion is transmitted through language.
b) To safeguard the rights of the citizens of PRC in using the national language
in the Chinese territories so as to obtain information and to express their
ideas. At present, the most important duty is to protect the rights of Chinese
citizens in the use of their mother tongue. For instance, in academic con-
ferences held in China, Chinese scholars should have the right to present
their papers in Chinese. Commodities sold in China should have labels and
descriptions written in the standard language of China. Telecommunication
services should firstly be provided in Putonghua. The national standard lan-
guage should also be used in all sorts of facilities throughout the country.
As for ethnic autonomous regions, language use should be in line with the
stipulation of relevant regulations.
c) Provide assistance and support to people who show interest in learning and
using the Chinese language. On top of promoting the use of the national
standard language in the Chinese territories, the State Language Commis-
sion also helps ethnic minorities to standardize and informaticise their lan-
guages. It is also obliged to provide support to citizens of other countries
who wish to learn Chinese, including overseas Chinese and non-Chinese
speakers. It should be pointed out that the national language of China is
not confined to the spoken and written language of the Han nationality,
it also includes the spoken and written language of other ethnicities such
as the Mongolian, Tibetan, Uighur, Kazakh, Korean, Yi, Zhuang, and Dai
peoples. The internationalization of the Chinese language also means the
internationalization of the ethnic languages in the Chinese territories. In
other words, China should also have a say in the international education of
the ethnic languages.
The duties mentioned above do not concern only the “linguistic problems”, but
are also related to linguistic resources and language rights. They have demon-
strated the characteristics of the language works for China in the era of informa-
tisation and globalization. The fulfillment of these duties, idealized to a certain
extent, will have to rely on long-term effort of the entire country.
At the present stage, the main objective of the State Language Commission
is to build harmonious language life for the Chinese people. (Zhao 2007) The key
to achieving such goal is the adoption of a holistic linguistic view that gives
dual attention to the unity and diversity of languages at the same time, and
14 Chapter 1
paying dual attention to linguistic communication needs as well as language

preservation needs. We have effectively planned for the use and status of the
languages in the past years. On the basis of which, we also need to properly
plan for the function of the various languages in use in China. (Li 2008a)
References
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Language). Beijing: Xueyuan Press.
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Daoxue Xuebao (Journal of Zhengzhou University), Vol. 1: 7–8.
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Beijing: Central University for Nationalities Press.
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Beijing, China: Central University of Nationalities Press.
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Xinjiang People’s Publishing House.
“Language Situation in China” Taskforce (ed.). 2007. Zhongguo Yuyan Shenghuo Zhuangkuang
Baogao: 2006 (Language Situation in China: 2006). Beijing: The Commercial Press.
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gual Teaching” in the Middle and Primary Schools). Yuyan Wenzi Yingyong Zengkan (Sup-
plement of Applied Linguistics).
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Yuyan Wenzi Yingyong (Applied Languistics), 1.
Li, Yuming. 2008b. Yuyan Ziyuan Guan ji Zhongguo Yuyan Pucha (Views on Linguistic Resources
and China’s General Language Survey). Zhengzhou Daxue Xuebao (Journal of Zhengzhou
University), 41: 5–7.
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Qingkuang Diaocha Ziliao (Survey Information on the Language Use in China). Beijing:
Language and Culture Press.
Sun, Hongkai; Hu, Zengyi; and Huang, Xing (eds.). 2007. Zhongguo de Yuyan (The Languages of
China). Beijing: The Commercial Press.
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Qinsheng (ed.). 2011.
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Central University of Nationalities Press.
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(Strengthening Applied Language Studies, Constructing Harmonious Language Life). Applied
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People’s Publishing House.
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of Language Policy and Language Planning in Foreign Countries). Beijing: Language and
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The original Chinese version of this paper was first published in Journal of Yunnan Normal
University, 2008, Vol. 4.
Chapter 2
On mother tongue
Abstract: The focus of this paper is on the definition of “mother tongue” and a
number of related issues. Through investigation of complicated situations such
as monolingual speech communities, bilingual societies, bilingual families, lan-
guage shift and language death, it is concluded that the notion of “mother
tongue” should be interpreted alongside the ethnic common language; and
dialect should not be regarded as mother tongue but “mother speech”. The
notion of “first language” intersects with that of “mother tongue”. The latter is
not determined by the order of acquisition, but by linguistic identity of a nation
and of an individual. Under special circumstances, there could be cases of
“bi-mother-tongue” or loss of mother tongue. Mother tongue should be defined
at both personal and national level. One’s right to obtain a mother tongue
cannot be deprived, yet any individual or group of people have the right to
give up their mother tongue or any other language. It is not necessarily true for
one’s mother tongue to be the “natural instrument of thought and communica-
tion” or “the natural instrument for self-expression”. Therefore, mother tongue
education should not be enforced in a simplistic and mechanical manner, and
the choice of language for education should rest with the children’s parents (in-
cluding their guardians).
Keywords: mother tongue, first language, speech community, language shift,

loss of mother tongue
0 Introduction
1) The world’s emphasis on mother tongue issues
Mother tongue plays an essential role in the life development of an individual as

well as language maintenance of a group. Therefore, during language planning
or policy making processes, how a mother tongue should be treated or handled
is always a question that language planners and political leaders have to
answer, either directly or indirectly.
In 1951, the UNESCO initiated a discussion on the role of mother tongue in
education. Experts involved in the discussion came up with the following con-
clusion in their report: “A student should start his formal education by using
his mother tongue”. (UNISCO 1953; Zhou 2001:25)
18 Chapter 2
In the past 50 years since the release of the UNESCO report, the notion of
mother tongue has become a hot topic attracting a lot of attention and discus-
sion in the international arena. Many scholars and international organizations
consider that acquiring, using and developing one’s mother tongue is an impor-
tant human right, and are working hard towards proclaiming a national declara-
tion on human right in linguistic aspect.
In October 1987, the International Association for the Development of Inter-
cultural Communication co-organized an international conference on “Human
Rights and Cultural Rights” with UNESCO in Recife of Brazil, and the two parties
jointly issued The Declaration of Recife. The Declaration suggests that there is
“the need to provide explicit legal guarantees for linguistic rights to individuals
and groups by the appropriate bodies of the member states of the United
Nation”, that “the United Nation [should] adopt and implement a universal
declaration of linguistic rights which would require a reformulation of national,
regional, and international language policies.” In the preparatory declaration
Decision on Language Right, the conference declared that “each child has the
right to fully acquire the language of his own community”.
Follow-up meetings of the UNESCO conference were held in Paris, Portugal
and Pécs in 1989, 1990 and 1991 by the International Federation of Modern Lan-
guage Teachers (FIPLV). The right to acquire one’s mother tongue was mentioned
in the draft Universal Declaration of Linguistic Rights issued by the Federation.
(Zhou 2001:303–304)
The use of mother tongue in elementary education was emphasized again
by the 46th International Conference on Education held by the UNESCO in
Geneva in September 2001. It was considered that severe hindrance would be
caused to learning if non-native language was used in education.1
2) Traditional explanations of “mother tongue”
It is without doubt that mother tongue issues are of great importance. However,
what exactly is “mother tongue”?
According to the Modern Chinese Dictionary (5th edition), mother tongue is
“a language that is first acquired by an individual. Under general circumstances,
it is the standard language or a dialect of his nationality.”2
Mother tongue was also named as the “vernacular language” by the UNESCO
in 1951. Both mother tongue and vernacular language refer to the language that
1 For details, please refer to the Secretariat of China UNESCO. (Zhou 2001:32)
2 The term “mother tongue” is a polysemy in Chinese. Its other meaning, according to the
Modern Chinese Dictionary (5th edition), is “the original language that gives rise to a number
of languages”. This meaning will not be included in the discussion of this paper.
On mother tongue 19
is acquired by an individual in early age, and is normally used as the natural

instrument of thought and communication. (UNESCO 1953:513)
These two explanations reflect how the notion of “mother tongue” is under-
stood in China. For the sake of convenience, we label this as the “traditional ex-
planations of mother tongue”. The embedded meaning of these two explana-
tions can be summarized as follows:
i. Mother tongue is viewed from the perspective of an individual; in other

words, mother tongue belongs to an individual.
ii. Mother tongue is the first language of an individual.
iii. In general circumstances, mother tongue is the language of one’s nationality.
iv. Mother tongue can be the standard language of a nationality or one of its
dialects.
v. Mother tongue normally is the natural instrument of thought and com-
munication.
When investigating the above meanings of the traditional explanations, we have

the following questions to ask:
a. What is the relationship between one’s mother tongue and his national lan-
guage? Can a dialect be treated as one’s mother tongue?
b. Will people’s first language necessarily be their mother tongue? Is the
notion of mother tongue the same as the notion of first language?
c. Does mother tongue belong to an individual?
d. Under what circumstances is mother tongue the natural instrument of
thought and communication? Under what circumstances it is not?
This paper attempts to arrive at a more appropriate definition of “mother

tongue”, and provide answers to the above questions, through the analysis of
the various complicated issues related to the notion of mother tongue.
1 Language problems of mono-language speech

communities
1.1 Language typology
According to the Modern Chinese Dictionary, mother tongue “is the standard
language or a dialect of a nationality, under general circumstances”. The term
“general circumstances” here probably refers to a mono-lingual speech com-
munity in which the national language is the first language acquired by the
20 Chapter 2
children. In order to investigate how children acquire their native language in a

mono-lingual speech community, we need to look at the language situation of
such a speech community.
It should be pointed out that the notion of standard language is different
from the notion of common language of a nationality. A standard language
refers to a common language that has undergone relatively high degree of
standardization process according to certain defined criteria. It is the high
variety of a common language, as represented normally by a standardized written
form. Some nationalities may have a common language but may not have a
standardized language, such as Salarça ‛撒拉语’ , which is sub-divided internally
into the Street vernacular ‛街子土语’ and the Mengda vernacular ‛孟德土语’.
Within the Qinghai Province, the Street vernacular is used in Suzhi ‘苏只’, Jiezi
‘街子’ Qingshui ‘清水’, and Baizhuang ‘白庄’ of the Xunhua ‘循化’ County and
Gandu ‘甘都’ of the Hualong ‘化隆’ County, with a larger speaking population.
The Mengda vernacular is used in areas such as Mengda Da Zhuang ‘孟达大庄’,
Muchang ‘木厂’, Tashapo ‘塔沙坡’ of the Xunhua County, with a smaller speak-
ing population. These vernaculars of Salarça are mutually intelligible with not
much variation. Even though the Street vernacular is usually identified by the
Academia as a representation of Salarça, Salarça has never become a standard
language. (Lin 1985; Institute of Ethnology of the Chinese Academy of Social
Sciences 2000:262) Owing to the different meanings embedded in these two
notions, this article will use the notion “common language” in most cases, while
the notion “standard language” will be mentioned only when it is necessary.
Based on the different developmental situations of the common language
and dialects of a nationality, a language can be further categorized into three
basic types as follows:
Type Dialect Common Language

I − +
II + −
III + +
Type I: lack of dialectal variation, only a common language exists
An example of this type is the Dongxiang language ‘东乡语’, which comprises

the Suonanba vernacular ‘锁南坝土语’, Wangjiaji vernacular ‘汪家集土语’ and
Sijiaji vernacular ‘四甲集土语’ which are different from each other in terms of
certain pronunciation and word use. However, the differences are just minor
ones insufficient to quantify dialectal differences. (Liu 1981:1–5) Some Type I
languages do not have a standardized variety. Dongxiang is one of them, as
On mother tongue 21
reported by The Institute of Ethnology of the Chinese Academy of Social

Sciences. (2000:279) Other similar examples are Salarça, Mulao ‘仫佬语’ and
Maonan ‘毛南语’ (Wang and Zheng 1980; Liang 1980)
Contrary to the above, some Type I languages have a standardized form,
such as Shui ‘水语’, which comprises the Sandong vernacular ‘三洞土语’,
Yang’an vernacular ‘阳安土语’ and Pandong vernacular ‘潘洞土语’ which carry
no obvious dialectal variation among them. The Shui ‘水书’ is a traditional
written form of the Shui nationality, but was only used by wizards for picking
auspicious days, summoning spirits, and practicing geomancy. It was not known
by ordinary people, thus not considered as the written language of the Shui
nationality. (Zhang 1980) By the late 50s of the 20th Century, an alphabetic
writing system was devised for Shui, based on the Sandong vernacular of the
Sandu Autonomous County as the standard variety. The Institute of Ethnology
of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (2000:107) clearly stated that the
Sandong vernacular is the standard variety of Shui. Another example is the
Bouyei language ‘布依’. It is sub-divided into three vernaculars, namely Qiannan
‘黔南’, Qianzhong ‘黔中’, and Qianxi ‘黔西’. Yet the differences among the
vernaculars are not substantial enough to quantify dialectal differences. The
Bouyei did not have a written language in the past. The written form of the
Bouyei language was devised in 1956, based on the pronunciation of the Yang-
chang variety ‘羊场话’, which was taken as the standard pronunciation, spoken
in the Longli ‘龙里’ County. Since the alphabetic writing systems devised for
Shui and Bouyei have not been widely used, the standard language of these
two nationalities have not been developing properly. Theoretically speaking,
such kind of situation could also happen in larger speech communities in which
a common language has been widely promoted.
Type II: dialectal variations exist, but common national language is not yet
formed
In areas where such language type exists, people normally speak various kinds
of dialects, or a foreign language. For example, the Nanai language ‘赫哲语’ is
classified into the Qile’en ‘奇勒恩’ and Hezhen ‘赫真’ dialects, and the latter is
mainly spoken in Russia. The Nanai language does not have a standardized form
or a written form. During the Qing Dynasty, Manchu was once used by the Nanai
people. Nowadays, most of the Nanai people living in the Chinese territory adopt
spoken and written Chinese as their communication tool, and seldom turn to the
Nanai language. (An 1986: 1–2) Another example is the Keno language ‘基诺语’
which can be further categorized into the Youyue ‘攸乐’ dialect and Buyuan
‘补远’ dialect, which are mutually unintelligible. The Keno speakers do not
22 Chapter 2
have a common language. When speakers of different dialects communicate

with each other, they tend to use Chinese3. Other examples include the Hlai
‘黎语’, the Pumi language ‘普米语’, and the Achang language ‘阿昌语’. (Ouyang
and Zheng 1980; Lu 1983; Dai and Cui 1985)
Certain languages within this type may have a written form for their dialect,
which may eventually develop into a standard language. For example, the Yi
is a nationality scattered in the provinces of Yunnan, Sichuan, Guizhou and
Guangxi, with a population of more than 3 million people. Great differences
can be observed among the different dialects of the Yi language ‘彝语’. The
dialects can be classified into the northern dialect, the eastern dialect, the
southern dialect, the western dialect, the south-eastern dialect and the central
dialect. There is not a common language spoken by all the Yi people. A syllabic
writing system (named as Cuan Wen ‘爨文’) was once used in the Yi history,
but the forms of the writing system used in different areas were not the same.
The writing system used in Liangshan resembles the appearance of Chinese
Zhuanshu ‘篆书’, while that used in Yunnan and Guizhou appears somewhat
between Zhuanshu and Lishu ‘隶书’. Besides, the number of characters is
different, and ways of printing commonly used character are also different. Fur-
thermore, the same character may carry different meanings in different dialects.
It is obvious that Cuan Wen cannot be regarded as the written form of a common
language adopted by the entire nationality, but written forms associated with
certain dialects (Chen 1985)4. In 1980, the State Council approved the Writing
Scheme of the Sichuan Yi Language, which was only implemented in Sichuan,
but cannot be used by the entire nationality. Yet another example is the Miao
(Hmong) language ‘苗语’. It can be classified into the Qiandong dialect ‘黔东
方言’, Xiangxi dialect ‘湘西方言’, Chuanqiandian dialect ‘川黔滇方言’, and
further classified into sub-dialects and vernaculars. In the 50s of the 20th
century when a written form was intended to be designed for the Miao lan-
guage, an alphabetic writing system for common use of the entire nationality
was considered as impossible owing to the serious differences exist among the
Miao dialects. As a consequence, new writing systems or revised writing systems
had to be devised for the various dialects, resulting in five different kinds of
written Miao. They are: the Qiandong Miao ‘黔东苗文’, Xiangxi Miao ‘湘西苗文’,
Chuanqiandian Miao ‘川黔滇苗文’, Diandongbei Miao ‘滇东北苗文’ and the
3 Details can be found in Gai (1986) and The Institute of Ethnology of the Chinese Academy
of Social Sciences (2000: 176). The Government of the Keno area devised an alphabetic writing
system for the Keno language, but has not been successful in promoting it for wider usage.
4 Perhaps historically speaking the Yi written form is supra-dialectal, it recorded the common
Yi language, if such a common language did exist somewhere in history.
On mother tongue 23
Pollard Miao ‘柏格理苗文’. These written forms have developed to become dif-
ferent standard languages of the various dialects and vernaculars5. Similar cases
also include the Thai language ‘傣语’ and the Tujia language ‘土家语’. (The
Institute of Ethnology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences 2000: 39;
Tian 1986)
Type III: dialectal variations exist, but there is also a common national language
Under this category, there are modern languages that are more influential, such
as Modern Chinese, English, French, Russian, Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese, etc.
The classification of language typology is of course only on relative terms.
There are regional variations internal to any language. Whether or not such
variations constitute dialectal variation is subject to different views. For example,
the Institute of Ethnology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (2000:282)
considers that dialectal variations exist in the Daur language ‘达斡尔语’. They
are the Buteha dialect ‘布特哈方言’, the Qiqihaer dialect ‘齐齐哈尔方言’, the
Hailar dialect ‘海拉尔方言’, and the Xinjiang dialect ‘新疆方言’. The Daur
Common language is formed based on the Buteha dialect, and the Nawen
‘纳文’ pronunciation is taken as the standard. However, Zhong (1982:1) holds a
different opinion: “Even though the Daur people are relatively scattered, their
language is rather uniformed. There are not many differences in terms of
phonology, morphology, and syntax of the language. People living in different
areas manage to communicate with each other without much difficulty. Based
on available materials, the Duar language can be classified into the Buteha
vernacular and the Qiqihaer vernacular.”
1.2 Two situations in the acquisition of language

With reference to the above three types of languages, the acquisition of lan-
guage by a child can be in either one of the following two forms:
1) The common language of the nationality is acquired. For Type I language, if

any sort of vernacular variation is neglected, then a child can only acquire
the common language. For Type III language, the common language is
likely to be the language a child acquires since his early age. For example,
many children living in the cities of China start their language experience
with Putonghua. Such kind of phenomenon will become more common
following the wider spread of Putonghua.
5 Details can be found in Wang (1985) and The Institute of Ethnology of the Chinese Academy
of Social Sciences (2000: 66).
24 Chapter 2
2) A dialect is acquired. For Type II language, owing to the lack of a common

national language, the children can only acquire a dialect. This is also the
case for Type III language. It is also possible that the children learn a dialect
together with a common language.
Following the traditional explanations, in the former situation, what a child

acquires is the common language. In the latter situation, what a child acquires
is a dialect, or a dialect plus a common language.
1.3 Mother tongue and mother dialect

In real life situations, when a speaker of the Hailar dialect of the Daur language
is asked about his mother tongue, his answer is likely to be the “Daur lan-
guage”. When a speaker of the Xiang dialect travels to the United Kingdom and
asked by a British what his mother tongue is, this Hunan person will probably
say that it is “Chinese”. This is a language identity phenomenon, which is diffi-
cult to interpret following the traditional explanations that treat a dialect as
mother tongue.
In order to give a better explanation to the above phenomenon, we need to
distinguish between the words “yu” ‘语’ and “yan” ‘言’. “Yu” means types of
language. It refers to the language common to a nationality. It is a word used
to describe language at the national level. “Yan” means dialect. It is the regional
variety a language. It is a word used to describe language at the sub-cultural
community level subsume under a nation. The relationship between Yu and Yan
denotes the relationship between a national language and its regional dialects.
As “yu” is a constituent morpheme of the word “mother tongue” (which is
constructed as “mother language” in Chinese), and “yan” a constituent morpheme
of the word “dialect” (which is constructed as “regional dialect” in Chinese),
following the distinction between “Yu” and “Yan”, we can further distinguish
the notion of “mother tongue” into “mother tongue (language)” and “mother
dialect”. When a person’s mother tongue is being discussed, very often it refers
to the common national language. When a person’s mother dialect is being
discussed, it normally refers to the regional variety of the national language,
but it also implies that the mother tongue of that person is the common national
language. For example, a child who learns the Xiang dialect since his early age
will have Modern Chinese, the common language of the Han nationality, as his
mother tongue.
This kind of view also applies to the case of the Nanai language, the Keno
language, the Yi and the Miao language. Even when the common language of a
On mother tongue 25
nationality has not yet been formed, that nationality has a common language in
theory6:
Reason 1: when a certain language variety is considered as a dialect of a

nationality, that nationality has already had a language type in mind, since
“dialect” and “common national language” are inter-dependent notions. Although
a common national language may not have its linguistic reality at this stage, it
has the psychological reality.
Reason 2: when certain conditions are met, a common national language will
be formed on the basis of a certain dialect of that nationality. For example,
the Zhuang language is classified into the southern and the northern dialects.
The southern dialect is further divided into the Yongnan vernacular ‘邕南土话’,
Zuojiang vernacular ‘左江土话’, Dejing vernacular ‘德靖土话’’, Yanguang ver-
nacular ‘砚广土话’ and the Wenma vernacular ‘文马土话’. The northern dialect
is further divided into the Guibei vernacular ‘桂北土话’, Liujiang vernacular
‘柳江土话’, Hongshuihe vernacular ‘红水河土话’, Yongbei vernacular ‘邕北
土话’, Youjiang vernacular ‘右江土话’, Guibian vernacular ‘桂边土话’, Qiubei
vernacular ‘丘北土话’ and the Lianshan vernacular ‘连山土话’. The standard
for a Zhuang common language was developed on the basis of the Wuming
vernacular ‘武鸣话’ of the northern dialect in the 50s of the 20th Century. An
alphabetic writing system based on the common language was also designed.
(Institute of Ethnology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences 2000:55) Irrespec-
tive of the differences among the various Zhuang dialects and communication
difficulties experienced by their speakers before the formation of a standard
common language, the Zhuang people did recognize that there existed a Zhuang
Language, which was regarded as the mother tongue of the Zhuang people both
before and after the establishment of the standard.
The high developmental stage of a common language is manifested by the

presence of a standard derived from the norm of its written form. Without a
written form, the spoken form of a common language is difficult to formulate.
A spoken common language, if it has been formed without the back-up of a
written common language, tends to be under-developed. Therefore, in a speech
community where the common language is highly developed, not only is the
mother tongue interpreted as the spoken language of the nationality in ques-
tion, the notion should be extended to include the written language, despite
the fact that the written language is often acquired through education.
6 If a nationality has two or more languages, the situation is a totally different one. This paper
treats this kind of situation as a problem to be tackled in the future. Details are given in the
concluding session of this paper.
26 Chapter 2
To make a distinction between the mother tongue and the mother dialect
is not an academic hair-splitting work. In areas where the dialect is relatively
prestigious and the dialect-speaking community enjoys higher degree of inde-
pendence, the proper address of the mother tongue notion carries significant
social meaning. Since mother dialect is subsumed under mother language, and
is represented by mother tongue, the so-called right to a mother tongue should
be understood as the right to a national language, not to a mother dialect.
Mother tongue education advocated in the international arena should be clearly
stated as education through the national common language, instead of through
a dialect of that nationality.
Take Singapore as an example, Chinese (i.e. Putonghua) is the common lan-
guage of ethnic Chinese (i.e. the Han nationality) in Singapore. It should be re-
garded as the mother tongue of the Chinese children. In Taiwan, the Southern
Min dialect (or the Heluo language) and the Hakka dialect are used to compile
teaching materials for school children, subsequent to the promotion of “ethnic
education” as proposed by certain people there. It is of course necessary to
include local contents and vernacular culture in teaching materials, but the
language used in the teaching materials should nonetheless be the common
language of the nationality (i.e. the national language used in Taiwan). It is
determined by the people’s right to their mother tongue. In Hong Kong, the
mother dialect of most citizens is the Yue dialect, while their mother tongue
should still be the common language of the Han nationality. Whether to adopt
Putonghua or the Yue dialect as the medium of instruction in schools has long
been the focus of dispute in Hong Kong. Although a written form of the Yue
dialect exists, it is not as fully developed as some people think. Furthermore,
the written form that is commonly used in Hong Kong newspapers and text-
books is the written form of the common language of the Han nationality, albeit
its inclusion of some local features. The differences between using the Yue
dialect and using Putonghua as the medium of instruction are mainly reflected
at phonological level, whereas problems at morphological and syntactic level
are much secondary. The distinction between mother tongue and mother dialect
carries significant meaning as far as the discussion on the mother tongue of
Hong Kong people and the adoption of medium of instruction are concerned.
2 Mother tongue problems of bilingual societies

and bilingual families
The relationship between language and community is a complicated one. The
language life and language acquisition phenomena also contain diversified and
pluralistic situations. There are loads of problems to be tackled in these areas,
On mother tongue 27
among them are the problems associated with bilingual societies and bilingual
families.
2.1 Bilingual societies

Bilingualism (including multilingualism) is practiced by many nationalities over
the world, leading to the formation of bilingual (including multilingual) societies.
For example, the She nationality ‘畲族’ has a population of 368,000 according
to the 1982 statistics. (Mao and Meng 1986:1) The She language was once spoken
by several hundred thousands of people in Chinese history. (Institute of Ethnology
of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences 2000: 149–150) However, most
She people choose to speak Chinese nowadays. The She language is now only
used in few villages in the Huidong ‘惠东’, Haifeng ‘海丰’, Boluo ‘博罗’ and
Zengcheng ‘增城’ counties of the Guangdong province. There are currently only
197 monolingual She speakers, and 722 bilinguals who speak She and Chinese.
Similar situations can be found in nationalities such as Ozbek, Hoche, Yugurs,
Dongs, Bouyei, Xibe, and Tu. Monolinguals can hardly be identified in those
nationalities, as their populations comprise mostly bilinguals or multilinguals.
(Institute of Ethnology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences 2000)
A detailed study on the bilingual situations of various nationalities in China
was conducted by Zhou Qingsheng (2000). Based on the ratio of bilingual popu-
lation, bilingualism practiced by the ethnic minorities in China is classified into
the following three types:
1) Average bilingualism – more than half of the population are bilinguals.

Nationalities of this type include the Ewenki, Daur, Yugur, Jing, Bonan,
Zhuang, Salar, Bouyei, Bai, Dongxiang, Naxi, Kirgiz, Mulao, and Jino.
2) Developing bilingualism – around 15%–50% of the population are bilinguals.
Nationalities of this type include the Li, Korean, Tu, Qiang, Pumi, Olunchun,
Tajik, Loba, Maonan, Hani, Yi, Dai, De’ang, Achang, Jingpo, Uzbek, Yao, Shui,
Lahu, Blang, Mongolian, Wa, Miao, Dong, Xibe, Nu, Tatar, Monba and Lisu.
3) Contracting bilingualism – less than 15% of the population are bilinguals. It
can further be distinguished into “withering bilingualism” and “sprouting
bilingualism”. The former refers to a situation in which the younger genera-
tion starts to give up their native language, which is only retained by the
older generation, such as the Hoche, Gelao, Tujia, She and Manchu. The
latter refers to a situation in which the older generation speaks only their
native language, while the younger generation comprises bilinguals, such
as the Dulong, Tibetan, Uygur and Kazak.7
7 “withering bilingualism” and “sprouting bilingualism” are rather different in nature. Strictly
speaking, they should not be categorized as “contracting bilingualism”.
28 Chapter 2
In a bilingual society, especially in an average bilingual society and a contract-

ing bilingual society, children normally acquire their languages through three
channels:
A. Acquire the native language first, then acquire the other language(s) after
reaching school age or at youth time;
B. Acquire two or more languages at the same time;
C. Acquire only the foreign language(s) instead of one’s own native language.
The mother tongue of category A children is their native language. The mother
tongue of category B children, according to the traditional explanations men-
tioned above, will then be their native language as well as the foreign language.
This implication is obviously improper. For example the She children living
in the villages of the four counties in the Guangdong province acquire both
Chinese and the She language since their early age, while some of them only
speak Chinese. But in the eyes of both the She nationality and the Chinese, the
mother tongue of those She children is the She language and nothing else. It is
evidenced that mother tongue refers to the national language, instead of the
language that is first acquired by a child.
The mother tongue problem of category C children shall be discussed under
section 3 below.
2.2 Bilingual families and bi-mother-tongue

There also exists a phenomenon that can be called “bi-mother-tongue” (includ-
ing “multi-mother-tongue”). Such a phenomenon is likely to appear in bilingual
(including multilingual) families. In societies inhabited by several nationalities,
or when immigrants make up a large proportion of the population, mixed mar-
riages often result in the formation of bilingual (including multilingual) families.
As population movement becomes more intensified in many parts of the world,
the amount of bilingual families is bound to increase.
In bilingual families, the children are likely to attain bilingual proficiency
naturally. The case of Elaine, a four-year-old girl living in Toronto of Canada,
was reported by Guangming Daily on 21 June 2002. The mother tongue of Elaine’s
mother is Chinese, and that of her father is Spanish. Her parents communicate
with each other in English. According to the language education plan of her
family, her mother speaks to her in Chinese, and her father in Spanish. Elaine
first acquires Chinese and Spanish. At the age of three, she also manages to
speak English. She talks to her mother and her maternal relatives in Chinese,
On mother tongue 29
talks to her father and her paternal relatives in Spanish, and to her own friends
in English.
For bilingual (including multilingual) children like Elaine, the identification
of their mother tongue will be determined by the national identity they adhere
to in the eyes of their parents, the societies they live in, or by the national iden-
tity they associate themselves with. If they associate themselves with their
father’s national identity, then their father’s language will be their mother
tongue; if they associate themselves with their mother’s national identity, then
their mother’s language will be their mother tongue. Under such circumstances,
the children will have only one mother tongue. But it is entirely possible for the
following scenario to take place: the parents of the children or the societies they
live in cannot determine the national identity of the children, and the children
themselves do not have a clear preference on choosing either the father’s
nationality or the mother’s nationality. Consequently, both the parents’ languages
are regarded as the mother tongue of the children. Elaine is possibly a bi-mother-
tongue (or tri-mother-tongue) acquirer. In their work Linguistic Human Rights,
past and present, Skutnabb-Kangas and Phillipson (1994:307) point out that
certain people can have two or more mother tongues, and that the term “mother
tongue” in their paper should be interpreted as “one or several mother
tongues”.
The bi-mother-tongue phenomenon again shows that “mother tongue” is a
notion to be understood at national level, and should not be taken as equivalent
to a language that is first acquired.
3 Loss of mother tongue

“Loss of mother tongue” refers to a situation in which a mother tongue cannot
be acquired or used. This could be the result of some external force, leading
to “expropriation of mother tongue”. Loss of mother tongue exists in different
dimensions of people’s social life. For example, the Chinese language was banned
in Taiwan and Taiwanese children were forbidden to receive mother-tongue
education when Taiwan was put under the Japanese rule after the First Sino-
Japanese War. (Hirataka 1992) The Brazilian sociolinguist Eduardo Hernández-
Cháves points out in a paper that genocidal policy against local Indians was
once implemented by the American government. While the adults were being
massacred, the Indian children were sent to boarding schools for the purpose
of language and cultural assimilation. The children were severely punished
if they used their native language in the boarding schools. (Hernández-Chávez
1994:147)
30 Chapter 2
3.1 Individual loss of mother tongue

The discussion on loss of mother tongue in this paper shall confine to the
dimension of language acquisition at the young age only. As far as this dimen-
sion is concerned, loss of mother tongue can be classified into two main cate-
gories: individual loss and collective loss. We shall look at individual loss first.
Individual loss of mother tongue refers to a situation in which the mother
tongue of a child is still being used by the speech community he belongs to,
but the child fails to acquire his mother tongue owing to various reasons, or
fails to acquire his mother tongue as the first language he learns. Reasons
accounting for such phenomenon include:
1) The child is raised by people of other nationality, and the care-taker/adopter
is unable or unwilling to provide the child with a mother-tongue learning
environment.
2) The child is grows up in an orphanage or charity organization, which is
unable or unwilling to provide the child with a mother-tongue learning
environment.
3) The parents or guardian of a child do not allow the child to acquire his
mother tongue owing to external pressure or because of the adoption of
certain language attitudes.
4) A language assimilation policy is being implemented by the government or
other social organizations, depriving a child of the right and opportunity to
learn his mother-tongue.
The nature of each of the above reasons differs from one another. Reasons 1, 2
and 4 can all be considered as an inhuman act since they all constitute depriva-
tion of the right of a child to a mother tongue. But it should be more acceptable
if a mother tongue learning environment is not provided simply because the
ability of the adopter or social organizations falls short of their wishes, even
though more favourable conditions should be created as far as possible.8 When
the parents or the guardian do not allow a child to acquire his mother tongue
owing to their language attitude, this is regarded as abandon of mother tongue
on voluntary basis and should therefore be accepted.
3.2 Language shift

Collective loss of mother tongue is often caused by language shift or language
death taken place in a speech community, leaving no channel for a child to
acquire his mother tongue.
8 It is reported that some foster parents in America accompanied the Chinese orphans they
adopted to attend local Chinese schools. Their spirit is worth esteemed.
On mother tongue 31
Language shift refers to a situation where a speech community abandons its

own language and adopts another language. For example, the Manchurians
used to speak Manchu as their native language. However, most Manchurians
have given up their own language and speak Chinese after few hundred years
of close contact with the Han nationality. Manchu-speakers, mostly elders over
seventy years old, now amount to only 0.01% of the Manchu population, scatter-
ing in villages or small towns in the Heilongjiang province, such as the Sanjiazi
‘三家子’ village of the Fuyu ‘富裕’ county, Yibuqi ‘依布气’ village of the Tailai
‘泰来’ county, Aihui ‘爱辉’ town, Da Wujiazi ‘大五家子’, Lanqi ‘蓝旗’ village,
and Kalunshan ‘卡伦山’ of the Heihe ‘黑河’ city, and Sijitun ‘四季屯’ of the
Sunwu ‘孙吴’ county etc. Language shift of the Manchurians has basically com-
pleted. Nationalities associated with “contracted bilingualism” as mentioned by
Zhou Qingsheng (2000) are mostly nationalities that are having or about to have
language shift. The native languages that these nationalities originally speak are
mostly endangered languages.9
In nationalities where language shifts are taking place or about to take
place, the children of those nationalities normally do not acquire their native
languages any more. A foreign language is learnt instead, and unless there are
special needs, they will never learn their native languages again. For instance,
the majority of Manchu children learn Chinese since childhood. They normally
do not learn Manchu, and will never do in the future.
3.3 Language death

Language death refers to the extinction of a language after being left unused for
a long time. The reasons causing the death of a language include:
1) A language shift takes place for the entire nation;

2) The extermination of a nation by genocidal policies exercised by a stronger
community or by natural calamities such as war, famine, disease and flood;
9 Li (1997) points out that some vernaculars of the Chinese language and some minority
languages are withering away during the process of constant language contact. The implemen-
tation of urgent measures to rescue these endangered languages and vernaculars demands
immediate attention. Unlike other objects, a language, once disappears, cannot be restored or
duplicated. Language loss will also result in the loss or “fossilization” of the culture and sub-
culture embodied in it. At present, more and more people are conscious of the importance
and urgency of environmental protection, species protection, water and soil conservation, and
preservation of cultural relics. The resources and efforts spent in the promotion and protection
procedures are greater than before. Regrettably, much fewer people are aware of the importance
and urgency of language protection.
32 Chapter 2
3) Expelling of subjects of a nation out of their own territories, making the

preservation of their national language impossible.
Some of the languages totally disappeared from the world after their death,
some exist in traces, while others are preserved in written form to be used only
in special occasions such as religious ceremonies. Hebrew is a good illustrative
example:
Hebrew was no longer used for daily communication since 200A.D. after the
Jews were expelled from their country. It was only used in the form of a written
language for composing prayers and for holy book study, sometimes for com-
posing legal, scientific, philosophy writings or folk literature. It was not until
the 80s of the 19th century that Hebrew was reborn when Eliezer Ben-Yehuda
advocated the revival of this language. In a long history lasted for 1,700 years,
Hebrew was a dead language since the Jews scattered in different parts of the
world spoke different languages. (Cooper 1985) During that 1,700 years, Jewish
children acquired other languages instead of Hebrew.
3.4 Linguistic identity
For children who have lost their mother tongue, is there a mother tongue for
them? If a language that the children acquired since their childhood is con-
sidered as their mother tongue, the revival of Hebrew would be hard to explain.
In the past century, the Jews have made unremitting efforts in reviving their
native language and gained final success.
To explain such a phenomenon, the notion of linguistic identity is em-
ployed. Linguistic identity means that the parents of a child identify a certain
language as the mother tongue of the child, or that the child identifies a certain
language to be his mother tongue when he reaches a certain age. Mother tongue
identity is the same as native language identity. In the above examples, if the
Manchurian children and the Jewish children treated Manchu and Hebrew as
their mother tongue respectively, and their first acquired languages were not
their mother tongue, it would then result in the loss of their mother tongue.
People would inevitably strive for the right to their mother tongue owing to the
affection attached to their mother tongue. This was precisely the driving force
behind the language movement initiated by the Jews. This also explains why
forced assimilation policy always results in desperate struggles from the sup-
pressed nationalities.
It is without doubt that some parents or children hold other views and treat
the first language of the children as their mother tongue. By considering the lan-
On mother tongue 33
guage first acquired by the children as the national language, they are building
up new kinds of linguistic identification with the language that has been shifted
or the language that the nation is currently using.
In either case, the notion of “mother tongue” turns out to be an ethnological
notion rather than a linguistic one. The fact that loss of mother tongue do happen
strongly suggests that “first language” and “mother tongue” are two different
notions. While first language implies the order of acquisition, mother tongue is
not entirely a matter of acquisition order, although the objects that they signified
intersect or even overlap quite substantially under general circumstances. After
all, first language is a linguistic concept while mother tongue has more to do
with ethnological problems.
Loss of mother tongue, together with other phenomena discussed above,
also suggest that mother tongue does not belong to an individual, but belong
to a nation. It is because, firstly, mother tongue needs to be identified with the
national language. It was named as the “vernacular language” by the UNESCO
in 1951. Secondly, the national language that has the flesh-and-blood ties with a
nation is often considered as the mother tongue of that nation. For example,
Chinese is the mother tongue of the Han nationality, Russian is the mother
tongue of the Russians, etc. The preservation of a national language or the
mother tongue of a nation relies on the acquisition of that mother tongue from
generation to generation. Therefore, the acquisition of mother tongue is the
basic human right of an individual, as well as the human right of a nation,
which cannot be deprived of, unless an individual or a nation gives up their
mother tongue voluntarily.
4 Concluding remarks
1) Mother tongue is an ethnological notion that reflects the ethno-cultural
identity or loyalty of an individual or members of a nation in regard to their
national language. Mother tongue refers directly to the common language of
the nation, but not the regional variety of the common language. Dialects
can only be named as mother dialect, instead of being treated as mother
tongue. Mother tongue belongs both to an individual and to a nation. No
one can be deprived of the right to a mother tongue, but any individual or
group has the right to give up their mother tongue.
2) First language and mother tongue are two different notions. A first language
can or cannot be a mother tongue, which is not determined by the order of
acquisition. Neither is it defined by the acquisition or otherwise of the native
language. It is possible for the phenomenon of bi-mother-tongue to exist in
34 Chapter 2
bilingual families. It is also possible to have a loss of mother tongue in situa-

tions of language shift, language death or in other special circumstances.
3) The first language is usually the “natural instrument of thought and com-
munication”, or the “natural instrument for self-expression”. However, this
is not the case for any individual who has lost his mother tongue, or whose
first language turns out to be a language other than his mother tongue. For
a bilingual or multilingual, the two or more languages that he acquires can
all become his “natural instrument of thought and communication” or his
“natural instrument for self-expression”. Therefore, it is not appropriate to
promote mother tongue education in a broad manner. The choice of medium
of instruction shall rest with the parents (including guardians) of the
children or with the nation. Any emphasis on mother tongue education in
simplistic and mechanical way should be avoided.
Two outstanding issues
Issue 1, nationalities without a national language. Certain nationalities adopt

the language(s) of other nationalities ever since their formation. For example
the ancestors of the Hui nationality started to migrate to China from Arabia and
Prussia since mid-7th century. Some 500 year later when the Mongolians con-
quered Central Asia, a large number of Muslim artisans and merchants also
moved to China, constituting the main body of the ancient Hui nationality.
Most members of this ancient Hui nationality spoke Arabian and Prussian
when they first moved to China. A smaller number spoke Uighur. During the
process of its formation, the Hui nationality gradually adopted Chinese as their
common language, which then becomes a language spoken by the entire nation.
What is the mother tone of this nation then? Is it the Hui language? But a Hui
language does not exist that is different from Chinese, since the ancestors of
the Hui nationality had their own native tongue and did not have a uniform lan-
guage. The question that follows will then be: is Chinese the mother tongue of
the Hui nationality?
Issue 2, some nationalities have more than one national languages. For
instance, the Yao has three national languages, namely the Mian language, the
Bunu language and the Lajia language. The Jingpo nationality has the Jingpo
language and the Zaiwa language as their national language. The Monba nation-
ality has Cangluo Mamba and Cona Manba as their national languages. The
Yugurs have Western Yugur and Eastern Yugur as their national languages.
(Zhou 2000; Ma 1981) These nationalities have not developed a common
national language. Instead, the two or more languages are used by members
of the nation who belong to different branches or live in different areas. The dif-
On mother tongue 35
ferent languages used by a nation can differ from each other quite substantially
at times. For example, Western Yugur belongs to Altaic Turkic family while Eastern
Yugur belongs to the Altaic Mongolian family. Although both the Jingpo lan-
guage and Zaiwa language belong to the Tibeto-Burman family of the Sino-
Tibetan system, the Jingpo language belongs to the Jingpo branch while the
Zaiwa language belongs to the Myanmar branch. The three languages of the
Yao nationality all belong to the Sino-Tibetan system, but the Mian language
belongs to the Yao branch of the Miao-Yao family, the Bunu language belongs
to the Miao branch of the Miao-Yao family, the Lajia language belongs to the
Shui branch of the Zhuang-Dong family. This kind of bilingualism or multi-
lingualism differs from ordinary kind of bilingualism or multilingualism in that
the languages concerned are all national languages, instead of a single national
language plus a foreign language as seen in many other cases. What is worth
noticing is that the co-existence of two or more national languages is not a rare
phenomenon. Zhou (2000:98) points out that more than 80 languages are spoken
by the 56 nationalities in China. As recorded in the 1979 census, there are 101
nationalities in Russia, and 130 languages are spoken. There are altogether
2,000 nationalities in the world, and the total number of languages used amounts
to 5,000 to 6,000.10 In nationalities of this kind, what will be the mother tongue
of the children?
To provide an answer to the above questions, we shall perhaps consider the
linguistic identity that these nationalities associate themselves with.
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The original Chinese version of this paper was first published in Chinese Teaching in the World,
2001, Vol. 1.

Chapter 3
On planning of language function1
Abstract: Traditionally language planning is classified into two types: status

planning and corpus planning. This paper suggests that planning on language
functions should also be conducted, on the basis of the other two kinds of
language planning. The content of this latter kind of language planning is to
plan for the roles of language at various functional domains. In other words, to
plan for the value and roles of various language forms identified at different
functional domains. In this paper, functions of language are classified into 8
domains, namely national, official, education, mass media, public services,
public communication, culture, and daily communication. Accordingly, language
forms are classified into 5 categories, which include national common lan-
guage and writing, languages of ethnic minorities, Chinese dialects, foreign
languages and the traditional Chinese characters. The role of these 5 types
of language forms in the 8 functional domains is discussed, and a table for
planning the functions of language is proposed.
Keywords: language phenomenon, language function, language function planning
0 Introduction
Language planning refers to the interference, adjustment, and management of
language situations and language itself by the government or by academic author-
ities, often for achieving specific purposes. Language planning is generally
classified into two types: 1. status planning, which determines the social status
of the language (including its script) and its varieties, and the allocation of func-
tions for these varieties; and 2. corpus planning, which includes the reformation,
standardization, and refinement of the spoken and written language(s), as well
as the development of a writing system for unwritten languages and the devel-
opment of phonetic transcription systems for certain written languages. Both
types of language planning are related to functions of the languages concerned,
as well as the planning of language functions. However, these kinds of planning
1 This paper is the revised version of a report delivered at the “2008 National Working Con-
ference on Language” on 28 February 2008.
40 Chapter 3
are often careless, unsystematic, and implicit. It is therefore necessary to intro-

duce planning with regard to language functions. Language function planning
is an integration and extension of language status planning and language
corpus planning, bringing in new perspectives and development to language
planning, while at the same time, supplementing and enriching status planning
and corpus planning.
1 Functional domain of language

Language function refers to the role a language plays in social life. Social life can
be divided into different domains, following certain general habits commonly
found in different areas and countries, albeit in the absence of specific classifi-
cation criterion. The general habits can be observed via the classification of
occupations and the establishment of administrative departments for the different
professions. The different domains of social life can be combined into a larger
area, or be divided into more specific categories. This also applies to language
functional domains.
Based on the language situation and experience of language planning in
China, language functions can be classified into the following eight domains:
1) National language
The term “national language” (Guoyu) refers to a language that can represent a
nation. The emergence of the notion of Guoyu (national language) in China can
be traced back to the late Qing Dynasty. After the “National Language Move-
ment” (Guoyu Yundong), the standards for a national language were gradually
formed. The People’s Republic of China has not stipulated a national language,
but has adopted the concept of Putonghua (the ‘Common Language’). In 2000,
Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo Guojia Tongyong Yuyan Wenzifa (ZRGGTYW, the
Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Standard Spoken and Written
Chinese Language)2 was passed, and ordained that the common spoken and
written language for China are represented by Putonghua and standard Chinese
characters. Putonghua then possesses the status of a national language, and
functions as such. Similarly, the standard Chinese characters possess the status
of the national scripts, and function as such. There are countries around the
2 The Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Standard Spoken and Written Chinese
Language was passed on 31 October 2000, at the 9th meeting of the Standing Committee of the
National People’s Congress, and was implemented on 1 January 2001.
world that do not stipulate a national language, such as the United States
of America; whereas in some other countries, there are two or more national
languages, such as Canada, Switzerland, and Belgium.
2) Official language
An official language is a language that is used in central and regional govern-

ment organizations as a working language (including the written language).
As stipulated in the ZRGGTYW, the official language of China is Putonghua (so
as the standard Chinese characters). However, in actual daily communication,
Chinese dialects, and dialect-accented Putonghua are widely used. A Policy of
Equality of Nationalities has been implemented in China. As stated in Article 4,
Section 4 of Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo Xianfa (ZRGX, The Constitution of The
People’s Republic of China)3, each nationality has the freedom to use and
develop its own language and writing system. It is further stated in Article 121
that self-governing bodies in autonomous regions can use one or more local
common language(s) and their related writing system as stipulated in the regu-
lations of those autonomous regions when executing their duties. Such common
languages used in autonomous regions are also official working languages. For
instance, in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Mongolian and Putonghua
are both official working languages; whereas in Daur, Ewenki and Oroqen
Autonomous County, apart from Mongolian and Putonghua, the Daur, Ewenki
and Oroqen languages are also official languages.
In important meetings such as the meetings of the National People’s Con-
gress, and the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative
Conference, official languages also include the Mongolian, Tibetan, Uyghur,
Kazak, Korean, Li and Zhuang languages. These languages, both written and
spoken, possess the characteristics of official languages at national level.
Very often, official language and national language overlap with each other.
In many countries, the national language is also the official language. But it is
not uncommon around the world that the official language happens to be different
from, or even far apart from the national language. For example, in Singapore,
3 The Constitution of The People’s Republic of China was passed at the 5th meeting of the 5th
National People’s Congress held on 4 December 1982. Four revisions were made afterwards:
The Revised Version of the Constitution of The People’s Republic of China passed at the 1st
meeting of the 8th National People’s Congress held on 12th April 1988, The Revised Version of
the Constitution of The People’s Republic of China passed at the 1st meeting of the 8th National
People’s Congress held on 29th March 1993, The Revised Version of the Constitution of The
People’s Republic of China passed at the 2nd meeting of the 9th National People’s Congress
held on 15th March 1999, and The Revised Version of the Constitution of The People’s Republic
of China passed at the 2nd meeting of the 10th National People’s Congress held in 2004.
42 Chapter 3
Malay is the national language, whereas English is the official language. In

India, Hindi is the national language; whereas English is an official working lan-
guage (it is still not clear whether Hindi is the nominal or actual official working
language). There are also some other official languages used in other states of
India. English and French are national languages of Canada. At the national
level and in English-speaking areas, these two languages also assume the role
of official languages. However, only French is used as the official language in
French-speaking areas in Quebec, whereas the use of English in daily life is
rather restricted.
3) Education
Education is a very important functional domain. Many countries have clear

stipulation in the use of language in education, especially the language used in
textbooks, lectures and examinations. The national common language is used
as the language in education in China, whereas in areas inhibited by ethnic
minorities, bilingual education is advocated for cultivation of proficiency in
both Chinese and the minority languages among learners. Different models of
bilingual education are adopted in the minority areas, depending on the devel-
opmental stage of the minority languages and the language situation in those
areas. Foreign languages may be taught in school as separate subjects, but not
as official medium of instruction (MOI). However, it is not rare for some educa-
tional departments to use foreign languages as their MOI, a phenomenon that
needs to be addressed and investigated further.
4) Mass media
The mass media can be classified into printed media, audiovisual media4 and
net-based media, which has become an inseparable and vigorous aspect of our
language life. The mass media plays an important role in spreading a nation’s
common language, newly created writing styles, and new words, among others5.
Language function in such a domain is very powerful, and therefore attracts
much attention from language planners. While the national common language
is used in the broadcasting media over the country, minority languages and
writing systems are also used in minority-inhibited areas. Besides, small amount
of Chinese dialects, traditional Chinese characters and foreign languages are
sometimes used in the mass media. Net-based media is a new type of media
with its language use similar to that used in the printed media and the audio-
visual media, even though it has its own unique characteristics.
4 Audiovisual media is also called sound media.

5 Regarding the impact the mass media has on language, see detailed elaboration in Li (2002).
5) Public services
When government departments, industries and the service sectors provide

services to the society, language is usually the service agent. Theoretically
speaking, the language used in public services should be the language com-
monly used by the customers, and the diversity in customer groups will result
in the diversity of language use. For services that target at more general type of
customers, such as making airport announcements, road signs, product instruc-
tions, museum commentaries etc., the national common language should be
used. Languages and scripts of the ethnic minorities should also be used in
autonomous regions alongside the national common language.
6) Public communication
Within the country, the national common language is used in most cases of
public communication. In minority areas and dialect regions, minority languages
and Chinese dialects are also used, depending on actual situations.
7) Culture
Culture represents the spiritual identity of a nation. An important path for

contemporary culture to prosper is to inherit the traditional culture, learn from
foreign cultures, and develop a modern culture. Each language and the related
dialects6 have a certain kind of function to play during this process of inheriting,
learning and developing.
8) Daily communication (including in-family communication)
People normally use a language that is most natural to them for daily communi-
cation. The current situation is that various Chinese dialects and minority lan-
guages are used as the main means for everyday interactions, whereas there is
also the use of Putonghua with various accents. Some families possibly also
use foreign languages.
2 Forms of language
In this paper, language forms refer to the form (spoken/written) of a language
and its varieties take. China is one of the countries that have rich tradition of
language representations. Five such forms will be addressed as follows:
6 This also including foreign languages.

44 Chapter 3
A. Putonghua and standardized Chinese characters
The ZRGX and the ZRGGTYW both stipulate that Putonghua and standard Chinese
characters are the language forms to be used throughout China. Putonghua and
standard Chinese characters are widely promoted in China, and they play an
essential role in domains including the public affairs, education, mass media,
public services, and public communication. The acquisition and use of the
national common language and its scripts concern the right of Chinese citizens
in terms of personal survival and development, and is the most basic language
right of each Chinese citizen.
B. Minority languages
Minorities are important constituents and inseparable members of the Chinese

nation. Basic concepts such as national and linguistic equality are clearly
presented in a series of laws and regulations in China, such as the ZRGX and
the Zhonghua Remin Gongheguo Minzu Quyu Zizhifa (ZRGMQZ, the Law of the
People’s Republic of China on Ethnic Regional Autonomy)7. Data show that until
the end of 2006, 276 articles and rules dealing with minority languages and their
writing systems have been issued at the national and regional levels, with 83
articles and rules belonging to the national level, and 193 the regional level
(including provinces, districts, and counties)8. These articles and rules are
stipulated to protect the language rights of the ethnic minorities in every aspect.
More than 80 minority languages are believed to be spoken in China9.
According to current researches, the number, however, should be over one
hundred. There are great differences among the minority languages in terms of
the speaking population, some have more than million speakers, whereas others
are left with no more than a dozen. Some minority groups have a common lan-
guage and no dialects, whereas others speak different dialects but do not share
a common language. Some minority languages have a traditional written form
preserved in rich collection of literature, others have modern written forms
with not much literary writings to record them. There are yet others that simply
7 The Law of the People’s Republic of China on Ethnic Regional Autonomy was passed at the 2nd
meeting of the 6th National People’s Congress on 31st May 1984. It was revised at the 20th meet-
ing of the Standing Committee of the 9th National People’s Congress on 28th February 2001.
8 See Propaganda Department, State Ethnic Affairs Commission Minzu Yuwen Zhengce Fagui
Huibian (A Collection of National language Policies and Regulations), and Department of
Language Planning and Administration Xin Shiqi Yuyan Wenzi Fagui Zhengce Wenjian Huibian
(A Collection of Policies and Regulations on Language in the New Era).
9 There are only 63 minority languages as listed in the Encyclopedia of China (Language and
Script) published by the Encyclopedia of China Publishing House, 1988 edition.
operate in spoken form, and those that used to have a written language now no
longer existed. Some minority languages are full of vitality, others endangered10.
Minority languages are valuable cultural resources of China and enjoy equal
rights under legal terms. However, their functions in daily life are widely diver-
gent. Mongolian, Tibetan, the Uygur language, Kazak language, Korean, Yi and
Zhuang languages all play vital role in important national political events, and
function as major languages in the respective autonomous regions. Some other
minority languages are only used in daily communication, very often restricted
to only family domain. Therefore, the planning of national languages (and
scripts) should be administered in a progressive manner, by taking into full
consideration the way of classification, the actual situations, as well as the
practicality of the planning processes.
C. Chinese dialects
China is famous for its wealth of Chinese dialects. The Chinese language has
about 10 major dialects, and countless small dialects. On 6th February 1956,
the State Council issued an instruction entitled Guanyu Tuiguang Putonghua de
Zhishi (GTPZ, Instructions on the Promotion of Putonghua), stating that the foun-
dation for unifying the Chinese language had been formed, which is a common
language that based on the Beijing pronunciation, the speeches of the Northern
dialect, and the syntactic rules expressed in modern vernacular writings as its
standards. This instruction has stipulated the formal status of the Beijing pro-
nunciation and the Northern dialect, but has not touched upon the status of
other Chinese dialects. As far as language planning is concerned, there is no
specific indication as to what kind of functions these Chinese dialects should
display in various kinds of social interactions. In real-life situations, Chinese
dialects are commonly used in a number of functional domains. It is not rare
for civil servants to use dialects in the workplace, and teachers to use dialects
in the classroom. Neither is it uncommon for TV programs to be broadcasted in
a dialect. In areas such as public services, public communication, the inheritance
of culture, and in daily interactions, the functional role taken up by Chinese
dialects are irreplaceable. Chinese dialects also provide a lot of “ingredient”
for the enrichment of Putonghua, and on the basis of these dialects, numerous
regional variations of Putonghua took shape. Chinese dialects carry even more
important functions in Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan.
10 See “Language Situation in China” Taskforce (2006:431–434).

46 Chapter 3
D. Foreign languages
Modern foreign language education started at the end of the Qing dynasty. (Gao
2006) In the past century, with the development of foreign language education
and the economic growth of China, foreign languages start to occupy an impor-
tant position in the language life of Chinese people. For instance, interpretation
services are constantly provided in important national press conferences. Many
important documents are translated into foreign languages. Foreign language
tests are mandatory components of the university entrance examination. The
number of foreign language learners in China ranks first in the world. There are
foreign language TV channels and foreign language programs. Foreign lan-
guages are also used in public services, public communication, science and
technology, and in processes of cultural transmission. Nevertheless, there is no
planning at legal level on the status and function of foreign languages. Only in
areas such as teaching, examination, promotion, and employment do certain
rules and regulations regarding use of foreign languages exist.
E. Traditional Chinese characters
Traditional Chinese characters are an invaluable treasure of the Chinese nation.

They play an important role in the transmission of history and culture, in com-
munication among overseas Chinese communities, in promotion of the art of
calligraphy, and in the study of philology etc. Specialists who study and write
traditional Chinese characters should be nurtured, whereas the general public
should also possess some basic knowledge of and proficiency in the traditional
characters. Regulations such as Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo Guojia Tongyong
Yuyan Wenzifa (ZRGGTYW, The Law of the People’s Republic of China on the
Standard Spoken and Written Chinese Language) has stipulated the domains in
which the traditional characters can be used. However, the planning on the use
of traditional characters should receive more attention, when language life in
contemporary society is taken into consideration.
3 Language function planning

The main task of language function planning is to plan for the value and role of
each language form in each functional domain. Discussions on eight functional
domains and five language forms have been covered in the previous sessions.
On the operational level, the planning of language functions can be expressed
in the following table:
Language function planning
Functions/Forms A. B. C. D. E.
Standard Minority Chinese Foreign Traditional
spoken & languages dialects languages Chinese
written characters
language
I. national language + ? – – –
II. official language + ± ? – –
III. education + ± ? ± ±
IV. mass media + ± ± ± ±
V. public service + ± ± ± ±
VI. public communication + ± ± – ±
VII. culture + + + ± +
VIII. daily communication + + + – ±
A lot of works and researches went into the completion of this table. This was
done as part of the preparations for this paper. Content in this table is only
indicative, an instrument in thought development and is far from conclusive.
The meaning of the symbols is:
“+” means that the language form can operate in this functional domain.
“–” means that the language form cannot operate in this functional domain.
“?” means that the function of the language form in this domain is still undeter-
mined; it is not clear whether the language form can or should operate at
that particular functional domain. For example, the status of minority lan-
guages at the national level should be further addressed. As mentioned
above, there is no designated national language in China, the common
language used throughout China displays de facto function as the national
language. The minority languages share equal rights as the Chinese language
under the law. Theoretically they should also be able to represent the nation,
while in reality they do not have such a function. One example is that only
the Chinese language is stipulated as one of the working languages of the
United Nation.
“±” carries two meanings: 1. Some language forms exert their function in this
domain, while others do not. For example, in the field of mass media, some
minority languages have their own publications, broadcasting station or TV
station, while other minority languages have no literature or any form of
publication, since there is no written language. Some may only be spoken
by a very small population that can hardly support any radio or television
channel. 2. The language form exerts the function in some areas, but not in
other areas within that functional domain. For example, Chinese dialects
48 Chapter 3
generally do not carry much function in the mass media, but some TV
channels or radio programs may be broadcasted in a dialect. Another example
is the tradition Chinese characters which play no role in education under
general circumstances, but they exert important function in specific educa-
tion fields such as the study of ancient Chinese, dialectology and classical
literature.
Even though the above table is just indicative in nature, some interesting rules
or tendencies can be derived from it. For example:
1) Putonghua and the standard Chinese characters exert their function in all
domains. This is the language role that a national common language should
take up. This is also the outcome of the government’s active promotion of
the use of Putonghua and the standard Chinese characters throughout
China.
2) The minority languages exert a function that is only next to that of China’s
national common language. If we take a close look, the functions of minority
languages become stronger when compared across functional domains I to
VIII. Of course, there are variations among the various minority languages,
but they all follow the trend of increasing in function strength from level I
to VIII.
3) Chinese dialects are deeply rooted in Chinese culture, and they play an
important role in the language life of China. Different dialects diverge
largely in their functions, but similarly, they all follow the trend of increas-
ing in function strength from level I to VIII.
4) Foreign languages mainly cluster in the middle range of functional domains,
focusing on such fields as education, mass media, public service, and culture
inheritance. Of course, different languages carry different functions in the
Chinese language life. The current situation is that English takes up the
largest number of functions. The use of Korean is increasing rapidly, due to
the frequent interaction between China and Korea, and especially as a result
of the formation of Korean communities in some Chinese cities. Most foreign
languages exert no function in China, and such a situation needs to be
further addressed seriously.
5) The traditional Chinese characters and standard Chinese characters are
mutually complementary in China’s language life.
6) The language functions decrease in strength as we move from language
form A to form E.
7) Few language forms are used at the high-end functional domain. The lan-
guage forms slowly increase as we move down the functional domains
from I to VIII. As high-end function domain emphasizes on language con-
formity and communicative efficiency, it is only natural that less language

forms are used. The low-end functions are closely related to daily communi-
cation of the general public, so the language forms will be more diversified.
This reflects that in real life situations, language use contains both the
principle element and the secondary element, which are usually much
diversified. The interaction between language functions and language forms
also enable us to achieve language efficiency and protection of language
resources at the same time.
Language function planning, while based on language status planning and
language corpus planning, is a more detailed, operational and therefore more
powerful form of language planning. Even though the classification of language
functional domains and the language planning operational table as presented
in this paper are still rather crude, and more rigorous and scientific study is
needed, the author has already identified, through this exercise, several interest-
ing research topics and problems related to the national language policy. For
example:
The government should confine its management to only the social language
situation, while the actual work on the use of various languages should be
the responsibility of researchers. Only when there are core problems in the
development of the language situation should the government try to intervene.
The language situation that the government manages should be that of
the higher functional domains, while help or guidance could be provided for
those at the lower-end domains, with government intervention be kept to the
minimal.
Language planning should not merely focus on efficiency of communi-
cation, or on solving societal linguistic problems. It should also fully address
issues such as retaining language resources, and managing emotional factors
attached to different languages in minority areas and dialect-speaking areas. It
should consider not only the promotion and development of elite culture, but
also the root culture. It should also strike a balance between the idealistic situa-
tion and the reality, among others.
Through rational language function planning, each language form can be
given its place, each in its own domain, and exert its best function. This will
result in a multilingual situation within which the various languages comple-
ment each other, and prosper side by side.
50 Chapter 3
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Yuyanxue Guoji Xueshu Taolunhui Lunwenji (New Perspectives in Chinese Sociolinguistics –
Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Chinese Sociolinguistics). Nanjing:
Nanjing University Press.
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Beijing: The Commercial Press.
(Strengthening Applied Language Studies, Constructing Harmonious Language Life). Applied
Linguistics, Vol. 1.
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Yanjiu (Nation, Nationality and Language – Language Policy Study by Country). Beijing:
Zhou, Yuzhong and Wang, Hui (eds.). 2004. Yuyan Guihua yu Yuyan Zhengce: Lilun yu Guobie
Yanjiu (Language Planning and Language Policy: Theories and Countries). Beijing: China
Social Science Press.
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Planning in China). Chuangchun: Northeast Normal University Press.
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The original Chinese version of this paper was first published in Applied Linguistics, 2008,
Vol. 1.

Chapter 4
Some considerations on enhancing the
national language capability 1
Abstract: The observation analysis of this paper is based on the status quo of
China’s national language capability. It proposes several initiatives to enhance
the national language capability: to enact foreign language planning as soon
as possible, to formulate a scientific propagation strategy of the Chinese lan-
guage, to comprehensively enhance the language capability of the Chinese
citizens, to develop modern language technology with enthusiasm, and to im-
prove the standard of national language management.
Keywords: national language capability, modern language technology, lan-

guage life, foreign language planning, international language communications
strategy planning
0 Introduction
There is a huge difference in the real world situation of the language planning
among different countries, but the goal is roughly the same: first, to manage lan-
guage life in accordance with the nation’s will; second, to meet the language
needs of the nation in carrying out affairs of its own. In China, the first goal
can be specifically described as “constructing a harmonic language life”. The
second goal can be described as “enhancing the national language capability”.
“National language capability” is a newly proposed concept, which refers
to the language capability required for a country to handle its domestic and
foreign affairs, including the language capability that is required for the devel-
1 This paper is based on the academic reports presented in the Annual Meeting and “Twelfth
Five-Year Plan” of the Tianjin Language Training and Testing Center 2010 on 15th January, 2011
and the Capital Normal University on 23rd November, 2010. Some contents of this paper have
been reported in “Joint Conference of the Language Subject Twelfth Five-Year Plan for the
Strategic Experts” at the Nankai University on 19th November, 2010 and the Institute of Applied
Linguistics of Ministry of Education on 28th December, 2010. During the compilation of this
paper, the author wishes to thank Mr. Shi Feng, Mr. Ma Qingzhu, Mr. Zhou Jianshe and Mr. Liu
Xianjun for their encouragement and support. Some information and views in this paper are
benefited from Mr. Zhang Xiping, Mr. Zhang Shuguang, Mr. Zhou Qingseng, Mr. Lu Ziwen,
Mr. Wang Jianqin, Mr. Wen Qiufang, Mr. Wang Kefei, Mr. Zhao Ronghui and Mr. Zhang Ripei.
54 Chapter 4
opment of the country itself. The extension of the national language capability
ought to be very wide, but the author finds it hard to ascertain this theory due
to limitation of academic knowledge. It can, however, be outlined in five aspects:
first, the language ability; second, the status of the country’s main language,
both domestically and internationally; third, the citizen’s language skills; fourth,
the ability of possessing modern language technologies and; fifth, the standard
of the management of national language life.
1 Status quo of China’s national language

capability
If it is not observed from the angle of national language capability, many people
would think that China is a great linguistic power: its possession of more than
100 different kinds of languages2, over 30 kinds of scripts, more than 1 billion
people who spoke Chinese, which is the world’s largest language; there are
approximately 300 million people in China who are learning foreign languages;
and in 2010 the online population in China was 457 million, among them 303
million were connected to the Internet with their mobile phones. The Chinese
language has a great impact on East and Southeast Asia, and there are over 10
million people who are learning the language around the globe. Some interna-
tional organizations such as the United Nation have made Chinese a working
language. However, if it is viewed from a country’s needs, China’s language
capability is still somewhat inferior when compared with some developed coun-
tries. This conclusion is based on four main reasons:
1.1 Capability in limited kinds of language

The language ability of a country includes how many languages it can master,
how many talents there are for each language, and whether or not there is a
reasonable distribution of the variety of language and their respective talents.
Recently, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO) claimed that there are about 7,000 kinds of languages in the world.
Since a consensus has not been reached on the criterion for differentiating lan-
guages, and the boundaries of language and dialect are not very clear, the
credibility of this information has yet to be tested. However, saying that there
are more than 5,000 different languages in the world should be acceptable.
2 This number is just an estimation of the languages in China. The exact figure is subject to
further academic discussion.
The United States is a country of immigrants. According to the data collected

in census 2000, there were 380 kinds of languages in the United States. It is said
that the United States has the capacity of processing 500 kinds of languages (or
dialects), and can provide 200 language courses for its citizens. As a reflection
on the profound events of 9/11, the United States has proposed a “critical lan-
guages” strategy which aimed at safeguarding national security in 2006. It
made Arabic, Chinese, Korean, Russian, Hindi, Japanese, Persian, Turkish, etc.
the languages that are closely related to the national security of the United
States. After several years of careful implementation, a large group of talents
on these critical languages were trained. (Wang 2010) The United States hopes
that appropriate language support is available in case of emergency no matter
where it is happened in the world.
China is a large nation of foreign language learning, but in terms of
capability in their respective languages, it appears to be a small nation that has
only utilized a small fraction of its language resources. The main characteristics
are:
First, only few languages are being mastered. There is no data on the number of
foreign languages that are within China’s grasp, but it is estimated that it will
not exceed 100 kinds, which is lesser than 1/5 of that of the United States, and
lesser than 1/50 of that of the world. The number of foreign language courses
that China could offer is 50 at most, and only about 10 foreign languages are
among the most frequently used.
Second, unreasonable distribution of foreign language talents. Among some
300 million foreign language learners in China, 99% of them learned English,
the remaining learned Japanese, Russian, German, French, Spanish and Arabic,
etc. It can be concluded that, apart from English language, there is a lack of
language talents in all other foreign languages. China has remained a close rela-
tionship with Asia and Africa in matters related to border defense, resource
strategy and counter-terrorism strategy. However, Asian and African languages
have always been the shortcoming for the development of foreign language
talents. On the other hand, the foreign languages taught in China are most com-
monly the standard language. Similar to Chinese language which has lots of
dialects, many foreign languages also have varieties. For example, the varieties
of English language include British English, American English, Australian
English and South Asian subcontinent English, etc. Standard English alone is
not enough for handling international affairs and it requires the knowledge of
other English varieties. Take the Chinese Navy carrying out convoy duty at the
Gulf of Aden for instance, it requires the knowledge of Arabic language that is
spoken by the Somali pirates.
56 Chapter 4
Third, lack of “compound type” foreign language talents. “Compound type”

foreign language talent consists of two kinds: one is “multi-language”, the other
is “professional + foreign language”. China has paid handsome amount of
membership fees to many international organizations, but only few Chinese
citizens were able to work for any of them. The reasons are many-sided: in-
articulate foreign language and lack of multilingual ability is the dominant
reason. For example, in order to find a job at the UNESCO, it requires at least
English and French proficiencies. For China to move towards the world, its
talents in every field have got to have good foreign language skills, which would
enable them to discuss matters freely and provide services in each and every
aspect. This is the only path for China to achieve greater say in international
affairs. However, “professional + foreign language” type of foreign language
talent is seriously in short supply3
1.2 Limited international influence of the major language

of China
China’s major language is not only limited to its working language – Putonghua,
it also include a number of ethnic minority languages, for example, Tibetan
language, Mongolian language, Uighur language, Kazakh language, Korean
language, Yi language, Zhuang language, Dai language, etc.
First, let us take a look at the international influence of China’s national
common language. It represents China and fulfills the language duties on foreign
affairs, but international organizations seldom use it. Chinese language is one of
the working languages of the United Nations, but in fact it is rarely used by any
3 Prof. Wen Qiufang of Beijing Foreign Studies University once told the author that in an article
entitled “Shortage of Talented Personnel Obstructs Expansion of Chinese Enterprises” pub-
lished in China Youth Daily, the author said that within the Chinese borders, there were only
about 200 personnel who were proficient in foreign language and possessed legal knowledge
that allow them to conduct business and signing contracts with foreign clients. Lawyers who
had a comprehensive knowledge in international laws, international trade laws and WTO regu-
lations were even fewer. Even in Shanghai, which is considered the forefront, only 50 in 5000
lawyers were qualified. Another article published by China News Network in May 17, which
entitled “Lack of Talented Personnel Limits Expansion of Chinese Tourism”, pointed out that
due to a lack of senior managerial personnel in the tourism field who speak foreign language,
among the fifty thousand travel agencies in China, only 15 had managed to expand beyond
Chinese borders. Phoenix Television once reported that during a joint military exercise that
consisted of the Chinese and Russian, the interactions between the commanding officers
on both sides could not be completed without interpreters. This difficulty in interaction had
hindered the smoothness of the military operation.
of the member states, and thus considered as only having a nominal status. The
status for Chinese language is even lower in international organizations outside
the United Nations, since many international conferences do not even consider
it as a working language. In fields such as international trade, education, tech-
nology, the status of Chinese language is not much different. The theses pub-
lished by Chinese scholars outside China have to be translated into foreign
languages. Due to historical reasons, even in countries and regions with a com-
paratively higher cluster of Chinese nationals such as Singapore, Malaysia and
Indonesia, Chinese language is still at a disadvantage. English and Malay are
the ones with advantageous positions.
The international influence of a language is first observed in multilateral
diplomacy, major international conferences, international trade and science edu-
cation exchange, followed by means of foreign language learning, i.e. how
many people regard it as a foreign language to learn. The subject of “Chinese
fever” is frequently seen on the news in recent years. Several hundreds of
Confucius Institutes and Confucius Classrooms were established in the world
and so Chinese international education has seen an unprecedented develop-
ment. Many countries in the world are optimistic about China and started learn-
ing Chinese. However, with reference to actual data, the number of people who
are learning Chinese as a second language falls far behind that of those who are
learning English, German and French.
Something worth mentioning is, other than the Chinese language, there
are a lot of people who are willing to learn ethnic minority languages such as
Tibetan language and Uighur language, but the issues related to the inter-
national education of these ethnic minority languages did not raise enough
attention among the Chinese people. The general public has no say in Chinese
language education as well. Language teaching should be achieved through
texts, since they contain culture and concept manifested in that language. The
subject of international education of ethnic minority languages is the respon-
sibility of the Chinese people, since not only does it affect the international
influence of the various Chinese languages, but also affects if the world could
understand China in an appropriate and comprehensive way.
1.3 The domestic status of the Chinese language is worth

consideration
The domestic language life in China is generally harmonious and in syn-
chronization with modern social development, but there are places that require
improvement and considerations.
First, language unification is still a formidable mission. Putonghua is the
major information vessel in China, but in many places, especially in rural
58 Chapter 4
areas and ethnic minority regions, there are a lot of people who do not speak
Putonghua and lack the ability to access all kinds of information in that lan-
guage. The modern society has entered an era of information, and the largest
inequality of this era is the inequality of information, and a portion of the
people being “information marginalized”. Take education as an example, there
is a huge difference between rural education and urban education. The main
reason is not because rural schoolchildren are born ignorant, but because of
the fact that they are not able to enjoy the quality education resources that their
counterparts in urban areas do. Therefore, for the Chinese citizens, Putonghua is
no longer an issue of whether it is a vessel of information or human rights, but
an issue of social equality. If one could not speak Putonghua, participation in
the management of national affairs in the future is not possible and would not
be able to work in many fields such as broadcasting and teaching. It should
also be noted that, much work is still needed to be done in the propagation
of Putonghua in both Hong Kong and Macau Special Administrative Regions.
Furthermore, the difference of Traditional versus Simplified Chinese characters
between Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and the mainland China is still in existence.
Since the Qing Dynasty, the Chinese people have been promoting the language
unification movement. However, despite having a history of over 100 years, the
mission is still formidable. The formidability does not occur in the urban areas,
or in the eastern regions in the mainland, but in some special regions.
Second, China does not possess the required language capability in handling
domestic affairs. Basically, civil servants and public language service personnel
nowadays mostly use the national common language when dealing with domestic
matters. However, dialects prevail in rural regions. Cantonese, Minnan dialect,
Hakka dialect are still important instruments of communication in Hong Kong,
Macau and Taiwan. Many national affairs cannot be handled if one does not
speak the dialect. Furthermore, there are at least 8–10% of children in China
who only spoke Putonghua but not dialect since they were born. The loss
of the ability to acquire such dialect is likely to result in the crisis of lacking
“bilingual talents”. In ethnic residential areas, the lack of ethnic minority lan-
guage capability makes it impossible to deal with domestic matters properly.
Now that there are many children from ethnic minority groups who do not speak
their mother tongue, the initiative for Chinese nationals to learn ethnic minority
languages is also on the decline. There is a crisis on the existence of common
language-dialect bilingual talents.4
4 Zhao, Xiaomin and Zou, Yuhua “The problems in the Use of Ethnic Minority Languages in
Ethnic District Court Trials” [Language Situation in China: 2009 (Upper Vol.); The Commercial
Press in 2010] has pointed out that there is a serious shortage of bilingual judges and an out-
flow of translation talents in China. This publication can act as an endorsement.
1.4 Serious issues of modern language technologies
Humankind has been trying to extend the use of language through developing
language technologies ever since language was invented. The earliest language
technology was somehow placing both hands in the form of a horn in front of
the mouth to act as sound amplification, known as “makeshift broadcasting”.
The invention of script is the most important language technology in the history
of language development. Since its invention, language technology has been de-
veloped in sets and systems. The “scholar’s four jewels” is a product of language
technology and later typography was invented. Further down the road, there
came all kinds of language technologies such as telegraph, telephone, record-
ing, facsimile, broadcasting, television and communication satellite.
The birth of modern language technology is built on the foundation of
computer-based information technology. Computer was invented in the 1940’s
with a sole purpose of calculation. By the 1950’s, people tried to use computers
to solve language translation problems. In the 1960’s many scientists believed
that machine translation was almost impossible, and many countries have
gradually abandoned research in this field. By the 1970’s, some sources from
the West said Chinese language was expected to perish, since it was difficult to
process using the computer. From keyboard (input) to monitor (output), com-
puters are not designed for Chinese characters in the first place. In comparison
with the West, China has fallen behind a whole era of the keyboard. Later, we
solved the problem of Chinese character input by coding techniques, and used
dot matrix screen technology to solve the problem of Chinese character display.
Today’s mobile phones use digital keyboards as the means of character input.
Chinese has finally shown its superior status over English: a phone screen can
accommodate 60–70 Chinese characters, displaying a lot more information
than Western languages. Modern language technology in mobile phones has
shown the superiority of the Chinese language first time in history.
Modern language technology determines the standard of national informati-
zation and national information security. It governs the national “information
dividend”. The bright future of informatization in China is decided by the num-
bers of Internet users, mobile phones, Chinese language and words and national
information processing. However, the degree of autonomy we have in this field
of intellectual property rights is limited, and the standard of Chinese language
technology is particularly falling behind. Before the informatization of language
happens, the knowledge of language belonged to the area of humanities. Now
language knowledge can be transformed into industry standards. Information
exchange between computers and mobile phones would not be possible without
the common standard of language technology. These include a series of stan-
dard of font files, coding schemes, transfer protocols and so on, where language
60 Chapter 4
knowledge is the foundation of these standards. In the era when there was only
“interpersonal interaction”, making reference to the language standard alone is
sufficient. However, after the emergence of the era of “human-machine inter-
action” and “inter-machine interaction”, the standardization of language must
be realized. Having said that, the understanding of the standardization of
Chinese language we have right now and the measures we have adopted so far
to reach this goal are both far from successful.
In addition, intellectual property rights in the information field are still not
yet covered by any definitive and appropriate law. The system that is now in use
in personnel training is not feasible, for it “restricts scholars in the scholastic
field, and scientists in the scientific field indefinitely”, and computational lin-
guistics is situated on an awkward situation. The creativity, manipulation and
application of modern language technologies in China leave something to be
desired.
2 Measures to enhance the national language

capability of China
With reference to the impromptu examples listed above, it can be concluded
that the language ability of China is not commensurate with her status that has
entered the center of the world stage and this cannot meet China’s new demands
for development. The subject of national language capability is now a matter
for discussion and a priority. To enhance the national language capability, the
following aspects can be a starting point for now:
2.1 Formulate foreign language strategy as soon as possible

In the 1960’s, China has formulated the “Outline of the 7-Year Plan of Foreign
Language Education Program”, which was effective to a certain extent back
then. However, apart from this, China has somehow neglected the development
of foreign language strategies, which resulted in the serious imbalance of foreign
language variety. Russian was widely taken by foreign language learners in the
fifties and sixties, which was influenced by the ideology of that time. After the
reform and opening of China, English has become “the only foreign language”,
and there was a serious shortage of non-common language talent and that of
Asian-African languages. The “Developmental Outline of the mid-to-long-term
National Education Reform” has suggested a “cultivation of a variety of foreign
language talents”. Although it only contains eight words, they were highly
specific.
The formulation of foreign language strategy today requires proper inves-
tigation in two aspects: the first is the demand of foreign language in China,
including the life demands of both domestic and foreign languages and the
demand of foreign language abroad. Perhaps it is also necessary to include the
international obligation of language research for being a large nation. The
second is study on the foreign language talent status quo in China, including
the number of talents in all languages, level of proficiency and the role they
play. It also includes the capacity of the training of foreign language talent,
foreign language research, etc. It is best for these two aspects of investigation
to be institutionalized, or entrust specialized agencies to conduct special foreign
language investigations on a regular basis, or to include such project in a
census.
In order to effectively execute foreign language planning, it has to be built
on the basis of demand and status quo investigation. The major areas of such
planning are the kinds of languages in demand and human resources planning.
The demand of different languages can be divided into four categories for con-
sideration: the first is the working language in international affairs, also known
as “lingua franca”. The second is the special language involved in a nation’s
interests, such as the language of neighboring countries, language of regions
with essential resources, language of the nations with a close working relation-
ship, languages of the countries and regions of “imaginary enemy”, known
as “language of special needs”. The third is the language required in times of
emergency (such as counterterrorism, drug enforcement, peacekeeping, disaster
relief, etc.), known as “emergency language”, the talents of which possess
reserve properties. The fourth is the language required in scientific research
(including linguistics research), known as “academic language”.
There are overlapping areas in these four kinds of languages, but in terms of
the number of language talents, where they come from, and personnel policy,
they differ from each other a lot. It is necessary for the formulation of foreign
language policy to make reference to the demand of such foreign languages,
and to establish a database of foreign language talents. The training of foreign
language talents mainly relies on the nation itself, therefore the first thing that
has to be done is foreign language planning, including such planning on foreign
language professionals and the foreign language capability of the citizens. Also,
attention has to be paid to enhance the nation’s foreign language capability
in other possible ways, such as utilizing the language resources of foreigners
who come to work and study in China. There are about 30 kinds of cross-border
62 Chapter 4
languages in China. These languages, when considered in the perspective of

national language capability, can bring foreign language into play. These ethnic
language personnel can be transformed into foreign language talents through
training. Maybe the development of human resource on foreign language talents
is even worth consideration.
Furthermore, there has to be planning on foreign language research. Per-
sonnel have to be employed to carry out research on any foreign language that
is useful to China. In order for a nation to expand globally, it has to recognize
the importance of the study of the world. Presently, we have to devote our atten-
tion on the research on the official languages of more than 200 countries and
regions in the world, and the research on Asian-African languages, especially
the research on the cross-border languages in China. In addition, we have to
encourage scholars to conduct field investigation on languages, and to learn
languages in foreign countries.
2.2 The scientific development of the international

propagation strategy of Chinese language
The international education of Chinese language was regarded as “teaching
Chinese as a foreign language” in the past. The practice was to invite foreign
friends to China to learn Chinese. However, those who need to learn the lan-
guage may not necessarily possess the requirements to visit China. Therefore,
we should start Chinese language teaching in their respective soils. Chinese
teachers should “reach out”. What matters more in the long run than “reaching
out” is the “localization” of international Chinese education, which is the train-
ing of foreign Chinese teachers, compilation of teaching and supplementary
materials that are suitable for foreign Chinese language learners, and teaching
local students the essential skills that are required in Chinese language social
interactions and so on.
To formulate the international propagation strategy of Chinese language,
an understanding of the scientific rules of language propagation has to be
acquired, especially in the research on the reasons for one language to be dis-
seminated from one group to another, and from one region to another. What is
the pushing force behind this language propagation? Through studying how
languages such as Arabic, Latin, French, German, Russian, Spanish, Portuguese,
etc. are dispersed throughout the world, we can discover the laws of language
dissemination. In the meantime, the best way to understand how Chinese
language is disseminated in other countries, is to study the language policies
of other countries, in particular foreign language policies, and to achieve an

understanding of the ties and the interests of the world towards Chinese culture.
Historically, the dissemination of a lot of languages was accompanied by
religion, colonization, invasion and plunder. China is a peace-loving nation and
an advocator of harmony. The dissemination of Chinese language was brought
about by the Chinese nationals to the world with friendly gestures. It possesses
the function of maintaining the diversity of human culture at the same time.
Therefore, there is a huge difference between the international dissemination of
Chinese language and that of other languages in history. The reason for Chinese
language’s huge popularity among foreign language learners is due to the fact
that “modern China” to them is an attraction. Learners are able to have an
understanding of modern China through learning Chinese, and thus acquire
economic and cultural benefits. “Modern China” is perhaps the most important
reason for the dissemination of Chinese language. Of course, the international
dissemination of the Chinese languages does not only include the national com-
mon language, but also other ethnic languages. The rules of language learning
have been in the past the most studied area, the dissemination of language
research being less. The question of how international language propagation
strategy is to be formulated has at this stage maintained a subject full of aca-
demic challenges.
2.3 Comprehensively enhancing Chinese citizen’s language

proficiencies
The foundation of national language capability is the sum of the citizen’s
language capabilities. There are many highlights in the “Developmental Outline
of the mid-to-long-term National Education Reform”, which is being formulated
and due to release soon. One of the most prominent highlights is raising the
question of the development of national language capability. Language skill
is one of the three basic skills of a human being. Enhancing national lan-
guage capability is the crucial pathway for China to progress from a large
nation of human resources towards a world power of human resources. In the
past, the State Language Commission focused its work on the social aspects,
but now they have penetrated deep inside the society with aims to provide
a nationwide development of language proficiencies. This is a step with huge
significance.
The key for the development of the citizen’s language capability is to estab-
lish a standard. What language capability do our citizens need to achieve has
64 Chapter 4
yet to be specified, but we have already established a good foundation of prac-

tice. For example, taking a foreign language subject is required in the National
Higher Education Entrance Examination. This indicates that high school graduates
should be proficient in at least one foreign language. Putonghua is the teaching
language for preschools and compulsory education stages. This means that not
only do Chinese citizens have a grasp of ethnic minority language and Chinese
dialects, but should also be proficient in the national common language. This
education practice has included the fulfillment of the language requirements of
Chinese citizens. Not only do they have to learn Putonghua on top of their own
dialects, they are also encouraged to learn at least one foreign language. This, in
reality, has formed the standard of “bi-dialecticism and bilingualism for Chinese
nationals” and “trilingualism for ethnic minorities”. Since the curricular require-
ments of teaching Chinese language, ethnic language and foreign languages
have in fact included these specific standards in the language requirements,
therefore, it can be said that, the realization of the basic education in China
has formed the factual standards of the “ability of language varieties” and the
“ability of specific language proficiencies”. Under this factual standard, there is
not much technical difficulty left in the formulation of the standard of language
capability. If “bi-dialecticism and bilingualism for Chinese nationals” and “tri-
lingualism for ethnic minorities”5 were to be elevated to the education standard
at national level, the standard of the national language capability would be
guaranteed.
2.4 Strive for the development of modern language

technology
The development of modern language technology is crucial to enhancing the
national language capability. Now that the “Smarter Planet” initiative has been
introduced, the addition of different elements of modern language technologies
has resulted in a virtual language life that is content-rich, dynamic and brilliant.
The Internet is now experiencing two progressions: one is “the Internet of
Things”, the other is “Cloud Computing”. The Internet of Things refers to the
documentation of everything in our daily lives in microchips, realizing the digi-
5 For some ethnic minorities, their mother tongues are also their dialects, since a common
language between different nationalities such as Tibetan, Zhuang and Hmong, etc. has not
been formed at all or has not been formed properly. What we describe here is just a rough
description.
talization and the networking of the tangible world. It is a network of physically

connected things and is the foundation of the “Smarter Planet”.6 The applica-
tion of the Internet of Things has resulted in an influx of information, making
the computer servers at different working units obsolete in terms of computing
power and storage. There is a need to establish dedicated datacenters to manage
information. This kind of large scale information integration and management
is known as Cloud Computing. It is a virtual computing environment with the
Internet in its center.
Staying ahead of the trend is important to many things. We have to take into
account what new opportunities and challenges that the Internet of Things and
Cloud Computing bring to language technology and language career. Of course,
the question of how cloud-based computing and the Internet of Things will
develop is hard to draw a conclusion, just as no one could have foreseen the
Internet would develop into what it is today in the past. In earlier years, in order
to prevent data loss, the United States Armed Forces stored their data in com-
puters located in different places and linked them together, forming a small
computer network. Later, the computer network developed into the Internet
and began to commercialize. This took place in the 90’s of the 21th century
when former US President Clinton started the development of the information
freeway, which led to a global “information rush”. Back then people did not
perceive what the Internet would develop into, some even considered it as
on-demand television network.
The greatest invention of the 20th century was “the Internet”, for not only
did it genuinely make the earth become a “village”, but also connected and
gathered each person’s wisdom. The Internet is not merely a technology, since
it changed our lifestyle, work habits and even our means of survival. It is
predictable that, with the development of the Internet of things and Cloud Com-
puting, together with the realization of the concept of “Smarter Planet”, our
lifestyle, means of survival and work habits will experience a greater change.
This is an era with a lot of characteristics, the most prominent one being
whoever controls information controls the world.
6 The Commercial Press has held the “2011 Young Linguists Salon” in January 18, 2011 with
“Virtual Language Life” as the theme. Guest speaker Prof. Li Seng of Harbin Institute of
Technology conducted an academic report on “Smarter Planet, Internet of Things and Cloud
Computing”. He pointed out that many provinces were now establishing the Internet of things,
such as in November 2009, the State Council approved the establishment of a National Sensor
Network Innovative Demonstration District in Wuxi.
66 Chapter 4
2.5 Enhancing the management standard of the national

language life
The management standard of the national language life is an important

assurance of the national language capability. The standard of language
planning and how the language life managing authority implements it have
a direct impact on the management standard of the national language life.
Currently, there are three crucial concepts for the implementation of language
planning:
First, advocating “multilingual” life. Contemporary education in China started

since late Qing Dynasty. After more than one hundred years, the education
in foreign language and Putonghua (Guoyu) has finally taught the majority
Chinese to speak both dialect and Putonghua. It has also taught the ethnic
minorities to speak their mother tongue and the national common language.
Furthermore, it has also taught many Chinese to speak their mother tongue and
a foreign language. The shift from “monolingualism” to “multilingualism” is a
progress of the Chinese society and its language life. Today, our nation still has
quite a lot of people who are monolinguals. It is advisable to train them to
become multilinguals.
Second, the idea of language resource. Not only should we regard language
as a tool for interaction and recognize the social problems brought about by
language, but also regard it as a resource, which ought to be protected and
developed. Language resources such as Putonghua, every Chinese dialect, every
ethnic minority language and even foreign languages can all be developed. It
is now a crucial time for many spoken languages to fight for their survival.
It is estimated that more than 90% of languages will be extinct in 100 years.
The crisis of extinction of human language is unprecedented. The status quo in
China is not optimistic as well, especially when the urbanization rate has
reached 50% and is still rapidly developing. The Language Atlas of China is
about to be rewritten drastically. If effective measures are not adopted, there
will be a huge loss in the national language resources.
Third, harmonious language life. Language life is an important aspect of
social life. Not only does it symbolize social harmony, but also an important
contributing factor of social harmony. Harmonic language life is the dialectical
unity of subjectivity and diversity, which is a major role played by the national
common language in high level interactions. In addition, Chinese dialects,
ethnic languages and foreign languages are integral elements of the Chinese
language life, all of which play an indispensable role in it. It is through lan-
guage planning that enables these elements to fulfill their roles, realize their
functions, achieve their purposes and complement each other.
Since language life is found in different professions and fields, it is necessary

to manage it with proper planning. However, the difficulty management
is facing right now is the “confusion in policies from different government
departments and the lack of co-ordination”. For example, the State Language
Commission is responsible for the domestic management and promotion of the
national common language. The Office of Chinese Language Council Inter-
national (Hanban) is responsible for international propaganda of Chinese lan-
guage. The Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council is responsible
for the Chinese education of overseas Chinese nationals. Furthermore, as of the
education of foreign language, the three divisions of the Ministry of Education
are responsible for managing it in from the primary level to postgraduate level.
The translation of scientific terms is under the management of the China
National Committee for Terms in Sciences and Technologies, and the Xinhua
News Agency has also gained its authoritativeness in the field of foreign lan-
guage translation. There is no specific department that is responsible for the
management of foreign language life and the foreign language policy on a
macroscopic scale, resulting in an “absence of government”. The management
of ethnic minority language is divided into state and local levels. At the state
level, there are the State Ethnic Affairs Commission and the State Language
Commission. The standardization and informatization of language and words
are co-managed by the State Language Commission, the State Ethnic Affairs
Commission, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the
National Standardization Management Committee. Furthermore, the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Culture, the State Administration of Press, Publi-
cation, Radio, Film and Television, the State Administration for Industry and
Commerce, the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Civil Affairs, and
China National Tourism Administration are all “large departments” that deals
with language related matters, and that are responsible for the implementation
of national language policies in their respective fields. In order to manage lan-
guage life with such complexity, it is necessary to have a managerial department
that is directly under the State Council, and that does a better job in coordinating
different language managerial departments, if not, the problem of “confusion in
policies from different government departments and lack of co-ordination” will
never change, and the management standard of language life can hardly keep
up with the development pace of China.
68 Chapter 4
“National Language Capability” is not only a new concept for language

planning, but also provides a new perspective in determining language in terms
of its national functions, how it deals with language relationships, examining
the many debates in language life, and exploring new horizons in language
matters. The short term goal for enhancing national language capability has
to be the “availability of proper language support to our nation in every
corner of the world”. The long term goal would be maximizing the “language
benefits” in the course of national development in fields including politics, eco-
nomics, foreign affairs, military, culture, education and technology.
References
Dai, Qingxia. 2010. Yuyan Guanxi yu Guojia Anquan (Language Relations and National Security).
Journal of Yunan Normal University, 2.
Guo, Xi. 2009. Huayu Guihua Lunlue (Strategies of World Chinese Language Planning). Yuyan
Wenzi Yingyong, 4.
Beijing: Central University of Nationalities Press.
Li, Sheng. 2011. Zhihui Diqiu, Wulianwang yu Yun Jisuan (Smarter Planet, Internet of Things and
Cloud Computing). Academic Report presented at the “2011 Young Linguists Sharon” held
by the Commercial Press.
Li, Yuming. 2008. Gongmin Yuyan Nengli Shi Guojia Yuyan Ziyuan – Xu “Muyu Wenzhang
Jiaoyu” (Language Capability of the Citizens Is the Language Resources of a Nation –
Preface of “Mother Tongue Essay Education”). In Chen, Hong and Li, Ruishan. Muyu
Wenzhang Jiaoyu –Daxu Yuwen Yanjiu Wenji (Mother Tongue Essay Education – Articles on
the Study of College Chinese). Higher Education Press.
Wang, Jianqin. 2010. Meiguo “Guanjian Yuyan” Zhanlue yu Woguo Guojia Anquan Yuyan
Zhanlue (American “Key Language” Strategies and Chinese National Security Language
Strategies). Journal of Yunnan Normal University (Humanities and Social Sciences Edition), 2.
Xiong, Chengyu, et al. 2002. Xinxi Shehui 4.0 – Zhongguo Shehui Jiangou Xin Duice (Informa-
tion society 4.0 – New Strategy of Chinese Societal Construction). Hunan People’s
Publishing House.
Zhang, Xiping and Liu, Ruomei. 2008. Shijie Zhuyao Guojia Yuyan Tuiguang Zhengce Gailan
(Outline of Language Promotion Policies in Major Countries Worldwide). Beijing: Foreign
Language Teaching and Research Press.
Zhao, Xiaomin and Zou, Yuhua. 2010. Minzu Diqu Fating Shenpan Zhong Shaoshu Minzu Yuyan
Shiyong Wenti (The Problems in the Use of Ethnic Minority Languages in Ethnic District
Court Trials). Language Situation in China: 2009 (Upper Vol.). Beijing: The Commercial
Press.
Baogao: 2008 (Language Situation in China: 2008) (Upper Vol.). Beijing: The Commercial
Press.
Zhou, Qingsheng. 2010. Yuyan Guihua Fazhan ji Weiguan Yuyan Guihua (Language Planning
Development and Micro Language Planning). Journal of Beihua University (Social
Sciences), 6.
The original Chinese version of this paper was first published in Nankai Journal of Linguistics,
2011, Vol. 1.

Chapter 5
Language is also a “hard power”1
Abstract: This paper discusses the relationship between language and economics
and suggests that language is a “hard power”. Not only is language a source of
culture, but also that of economics, which is capable of generating economic
return. Hard work should be exerted to develop language industry and language
professions in order to earn “language interests”. Language planning ought to
be examined from an economic perspective. The economic awareness in language
planning should also be enhanced, so that the “cost-return” relationship of
language activities can be analyzed, and the economic contribution of language
can be evaluated. It is suggested that the awareness of language resources
needs to be established, and language resources and language professionals
should be fairly treated, so as to improve the population’s language capability
and that of the nation.
Keywords: language resources, language capability, language economics
There is a consensus that “language is a soft power”, but so far, the statement of
“language is a hard power” is seldom mentioned. While “soft power” is inter-
preted at the cultural and spiritual levels, “hard power” involves economical
and physical dimensions. The subject of this paper is to call for the research on
the relationship of language and economics, study the economic contribution of
language to the society, facilitate the development of language industry during
the process of economic planning, so that we can maximize the “language divi-
dends” obtained.
1 Language is a resource
Language is a polygonal prism; when viewed from different angles, give it dif-
ferent light, it produces different landscapes.
1 This paper is based on the author’s quick notes on his speech during the annual meeting of
the Shanghai Association of Language Workers in 2011. In May 24, the author has adopted the
same theme in his academic report presented at the Shandong University. The author wishes to
extend his gratitude to Mr. He Juji for his contribution to this paper.
72 Chapter 5
Landscape 1: Language is a problem

In the 20th century, the aim of China’s language planning is mainly to solve the
language problems. There are at least three aspects of language problems:
1) The problem of communication barriers – this is the largest language

problem. Due to the differences between dialects and ethnic languages, the
social interaction between ethnic groups within the nation is not smooth.
There are six to seven thousand kinds of languages in the world, thus the
worldwide interaction produces even more problems. In the 20th century,
the main purpose of China’s language planning was to provide a solution
to the problem of language communication. As history evolved, of the
55 ethnic minorities in China, the language used by the major nationality –
Putonghua was chosen as the national language. In addition, we learn
foreign languages in order to communicate with the world, and through
which to facilitate worldwide interaction. Of course, people from all over
the world communicate with the Chinese people and learn about China by
learning Putonghua and other Chinese languages.
2) The cost of language communication. Language communication involves cost,
which could be huge sometimes. Cost has to be paid when learning Putong-
hua or another language.
3) Language pressure. In the process of facilitating language communication,
some languages gained importance in terms of usability, while that of some
languages and dialects slowly shrunk, even at the brink of extinction. This
may impose cultural pressure on those who spoke the particular languages
or dialects, which is also a language problem.
4) Solving the language problems remains one of the most important tasks of
the nation. It is also an important mission for us to step towards the world.
Landscape 2: Language rights

Language right is an important part of civil rights. Nowadays, the people’s
awareness of human rights is increasing. For example, in what language the
government uses to address the public, which voice is the television and radio
stations using when broadcasting, in what kind of language does the public
sector provide service to the general public. All these are related to language
rights of the citizens. Sometimes minor dispute would arise due to issues related
to language rights. Sometimes the issues could become major ones, such as
when the Guangzhou Asian Games was in its preparation stage, some suggested
that Putonghua broadcast be added to the public announcement. This has led to
a relatively large issue in Guangzhou.
Not only do the citizens have language rights, but also does the society
itself. For example, the right for China to address to issues in the world is one
related to social language rights. Currently, the academic research on language
rights is still not adequate. How to safeguard language rights will become an
important issue for contemporary China.
Landscape 3: Language is a resource

The idea of language as a resource has gained awareness and wide attention in
recent years. It has become one of the key ideas in the process of the formula-
tion of language policy in China. Language resource generally includes the
following three categories:
1) Natural language resources. The natural language resource in China is

divided into three categories. The first is Chinese and other dialects, includ-
ing Chinese characters (Simplified characters and Traditional characters).
The second is ethnic minority language. The third is foreign language.
It has to be emphasized that foreign language is our language resource as well.

Foreign languages originated from foreign countries, but they are not foreign to
us. Foreign language competency is not only an important personal language
skill, but also an important part of the national language capability. China is a
linguistic power and a great nation of foreign language learners, but it is falling
behind in terms of language capability. The United States is a country of immi-
grants, which has more than 380 natural languages. The Armed Forces of the
United States can grasp some 500 languages, and the Unites States government
can provide 200 language courses for their citizens. The number of foreign lan-
guages that our nation has come to understand may only amount to a hundred
or so. We are only capable of providing maybe 50 foreign language courses.
Even making all of the official languages of the European Union available for
learning is an uphill task. There are about a dozen foreign languages that are
most commonly used in China. With the openness of China to the outside world
being constantly increased, together with the acceleration of the process of glob-
alization, China’s national interests have transcended beyond its borders. It is
perhaps true to say that China’s interest exits in almost every place in the world.
Therefore, there is a reason for us to master any language in the world. But now,
we have not even mastered those foreign languages that are related to the life-
line of our nation’s resource. For instance, China imports large quantities of
74 Chapter 5
petroleum from Angola, but we are not familiar with the language situation in
that country. The Sino-Indian border is an important strategic region, and the
Qinghai-Tibet railway is being extended to this very area, but only a handful of
people could speak the language in this region. Our recent establishment of a
comprehensive strategic partnership with Myanmar has favored us in building
a new channel in energy imports, but we do not have many people who under-
stand the Burmese language. The historical development until now has told us
that we must take foreign languages as a language resource of our own, and
fully develop and utilize them.
2) Derivative language resources. These refer to the language resources derived

from research on natural language and processing, including language
knowledge and its application in various fields. Such resources are mainly
language knowledge, language products and language technologies. The
knowledge of language is a kind of language resource, such as textbooks
and dictionaries. Language products refer to products such as mobile
phones, online dictionaries, calligraphy art pieces and more. Language
technology is a very important language resource. Thanks to the develop-
ment of modern language technology, the high-tech industry of China is
able to reach a high level. In the absence of modern language technology,
there would not be so many Internet and mobile phone users, nor would
emerging areas such as cloud computing and the Internet of Things be at
the forefront of the world.
3) The citizen’s language capability. In order to utilize natural language resour-
ces and derivative language resources, the key factor is people. The citizen’s
language proficiencies must be included in the field of language resources.
The first being citizen’s natural language capability. Without it, it would be
impossible for ethnic language inheritance to take place, and foreign lan-
guage learning would not be possible. We have not reached a consensus
regarding the language capability level of Chinese citizens nowadays. Some
considered that the language ability of them has shown improvements. This
is due to the fact that, at the beginning of China’s liberation, we were merely
a country made of illiterates. Now that the illiteracy is basically wiped out,
most people can read books and newspapers, hasn’t the citizen’s language
capability been raised? Some said the opposite, that the people’s language
standard has been dropped to a ridiculously low level and most students
could not write properly. In the past, even the janitors could write decently,
but now, typos can be found on souvenirs that are sent from senior cultural
offices. Therefore, in order to have a clearer idea about the language capa-
bility level of the Chinese citizens, a standard of comparison is required.
From the people’s perspective, there is no doubt that the education level of
our people has increased since the founding of the People’s Republic of
China. The illiteracy rate is reduced and the overall standard of the people’s
language standard has improved. However, the cultural standard of the elite
may not be as high as their predecessors. Certain knowledge of linguistic
traditions and skills that ordinary students should possess may possibly be
even lower. How to improve the language capability of the Chinese citizens
has now become one of the biggest topics for discussion and thinking.
The Chinese citizen’s language capability has been included as a task of the
State Language Commission in the upcoming publication of the National Long-
term Reform and Development of Language Planning Framework. As we all
know, promoting Putonghua, language reformation, development and imple-
mentation of Chinese Pinyin programming have all been its major duties in the
past, but in order to keep up with the demand of the ever changing world, the
State Language Commission has gradually developed into language legaliza-
tion, specification, standardization and informatization, referred to as the “four
modernizations” in short. By classifying “raising the Chinese citizen’s language
capability” as one of the most important tasks of the State Language Com-
mission, this decision clearly has important social significance. Of course, when
discussing about the language capability of the people, it is not merely about
how many words they know, how beautifully they can write, or how many
poetry and prose they have memorized, but also consider how proficient they
are in a particular language and the ability to apply modern language technolo-
gies in applications. Not only do we have to study how many languages should
the citizens master and to which level should they achieve in each language, but
also study which basic language technologies they have to acquire, such as
using the keyboard to input data, sending and receiving e-mails, searching
information on the Internet, etc.
The addition of the language capability of the citizens together is referred
to as the language capability of the nation. The “National long-term reform
and development of language planning framework” has mentioned about the
issue of the language capability of China. Some said that the concept of
“national language capability” is hard to grasp, suggesting it be renamed as
“national language strength”. It is argued that “strength” and “capability” are
two different concepts. “Strength” is observable externally, which contains in-
dications of showing off and showing strong. On the other hand, “capability”
means the actual ability of handling things and problem solving, which does
not imply flaunting and is a kind of self-demand. Therefore, using the phrase
“national language capability” is more suitable than “national language strength”.
76 Chapter 5
What the so-called national language capability means is whether the nation
can receive language support in a timely and suitable fashion when dealing
with matters arising from internal and external affairs. For example, during the
earthquakes in Wenchuan ‘汶川’, Sichuan Province and Yushu ‘玉树’, Qinghai
Province, there were many rescue teams responded, but the language issue has
hindered them from communicating effectively with the victims. China is a
nation that is prone to frequent natural disasters. For the sake of disaster pre-
vention and mitigation, we implemented many warning measures, but neglected
those in language communication. When rushing to the disaster-stricken area,
the relief workers, psychologists, medical personnel and volunteers were unable
to get hold of a suitable dictionary or a language manual, and could not express
themselves freely in local dialects on relief-related terms such as “creased legs”,
“cracked scull”, “catch cold”, “what medicine to administer”, etc. Apart from
disaster relief, activities such as counter-terrorism and peacekeeping also
require language support. All these clearly involve the citizen’s language capa-
bility and the national language capability.
2 Language is an economic resource

Resources are utilizable, valuable and are capable of generating benefits. So
what value does language possess, and what benefits can it generate?
1) Language is a linguistic resource. Linguistics is the study of language. If

there is no language, linguists will be unemployed and therefore it is a
linguistic resource. This is a consensus in the academic community, no
further explanation is required.
2) Language is a cultural resource. Language is the most important component
of a culture, and is the most important vessel of culture at the same time.
Take Chinese culture as an example, it is deeply rooted in Chinese language
and Chinese characters. A single word or term may be able to stir the hearts
of the nation. Since Chinese characters are not just plain symbols, if Chinese
culture is detached from Chinese characters, it will have no place to take
root. The next question would then be: whether dialects and ethnic minority
languages are regarded as our cultural resources. The answer is definitely
yes. There are a lot of things about the Chinese culture that is preserved in
many dialects and ethnic minority languages, especially colloquial culture.
In terms of cultural vessel, culture can be divided into three categories: the
first category is tangible culture, this includes architectures, clothing, sculp-
tures, and unearthed cultural relics, and so forth. The second category is
literature culture, which is the culture preserved by the vast literatures. The
third category is one which is dependent on the culture preserved by spoken
language. China has always valued literature culture and tangible culture,
but comparatively neglected culture preserved in the spoken language,
which in fact has a far more ancient history and richer content, but at the
same time, the most difficult to preserve. With the disappearance of dialects
and ethnic languages, these cultures will also disappear forever. The State
Language Commission is now establishing the “Chinese Language Resource
Audio Database” with aims to using modern language technology to pre-
serve the authentic appearance of modern language and spoken language
culture.
3) Language is an economic resource. Not only does it have the properties of
a tool (communication tool), but it also possesses economic attributes. This
is particularly obvious with the arrival of the information era. The higher the
degree of informatization, the more economic benefit brought about by
language can be reflected. Informatization has made linguistic knowledge
and its applications an industry standard and language technology products,
which have led to different kinds of patents. These include a variety of lan-
guage standards, language knowledge-bases, computer fonts, input methods,
word processing softwares, and so on. Benefits can be gained by patents.
Take the case of inputting Chinese characters with software keyboards
found in mobile phones as an example. Since the patent for such technology
is owned by foreigners, we have to pay a few U.S. dollars to the foreign
handset manufacturers as patent fees for every unit of mobile phone we
buy. When language industries and language professions that are capable
of earning “language dividends” achieved a certain scale, the term “lan-
guage economy” is emerged. Being an emerging interdisciplinary subject,
“Language economics” is now in its early stage of development, with a
history of ten years or so internationally. In China, the Shandong University
has started a doctoral program in this subject and has so far convened
several conferences on language economics.
4) Resources should be deployed in order to tackle language problems, to
protect language rights, and to preserve and develop language resources.
But there are also economic problems. Solving language problems, protect-
ing language rights, and protecting and developing language resources can
also produce benefits including social benefits and economic benefits.
Therefore, it appears that there is a relationship between language and eco-
nomics, and that the notion of “language economics” is a valid one.
78 Chapter 5
3 Language industry
Language industry is required to support the economic activities of language. Its
major object of operation is language and it is an industry that mainly utilizes
language to earn dividends.
3.1 The situation of language industries

In December 2008, under the direction of the State Language Commission, the
Commercial Press set up the “Chinese Language Resource Development and
Application Center”. In September 2010, the Beijing Language Commission
established the “Beijing Language Industry Research Center”. According to their
research, the language industry generally includes the following fields:
1) Language education and language testing. This is a big industry. The

“New Oriental” company is an outstanding example. Money is required
to enroll in language courses and sit for TOEFL exams. Language educa-
tion and language examinations, etc., are the most traditional language
industries.
2) Language translation. Language translation is a prospering language indus-
try. The scale of language translation in China is enormous and is occupying
the relatively large share in the worldwide translation market.
3) Language publishing. It is currently rather difficult to define what publica-
tions are regarded as such, but dictionaries definitely fall into this category.
A good dictionary can bring huge profits to the publisher. Amazon Inc.
claims that since April this year, the number of e-books that the company
published has surpassed that of paper books, with a ratio of 105:100. The
arrival of the e-book era has provided challenges and opportunities for the
publishing industries in China, especially textbook publishers. It is foresee-
able in the next three to five years that schoolchildren no longer need to
carry heavy schoolbags to school. All of the teaching materials and supple-
ments would be put into an e-reader. Therefore, ensuring the e-book related
preparation work is done properly has become one of the most important
tasks of the State Language Commission. We are looking forward to collabo-
rating with enterprises which are interested in the e-book business, and to
formulate the industry standard of the language in this field. Of course, the
sanitation and health standards on the use of e-books are very important to
the schoolchildren as well, and cannot be neglected.
4) Artistic language. Like any other cultural industries, artistic languages such
as calligraphy, crosstalk, television drama, radio host can all generate eco-
nomic benefit and are capable of forming industries.
5) Language rehabilitation. The deaf, sufferers of senile dementia, children
with delayed language development and cleft lip, patients of post vocal
cord surgery and so on, all of whom require language skills rehabilitation.
The demand on this field is huge.
6) Language creativity. Advertising planning and logo design are the most
important examples of language creativity. Copywriting is the key to making
a good advert, and has a heavy weighting in such regard. Other language-
related creative industry includes Miss Wang Xinru of Taiwan, who suc-
cessfully combines ancient Chinese characters with jewelry design. Not
only does this added great value to the jewelry itself, but also propagated
Chinese culture in the process.
7) Language engineering. This is an inseparable part of computer language
processing. Search engines such as Baidu, Google and Sogou, and the com-
puter fonts developed by Peking University Founder Group Corporation are
examples of such. The economic benefit generated by such companies is
enormous as well.
8) Language convention. Precedential instances can be found internationally
which showcase language products and language technologies through
expositions. Sadly China has not yet taken her first step in this area. This is
because we have put many language products and language softwares to
other expositions. Language convention is therefore a kind of language
industry.
The above eight aspects are listed solely for purpose of example. Intensive
studies should be conducted in order to decide the exact number of varieties in
the language industry.
3.2 The economic contribution of language

What is the economic output value of the language industry? The information
on such area has yet to be established. Swiss economist F. Grin recently pointed
out that the language industry has contributed 10% to the GNP. The languages
spoken in Switzerland include German, French, Italian and Romansh. Ordinary
Swiss citizens can speak three of them. College students are required to master
four languages. Switzerland is also where the headquarters for the United
Nation, the European Union and many other international organizations are
80 Chapter 5
situated, allowing them to make use of many language resources. Language has
a heavy weighting in Switzerland’s economic development. Whether the 10%
claim is reliable or not is a question for the economists to decide, but it is cer-
tain that Switzerland’s economic development has a close relationship with its
abundant language resources.
What is the contribution of language to China’s economy? No one has a
figure yet. Of course, there are direct and indirect language economics, but the
possibility of the former is probably less. Dissemination is a characteristic of
language. The economic benefit generated by language has penetrated in all
walks of life. Due to this reason, we do not have a specific measurement for the
contribution of language when we try to compute China’s GNP. Since language
economics is hard to determine, it requires the subject of economics to achieve
a certain level academically, the “language awareness” of mankind to reach
a certain altitude, plus the development of the tertiary industries to a certain
standard, before language economics could raise the people’s awareness and
such subject could possibly be established.
4 Language and occupation

Where there is an industry, there is a profession. And when there is language
industry, there is language profession. The relationship between language and
profession can be observed from two aspects: 1) language profession and; 2)
occupational language.
4.1 Language profession

Language profession is a relatively unfamiliar concept, which requires research
to determine the definition of both of its meaning and extension. But speaking
out of impression, the occupations engaged by the following personnel are
probably referred to as language professions: computer stenographer, translator
and interpreter, language engineer, broadcaster, commentator, sound operator,
language teachers, dictionary editors, calligraphers, language-related program
actors, voice actors, language code programmers (such as Braille, sign language,
telegraph, semaphore, light language, cipher code designers) and so on. Of
course language professions require the contribution of other factors – in fact
any profession has the same requirements – but the important thing is, until
language is the dominating element in an occupation could it become a lan-
guage profession, but this requires the definition of economics.
4.2 Occupational language

Most language occupations require language skills, without such, the quality of
personnel engaged in these occupations cannot reach a desired level. In terms
of language skills, primary and secondary industries may require less, but this
has a major role in tertiary industries. In his doctoral dissertation “Language
Services and Service Languages”, Li Xianle (2011) of the Nanjing University has
used great lengths to discuss consumer issues related to language, and dis-
covered that the language factor in some occupations is playing a major role.
According to our subjective perceptions, there are a lot of occupations that
require relatively stronger language skills, such as:
1) Shopping guides, tour guides, public relations at the hospitals, and any
other related occupations. Mr. Qu Shaobing (2007) of the Guangdong Univer-
sity has a deep understanding on language services. He has discussed about
the language abilities of the various “guides” in different occupations.
2) Doctors and lawyers require strong language skills. English professor Li Wei
once told the author that the students of two professional majors need more
time to learn applied linguistics, one is medical school, the other is law
school. Doctors need to treat patients, and tell them their diagnostics. This
requires good language communication skills. Law school students may
become lawyers or judges. They require even better language skills.
3) For copywriters, news anchors, teachers, writers, journalists, editors, secre-
taries, actors and so on, language plays a very important role in their
careers.
4) Civil servants perform public duties and this requires good language skills.
It is observable that all public senior officials possess higher language
abilities. The National Civil Service Examination has now put an emphasis
on language skills testing.
The recruitment departments of many companies are now putting more em-
phasis on testing the language skills of fresh graduate applicants, because they
believe that it is even more practical than professional skills. Mr. Tung Shandong
of Shenzhen is a professional in vocational education research. He has been
to the recruitment market many times for his research. Through observing the
requirements listed out in the job advertisements, he noticed that language skill
was on the top of the requirement list.
Language skills include that of native and foreign. It even includes the
ability to exchange information by using a computer. It is an important factor
of making great talent and is an important aspect in personnel training. China
82 Chapter 5
is now on the path of evolving from a large nation of manpower into a great
nation of human resources. During this evolution process, language skills are
clearly not negligible.
To my knowledge, for years, the Language Commission in Shanghai and
other places have been assisting the police, personnel working for judiciary,
tourism, commerce and those in other fields to raise their Putonghua standards
and language proficiencies. It is necessary to study the language requirements
for the employees of different occupations and fields, and to formulate their
own language standards with their departmental managers, so as to lay down
the entry requirement for the recruitment of new employees. If the State Lan-
guage Commission can help each and every industry, and everyone in different
fields can get the job done, the society will support the work on language and
the productivity of the society as a whole will be greatly increased. Whether or
not language is a productive force, the question has raised controversy in the
past, which I have no intention or the need to involve myself in. But through
the above analysis, the following conclusion can be drawn: language is a hard
power.
4.3 Language capability and national income

Numerous domestic and foreign studies have shown that language capability
and income were positively correlated. Those who can speak two languages
will have a higher income than those who can only speak one, and will be easier
to find a job. They will be even more competitive if they possess knowledge on
computer program design.
The study of the relationship between language and income is where
language economics started, and it has been the main scope of interest for the
subject for many years. For example, using an economic approach in the study
of the relationship between the language skills of the immigrants to their
income, ethnic minorities using the language of the ethnic majority, can explain
how much economic benefit these measures are bringing to the population. It
also explains the amount of economic return multinational corporations can
gain with the language policies they adopt in the countries of their operations,
as well as the economic benefits brought about by the foreign language transla-
tion work in developing countries and so on. Scholars from the Shandong Uni-
versity, Nanjing University, Guangzhou University and Capital Normal University
are showing interests on the relationship between language skills and income,
and between the language services and competitiveness of enterprises.
Language, when viewed from a different point of view, produces a different land-
scape. “Language economics” provides a new perspective on language planning.
Viewing language planning from an economic perspective, we can observe at
least three revelations:
1) To fully understand the contribution of language to the national economy,

action plans such as timely formulation and the introduction of the revital-
ization of language industries and language professions are necessary, to
ensure that they can have a healthy development.
2) It is necessary to comprehensively establish the economic awareness in lan-
guage planning, and have a good analysis of the related cost and benefits.
For example, not only does the promotion of Putonghua created an enor-
mous social value to the State, but also a tremendous economic value. If
China did not promote Putonghua, fields such as printing, broadcasting,
education and technology would use hundreds of language and dialects.
Imagine how much this would have cost! Therefore, the economic benefits
of the promotion of Putonghua are beyond numerical representations.
3) It is necessary to further establish the awareness of language resources.
Language is a soft power, and also a hard power. We should treat with care
our language resources, the common language of the Han people, as well as
the languages and dialects of other ethnic groups. Language scholars and
language talents should also be cherished. We should work hard to enhance
the Chinese citizen’s language capability and also that of the nation.
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Chapter 6
On levels of language life1
Abstract: Dividing language life into macro-, meso-, and micro-levels, this
article investigates language life at different levels concerning supranational,
national, disciplinary, regional, individual and social aspects, and then dis-
cusses tasks, features and current situations of language planning pertinent to
relevant levels, and finally points out weak points in language life management.
In so doing, the article intends to offer a research framework for a full-scale and
in-depth observation of language life and proposes suggestions to improve lan-
guage life in China.
Keywords: language life, language planning, macro-level, meso-level, micro-level
0 Introduction
Effective guidance and scientific management of language life and proper lan-
guage planning depend on nothing more than a subtle observation and thorough
understanding of language life. Its diversity and complication, however, make it
necessary to stratify language life into different levels for the convenience of obser-
vation and analysis. With regard to the state of affairs and administrative system of
language life in China, a division of three levels, namely macro, meso, and micro,
can serve the purpose. This article aims to analyse the features of language life
at the above three levels and discuss issues related to language planning.
1 Macro language life

Macro language life refers to those situations which are directly related to the
whole nation and need national planning, primarily including two aspects, 1)
nation-level language life and 2) supranational language life.
1 The gist of this paper was presented under the title Scientific Management of Language Life
at various conferences, including the 7th National Symposium on Spoken and Written Lan-
guage Applications, held in Xiangtan, Hunan Province, on 23rd October 2011; the 1st Forum of
Language Management, Culture Identity and Social Order hosted by the Beijing Foreign Studies
University in Beijing on 4th November 2011; the 9th International Symposium on Urban Lan-
guage Survey in Xiamen on 20th December 2011; and 2012 National Conference of Language
Work in Beijing on 17th February 2012.
88 Chapter 6
1.1 Nation-level language life

The nation-level language life, or national language life, is the presentation of
language-nation relations in reality, which also can be more concretely under-
stood as follows:
1.1.1 Ensuring effective national language communication
Language, as an important communicative means of mankind, is an indispens-

able component of society. National administration, civil life, education and pro-
duction cannot do without effective language communication. To guarantee an
effective nationwide communication, particularly high-level, cross-regional and
cross-ethnic communications, it is imperative to promote and regulate the com-
monly used national spoken and written language. It is equally important, at
the same time, to respect the population who speak no Putonghua and to pre-
serve sufficient communication space for languages other than Putonghua by
providing as various language services as possible in ethnic minority languages,
regional dialects and foreign languages.
1.1.2 Enhancing national language ability
National administration of internal and foreign affairs needs a variety of profi-

cient and reliable language professionals, in other words, the country need to
possess sufficient language ability. Many countries, especially those actively
engaged in international affairs, give high priority to the conservation of
national language ability while those countries which fail to do so have suffered
damages and losses to national benefits. The language ability of the masses is
the foundation of national language ability, so to enhance their language ability
can benefit the latter. However, the market plays a major role in that the cost-
effectiveness ratio of learning a language influences the masses’ choices. The
Chinese language learners generally are willing to learn the commonly used
national language or a foreign language of much practical value such as
English, because of the possible more beneficial rewards. Language profes-
sionals a nation needs vary greatly and personal choices cannot meet the
demands. Of note, to increase national language ability needs certain “market
economic” measures.
1.1.3 Maintaining national solidarity and unification, and enhancing cultural

heritage and recognition by means of language
Language is no less a means of communication than a carrier of culture. Lan-

guage, be it spoken or written, is as much an organic component of culture
as a longstanding carrier of historical heritage and geographical expansion. In
general, language is also viewed as the totem of an ethnic group, of great import
to its cultural identity. Especially in multidialectal and multiracial countries, or
in those countries with no territorial integrity, it is of supreme importance to
well manage relations between commonly used ethnic language and dialects,
between different ethnic languages, and between commonly used national lan-
guage and ethnic minority languages. Evidence shows that important strategies
to enhance cultural heritage and resolve language conflicts for the purpose of
maintaining national solidarity and unification include training bilingual speakers,
implementing bilingualism, keeping proper language order, establishing harmo-
nious language life etc.
1.1.4 Turning language into economic profits
Language and economy have a close affinity. The literacy of the workforce is
directly correlated to the social productivity of a country, and as a result illi-
teracy demolition is among the objectives of worldwide education. Language
teaching, training and translation have been early recognised as language indus-
tries, and nowadays with the development of computer and Internet technology,
a variety of information-related language industries have prospered rapidly and
brought huge economic merits. Language, previously viewed as national soft
power, has now become part of a nation’s hard power. As such, to establish
language-related economics and to enhance language professions and indus-
tries so as to maximise economic merits of language have become an important
part of national langage life.
1.1.5 Providing language services to society
Facilitated by drastic changes in transportation, communication and mass media,

the population mobility has been increasing recently in breadth, size and fre-
quency. The general availability of education and technology, particularly modern
90 Chapter 6
language technology, enables the masses to have more pressing and diversified
demands for language services, and language education is the primary form of
language service. The quality of native language teaching, bilingual education
in ethnic regions and foreign language teaching closely relates to the masses’
income level and life quality. The current language services also include pro-
viding guidance to language life of communities and the masses, assistance to
resolving language-related obstacles, and supports to their language skills. As
primary supplier of public services, the government should take responsibility
for making available language services to society. Of course, language services
are not necessarily entirely provided by the government, let alone free of charge.
The nation-level language life can be mainly managed threefold by means
of 1) formulating language policies, 2) drafting spoken and written language
norms and regulations, and 3) adopting multiple measures.
1) Formulating language policies
Language policies can be viewed as a nation’s language awareness represented

in the form of laws, statutes and regulations, which is closely related to the
national ideology and historical heritage, particularly the history of language
planning. The reality of language life is both the object of execution and the
basis for readjustment of language policies. The development and changes in
language awareness and language life can contribute to related changes
happening in language policies. The core notion of China’s current language
policies is “vigorously extending and regulating commonly used national lan-
guage, and scientifically preserving ethnic minority languages”. The first half
offers an accurate description of current language policies, and the second
embodies the development of China’s language awareness in the new era.
2) Drafting spoken and written language norms and regulations
Language regulation and standardization is the product of language research,

which derives from language phenomena that comply with rules of language de-
velopment and usage, and makes meticulous selections from language anomaly.
Its regulation and standardization is also an important component of nominal
language planning, aiming at healthy spoken and written language develop-
ment as well as efficient and orderly language usage. In the past, the regulation
and standardization was mainly language user oriented, but nowadays as lan-
guage processing technology advances and Internet becomes more popular, it
is heavily oriented towards computer technology and integrated into industrial
standardization. However, how to meet the demands of the IT era still remains
a brand-new research topic for China’s language planning.
3) Adopting multiple measures
Language policies and its standardization need an array of effective measures

for actual execution, which include establishing language work organisations,
designing work mechanism, and taking actions with intensive and extensive
effects, such as mass media and press language administration, lexicography
inspection, Putonghua proficiency training and testing, urban language assess-
ment, the construction of Chinese Language Resources Audio Database etc.
1.2 Supranational language life

Supranational language life, also known as international language life, largely
comprises 1) language communication between international communities and
2) common language problems facing international communities.
1) Language communication between international communities
Language communication between international communities exists not only in

bilateral communications between countries, but more importantly in multilat-
eral communications. Amongst some 6,000 languages, only a limited number
of languages have been used in international organisations (including cross-
regional organisations) and varieties of international conferences. International
organisations and conferences often nominate certain national languages as
official or working languages. For example, the official languages of the United
Nations are Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish, and the
working languages for daily use in its General Secretariat are English and
French. It is likewise the case with the Olympic Games, whose official working
languages are English and French in addition to the official language of the
host country. Some transnational organisations, however, adopt the languages
of all member states as working languages, such as the European Union. The
growing international exchanges and communications will engender more new
international organisations and conferences in which working languages need
planning from a new perspective. The Internet, noticeably as a lately developed
community, needs tailor-made regulations for its language usage.
2) Common language problems facing international communities
International communities are in need of joint efforts to resolve common language

problems. The language problems under global discussion include language
hegemony in globalisation, conservation of diversified language, endangered
languages, language rights of immigrants and ethnic minorities etc.
92 Chapter 6
International language life has a tremendous impact on the opening China,

so it should be incorporated in our national language planning. China should
develop a comprehensive understanding of international language life and fulfil
its duties in international language issues by offering as many language-related
public products as possible and increasing its influences in international com-
munities. There are two distinctive issues worth thinking and planning,
1) To fulfil responsibilities and duties as language a native habitat
Chinese has already attained certain prestige in international language life, and
it is on the constant increase. As the native habitat of the language, China is
endowed with responsibilities and duties to provide international communities
with Chinese language services, such as maintaining the Chinese language
norms in international organisations and conferences, supporting international
Chinese language teaching, and satisfying the increasing demand for Chinese
learning all over the world. It should also conduct a favourable development
planning for Chinese alongside global Chinese-speaking communities, to ensure
smooth communication in Chinese communities and to coordinate the globali-
sation and dissemination of Chinese. In addition, Chinese characters have a
special position in East Asian countries, so it is equally important to facilitate
communication among these countries, which demands standardization of
Chinese characters in computer coding on a global scale.
Moreover, some hundreds of ethnic minority languages are spoken in China,
some of which have drawn academic attention from overseas, and China should
take a proactive role in meeting this demand solicited by international commun-
ities. Some ethnic minority languages, in particular, are shared and spoken by
China’s neighbouring countries, so cross-national language coordination is of
great necessity.
2) To give considerable attention to common language problems facing inter-

national communities
The political and academic circles are encouraged to collaborate in in-depth

research on international language life by drafting a Chinese Manifesto with
balanced benefits between the world and China, and between present and
future. The Chinese Manifesto should be promoted and implemented by means
of international conferences, agreements and advocacy. Meantime, we should
provide language benefits and services and establish relevant international
research foundations and competitions so as to strengthen our influence in
international communities and to gain more power of discourse globally. We
also need to make our share of contributions to helping people all over the
world live a better language life by establishing a sound international language
order and resolving language conflicts.
2 Meso language life

Located between macro and micro language life, meso language life exists in all
the industries and regions, and it can be studied both horizontally in the sense
that it refers to field language life, and vertically that it is regional language life.
2.1 Field language life

Field language life is represented as language life in all different social indus-
tries, where social activities are diversely conducted and different problems
need to be addressed and resolved. In addition, their employees need to obtain
different language proficiency levels. As a result, field language life in a specific
industry has its own characteristics, which leads to different language planning
strategies.
Field language planning is primarily conducted by relevant competent
authorities, with the government in charge of language policy guidance and
supervision. Three aspects should at least be taken into account in field lan-
guage planning:
2.1.1 Field language policies and development strategies
The objective of field language policies and development strategies is to guarantee

industry quality and to fulfil social responsibilities of contributing to the national
language undertakings and to a normal social language life. Take radio and tele-
vision broadcast for example. It is one of the industries that has close relation-
ships with language, as the quality of commentator’s speech and subtitles deter-
mines the industry quality. It also serves as a guide of language usage in society.
2.1.2 Employees’ language proficiency
Employees in different fields and positions need to reach different language

proficiency levels. Physical labourers, such as city cleaners and construction
workers, only need an average language level, while brain workers, such as
teachers, writers, judges, lawyers, journalists and commentators, need a con-
siderably higher level of language proficiency. Even among teachers, whether
one is teaching language or physical education, and whether in kindergarten,
elementary school or university, the language proficiency required would differ
vastly in terms of spoken and written skills, and pedagogical knowledge.
94 Chapter 6
Language proficiency requirements for employees are also different in differ-

ent times. Shop assistants, for example, only needed average language profi-
ciency in the past. Nowadays, consumers expect better language consumption,
so inappropriate service language could run the risk of leading to lower sales.
Similarly, language in customer services of certain fields, say, home appliances,
is closely correlated to customer satisfaction.
As IT and cultural industries develop, a series of new language professions
and services emerge quickly which greatly challenge employees’ language pro-
ficiency and knowledge. For example, a keyboard encoder needs knowledge in
phonetics and philology, a computer type designer should know philology and
calligraphy, and an information search engineer needs multifaceted linguistic
knowledge.
The training and evaluation of employee language proficiency, above all,
should be preceded by formulating industry standards, which then provide
guidance for the training, testing and accreditation. The latter three in China
are far from the industrialisation requirements in that general proficiency certifi-
cation outnumbers specific position certification. Not until this gap is filled can
language proficiency be effectively converted to social productivity and service
products.
2.1.3 Major field language issues
Each field will face its own language issues with more or less differences and
similarities as follows:
– What would be the reasonable percentage of dialect-speaking programmes

in radio and television broadcast;
– whether there must be both family name and given name in the full name of
the Han people, and should there be any restrictions on the Chinese characters
used for naming;
– what should be the standard Romanisation of the names of the Han people;
– how could the names of the ethnic minorities be Romanized;
– whether there should be any restrictions in Chinese characters used as place
names, or should there be any regulations on pronunciation and on Roma-
nisation of Chinese place names;
– in medical professions, how could the correspondence between the Latin
names and popular names of medicine and diseases be arrived at, and how
should medical specifications be translated into foreign languages.
All the above issues normally are related to field work quality and industrial
development. Important as it may be, they have been constantly neglected or
placed in abeyance due to various practical difficulties. Analyses and resolu-
tions of field language need tremendous collaborative efforts of administrators,
linguists and professionals.
The administration of field language life is an important component of lan-
guage work in China. The State Language Commission consists of some twenty
departments and units, most of them industry competent authorities, and it is
also the case with language commissions at subordinate levels. Fact shows that
language commissions are well-structured, and it is of supreme importance to
fully mobilize each and every component department to provide supports to
industry competent authorities with language planning and to well manage lan-
guage life in great detail. The State Language Commission has long focused on
language life in four major fields, that is, administration, education, press and
publication, and service sectors. It also shows that these four major fields are
indeed vital components of language life, so good management of them largely
determines the whole national language life. Nowadays, language work in the
four fields needs to be undertaken in greater depth and more scientifically on
the basis of previous work, and meanwhile extends to other disciplines and
fields. Of note, the academic circles should be encouraged to strengthen their
research in language life and develop a kind of disciplinary linguistics for the
purpose of providing academic supports to field language planning.
2.2 Regional language life

The basic situation of China can be described as having an ancient and pro-
found culture but an imbalanced social development. There exist a complex
variety of regional dialects and ethnic minority languages, and a vast diversity
in regional economic and social development, to the extent of being thousands
of years apart horizontally and vertically. All lead to the variations in language
life and its management among regions as follows:
2.2.1 Shanghai
Shanghai, as a highly advanced metropolis in East China, ranks among the first
group of cities opening up to the world. To well manage regional language rela-
tions is of great benefit to its local economic and social development. The pro-
motion of Putonghua has been the focus of language planning in Shanghai
96 Chapter 6
over the last several decades, but not without distractions. The Shanghai dialect
is of great cultural value and needs to be inherited to a reasonable extent.
People from the rest of mainland China and Taiwan come to Shanghai in great
numbers, who need provision of dialect services. In addition, foreign business
partners and friends have flooded in, and chances are that Shanghai will
become a world business center with tremendous influence, which demands
great quantities of foreign language professionals to provide language services.
2.2.2 Fujian
Fujian is home to the Min dialects which vary tremendously across regions and
have diverse cultures. To promote Putonghua for general communicative con-
venience and to sustain the Min dialects and cultures are the two major tasks
of language life in Fujian. Meanwhile, a vast number of Taiwan and overseas
compatriots speak the southern Min dialect as native language, making it an
important part of language planning in Fujian to realise national reunification.
2.2.3 The Inner Mongolia
In the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, five regional languages are spoken,
that is, Mongolian, Chinese, Daur, Evenki and Oroqen. In addition to the Inner
Mongolia, the Mongolian language is also widely spoken in Xinjiang, Qinghai,
Gansu, Liaoning, Jilin, Heilongjiang and Hebei provinces in China, as well as
in countries such as the State of Mongolia, the Republic of Buryatia (Russia),
the Republic of Kalmykia (Russia), and Kazakhstan. To well manage relations
and coordination between the Standard Mongolic language2 and its various dia-
lects amongst the eight provinces and foreign countries is an important com-
ponent of language planning in the Inner Mongolia. The languages of Dauer,
Evenki and Oroqen, so called three minor ethnic minorities3 in the Inner Mongolia,
are also spoken in various regions and countries, making their communication
2 In the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, the standard pronunciation of the Mongolian
language is based on the Chakhar dialect of the Plain Blue Banner, while in the State of Mongolia
it is the Khalkha dialect of its capital Ulan Bator. Both Chakhar and Khalkha dialects belong to
the Central Mongolic and bear much resemblance. The Republic of Buryatia adopts the Buryat
dialect as standard pronunciation, one of the Northern Mongolic, and the Republic of Kalmykia
takes the Kalmyk dialect of the Western Mongolic.
3 In Inner Mongolia, Dauer, Evenki and Oroqen are commonly known as such.
and coordination another important component of local language planning.

Meantime, language planning in the Inner Mongolia needs to promote Putong-
hua and well manage relations between Putonghua and other local languages
and dialects, as required by its language planning.
2.2.4 The Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture and the Qapqal Xibe

Autonomous County
Language life in many ethnic autonomous prefectures and counties (or banners)
has displayed distinctive features, such as the Liangshan Yi Autonomous Pre-
fecture in Sichuan. Since the State Council promulgated Yiwen Guifan Fang’an
(Program for Standardization of Sichuan Liangshan Yi Characters) in August
1980, one task of the language life in Liangshan has been to implement the Pro-
gram in language practices such as in the bilingual education. The Yi people
also widely inhabit other regions in Sichuan and provinces of Yunnan, Guizhou
and Guangxi, so to communicate with native Yi speakers in other regions should
be part of language planning in Liangshan.
Another example is the Qapqal Xibe Autonomous County in Xinjiang. It is
the only autonomous county in China where most of the population are the
Xibe people. The county government pays close attention to education in the
Xibe language among young people. Native to Shenyang province in Northeast
China, a group of 1,018 Xibe officers and soldiers along with 3,275 family
members were resettled by the Qing government to garrison Xinjiang, where
the Qapqal Xibe Autonomous County is now located.4 There is a high degree
of similarity between Xibe and Manchu language, and as the population who
speak and write the Manchu language decreases drastically, the Xibe language
education and heritage is becoming more significant.
All the above examples show that regional language life varies tremendously,
and the success of language work depends on national language policies and
regional language realities. The main tasks of regional language work include
promoting commonly used national language, managing relations between
Putonghua and regional dialects, and relations between commonly used national
language and ethnic minority languages, preventing language conflicts and
harmonizing language life, preserving local language resources scientifically,
and providing quality language services for local economy. As for ethnic auton-
4 Some of this group also settled down in Huocheng, Gongliu and Tacheng counties. The
population of Xibe speakers is around 30,000, and some foreign scholars think of Xibe as a
Manchu dialect.
98 Chapter 6
omous regions, an additional important task is to well conduct ethnic minority

language work.
Most of the provinces in China have language work commissions under their
jurisdiction, whose duty is to promulgate local laws and regulations on spoken
and written language. In general, however, regional commissions are no good at
fully managing local language life than having a thorough understanding and
in-depth analysis of it, let alone conducting conscious language planning and
providing language guidance and services to the masses. Despite primitive dis-
cussions on regional language planning, the academic circles so far have not
produced fruitful and extensive research findings and there is still much room
for progress.
3 Micro language life

Individuals and terminal units in society are situated at the micro language
level, of which language life is as closely related to personal life and develop-
ment as to the normal operation of basic social units. As a result, micro lan-
guage life deserves attention, guidance and aids.5
3.1 Individual language life

Language distinguishes man from other animals, and writing brings man out of
barbarism into civilisation. The importance of spoken and written language can
hardly be overstated. Language life is of vital importance to personal life quality
and lifelong career planning.
China is now growing into a society with multiple spoken and written lan-
guages. Upon birth, an infant may be decided by parents on which language to
learn, for example, Putonghua, local dialect or ethnic language, and when to
learn a foreign language. Despite this hasty family language planning, few
parents have enough ability to design a reasonable language plan for their
children. Children themselves have to face language alternatives when reaching
a certain age, such as what is the standard and elegant way of expression in
language, and whether to obey or defy language norms recognised by parents,
5 Spolsky, Bernard (2011) and Zhou, Qingsheng (2010) also discussed problems concerning
micro language life.
teachers and society. Much research shows that language ability is often related
to personal development and salary level, especially in the modern era of infor-
mation technology and knowledge economy. Consequently, appropriate language
ability is an important component of lifelong career planning.
Language difficulties in daily life need timely assistance, of which no mature
research findings have been produced yet, but in a broad sense, difficulties may
include factors as follows:
1) Usage. For example, when one is in a strange region speaking a different

dialect or language and cannot communicate with locals; when reading dif-
ficulty arises due to low literacy level; and communicative difficulty comes
in when having no knowledge of what should be said on certain occasions.
2) Knowledge. In activities such as learning, testing and teaching, one is
unable to correctly understand and elaborate certain language knowledge;
or unable to use radical, stroke number and order, pinyin indexing etc.
when using a Chinese dictionary. Misuses of false friends, such as the
misuse of 的, 地, 得; 象, 像; and 做, 作; and misusing the measurement
morpheme 位 that conveys respectful meaning to identify thief or suspects.
3) Technology. One is marginalised for lack of commonly used language tech-
nology, such as word processing, emailing, texting, and other office soft-
ware.
4) Policymaking. Policymaking need not be an exclusive privilege of govern-
ment or any organisation, but personal life also needs language policymak-
ing such as, whether or not a babysitter should be able to speak Putonghua,
which second language to choose when one pursues postgraduate study,
and whether more acronym and Internet slangs should be used. It is always
the case that people encounter difficulty when making such kind of decision.
In addition, there are still handicapped persons with speech and language
disorders, such as the visually impaired people who find it extremely difficult
in learning descriptive and modifying words. Two parallel but distinct Braille
systems are currently in use in China, causing confusion to the blind people,
and it is even harder for them to read Chinese in public or on the Internet. Hear-
ing impaired people generally cannot speak, which makes them deaf-mute and
almost impossible to learn written language. Sign language is only used in deaf
communities, and there is normally no sign language interpreter in TV broad-
cast or conferences, which deprive them of information and communication.
Still there are children born with delayed language development, dyslexia,
stuttering, vocal cord dysfunction, cleft lip etc. resulting in various kinds of
speech difficulties. General language teaching and assistance can help resolve
100 Chapter 6
language difficulties for average people, but special education, such as patho-
logical supports and language enhancement and treatment, should be provided
for those visually and hearing impaired, and language disordered persons.
Some professions are in particular relation to language or dependent on lan-
guage proficiency, such as translator, teacher, announcer, TV presenter, writer,
poet, playwright, journalist, editor, proof-reader, advertiser, lawyer, judge, secre-
tary, arbiter, civil mediator, doctor, psychological counsellor, speech therapist,
calligrapher, artist, host, hotline operator, tourist guide, stenographer, typist,
language software designer, type designer, etc. Language ability, knowledge,
cultivation and proficiency are of great significance to these professionals, and
they are also in great need of special education, guidance and good working
environment.
Individual language life is at early stage guided by teachers and parents,
and later by industry standards and work peers. People with language im-
pairments and diseases need aids from special education and language therapy
organisations. In general, however, individual persons do not develop language
planning awareness, nor does society provide enough guidance, because there
are no designated agencies in charge, effective measures or relevant academic
research.
3.2 Language life of terminal units in society

Family, village, farm, factory, mine, store, hospital, train station, court, army,
government department, educational institution, radio and television station,
press, news agency, journal publisher, opera troupe, movie theatre etc. are de-
fined as terminal units in society, all varying in features, which can be broadly
halved to social units and industrial units.
3.2.1 Family and village
Family and village are typical terminal units in society, of which language life
mainly refers to daily language communication. Family is the basic building
block of Chinese society. A traditional Chinese family is extended with several
generations living together where adults and the elderly are dominant in lan-
guage communication. However, in modern families only live parents and chil-
dren. The daily communication is apparently influenced by the young school
children, and Putonghua has to be spoken at home. Urban families often face
language problems, for example, language requirements for babysitters, which
language should be adopted by family members, what kind of attitude is taken

toward Internet slangs, dialects and foreign languages. Family language problems
are determinant to family relations, which needs to be researched and provided
with language counselling.
Language life in villages has always been on a long leash in the Chinese
tradition. Regional languages (dialects and ethnic minority languages) are
primarily spoken for daily communicative purposes, but great changes have
taken place nowadays. Transportation, television and telecommunications are
easily accessible, making daily language communication much faster and wider
than before, making village language life susceptible to changes in urban areas.
The migrant workers as well have undergone significant changes in terms of
language concepts and practices, so have many countryside children who travel
far away from hometown to receive education different from that of their
parents, and in turn impose an overwhelming impact on their parents. All the
above factors have caused village language life to deviate from the traditional
path, drawn close to urban areas and communication in Putonghua. Local
languages and cultures are disappearing among young generations, and also
is gone culture-loaded vocabulary. The ongoing changes put national language
resources in jeopardy, and influence hundreds of millions of rural migrating
population, eventually reflected and felt by urban language life.
3.2.2 Industrial terminal units
Industrial terminal units broadly refer to government department, educational

institution, research institution, radio and television station, press, news agency,
journal publisher, opera troupe, movie theatre, court, hospital, train station, store,
factory, mine etc., of which language life is confined by field language planning
and displays various features.
Language life in industrial terminal units involves two aspects, language
for daily communication and language norms at work. The latter refer to both
speeches used in classroom education, broadcast and court judgment, and
scripts used in press and publication, government documents and store signs.
Language for daily communication and language norms at work are related
with distinctions. In general, language at work more accords to industrial stan-
dards than daily communication. Putonghua should be spoken in radio and TV
broadcast, but less strictly in internal conferences or casual conversations, to be
replaced by dialects or non-standard Putonghua. On the other hand, language
norms at work has a considerable influence over daily communication, for
example spoken and written language for daily communication in radio and TV
102 Chapter 6
station, press, news agency, journal publisher and lexicography company is

understandably more standard than other places. Hence, we can deduce two
points. First, daily communication in industrial terminal units is still subject to
supervision and management, as language norms at work are not applicable to
daily language. Second, setting language norms at work can increase the lan-
guage level of daily communication.
Industrial terminal units can also take charge of language policymaking, if
with necessary relevant guidance. For example, whether a hospital should treat
a patient who needs heart operation but whose language cannot be understood,
a restaurant should make foreign language its working language, a telephone
company should put priority on Putonghua or foreign language in call services,
or whether a store should apply boldface to highlight expiry date etc.
Language life in terminal units in society is as much related to national,
regional and field language planning as to the survival and development of
these units themselves. Apparently, terminal units in society need to well imple-
ment its language planning, with aids of government, region and industries. In
this regard, the traditional way of management should be replaced by guidance
that language service organisations provide.
The present paper stratifies language life into three levels, macro, meso and
micro, each then further categorised in line with the actual situation in China.
The major objective is to conduct an in-depth observation of language life, so
as to set up an academic framework for language planning.
The observation and analyses show that language planning in China has
formed a well-founded structure after several decades’ efforts to the extent that
an appropriate national language policy is made available, so are the funda-
mental language planning in key fields and primary social sectors nationwide.
However, weaknesses and limitations in language planning remain as follows:
1) Limited research and ineffective planning on international language life,
planning and efforts.
2) Much emphasis is placed on language work in the four key fields and it
yields fruitful achievements, but the language work is overall rather narrow
and lacks depth. Our next step is to extend to other fields and to implement
language work in all the rest fields. It is also important to define the subject
of language planning in each industry, and motivate field language planning.
3) Regional language planning has been touched in a crude manner but it
does not virtually initiate.
4) Micro language planning has not been included in national language plan-
ning. It used to be uncultivated or administered in the simplest way, without
forming an effective working mechanism. Social language services were not
well-organised, a bottleneck of today’s language planning.
Nevertheless, discovery of these problems proves effective the framework pro-

posed in the present paper. It is advisable to apply this framework for an in-
depth observation of language life in China at all possible levels. In accordance
with the features of each level, we can conduct reasonable language planning,
and manage language life in various forms in terms of policy, guidance and
service. When it comes to international language life, we can make use of inter-
national forums, conventions and aids. We should as well spare no efforts to
meet all the language needs at the national, regional, industrial and individual
levels, and to construct a well-formed and more effective language planning
system in the new era.
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Translated by CHENG Meng (程萌)

School of Foreign Language Studies,
Ningbo Institute of Technology, Zhejiang University
eomeng.cheng@connect.polyu.hk
Chapter 7
On field language planning1
Abstract: Under the guideline of the concept levels of language life, this paper
discusses several issues on field language planning. Reviewing the history and
development of China’s language planning over the 20th century reveals that
our national language planning first took root in the field of education. The
work was gradually extended to fields such as administration, culture, and
service sectors etc. Nowadays, it is time that all the fields take care of their own
language planning. The basic contents of field language planning include 1)
giving support to national language policies, 2) establishing field language
norms relating to work quality, and 3) resolving field language problems. The
underlying operating mechanism of field language planning should be such
that competent authorities take the lead, state authorities offer guidance, and
experts provide academic supports. There are currently two main problems in
field language planning: 1) lack of language awareness in many fields, and 2)
limited academic research concerning field language life. As an important com-
ponent of national language life management, field language planning is, on
the one hand linked to national language policies, and on the other hand, to
language life of enterprises and institutions in each trade. A series of adminis-
trative measures are needed to develop field language research for the purpose
of laying down a solid foundation for field language planning.
Keywords: field language life, field language planning
0 Introduction
Language life2, as a concept in language planning, has drawn increasing atten-
tion from the Chinese language planning and sociolinguistic circles over the
past decade, and its contents have been gradually extended and enriched. From
2005 onward, the State Language Commission started to release the annual
1 This article is first appeared on Journal of Central China Normal University, issue 3, 2013.
2 Activities such as language use, language studies, language learning and language education
are all considered as language life. It also includes all the activities that make use of the
outcomes of language studies. Language life is also called life of language and literature, life of
spoken and written language. The concept of language landscape used in Hong Kong is similar
to that of language life.
106 Chapter 7
Report of Language Situation in China, and a more detailed and comprehensive

version is simultaneously published by the Commercial Press. The concept and
related ideas of language life therefore expand continuously to the society and
academic circles through press conference and the published Report of Language
Situation in China. The journal Yangtze River Academic published by Wuhan Uni-
versity has set up a special column Hotspots in Language Life since its first issue
of 2006, widely acknowledged as an explicit response from the academic circles.
In November 2006, the Jiangsu Education Press published the textbook Contem-
porary Language Life edited by Ding Fan. It is selected among Elective Readers of
Chinese in general high schools, indicating that the concept of language life has
entered into preliminary education. In May 2010, the Development and Appli-
cation Center of Chinese Language Resources affiliated to the Commercial Press
issued the e-journal Chinese Language Life, serving as an online basecamp for
language life research. A number of academic conferences also place language
life among topic list, and some funding agencies started to establish research
projects related to language life. Recently, the Zhongguo Yuyan Shenghuo Zhuang-
kuang Baogao ‘Report of Language Situation in China’ series is being translated
into English and published internationally by a prestigious German publisher,
and the language life concept is well on its way to worldwide visibility. Up to the
13th February 2013, the Google search for keyword “language life” produced 158
million results, and 18 million by its Chinese counterpart Baidu3. It is evident
that the made-in-China concept language life has won wide recognition and
keen attention from academia and society.
In order to conduct a thorough study on problems related to language life,
Li (2012a) stratified language life into three levels, macro, meso and micro, with
the meso-level language life further divided into field language life and regional
language life. As Li pointed out, “field language life is actually realized as lan-
guage life in all sectors. Different sectors undertake their own social activities
and need to consider and address unique language problems. Even their em-
ployees are expected to reach different language proficiency levels. As a result,
language life in different sectors has its peculiar characteristics, and so does the
language planning”.
Social life can also be divided into different fields, each with its own language
life and its harmony dependent on field language planning. The present paper
will address language planning issues from the following three perspectives: 1)
historical foundation, 2) basic contents and 3) thoughts on implementation.
3 Limited by the search technique, the results of these keyword searches may not be entirely
accurate, but suffice to illustrate that the concept of language life has already delivered certain
social impacts.
1 Historical foundation of field language planning

The language planning in a modern sense started from qieyinzi ‘phonetic alpha-
bet’ campaign to the end of the Qing Dynasty, and its major achievement was
Tongyi Guoyu Banfa’an ‘Proposal for Establishing a Common National Language’
promulgated at the Central Education Conference, which was organized by the
Ministry of Education of the Qing Dynasty in 1911. Ever since then national lan-
guage planning for long has kept pace with language planning in certain fields,
particularly that of education, and extended from educational institutions to
illiteracy demolition campaign in society.
For example, Article Five of the Proposal aforementioned asserts that “Train-
ing – The Ministry of Education commences to set up Chinese training center in
the imperial capital, to which all the provinces are mandated to send trainees
with high proficiency in their local dialects. Upon graduation the trainees are
assigned to their original provinces, and teach as trainers in the Chinese train-
ing centers located in provincial capitals, likewise at all the subordinate admin-
istrative levels. Any trainer in the educational institutions who cannot speak
standard speech should enrol in the training course in rotation leading to
successful graduation. In addition to the subject of Chinese, all other subjects
should gradually be taught in standard Chinese”4.
In 1913, according to the spirit of the Central Interim Education Conference of
the Republic of China, the Commission on the Unification of Pronunciation called a
series of conferences in Beijing. The Commission inspected and approved the pro-
nunciation of as many as over 7,100 Chinese characters, and formulated 38 zhuyin
zimu ‘phonetic alphabet’ and stipulated the seven articles of Guoyin Tuixing Banfa
‘National Language Promotion Program’. The last four articles are as follows:
4. The National Literature course in primary schools should be replaced or

supplemented by a National Language course.
5. The national pronunciation should be used in teaching by primary school
teachers, and also by teachers of National Literature courses in middle and
normal schools.
6. After the publication of Guoyin Huibian ‘Dictionary of National Pronuncia-
tion), all primary school textbooks should be annotated with national pro-
nunciation aside Chinese characters.
7. After the publication of Guoyin Huibian, all official documents such as
public notices should be annotated with national pronunciation aside
Chinese characters.5
4 Cf. Language Reform Press (1958:144)

5 Cf. Su (2010:34–35)
108 Chapter 7
Three out of the four articles are concerned with education. Though Article 7
explicitly regulates public notice, a kind of government official document, it is
still for the purpose of demolishing illiteracy, as a result of the fact that one of
the major objectives of national language planning is to develop education, the
latter providing fundamental support to national language planning and becom-
ing a key field where national language policies are implemented.
The history of China’s language planning shows that the field of administra-
tion is the second most important in terms of language planning. For example,
with regard to modern punctuation marks, Wang Bingyao started advocacy in
his Pinyin Zipu (Character Chart with Pinyin) as early as 1896, and the system
was primitively established in 1919. In the following year, the Ministry of Educa-
tion of the Beiyang Warlord Government promulgated Tongling Caiyong Xinshi
Biaodian Fuhao Wen ‘Ordinance of Applying New Punctuation Marks’, simply
meant to be distributed among schools for future application. In 1930 the Ministry
of Education of the Nationalist Government also promulgated Huayi Jiaoyu Jiguan
Gongwen Geshi Banfa ‘Proposal for Unifying Document Format in Educational
Agencies’, which stipulated fourteen punctuation marks used in official docu-
ments issued by education agencies. In 1933, the Nationalist Government issued
Ordinance No. 500, mandating that all the government agencies in China should
use the seven punctuation marks and writing format. The new punctuation
marks were advocated by non-governmental associations, then adopted by edu-
cational institutions and agencies, and eventually the administrative document
system all over the nation. To ensure that government orders are carried out
effectively is also a major objective of national language planning, so the admin-
istrative organs, as the brain of the government, undoubtedly should take the
lead of implementing national language policies.
The public cultural undertakings have also drawn early attention from lan-
guage planning, particularly press and publication. As radio and television
emerged and gradually won popularity, they have become the focus of attention.
In 1935, the Ministry of Education of the Nationalist Government promulgated
Diyipi Jiantizi Biao ‘A Table of the First Batch of Simplified Chinese Characters’
for the purpose of compulsory education and civic education; however, it went
well beyond the field of education to the extent that “the Nationalist Govern-
ment is advised to mandate the application in all government agencies” and
“press agencies should apply accordingly”. The publication field has also been
included in language planning. The People’s Republic of China promulgated
Diyipi Yitizi Zhengli Biao ‘A Table of First Batch of Verified Variant Character
Forms’ in 1955 and Yinshua Tongyong Hanzi Zixing Biao ‘A General List of Print
Fonts of Chinese Characters’ in 1965, under the auspices of the Ministry of Cul-
ture and the Commission of Chinese Script Reform. In 1988, the State Language
Commission together with the General Administration of Press and Publication

published Xiandai Hanyu Tongyongzi Biao ‘A Table of Commonly Used Characters
in Modern Chinese’, and in 1985, Putonghua Yiduci Shenyinbiao ‘A List of Author-
ized Pronunciations for Heterophonic Words in Putonghua’ was jointly published
by the State Language Commission, State Education Commission and Ministry of
Radio and Television. The collaboration with relevant administrative authorities
for publication of spoken and written language norms can further facilitate the
implementation of national language policies in related fields.
In the recent period after the Reforms and Opening up, China has also paid
additional attention to spoken and written language uses in public service sectors,
and subsequently four key fields of language work, particularly Putonghua promo-
tion, have developed, namely educational institutions, party and government
organizations, radio, film and television media, and public services. The report
delivered by the then vice Premier Li Lanqing in 1999 was a case in point, “To
promote Putonghua nationwide and perfect the work of spoken and written lan-
guage standardization is a huge social project, which the entire society should
actively support and participate in. It is of note that educational institutions at
all levels and of all kinds should play their fundamental roles, that the adminis-
trative personnel of party and government organizations their leading roles, that
radio, film and television media their exemplary roles and that public services
their demonstrative roles”. (Department of Languages Planning and Administra-
tion, Ministry of Education 2005: 297)
Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo Guojia Tongyong Yuyan Wenzifa ‘The Law of
the People’s Republic of China on the Standard Spoken and Written Chinese Lan-
guage’ with effect in 2000 not only legally regulates the speeches and words
used in the four key fields but also considers spoken and written language prob-
lems in other fields including public facilities, enterprise and organization
names, commodity packaging and instructions, art works (for example calligraphy
and seal cutting), information processing and IT products. National language
planning has spread from the aforementioned four key fields to the rest of
society.
According to the statistics in Xinshiqi Yuyan Wenzi Fagui Zhengce Wenjian
Huibian6 ‘Collected Regulations and Policies of Spoken and Written Language in
Modern Era’ compiled by the Department of Languages Planning and Adminis-
tration of the Ministry of Education, it is revealed that during the period of 1978–
2004, a total of 47 official documents concerning or related to spoken and
6 See Department of Language Planning and Administration, Ministry of Education (2005),

not including those documents released by national administrative authorities of spoken and
written language.
110 Chapter 7
written language have been promulgated, such as state laws, the CPC Central
Committee and the State Council administrative ordinances and regulations,
and other departmental regulations, of which 37 documents relate to specific
fields. During the same period of time, the ministries and commissions under
the State Council released 65 documents of the kind, altogether a total of 102
documents related to field language life, among which 47 concerns education,
9 radio, film and television, 3 party and government organizations, 8 industrial
and commercial administration, 9 person and place names and 26 on other
miscellaneous trades and meetings.
Incomplete as they are, the statistics reveal certain information concerning
field language planning. The field of education is the foundation of spoken and
written language work, accounting for approximately 46% documents, with
radio, film and television up to 9% as another important field. The party and
government organizations appear to have released relatively fewer documents
probably due to their need-to-be-improved work or their internal circulation
not being reflected. As to the rest 42% these fields are mostly pertinent to public
services, including industrial and commercial administration, person and place
names and the like.
In addition, the important position of field language work in national spoken
and written language work can be reflected in view of organization structure.
The State Language Commission currently consists of the State Ethnic Affairs
Commission, the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the Ministry of Human Resources and
Social Security, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Minis-
try of Culture, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, the State
Administration of Industry and Commerce, the General Administration of Press
and Publication, the General Political Department of the Chinese People’s Libera-
tion Army, the National Standardization Administration, the Chinese Academy of
Sciences, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the Central Committee of
Youth League, the All-China Federation of Trade Unions etc. Language commis-
sions at local levels also comprise relevant departments of the like, indicating
that field language planning has been facilitated with organization structure.
In retrospect, the century-long language planning history can offer the
following primary knowledge:
1. Language planning has extended into various fields in society, particularly

those key fields related to spoken and written language such as education,
public administration, mass media, public services etc. To well handle the
work in the above key fields can more or less place under control the situa-
tion of language life.
2. The spoken and written language work in all the fields primarily aims at
implementing national language policies. As far as the current situation is
concerned, it is of vital importance to “promote Putonghua and standard
Chinese characters” in those major industries, particularly those “heavily
involved in spoken and written language”.
3. As society advances and culture prospers along with ongoing information
technology and speeding globalization, spoken and written language has
gained increasing importance in all trades and industries and started to be
correlated to their service and product quality. As a result, one next major
task of language planning is to give an impetus to specific language plan-
ning in every individual field.
2 Basic contents of field language planning

Vertically located between national language policies and language life of enter-
prises and public institutions as the terminals of all industries, field language
planning is largely determined by 1) national language policies and 2) the actual
situation of field language life. It aims at ensuring and improving work quality
of all the fields. The basic contents of field language planning involve 1) support-
ing national language policies, 2) establishing spoken and written language
standards related to work quality, and 3) resolving field language planning
problems.
2.1 Supporting national language policies

National language policies are formulated on the basis of national language
life and should accommodate to changes in national language life in a timely
manner. As field language life is an important component of national language
life, an accurate understanding and regular inspection of field language life, its
development trends and changes, serve as fundamental work to scientifically
formulate and timely adjust national language policies.
Take person names and place names for example. Those names have certain
notable features such as, 1) a vast number of Chinese characters are used,
exceeding the limits of commonly used characters; 2) there is relatively high
frequency of yitizi ‘heterophonic characters’; 3) many characters are exclusively
used in person names and place names, which sometimes have ambiguous
meanings and inconsistent pronunciations. In the past, the standardization
112 Chapter 7
work of Chinese characters used to follow the underlying principle of “reducing

the total number of characters and number of strokes for individual characters”,
virtually confined to commonly used characters for general purposes and irre-
spective of the uses required by person names and place names. Firstly, no
more than 7,000 commonly used characters are regulated. The number is far
less than actually needed. The insufficiency went unnoticed in the period when
person names were handwritten on the first-generation national identification
card, but emerges as an imminent problem nowadays for the second-generation
national identification cards when GPS is widely used. Secondary, a number of
characters commonly used as person names are treated as variant character
forms, and as a result famous historical figures have to be renamed. For example,
魏徵 ‘Wei Zheng’, a renowned prime minister in the Tang Dynasty, changes to
魏征, and 毕昇 ‘Bi Sheng’, the inventor of the movable type printing press tech-
nology in the Song Dynasty, becomes 毕升. Even today many people still
use obsolete variant characters in their names such as 喆 ‘zhe’, 淼 ‘miao’ and
犇 ‘ben’. In addition, the strokes of some place names are so complex and
inconvenient that they have been replaced by ones with fewer strokes, such as
盩厔/周至 ‘Zhouzhi’ and 鄠县/户县 ‘Huxian’. When it comes to person names
and place names, it is reasonable to expand the number of Chinese characters
on the basis of commonly used characters, and to take a correct and scientific
position to discriminate variant characters, particularly to reconsider and properly
apply the variant characters in person names and place names, and to moderately
adjust related language policies.
Meanwhile, each field, in keeping with its own features, should actively
implement national language policies, including policies on commonly used
spoken and written language, ethnic languages, foreign languages etc. Of note,
implementation of national language policies needs a solid down-to-earth meth-
odology, primarily dependent on the effective implementation in each individual
field where people live their language life. If all the fields, particularly those
key ones, can well implement national language policies, administration of
language life can be properly put into effect.
Should national language policies, however, not perfectly accommodate to
the actual language life in some field, they must as well be implemented while
policy-changing suggestions are proposed to the government. For example,
Article 17 of Guojia Tongyong Yuyan Wenzi Fa ‘Law of the National Common
Spoken and Written Language’ concerns exclusion clauses for the usages of
traditional characters and variant characters, stating that “variant characters in
family names” are allowed. In China, with several exceptions of ethnic minori-
ties, a person name contains family name and given name, while Article 17
only allows variant characters in family name but not in given name, so making
喆 ‘zhe’, 淼 ‘miao’ and 犇 ‘ben’ illegitimate. Opposite to both common sense and
naming conventions as it is, Article 17 should still complied with any time prior
to a change of policy. The fact holds true that in several recently broadcast TV
serials about 魏徵 ‘Wei Zheng’, the simplified version 魏征 ‘Wei Zheng’ is used
in subtitles. The Sogou (a Chinese search engine) search for 毕升 ‘Bi Sheng’ on
the 3rd February 2013 produced 18,942 results but only 1,436 by the name of 毕
昇 ‘Bi Sheng’, the latter tenfold outnumbered by its simplified version. Of
course, field language planning can play a positive role in supporting national
language planning only if relevant departments can construct a feedback mech-
anism so as to make timely modifications and adjustments to those regulations
unfit for actual language life.
2.2 Establishing field spoken and written language standards

Field spoken and written language standards, as an indispensable component
to guarantee field work quality, can also offer opportunities for potential devel-
opments, which include three main aspects as follows:
2.2.1 Field work language
Any organization needs to transmit information and coordinate work by means

of spoken and written language, which can be defined as work language if
officially used inside an organization. Its definition in a certain field should be
principally based on ensuring optimal communication within maximal range. In
China, the nationwide commonly used spoken and written language is generally
considered as work language. However, in view of the actual situation of
Putonghua promotion, regional Putonghua can also be accepted in certain areas,
and sometimes even regional dialects, for example in the dialect areas of the
Southern China. With regard to ethnic autonomous regions, bilingualism should
be adopted that both the national and the regional commonly used spoken and
written languages are equally treated as work language. As for special occasions
and areas, foreign languages may as well be adopted, such as for foreign in-
vested companies, overseas Chinese companies and international conferences.
The current major problems in field work language include a lack of conscious-
ness, insufficient relevant requirements in terms of conference and personnel,
and unreasonable overuse of foreign languages. All these problems can impose
a negative effect on work efficiency and public image of businesses.
114 Chapter 7
2.2.2 Product-related spoken and written language standards
Product here is understood in its broadest sense that it refers to all kinds of
services and items provided by various fields and industries to the society,
including the social management services provided by administrative depart-
ments. Services more often than not are realized by means of spoken and
written language, for which nowadays people have an increasing demand in
terms of quantity and quality when they purchase services from managers,
service personnel and manufacturers. The quality of spoken and written lan-
guage often determines service satisfaction and becomes an important component
of product quality in diverse varieties of fields, such as government official docu-
ments, press conferences, legal documents, mass media, textbooks, in-class
teaching, public posters, road signs, commercials, product manuals, medical pre-
scriptions, museums, tourist spots, public transportations, IT-related products etc.
Products have their unique needs and standards in terms of the use of
spoken and written language, due to their different purposes and packaging
considerations. No matter what kind of product it is and no matter what kind
of or what quantity of language is used, it is the purchasers’ needs, satisfaction
and convenience that should be considered as the objective for pursuit.
Insofar as spoken and written language used on products is concerned,
several problems currently remain imminent. First, no consideration has been
taken on the demands of product purchasers or language consumption of the
masses. For example, official documents are often as heavily obscured with
bureaucratic undertone as medical and diagnostic reports are loaded with pro-
fessional jargons and technical symbols, which compromises patients’ right to
information. In addition, English is indiscriminately used in services of hotels
and telephone companies, or other unnecessary places. Even worse, medica-
ment instructions have no Chinese at all or the Chinese instructions are un-
intelligible, while services and products in ethnic autonomous regions often are
provided with no necessary ethnic language. Second, product quality is severely
compromised by poor spoken and written language. Film and TV serial subtitles
are incorrigibly troubled with wrong characters, and often violate the pinyin
orthography such as errors of capitalization and hyphenation and overwhelm-
ingly unacceptable usages of foreign language, even subject to being ridiculed.
Some experts complain that even the Tibetan language used along the Qinghai-
Tibet railway needs to be greatly improved. Third, owing to the lack of language
awareness, neither national language policies nor standards have been effectively
implemented. Regional dialects, traditional Chinese characters, foreign lan-
guages, and ethnic minority languages have all been misused or ignored in one
way or another. Each field should notice its problems of these kinds and formu-
late spoken and written language standards in line with its actual situations.
2.2.3 Basic requirements on employee language skills
Language is one of the three basic human skills. In particular, the modern era
of information technology has witnessed an increasing proportion of brain
workers, and even manual labourers need to do more brain work as never
before. Employees in nearly all fields, so to speak, are obligated to master
proper language skills which have turned into an important component of work-
force. For example, department store salespersons only needed basic language
skill in the past, such as oral and writing literacy for simple introduction, re-
ceipts and arithmetic, but now customers have expectations for better language
service when shopping. It is also shown that insufficient language skills for
product introduction lead to less successful deals. Likewise, customer services
feedback in home appliances also exhibits a high correlation with service lan-
guage skills. As a result, it is advisable that language skills be integrated in
workforce criteria as much as spoken and written language standards in work
regulations and trade codes.
Employee language skill standards have started to be formulated in some
professional fields, such as teachers, announcers, commentators, and public
servants, all needed to meet certain Putonghua requirements or pass examina-
tions. Generally speaking, however, all the fields concerned have an insufficient
understanding of what language skills and levels their employees should have.
Despite various language tests, most of them cannot necessarily test one’s over-
all language ability, and even worse, they are language proficiency tests rather
than language skill tests for specific job positions. To formulate language skill
requirements for different job positions and to perfect work language skill tests
are considered as an important task in field language planning.
2.3 Resolving field language planning problems

Each field has its own language life and pending language problems. If these
problems are well managed, work efficiency will rise and industry prospers,
in turn achieving the harmony in language life; if not well managed, they will
give rise to negative impacts on industry development, and in extreme cases, to
serious social consequences and language conflicts.
116 Chapter 7
There exist language problems, big or small, in a great many fields waiting
to be treated carefully. For example, the proportion of radio and television pro-
grams presented in Putonghua and in regional dialects is rigorously restricted
by relevant authorities, in terms of duration, channel and time allocation. How-
ever, due to various purposes, many regions and businesses attempt to some-
how fine-tune the proportion and allocation, as evidenced recently by an ever
increasing number of news broadcasts, talk shows and TV serials in regional
dialects among local televisions stations. In 2010 when Guangzhou was prepar-
ing to host the 16th Asian Games and the 10th Asian Para-Games, suggestions
were proposed to the Guangzhou Television Station to include more Putonghua
programs, and unexpectedly these suggestions triggered a Supporting Cantonese
campaign which eventually spread to other Cantonese-speaking regions of Hong
Kong and overseas. Nowadays some 70% Chinese population can understand
and speak Putonghua, and people are more conscious of the close relations
between regional dialects and culture. More importantly, the 6th Session of the
17th Communist Party Conference integrated the decision to “greatly promote
and regulate the commonly used spoken and written language in China, and
scientifically preserve the spoken and written language of all the ethnic groups”.
It has now truly become a problem as to how the radio and television properly
handle the relations between Putonghua and dialects. Solutions to this problem
concern not only work quality, audience rating and guidance in society, but also
in a broader sense culture preservation and feelings of the masses in dialectal
regions.
When it comes to the sports arena, there also exist language problems worth
exploring and resolving. As China’s international status and athletic competence
increase, Chinese sports teams have more opportunities to attend international
games and more major international games choose China as host country. To
adapt to the new trend, it is necessary to improve foreign language skills of
team leaders, coaches, judges, sports officials and journalists so that all the
relevant personnel better understand and fit into international games to properly
protect our rights, expand sports exchanges, and better participate in interna-
tional sports organizations. The 2016 Olympic Games will take place in Rio
de Janeiro in Brazil, of which Portuguese is the official language. Portuguese
speakers can more or less understand Spanish, while both Portuguese and
Spanish language professionals in China are insufficient in number. In addition,
other language problems also remain in sports, for example the pinyin tran-
scription of names in terms of family and given name ordering, capitalization,
acronym etc. As to international games hosted by China, the athlete parade on
the opening ceremony should enter in the sequence of either phonetic or ortho-
graphic order of their country names in Chinese. Besides, sports terminology such
as athletic events needs to be translated into English or other languages for a

better introduction of indigenous Chinese sports to the international community.
Field language problems, despite its close relation to work quality and
industry development, are often subject to ignorance or suspension due to their
insolubility. To study the existent language problems in all fields and seek
proper solutions is also one of the important tasks in field language planning.
3 Some thoughts on field language planning

Field language planning is of vital importance to the nation and people as much
as to the administrative authorities. In view of the current development ten-
dency of all the industries and the century-long language planning, today is
the prime time for field language planning, of which the underlying operating
mechanism should be that competent authorities take the lead, state authorities
offer guidance, and experts provide academic supports.
3.1 Competent authorities taking the lead

A Field in society conventionally has been discussed under various names, such
as xitong ‘system’, zhanxian ‘battle line’, hangye ‘trade’ etc., and its administra-
tion is in reality conducted by superior industry competent authorities (or trade
associations), so is the field language life. All the industries should take into
account spoken and written language issues when drafting work plans,
employee quality criteria and training assessment, and regulations of product
quality inspection and sales services.
It is both theoretically rational and practically feasible for the competent
authorities to take charge of the language life in its subordinate fields. One of
the major current issues is lack of language awareness and even linguistic com-
monsense. Many field supervisors and academic experts know no more about
relations between language and society than the situation of social language
life. Of note, little is known about what kinds of language professionals are
needed in different fields, how spoken and written language is transformed
into social and economic merits, and how language relations and conflicts can
be managed well or avoided in this very era of information technology, global-
isation and multiculturalism. As a result, many industry competent authorities
has nearly no consciousness whatsoever of conducting language planning or
integrating language in industry planning, so it is of immediate urgency to
118 Chapter 7
increase language awareness of industry competent authorities in field language

planning.
3.2 State authorities offering guidance

State authorities are in charge of state language life in the sense that they not
only take responsibility for national language planning but also offer relevant
guidance, as partly required by national language life administration and viewed
as the government’s functional transformation from language administration to
language service. The guidance, as it were, should on the one hand guarantee
that field language planning satisfies national merits and executes national
language policies, and on the other hand encourage each individual field to
creatively conduct its own language planning in keeping with its actual lan-
guage life, particularly to transform spoken and written language into produc-
tivity by means of language planning.
The execution of field language planning, particularly in terms of national
language policies, should be taken as responsibility of the state authorities. It
is of special importance to develop a supervision system, formulate specific
supervision procedures, and properly provide feedback to supervision results
so much so that supervision can be effectively conducted.
During the process of guidance and supervision, state authorities can also
develop a deeper understanding of the language life in all fields so as to make
timely adjustments to national language policies and prevent them from deviat-
ing from actual language life. We will also step by step formulate all kinds of
field regulations for implementing national language policies, to ensure that
national language policies can be more effectively executed. Of note, national
language policies can be developed into automatic industry requirements and
an organic component for making progress in each field.
3.3 Conducting academic research on field language life

The formulation of language planning involves a high degree of professionalism,
which demands a wide range of experts and scholars to participate and provide
solid academic supports. As applied linguistics and sociolinguistics develop
over the last thirty years, experts have started to look into language life in
certain fields. Language teaching is the traditional territory of linguistic research,
in addition to laws, press, advertising, media, medicine, and police, and a
number of other cross-disciplinary branches related to language planning have
gradually emerged and developed, such as forensic linguistics, media linguistics,

advertising linguistics etc. From 2005 onward, the State Language Commission
annually published Language Situation in China based on its studies on language
life in various fields. Journals such as Journal of Jianghan University and Journal
of Yunnan Normal University ran special columns to promote field language
research, and publishing houses also put out books on field language life, such
as Series of Field Language Studies by the Chinese Academy of Social Science,
among others. The Putonghua proficiency training and testing also attempts
to take into account the features of language application in certain fields. In
general, however, language life research in China is shadowed by narrow
coverage and unexplored territories. Research in specific fields is also in great
need of in-depth exemplary cases, and methodology is noticeably old-fashioned
with no reference to database. Even worse, research is mostly on a case-by-case
pattern deprived of theorization and implications. China, as it were, currently
remains in the primitive stage of academic preparation for field language
planning.
The underdeveloped research in field language life is mainly attributed to
the following reasons. First, the linguistic circle as always is more concerned
about ontological research and language teaching, occasionally relating to other
fields only with limited interest in peculiar language phenomena such as idio-
syncratic word usages. The research itself narrowly aims to correct mistakes
and break bad habits and fails to realise the necessity of panoramic observations
and exhaustive analyses, let alone a systematic language planning for a field.
Second, research in field language life demands comprehensive knowledge
of linguistics and related disciplines, and intensive collaboration between lin-
guists and experts in relevant fields. Cross-disciplinary knowledge and research
teams are fundamental to scientific research in field language life. Generally
speaking, however, research used to be conducted by linguists, its objective
mainly on linguistic and philological matters. Though the work of pioneering
scholars deserves much applause, this one-person combat mode could produce
no more in-depth research than integration of research findings and application
in relevant disciplines.
Third, national language planning displays a spiralling development with
constant updating and expansion. Due to historical limits of development,
China paid no attention to promoting field language planning, and few fields
proposed demands for their own language planning. Academics is preceded
by social demands so much so that before society develops to a certain his-
torical stage, it does not impose demands on linguistic studies, nor can the
academic circles have the motivation and consciousness of studying field lan-
guage life.
120 Chapter 7
Nowadays, we have seen a strong social demand. Scholars in every corner

of the academic circles should be mobilized to develop a deep understanding
of language life in all industries, and their requests and problems in terms of
spoken and written language so that proper solutions can be proposed. While
conducting research in field language life, we should remain in the forefront of
the times to overlook and design from the perspective of the entire situation,
particularly to take notice of the new requirements of employee language skills
in the new era. It is of equal importance to keep an eye on the emerging
language-related careers and industries and related language planning, such as
language skills of stenographer, keyboard compiler, computer font designer,
information search technician etc., and language planning in language therapy,
information processing and online new media.
It is self-evident that building professional teams is a vital component of
academic development. We should take proper measures to foster cross-disciplinary
professionals and to encourage research teams involving multiple disciplines. It
is also important that multidisciplinary key funding projects be set up to study
field language life and resolve field language problems. The projects not only
can produce applicable academic achievements for society but also benefit
research teams and professionals for the purpose of accumulating scientific
data and developing field language studies. Of course, it is equally important
to pay attention to the application of modern scientific research methodologies.
Nowadays, both scientific research and social development have entered into
the big data era. Field language life has a keener need for big data supports
as well as a new-generation Internet-oriented data consciousness, to explore
the function of data to the extreme by gathering and processing data with the
guiding concepts of sharing and crowdsourcing.
In conclusion, the construction and development of field language studies
are no less significant to the overall progression of linguistics. Various fields
have different language demands and different problems to be addressed. Some
fields even need specified language policies. As a result, fields differ in terms of
language life. To analyse the different language needs and the characteristics
of language life in all individual fields, as well as the language problems and
policies in specific fields are necessary to create a harmonious overall language
life and to resolve language-related social problems, in addition to developing
multiple language-related disciplines and promoting the development of lin-
guistic disciplinary structure. It also reflects the fact that language studies
should be based on language problems in society, and linguists should update
academic orientation and focus on language life in society in order to fulfil their
inescapable social responsibilities.
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leomeng.cheng@connect.polyu.hk
Chapter 8
Characteristics of language life in
contemporary China
Abstract: Contemporary language life of the Chinese is characterized by the

following features: the gradual formation of “bilingualism and bi-dialecticism”,
the fast development of virtual language life, the fast change in China’s “lan-
guage map”, the urgent need for language planning as a result of fast urbani-
zation and the necessity for coordinating the domestic-international overall
language situations. The language planning in contemporary China include
such important tasks as an accurate and deep understanding of Chinese lan-
guage conditions, the proper handling of the relations between languages, the
management of language life, the enhancement of citizens’ language com-
petence and of the national overall language competence, maximization of the
“language bonus”, and the fulfillment of our international language responsibil-
ities, etc. They also give rise to many new research topics.
Keywords: language life, characteristics of the times, language planning
0 Introduction
China’s modernization can be traced back to the late Qing dynasty. Despite the
ups and downs during the process, the modernization of the Chinese language
has been a continual movement. Language planning has also been developed
at different periods, contributing to the gradual modernization of the Chinese
language life.
One of the duties of the government is the proper management of language
life, which must be based on a comprehensive and deep understanding of
current language conditions and an accurate recognition of the features of
language life, so that scientific language planning as well as dialectical policies
can be developed. Entering into the 21st century, current language planning
must address the following questions: What are the basic conditions of China’s
language life? At what stage is the Chinese language life? What are the basic
characteristics and features of the time?
There are still many questions awaiting further discussion concerning lan-
guage life. Many aspects of the language conditions in the country are still
124 Chapter 8
unknown to us. It is still hard to obtain a comprehensive and accurate under-

standing of contemporary language life in China. Based on the knowledge
acquired, the present paper argues that China’s language life is characterized
primarily by four features.
1 Initial formation of “bilingualism and

bi-dialecticism” (including “multilingualism
and multi-dialecticism”)1
1.1 “Monolingualism and mono-dialecticism” in ancient China
Language life in ancient China is “monolingual and mono-dialectal” on the
whole. The common written language for the Han nationality was formed very
early in ancient China, with yayan ‘literary language’ and tongyu ‘common
language’ appearing in Qin and Han dynasties, followed by guanhua ‘official
language’ serving as the national common language. Nonetheless, the spoken
variety of the people was basically the local dialects, the variety spoken within
a particular region. Even though some similar reading tones and official tones
existed in the whole country, they did not have a large impact on the whole
population, since they did not have a widespread use. Ancient China was an
agricultural country, where the public were happy to confine themselves to the
same piece of land and were resistant to relocation. This was coupled with
the underdevelopment of transportation and communication. On the whole, the
1 This paper makes a distinction between “yu” and “yan”. “yu” refers to language, while “yan”
refers to the different varieties of a language, including the “regional dialects” and the common
language. Dialects refer to the geographical varieties of a language, and the common language
is a high variety of a language. Based on the number of languages and dialects a person can
use, a distinction is made between mono-dialectals, multi-dialectals, mono-linguals, bilinguals,
and multilinguals. However, we do not make a strict distinction between bi-dialectals and
multi-dialectals, and between bilinguals and multilinguals, because “bi-dialectals” often include
“multi-dialectals”, and “bilinguals” often include “multilinguals”. Based on the number of lan-
guages and dialects used in a society, a further distinction is made between mono-dialecticism,
bi-dialecticism, multi-dialecticism, monolingualism, bilingualism, and multilingualism. Like-
wise, for the convenience of discussion, we normally do not make a strict distinction between
bilingualism and multilingualism, and between bi-dialecticism and multi-dialecticism: “bi-
dailecticalism” often includes “multi-dialecticism”, and “bilingualism” often includes “multi-
lingualism”.
entire population was characterized by its limited volume and frequency of

mobility. Not many people could use two languages and dialects, and con-
sequently, monolingualism and mono-dialecticism were the characteristics of
the Han nationality in ancient China.
Even fewer achievements have been made in the study of the language life
of the minority groups in ancient China. There are many questions still unclear
to us: Which language manifested dialectal differences? To what extent did their
dialects vary? What were the exact situations of their using single dialect or
two dialects? However, judging from the pattern of population mobility, the
language life of ethnic groups was basically mono-dialectal.
China has been a multi-ethnic country. People who were capable of using
two or more dialects or foreign languages can be identified in the border areas
with mixed ethnic communities, in the political center or some institutions spe-
cialized in minority or foreign affairs as well as the governmental offices for the
ethnic minorities. However, bilinguals (or multilinguals) used to account for a
small share of the total population, and bilingualism existed in only few areas
and domains. Therefore, ancient China was basically characterized by “mono-
lingualism and mono-dialecticism”.
It can be concluded that ancient China was a “monolingual and mono-
dialectal” country, in spite of the existence of bilinguals and bi-dialectals as
well as bilingualism and bi-dialecticism in some areas and domains.
1.2 Achievements in national language planning over the

20th century
National language planning in the modern time was marked by the passing of
the National Language Act 2 by the Ministry of Education of the Qing Dynasty in
1911. Following the Phoneticization (Pinyin) Movement, the Act kick-started the
national spoken language movement with far-reaching impact. After the found-
ing of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, the new China continued to pro-
mote Putonghua. The popularization of the national language in Taiwan after its
recovery from the Japanese rule and the relocation of Kuomintang in Taiwan,
the promotion of Putonghua in Hong Kong and Macao after the return of their
sovereignty to China, and the continuous popularization of Huayu (the Chinese
language) in Singapore for over 30 years since 1979 can all be regarded as the
repercussions of the national language planning and movement.
2 See Language Reform Press (ed.) (1958).

126 Chapter 8
Great achievements have been made during the past 100 years of national
language planning and movement, which can be witnessed in the following
aspects:
First, the establishment of the common language of Han nationality, with the
phonology of Beijing dialect as the standard and the northern dialects
as the foundation, and the modern vernacular written Chinese as the norms
for Chinese grammar. Both legally and practically, Putonghua/Mandarin has
become the national official language and the lingua franca across the nation.
Second, the establishment and implementation of the phonetic alphabets
and the Hanyu Pinyin system, which played an indispensable role in the promo-
tion of the standard pronunciation of the common language in the age when
broadcast media such as radios, TV, and movies were still underdeveloped.
They continue to play a significant role even in present time when the broadcast
media are highly popular.
Third, the cultivation of a large population of bilinguals and bi-dialectals,
contributing to the construction of bi-dialectal and bilingual-society in some
areas. Statistics shows that only 53.06% of the total population in mainland
China was capable of using Putonghua by the end of 20th century (Office of
Leading Group of the Chinese Spoken and Written Language Use Survey 2006),
but this figure has risen to 70% now3. A comparatively high percentage of
people in Taiwan are capable of speaking Mandarin, and the number of those
in Hong Kong and Macao is also increasing. However, the appearance of a group
of mono-dialectals who can speak only Mandarin rather than other dialects also
merits our attention and further study.
Putonghua and other Chinese dialects now co-exist in the whole country. As
the national common language, Putonghua is widely used at high-level, cross-
regional, and inter-ethnic communications and in domains such as education,
business, news media, and public services. The regional dialects are mainly
used in domains such as family, community communication, and local cultural
activities.
Due to various historical reasons, some ethnic groups such as Hui and Man
have given up their own languages and turned to Chinese. They often choose the
Chinese dialect of their residence, so bi-dialecticism appears with the promotion
of Putonghua in their residential regions. Some ethnic groups speak Chinese
3 According to Xie’s (2011: 6) report, the same method in “survey of language use” (from
August of 1999 to September of 2001) was used by The Institute of Applied Linguistics to inves-
tigate the use of Putonhua in Hebei, Jiangsu, and Guangxi, and found that about 70%–80%
people in the three areas could speak Putonghua.
while preserving their own languages. The Chinese that they speak is often one
of the dialects of the Han nationality, so the promotion of Putonghua has turns
them into bilingual and bi-dialectal ethnic groups, who can speak both the local
dialect and Putonghua. Some mono-lingual ethnic groups have also become
bilingual, as a result of the promotion of Putonghua. In summary, the promotion
of Putonghua has transformed monolingual Han and some ethnic groups who
learnt Putonghua from monolinguals into bi-dialectals, transformed the mono-
lingual ethnic communities into bi-dialectal communities, and the bilingual
ethnic communities into bilingual and bi-dialectal ethnic communities.
One thing worth our attention is that the minority languages also have their
own varieties. In the last decades, great changes have taken place to these lan-
guages and their varieties, e.g., phonological standards have been established
for the common language of Mongolian and Zhuang ethnic groups, and sub-
sequently the implementation of standard assessment methods. With the im-
plementation of school education and standard assessment, etc., an increasing
number of people in these ethnic groups are capable of using their ethnic com-
mon language and dialects, and bi-dialecticism has also appeared and con-
tinued to develop in some regions and domains.
1.3 Influences of foreign language education over the

20th century
Foreign language education in the modern time can be traced at least to the
establishment of the Imperial Tung Wen College (Jingshi Tung Wen Guan) in
1862 and Shanghai Guangdong Dialects College (Shanghai Guang Fangyan
Guan) in 1863 and the teaching of foreign language courses in Westernization
Colleges at the end of the Qing Dynasty. (Gao 2006) Later, modern school system
was established in China, with some institutions specialized in foreign language
education. Foreign languages were taken as the medium of instruction in some
missionary schools. Foreign languages were taught in various foreign language
training schools, preparatory classes, as well as in other forms. It is reported
that now there are more than 300 million foreign language learners in China.
Resulting from the implementation of foreign language education in the last
100 years, a large number of foreign language talents have been nurtured, and
many educated people have acquired certain level of foreign language proficiencies
to become bilinguals or even multilinguals. Nonetheless, despite China’s extensive
foreign language education and the production of a certain number of bilinguals,
foreign language life did not appear due to special socio-historical environment
of China. It is anticipated that the use of foreign languages and the proficiency
128 Chapter 8
levels of foreign language learners will be increasing steadily in the long run,
but foreign language life will still be lacking in China. The situation in China is
very different from those countries and regions which used to be colonies of
Western countries, such as Hong Kong, Singapore, India, Pakistan and some
Arabian and African countries, where the languages of their colonizers continue
to be used, serving as the official language or as the language for education and
businesses.
1.4 Language issues in bilingual and bi-dialectal society

Issues related to individual and societal bilingualism and bi-dialecticism are
significant research topics of our age. The following aspects merit our attention:
1) A positive attitude towards “bilingualism and bi-dialecticism” in the society

should be taken. The phenomena of individuals turning from “being mono-
linguals and/or mono-dialectals” into “being bilinguals and/or bi-dialec-
tals” (including “multilinguals and/or multi-dialectals”) and of the develop-
ment of a language life from “monolingualism and mono-dialecticism” to
“bilingualism and bi-dialecticism” (including “multilingualism and multi-
dialecticism”) should be viewed as developments of a society, of education
and of language life. Appropriate evaluation, positive facilitation and con-
tinual improvement of such situations should be exercised. We are so
accustomed to our convention of “monolingualism and mono-dialecticism”
that there is a common lack of understanding about bilingualism and bi-
dialecticism, leading to different kind of problems and difficulties during
the process of practicing bilingualism and bi-dialecticism. Therefore, there
is a need of building up new ways of thinking, and a need to gradually
introduce “bilingual and bi-dialectal” language planning policies that suit
China’s unique context. A series of new measures should be taken.
2) A need for proper handling of “language relations”. The main problem with
a “monolingual and mono-dialectal” society is how to overcome the barriers
in communication, while the main problem with a “bilingual and bi-dialectal”
society is the proper handling of language relations, in particular the
relations between different languages and different dialects as well as the
relations between the mother tongue and other foreign languages. On the
one hand, the use of national language in high-level education should be
secured; on the other hand, the role of other languages and the dialects
of Chinese should be given full play in order to construct a harmonious
language life.
3) A need to study the criteria for assessing the linguistic competence of

Chinese citizens. China’s education and personnel selection practices have
initially posed certain requirements on citizens’ linguistic competence in a
bilingual and bi-dialectal society. They include:
a) “Bilingual and bi-dialectal” competence is required for Han and the

ethnic minority nationalities who have chosen Putonghua for their
daily communication. They are expected to have a good command of
Putonghua alongside a Chinese dialect, and the knowledge of a foreign
language as well;
b) Members of those ethnic groups without turning to Chinese must master
“three languages”, i.e., their mother tongue, the national lingua franca,
and a foreign language.
c) Elites who have received postgraduate education must master two
foreign languages.
These requirements should be “materialized” to become educational criteria,

and later to become the criteria for the citizens’ linguistic competence. Bilingual
or multilingual competence of the citizens is the international trend and has
already become the educational criterion for many countries.
2 Mutual reinforcement of virtual and real

language life
2.1 The appearance and development of virtual language life
During the long course of human history, there was only real language life that
existed between human beings, i.e. “person-person interaction”. Although audio
language, special signs, or body language are also used to interact with animals
by some people such as herdsmen, peasants, hunters, animal tamers, or cavalry-
men, they are not language communication in the real sense, because signs are
at work rather than meanings. (Li 1989)
However, the advent of computers in the first half of the 20th century
inspired a new endeavor towards machine translation and started a difficult
but engaging journey of language processing, which gave rise to the interac-
tion between human beings and machine, i.e., “person-machine interaction”.
“Person-machine interaction” has been gradually realized with continuous
development and popularity of computer language processing technology and
the invention and popularity of language processing products. It has developed
130 Chapter 8
from sign interaction to speech and character communication, from the interac-
tion between technicians and computers to the interaction between common
people and computers. Especially after the invention and commercialization of
the Internet, information transmission between machines (i.e., “machine-machine
interaction”) began to appear and develop at a fast speed. A virtual world has
been built on a real world, and a virtual language life has developed from a
real language life.
2.2 Great impact of virtual language life

The impact of virtual language life is huge and far-reaching. First, great changes
have taken place in the forms of language-mediated communication of human
beings. Virtual language life is supported by modern language technology,
which is based on computer language processing. The fast development
and widespread use of modern language technology has turned communica-
tion from “person-person interaction” to “person-machine interaction” and
“machine-machine interaction”. Nowadays, “person-person interaction” has
become increasingly reliant on the use of machines, thus giving rise to the
mixed forms of “person-machine-person interaction” (including “person-
machine-machine-person interaction”). In the past, writing literacy is the
necessary requirement for citizens in a civil society, but now it should include
computer literacy.
Second, language has become the “hard power” of a country. The develop-
ment of modern information technology relies to a large extent on the knowl-
edge about language and scripts, some of which have even become the criteria
for development of modern information industry. Even though modern language
technology has only a short history of several decades, it has given birth to
some new language careers, such as stenographers, language engineers, and
fonts designers, and some new language industries, including language infor-
mation input and recognition, computer fonts programming, language informa-
tion transmission and output, machine translation, information retrieval and
processing, electronic reading, and other industries of advanced and new tech-
nology. With the formation of grand and prosperous language economy, some
traditional language careers and industries (such as typist, fonts die casting,
paper-media communication, and telegram) are disappearing gradually, which
have brought great changes to the socio-economic structures of human societies.
It has been widely acknowledged that language constitutes the “soft power” of a
country, but this recognition is not yet sufficient, since language also constitutes
the “hard power” of a country. (Li 2011)
Third, virtual language life has exerted ever growing influences on real
language life. Virtual language life develops from real language life, but it also
affects the latter in turn. The ever growing influences can be witnessed in the
following aspects:
a) Many new linguistic phenomena represented by news words first appear in

virtual language life before entering into real language life. Virtual space
has become a breeding ground for new linguistic phenomena like new
words;
b) Many new ways of distributing information have appeared, such as email,
BBS, QQ, blog, and micro-blog. The Internet has gradually become the
distribution center and the “reactor” of information and exerted great influ-
ences on our life as new media.
c) Many activities in real life have been conducted on the Internet, such as
e-government, e-business, e-learning, e-press, and e-entertainment. They
constitute current virtual life, which have come along with the development
of modern language technologies and become part of virtual language life;
d) The Internet has become the largest and the most updated information
storage center of human beings, which has gradually taken the place of
many functions of paper media (including dictionaries), libraries, archives,
and museums. However, much information on the Internet awaits further
filtering, mining and sorting, so an effective and efficient use of network
information requires a proper understanding of the role of the Internet in
information storage, and a fast development of network information mining
technologies.
The concepts of cloud computing and IOT have become a reality, and qualitative
transformations are taking place with the Internet, which will become more
powerful and intertwined with real life. Correspondingly, virtual language life
will become more advanced, and its influences on real language life will be
stronger, deeper, and more comprehensive than ever before.
2.3 Language planning in the context of virtual language life

Language planning used to address primarily the relations between language
and human beings. Now it has to handle the relations between language,
human beings, and machines. While it used to deal with only real language
life, it has to take into account language life in both virtual and real spaces.
Due to the short history of virtual language life, the studies about it still are
at a superficial level. It is rarely considered in language planning which is
132 Chapter 8
certainly lagging behind the development of the society. The following issues are
worthy of our attention in view of the co-existence of virtual and real language
life.
First, language planning should facilitate the healthy development of virtual
language life. We should take a positive attitude towards virtual language life,
the existence of which can neither be ignored, nor treated light-heartedly. To
view it as a mere dependency of real language life, treat it and manage it in the
same way as real language life, or to restrict its development in order to adapt it
to real language life are all inappropriate ways of coping with it. Instead, the
fast-growing and healthy development of virtual language life should be facili-
tated in language planning.
The cyberspace of Chinese virtual language life should be developed to
accommodate the lifestyle of the Chinese people, especially to the conventions
of Chinese language use. It involves hardware and software development, as
well as various language information technologies. On the one hand, we should
own more patents on information technologies; on the other hand, we should
pay special attention to the details in software design so that they can accom-
modate the cultures and conventions of the Chinese language and be more
“user-friendly”.
Viewed from a long-term perspective, virtual language life does not merely
belong to a few people or a specific, minority group of people, but belongs
to the majority of the whole population. By the end of September 2011, Chinese
netizen population has reached 500,000,000, which accounts for almost 40% of
the total population. We should therefore foster the engagement of more people
in virtual language life and help reducing the size of population who are being
information-marginalized. We should be sufficiently open-minded to environ
possible life in virtual spaces and take strategic moves to cultivate and develop
it. Special attention should also be paid to the design of the operational rules in
virtual language life in order to maintain a reasonable order and enhance the
quality of virtual language life. We as Chinese can also make our contribution
to the virtual language life globally by expanding the order and its correspond-
ing rules to other areas.
Second, virtual and real language life can supplement and promote each
other. Studies should be conducted on the influences of virtual language life on
real language life. For example, will the use of computers cause the deteriora-
tion of writing skills? How to view the deterioration of writing skills? Since the
root cause for the evolution of Chinese characters is writing, how the changes
in “writing” will affect the evolution of the Chinese script? What changes will
happen to the habits of our reading, information collection, and expression?
Based on these studies, effective measures can be taken to minimize its negative
impact and to maximize its positive impact. Meanwhile, the communication

between virtual and real language life should also be strengthened so that they
can supplement and promote each other, thus ensuring the harmony of lan-
guage life.
Third, we should also stress the concept of “language resources”, which
views language not only as “problems” but also as cultural and economic
resources. This concept has been highlighted and reinterpreted due to the fast
development of modern language technology. The preservation and exploration
of these language resources should be emphasized in contemporary language
planning, with the support of language economics. Only in this way can we pro-
mote the development of modern language technology, careers and industries,
maximize the contribution of languages to the society, and benefit from the
“bonus” thus generated.
3 Great changes in urban and rural language life

3.1 Fast urbanization process
The most prominent change that characterizes contemporary China is its fast
urbanization process (or “Cheng Zhen Hua”). The early stage of the People’s
Republic of China was known for the low rate of urbanization. For a long period,
urbanization rate remained stagnant, at 11.2% in 1950, 17.92% in 1978, and an
annual growth rate of 0.23%. After the introduction of China’s economic reform,
China’s urbanization rate grew rapidly, with its rate increased to 19.4% in 1980,
30.42% in 1998, 45.68% in 2008, and an annual growth rate of 13%. (Fan 2009)
The urbanization rate of the world in 2000 is 48%, and it is estimated at about
50% now. It means that China’s urbanization is almost comparable to that of the
international norm.
The Central Economic Working Conference held at the end of 2009 required
further facilitation of the coordinated development of towns and large, medium-
sized and small cities and further loosening of the restrictions of household
registration system in towns and medium-sized and small cities. As endorsed
by the State Council, an official document entitled Opinions on Key Tasks for Deep-
ening the Economic System Reform 2010 was issued by the National Development
and Reform Commission. It requires “deepening the reform of household regis-
tration system, speeding up the relaxation of restrictions on permanent resi-
dence registration in towns and small and medium-sized cities, especially coun-
ties and central towns. It also requires further pushing forward the temporary
residence certificate system, and the gradual implementation of the residence
134 Chapter 8
permit system nation-wide”. This will further facilitate the movement of rural
labor to towns and cities. The draft of “the 12th Five-Year Plan” issued on 5
March 2011 states that during the “12th Five-Year Period”, urbanization will con-
tinue to be actively and prudently promoted, with an aim of raising urbanization
rate to 51.5% in 2015. It is anticipated that China’s urbanization will continue to
proceed at a fast speed. The rate will surpass 70% before 2050, which will be
close to the urbanization rate of the developed countries.
Urbanization turns peasants into “migrant workers”, many villages into
towns, small cities into large cities, and large cities into even larger cities, thus
trigger their ambitions to become metropolitans, and contribute to the formation
of metropolitan clusters. These changes will greatly altered China’s “language
maps”, and bring unprecedented great changes to Chinese language life.
3.2 Language planning in urban areas

Not only construction planning but also language planning is required for urban
areas. In fact, urban language planning can be regarded as an integral part of
urban city planning. It consists of the following aspects.
First, about the dominant spoken and written languages for urban language
life. Dominant spoken and written languages refer to those that are used in such
domains as government and official businesses, education, press, and other
public services. According to The Law of the People’s Republic of China on the
Standard Spoken and Written Language, the spoken and written languages that
are used in urban areas should be the standard spoken and written languages
used nation-wide. In autonomous areas of ethnic minorities, the dominant lan-
guages and scripts can also include the minority language and script.
Second, about language training and guidance for new and old urban citizens
as well as migrant workers. Due to the differences between urban and rural lan-
guage life, guidance and training concerning the languages or dialects in use as
well as the content and forms of communication must be provided to new urban
citizens and migrant workers in order to help them adapt to urban language life
quickly. Owing to change of the societies, the movement of suburban citizens to
city centers, and the flooding of new citizens and migrant workers to cities, old
urban citizens are also confronted with new language life, resulting in possible
anxiety among them. Sometimes, it may lead to language or even social con-
flicts between the old and new groups of people. Specific plans should be
made to help these old citizens to adapt to new language life in some cities
that are developing rapidly.
Third, about social language services. As an important part of information

services in urban areas, social language services should be emphasized in urban
language planning. They cover a wide range of areas, including language use of
signs and plaques in streets, lanes and public facilities, and language use in the
domains of business and trade, tourism, transport, post service, finance, health-
care and entertainment. Special attention should be paid to some special lan-
guage services, such as those for disabled people, and foreigners who encounter
communication difficulties (including foreign language services).
Fourth, about the display of urban cultural outlook through languages. Each
city should have its own cultural characteristics, which is demonstrated not only
in its buildings but also its culture. Language as a carrier of cultures and arts is
an invaluable resource for displaying the cultural outlook of a city. For example,
newspapers, broadcasting, and TV are some of the media in revealing the local
language and cultures. Museums of local language and cultures, folk art forms,
folk songs, and folklore can be further synthesized to better exhibit and extend
the local cultures.
3.3 The preservation of current “language maps”

With fast changes in urban and rural maps, China’s “language maps” will
change dramatically soon. Even though this is an irreversible trend, the current
state of modern languages should be recorded with multi-media technologies so
that audio data can be kept, and the general picture of current language maps
can be preserved. This is an effective measure of “scientific preservation of the
spoken and written languages of different ethnic groups”. In the panel discus-
sion dedicated to the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the Central Research
Institute of Culture and History held on 6 September 2011, Feng Jicai pointed out
that the various ancient villages left by the five millennium’ s history of China
have come to a critical moment of life or death. Each ancient village is a thick
and heavy volume of history and culture. Before we have time to have a close
reading of them, they may disappear in no time during the wave of urbaniza-
tion. So are languages and dialects, which are in a situation no better than those
ancient villages described by Feng Jicai. Yet they receive even less attention.
The endangering and extinction of these languages and dialects mean huge
and irrecoverable losses of national language resources as well as of the Chinese
culture.
The promotion of “bilingualism and bi-dialecticism” is not only an acknowl-
edgement of the initial development of the “bilingual and bi-dialectal” life in
136 Chapter 8
China, but also a fundamental solution to the conflict between language com-
munication and language maintenance. A good command of the standard spoken
and written language used nation-wide can contribute to the successful inter-
regional and inter-ethnic communications, and inheriting and extending the
existing ethnic languages and dialects can promote cultural diversity. It was
the primary task of national language planning to promote Putonghua when
urbanization was at a low level and progressed at a low rate, and when the
national spoken and written languages were still not commonly used. However,
at present, while we continue our efforts to promote and regulate a standard,
common spoken and written languages nation-wide, we should also take into
account various issues concerning language maintenance in contemporary
China. In other words, we must “walk on two legs”, without neglecting either
of them.
There are of course still other ways of preserving “language maps”, for
example, through the establishment of “language reserves” under possible con-
ditions in order to preserve endangered languages and dialects in their life state.
We can also seek to protect some languages and dialects related to intangible
cultural heritage through the protection of the latter. Some resourceful local
governments can be encouraged to establish language and culture museums,
or exhibition rooms for language and cultures in some museums and galleries.
The development of the Internet also provides new tools for language mainte-
nance, such as the establishment of virtual language and culture museums,
and the collection, storage, exhibition and exploration of language cultures
with modern information technology.
During the fast urbanization process, some new language conflicts and
problems are bound to appear. Some questions are worthy of our serious reflec-
tions: How will urbanization affect China’s language picture? How many new
language problems are waiting to be solved? What special groups of people
need special language services? How to guarantee the smooth progress of
urbanization and safeguard the harmony of urban and rural language life?
4 Coordinating the domestic and international

situations of language
The opening up of China has ushered a new stage of China’s internationaliza-
tion. After over 30 years’ development, more demands for international lan-
guage life and the use of foreign languages have been posed, and with China’s
globalization, Chinese has been spread to other parts of the world at a fast
speed. This gives birth to two situations – domestic and international – in lan-
guage life. Language planning in contemporary China must strive for an optimal
balance between domestic and international situations.
4.1 Promoting the international dissemination of Chinese

Subsequent to China’s opening up and the rise of China’s status in the interna-
tional arena, Chinese has spread to other parts of the world at an ever increasing
pace. A large number of foreigners have taken Chinese as the second business
language after English. The following issues merit our attention in speeding up
the international dissemination of Chinese.
First, it must be disseminated in a scientific way. Here are some criteria:
a) Whether it can meet the demands for Chinese learning in each country;
b) Whether it can bring practical benefits for Chinese learners;
c) Whether Chinese teaching can catch up with the teaching of other well-
disseminated languages in such aspects as teaching criteria, teaching and
supplementary materials, teaching methods, testing, teaching staff, and
reputation building;
d) Whether China has received due “bonus for disseminating the language”,
including economic and cultural benefits;
e) Whether the efforts of disseminating Chinese are sustainable.
These criteria represent the ideal state of disseminating Chinese internationally,

the achievement of which requires the analysis of language communication
phenomena both inside and outside China, in ancient times as well as in con-
temporary times, and the study of the rules in language communication, the
planning of Chinese international communication, as well as the optimization
of these plans in practices.
Second, coordinating the relations between Putonghua and other varieties
of the Chinese language overseas. Different varieties of Chinese used in overseas
countries have been the pioneer in globalizing Chinese, and their present situa-
tion and characteristics should be taken into account in our design of the
promotion of Putonghua and of the criteria of teaching Chinese as a second
language. This will maximize the communication between the domestic and the
overseas Chinese and to foster the notion of “Greater Chinese” (Da Huayu),
i.e., the Putonghua-based common language of all Chinese in the world4. The
coordination of the relations between Putonghua and other varieties of the
4 See Li (ed.) (2010). Foreword of The Global Chinese Dictionary.

138 Chapter 8
Chinese language overseas can be extended to the coordination of the Chinese

teaching institutes among them. It is hoped that alliance can be formed between
them, so that they can contribute to a sound development of Chinese learning
and teaching by jointly developing teaching standards, compiling teaching and
supplementary materials, discussing teaching methods, coordinating testing
methods, and recognizing each other’s assessments.
Third, relating and coordinating the research developments in language
learning and teaching between the domestic and the international. As the base
for Chinese studies, for learning and teaching Chinese, and for promoting
Putonghua, the domestic realm has rich human and intellectual resources,
which can be turned into inexhaustible and sustainable resources for de-
veloping learning and teaching Chinese internationally. Such combined efforts
from the domestic and the international should be one of the important realiza-
tions of coordinating the domestic and the international overall situations of
language.
Meanwhile, the international promotion of Chinese should also be inte-
grated with the international promotion of minority languages. Many minority
languages of China such as Mongolian, Tibetan, Uyghur, Yi, Dai, and Manchu
have their own learners and researchers in the world. The international promo-
tion of Chinese and of the other minority languages of China can be coordi-
nated, so that they can develop together, forming a tremendous platform for
the international promotion of the Chinese languages. The international promo-
tion of the minority languages is not only the duty of China in accordance with
the international demands but also is related to our national security.
4.2 Enhancing foreign language competence in China

Appropriate language support is required for a country to handle its internal
and external affairs, but whether or not such kind of support can be provided
depends on a country’s language capability, including foreign language capabil-
ity. Apart from the demands in diplomacy, foreign languages taught in China in
the past years were mainly targeting at learning advanced science and cultures
from the Western countries. Therefore, only few languages were taught, primarily
focusing on the standard written variety of the foreign languages. Researches on
foreign language were also confined to foreign language teaching. Although this
could meet China’s demands during the closed-door period, it lags far behind
the national demands in the current stage when the country is opening up and
is heading towards different kinds of long-term development.
With the rise of China’s status in the international arena, the number of for-
eigners coming to China for work, study, conferences, and travelling increases
every day, so as the number of large-scale sports events, fairs, business talks,
and academic conferences held in China. Some basic foreign language services
must be provided for them. They cover a range of issues, including the produc-
tion of signs and introductory notes in public service domains using the foreign
languages, and spoken language services in exhibitions, important international
conventions and in the public spheres. The cultivation of talents and social
workers in mastering less-commonly used foreign languages are also necessary
for providing appropriate services for the related communities.
There is a continuous growth of foreign affairs in China, such as the engage-
ment in international organizations, international peacekeeping, anti-terrorist
activities, humanitarian support like disaster relief, labor export, activities con-
cerning international businesses and trade, science and technology, and cultures,
building national images, and making our voices heard internationally. Today,
national interests have already gone beyond the national boundaries, and how
to introduce a real China to people all around the world in their languages in
order to reduce misunderstandings and conflicts, and how to use languages to
protect national interests and overseas Chinese are important national issues
we have to consider. They require us to have a comprehensive understanding
and close study of the world and to learn how to play the “international games”.
More foreign language talents are thus required, especially those who have a
good command of several foreign languages or talented foreign language per-
sonnel with multi-abilities.
Enhancing national foreign language competence has become a major pro-
gram of lasting importance to China. An investigation should be conducted
quickly to have a basic understanding of foreign language demands in different
professions and the current status of foreign language personnel in China.
Foreign language management agencies with coordinating abilities can also be
established to develop appropriate strategic plans for foreign language educa-
tion. More effective measures are required for enriching the varieties of foreign
languages taught and the abilities of foreign language personnel.
4.3 Solving cross-border language issues

Cross-border language issues can be both domestic and international. Solving
cross-border language issues is not only a requirement for good neighborly
relations and national defense but also an important component of national
140 Chapter 8
language capability. There are more than 30 cross-border languages (including

dialects) in China. A proper solution of these issues can contribute to good
neighborly relations and peace across the borders, and the natural expansion
of Chinese cultures, science and technology. Otherwise, it will render the loss
of language resources, the weakening of language capability as well as the rise
of various language conflicts. It may even lead to cultural destruction, which
may bring a series of risks to national security.
Due to the lack of attention paid to cross-border language issues, we still
lack sufficient knowledge about their actual situations and state of affairs, espe-
cially their uses in the neighboring countries. Multiple means of investigating
and researching the cross-border languages should be developed and scientific
policies for cross-border languages should be introduced, together with plans
for cultivating talented personnel in the relevant languages. The development
of proper solution for tackling cross-border language issues is equal to the draw-
ing of a new safety line for national borders and to the building of bridges of
friendship for our neighbors.
4.4 Fulfilling language duties and responsibilities

internationally
As a large and responsible country in the world, China must fulfill a series of
duties and responsibilities, including those in language. The duties and respon-
sibilities in the language areas include the proper study, evaluation, and solu-
tion of the relevant language issues of human beings, and the establishment of
international language order in order to reduce language conflicts, provide con-
sultations and suggestions for language planning in relevant countries, and to
contribute to a better language life for the people in the world. Special attention
should be paid to the following three aspects.
First, protecting language rights. Language rights are an important compo-
nent of human rights. All nations, ethnic groups, and individuals own a variety
of language rights, such as language rights of migrants, of non-powerful ethnic
groups, and of developing countries. They can be protected through various
means like international treaties or initiatives.
Second, safeguarding language communication. Exchanges are required for
international communities, so the working languages of international multi-
lateral organizations and transnational organizations need scientific planning.
Language transmission on the Internet should also be safeguarded by fair inter-
national criteria. Communication not only enhances mutual understanding and

trust but also reduces misunderstandings.
Third, protecting endangered languages. Languages are important carriers
of cultures, and their extinction is an irrevocable loss of human cultures. It is
estimated that currently there are all together about 6000 languages, but 90%
of them may disappear in this century. Effective measures must be taken to
prevent this “cultural disaster”, to defer their extinction, or to preserve them
in their life sate, or to record the materials of these languages with modern
information technologies.
The gradual formation of bilingual and bi-dialectal society, the division and
link of virtual and real language life, the issues of language planning in
urban and rural areas with the fast transformations of the “language map”, and
the coordination of the domestic versus the international situations constitute
the language situations of contemporary China. A recognition and proper
understanding of these language situations serve as the primary basis for the
national language planning, generating many new research topics for further
investigation.
These new situations have called for an enhanced view of the relations
between the language(s) and the country. The relationships between language
and national identity, between language and ethnic identity, regional identity,
national security, national creativity, national information development. They,
together with the contributions of languages to a society, have become frequent
discussion topics among government officials and academics. Language con-
flicts tend to be intensified and aggravated, and many social and cultural con-
flicts are accompanied and represented via language conflicts. Such phenomena
are also taking place in many other countries of the world, which have even led
to governmental crisis and “language wars” in some countries. Besides, the
different demands of language life also pose urgent needs for various language
services. This requires the soonest possible establishment of a social language
service system that features government guidance, societal participation, and
the co-existence of multiple mechanisms.
Language planning should address the various language problems that
occur during the process of national and human societal development. In con-
temporary times, we must address China’s language life from an international
142 Chapter 8
perspective, position China’s language life in the information age, and develop
language plans from the standpoint of a large country in the world. Great efforts
should be made to the enhancement of citizens’ and national language compe-
tence, to the fulfillment of China’s language responsibilities in the international
arena, and to the construction of a harmonious language life in China as well as
the world.
References
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Minzu University of China Press.
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China). The People’s Publishing House.
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of Language Services from the Perspectives of Language Resources and Language
Problems). Journal of Yunnan Normal University, 5.
Li, Yuming. 1989. Ren dui Dongwu Yuyan Jiaoji de Tedian (Characteristics of Man to Animal
Communication). Linguistics Bulletin (Central China Normal University), 2.
Li, Yuming (ed.). 2010. Quanqiu Huayu Cidian (Global Chinese Dictionary). The Commercial
Press.
Li, Yuming. 2011. Yuyan ye Shi “Yingshili” (Language is also a “Hard Power”). Journal of Central
China Normal University, 5.
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Qu, Shaobing. 2010. Guanyu Zhongguo Yuyan Shenghuo Zhuangkuang Baogao zhong Yuyan
Fuwu Wenti de Guancha yu Sikao (Observation and Thoughts on Language Service Problems
in the Report on Chinese Language Life). Journal of Yunnan Normal University, 5.
Strategies). Journal of Yunnan Normal University, 2.
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Applications of National Foreign Language Ability). Chinese Foreign Language, 3.
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Problems of Migrant Workers during the Process of Urbanisation). Journal of Yunnan
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The original Chinese version of this paper was first published in Zhongguo Yuwen, 2012, Vol. 4.
Translated by WU Dongying, Doreen (吴东英)

doreen.wu@polyu.edu.hk
Chapter 9
On foreign language planning in China
Abstract: Turning from a domestic-based country to a country with international

perspective, China is confronting new foreign languages demands. In the new
era of foreign language development, to plan it scientifically is urgently needed.
State development and informatization are two main factors to consider; other
factors like non-common foreign languages, foreign language literatures trans-
lated into Chinese and vice versa, foreign language application in public service
domain, foreign language services in communities, foreign language demands
in special domains like military, frontier defense and national defense, and
citizen’s foreign language literacy shall be paid close attention to. It is necessary
to set up a government institution to manage and coordinate foreign language
development in the future. Foreign language legal status is to be studied as well.
Keywords: China, foreign languages, foreign language planning
0 Introduction
Modern foreign language education in China has undergone more than one
hundred years’ history starting from foreign language courses offered by the
Westernization School and the Shanghai Tongwen Guan ‘The Imperial Transla-
tion Training Agency of Universal Languages’ in the late Qing Dynasty. Foreign
language education put forward education transformation from private school-
ing to modern education, which made irreplaceable contributions to realizing
modernization of the country.
Over more than one hundred years, Chinese foreign language careers have
been concentrating on foreign language teaching. When it comes to the new
era of reform and opening up, foreign language gradually evolves from a
symbol of elite education into a constituent part of popular education. Changes
in student scale, learning motivation and educational method exemplify an
unprecedented important role of foreign language education in primary schools,
middle schools and universities. Moreover, private foreign language training
institutions in addition to the national educational system grow vigorously,
making China the largest country of learning foreign languages. With further
progress of China’s reform and opening up in the 21st century, foreign language
services demand grows. There even emerge communities or groups of which
146 Chapter 9
members speak foreign languages with each other. The communities and groups
put forward new demand for foreign language education and promote great
development of foreign language careers.
Future prediction and social planning are projects conducted by mankind
from time immemorial. This rational social manipulation based on virtual reality
is now known as development strategy or development planning, which becomes
an indispensable part of modern social management. Therefore, as foreign lan-
guage demand at the national level reaches a new stage, and foreign language
career is about to enter into the golden time, it is necessary to systematize con-
cepts on foreign languages, and to plan foreign language in an all-around way
according to the characteristics and requirements of the new era.
1 Major factors affecting foreign language

planning: opening up to the outside world
Over 30 years’ opening-up to the outside world, China is in the process of turn-
ing from a domestic-based country to a country with international perspective. The
domestic-based country needs primarily senior foreign language professionals
in limited fields: military, security, translation; while a country with interna-
tional perspective requires foreign language services available in various domains,
and there are even people who live a foreign language speaking life. With China’s
further opening up policy, the country will undertake more international responsi-
bilities. China and the world will deepen mutual understanding. As such, impact
brought by opening up policy shall be considered high priority in language
planning.
1.1 China reaches out to the world

Language is the advance team of a nation making first move in foreign
exchange. In the past, China mainly used internationally common languages in
foreign exchanges; however this is far from adequate. China needs more profes-
sionals knowing different foreign languages in different fields: international
cooperation and exchange, overseas education, exporting labor services, inter-
national trade and tourism. Language diversity is crucial in introducing modern
China to the world, in enhancing mutual understanding with other countries
and reducing chances of misunderstanding and conflict. There are 224 countries
and regions in the world, and China shall have personnel mastering their official
languages, as well as their other languages.
1.2 The world comes to China

China is becoming more and more internationalized, its increasing job oppor-
tunities, science and education development attracting more foreign nationals
to come to China. Major sports events, expositions, trade fairs and academic
conferences choose to be held in China too. There even gradually form com-
munities that foreigners live in aggregation.
Foreign language services in China mainly are signs provided in public
places, like directions, maps and introductions in postal business, catering,
medical, financial, cultural, educational, and security domains. It is also neces-
sary to provide all-around language services in communities that foreigners live
in aggregation.
Major sports events, expositions, trade fairs and academic conferences
requires only temporary foreign language services, but foreign citizens speaking
various languages working or living long-term in China call for a full range
of language services, and the subsequent demand on language training in the
abovementioned fields.
China is a big country in terms of learning foreign languages. The number of
the people who have learned and who are learning foreign languages exceeds
300 million. However, there is no foreign language speaking life in China. Most
Chinese learning foreign languages aim to learn advanced science, technology
and managerial experiences, which is self-oriented. On the contrary, learning
languages aiming at providing services turns out to be others-oriented. Self-
oriented foreign language learners might be elites of the society, and the lan-
guages they learn and use are common languages in the world; while others-
oriented foreign language learners are jobholders speaking various languages
in different fields. It is the latter type of language learning that gradually estab-
lishes the important status of languages spoken by neighboring countries, which
greatly affect foreign language education as well as foreign language planning.
1.3 Undertaking international responsibilities as a big country

A country with international vision must shoulder international responsibilities,
which are, first of all, to participate in activities held by international and
regional organizations, such as disaster relief, peacekeeping, medication, elec-
tion and observation. The power of making rules in international affairs is even
more important than mere participation, which equips the country with more
discursive capacities. In so doing, Chinese philosophies would popularize and
humankind would benefit from the Chinese way of thinking.
148 Chapter 9
International responsibility is also carried out in cultural and language

causes. Culture is the residence that accommodates human spirit. Cultural diver-
sity shall be jointly preserved by every member of humankind. Language is
the foundation of culture, so cultural diversity depends on language diversity.
Researching international ancient languages (for example, ancient Egyptian,
Sanskrit, Latin etc.), studying worldwide languages and dialects, preserving
endangered languages shall be international responsibilities of Chinese linguists.
Turning from domestic-based country to a country with international per-
spectives, China stands with much broader horizon. Foreign language research
and services shall correspond to the scope of communication target, so finally
all the foreign languages will ultimately be incorporated into Chinese foreign
language planning.
2 Informationization
Informationization is not only a technological concept but also a symbol of
information age which could be counted as a new era following agricultural
and industrial age. Information technology constructs a virtual space using
digital technology, moving life in the real space massively to virtual space.
Administration development in electronic government affairs, educational affairs,
commerce and entertainment in recent 20 year demonstrate how fast real space
moves towards virtual space and how powerful its impact is.
80% of human being’s information is conveyed by languages. Virtual life
builds upon languages; therefore, level of language informationization marks
the level of informationization of human being. On the one hand, virtual space
gathers human’s wisdom, bringing changes in the nuclear fission manner to
human’s knowledge and ideology. On the other hand, informationization generates
gap marginalizing certain groups of people, creating even greater inequality
among different communities.
Besides hardware and technological factors, language barrier is the main
cause of information gap. Foreign language and its informationization help
significantly in overcoming language barrier in virtual space and eliminating
network gap. As Chinese network develops fast, it might constitute 1/3 of the
world network, and China would have unprecedented discursive power in the
world, and Chinese would become a language much more worthwhile to learn.
Nevertheless, China would lose 2/3 of the virtual world which is using foreign
languages, so Chinese foreign language planning must fully consider language
situation in virtual space.
Machine translation is the greatest contribution to foreign language career.

It not only increases translation efficiency and quality, but also fundamentally
changes the situation that learning foreign language as a national movement. It
therefore thoroughly resolves the conflict between capability of learning and
the fact of languages diversity. Machine translation quality greatly depends on
foreign language research and applicability of research findings. The prospect
of machine translation urges researchers to pay closer attention to the develop-
ment and application of language informationization.
3 Issues in foreign language planning

3.1 National foreign language situation
Prediction on application and demand of foreign language shall be the bases of
foreign language planning. Articles published in Language Situation in China:
2005–2008 cover the topics like English fever, transliteration of place names
and traffic signs, language usage situation in product manuals, language situa-
tion of medical document and medicine packaging, language situation of the
Beijing Olympic Games, language situation of civil aviation, language situation
of Qinghai-Tibet Railway, language situation of Shanghai Expo, language situa-
tion of foreign bazaars in Beijing, non-common language fever in foreign lan-
guage education, multilingualism in Beijing Olympic Games, language situations
in workplaces of foreign companies, English translation of Chinese menus. The
above articles report foreign language situations in various industries in recent
years, unfolding new perspectives in foreign language studies. After five years
of investigation, the research team found that foreign language situation and
foreign language demand are not well understood by the public. It is imperative
to conduct in-depth investigation on foreign language situation on a national
level.
Since foreign languages situations differentiate in industries, the investiga-
tion shall be conducted on industrial basis, for example, how many foreign
languages are used in one industry, how many foreign language professionals
are there in the industry, what is their foreign language proficiency and their
knowledge structure, and what are problems concerning foreign language
usages. Predictions on foreign language, such as what language service is
needed, what are the new demands of foreign language talents, how to cope
with existing foreign language problems, and how to meet the needs of foreign
language services in the future, shall be made based on the investigation. The
above conditions constitute foreign language situations in China, which are
150 Chapter 9
the foundation of making foreign language policies, the footstone to meet the
requirement of national development, and the guarantee of healthy develop-
ment of the foreign languages professions.
3.2 Non-common foreign languages

Non-common foreign language (known as minor languages) is a big issue in
foreign language education and foreign language speaking life. Development of
non-common foreign languages is crucial to communication at the national
level. Recent years witness improvement in non-common foreign language stu-
dent enrollment, major construction, and personnel fostering, but the following
issues on non-common foreign languages still remain to be resolved:
a) There are over one thousand non-common foreign languages. What lan-
guages are urgently needed in China, and what are the ones that shall stay
in language lab, the ones that need setting up new majors, and what is the
order to set up new majors?
b) How many teachers are needed for a non-common foreign language major?
How to integrate teaching and research, and how to integrate linguistic
studies with other disciplines and services?
c) How frequently shall a school enroll students? How many students should
be enrolled? How to integrate common and non-common foreign language
studies so as to foster foreign language professionals mastering one and
knowing several foreign languages? How to foster language professionals
with other skills in order to produce multi-skilled professionals?
d) Studying and researching non-common foreign languages is to reserve
resources for a country. Unlike common foreign language majors set up by
market-driven forces, non-common foreign language major development
depends upon government policies. What policies shall government adopt
to arouse learning enthusiasm and interest in order to achieve its sustain-
able development?
e) All sectors of society must pay attention to the application of non-common
foreign languages. Using English language alone is not a standard of inter-
nationalization. The concept of foreign language shall not be restrained to
English. It is encouraged to use foreign languages in external exchanges,
for example, scientists and engineers working in Pakistan shall understand
Urdu or other Pakistan languages; teachers working for Confucius Institute
in Tanzania or other countries shall understand Swahili; those who do busi-
ness in Brazil shall know some Portuguese. Public service institutes in China
shall understand languages used by their service clients. For example, in

tourist industry, tour guides in Northeast China shall know Russian, and
more services in Japanese and Korean shall be provided in Shanghai airport.
3.3 Translations
The major objective of learning foreign languages is to translate, which is the
most important foreign language career. Although an increasing number of
people are learning foreign languages, the translation career remains to be
the most significant. Chinese translation of foreign literatures, a necessity of a
country with international perspective, is principal translation work. Foreign
concepts, proposition and method of deduction can be better accepted and
incorporated to become our own ethnic spiritual wealth through translation.
For more than one hundred years, Chinese acquired many new concepts and
ideas through translating foreign literatures, which exemplifies the importance
of translation for a nation.
Chinese open-up policy also calls for literatures not only in Chinese but also
other languages used by Chinese ethnic minorities to be translated to foreign
languages, which deserve greater efforts and meticulous orchestration. Through
translation to other languages, Chinese science, technology and education will
have chances to participate in international exchanges. Chinese culture and
values could then be understood and adopted by people around the world.
Therefore, translation of Chinese literatures to foreign languages shall be planned
as a national strategy. Developing foreign language channels on television and
broadcasting, publishing more foreign language journals and books, translating
Chinese laws, science and technologies, cultural product, and writing in foreign
languages about Chinese politics and current affairs are missions of modern
translation career.
Translation and interpreting shall earn respect for their contributions to our
country. Translation as research achievement shall have a more important role
in appraising academic promotion, payment and counting of research outputs.
Machine translation research and application shall be given great impetus. We
should aim at putting machine translation into practical use after several years’
research.
3.4 Foreign language public services

The standard of foreign language public services improves greatly in large
and medium-sized cities in the recent ten to twenty years, yet its development
152 Chapter 9
lacks planning and normative standard. The present foreign language public
service is more for the image of the city than practical purpose. For example,
there is no standard for the transliteration of place names, bilingual signs in
public places, or translation criterion on labels or product specifications. Target
readers in many cases are ignored and international practice is not conformed
with.
The present foreign language services are neither practical nor satisfac-
tory. The services were to fulfill the need of setting up the image of a state of
ceremonies, and the services are what we think necessary without beforehand
survey. To establish foreign language service industrial standard, we need to
know what foreign languages are demanded, whether the service is satisfactory,
how to improve services etc.
While preparing for hosting Olympic Games and Expo, Beijing, Qingdao,
Shanghai, Jiangsu and Hangzhou formulated and released local translation
standard of public services. Following the above practice, translation standard
at the national level on transportation, tourism, catering, culture, sports, medical
treatment and public health, finance, postal service, telecommunications shall
be formulated to facilitate standardization of foreign language in public places.
Besides English services, Russian, Japanese and Korean services are also needed.
Translation strategies balancing between foreignisation and domestication in
public services shall be carefully considered.
3.5 Foreign language services in communities

There emerge an increasing number of communities that foreigners live in
aggregation, but the language services for them are a neglected topic. Language
planning shall take into consideration the locality and languages spoken of
these communities in order to secure foreigners’ life quality and Chinese national
security.
Foreign language services for communities are quite different from that for
conference or in public domains. The languages spoken in these communities
are usually non-common languages to the world, and foreigners living there
need all-around information, but administrative staffs or service providers are
normally social workers instead of language professionals, therefore administra-
tive work becomes harder due to communication difficulties. However, the
difficulties could not be resolved in one action, so a long term project is much
needed.
3.6 Foreign language services in special domains

Special domains like military, frontier defense and national security need both
language experts and practitioners with foreign language skills.
It is necessary to set up a foreign language talent pool to cope with emer-
gent situation involving non-common languages. Language experts could be
either fostered by military universities or public security colleges, or recruited
from other universities. The foreign languages involved in the special domains
are mainly languages spoken in the neighboring counties: Korean, Mongol,
Hezhen, Evenki, Tuvan, Kazak, Kyrgyz, Jingpo, Lisu, Dulong, Thai, Nu, and
Jing, so bilinguals living near national borders are considerable source of
foreign language professionals.
Key languages shall be listed according to demand of military affairs, frontier
defense or national security. The United States sets a good example in foreign
language strategies, so learning from their experiences, we shall set up key
language expert talent pool, organize key language civil assistant team, set
up standard and compile textbooks of key languages, and formulate policies
encouraging key language learning.
3.7 Citizen’s foreign language literacy

Language is a kind of resource to a nation, but it is more of capital to a person.
EU requires citizens in its member states to master three languages which are
their native language, one foreign language and one second foreign language
or another native language. The requirement of mastering three languages is
practiced in many countries, thus language capacity has become an important
part of talent competition.
China has not formulated a citizen language capacity standard, but it is
obvious from the design of educational system and current situation that multi-
lingualism is advocated. To be specific, the Han nationality is encouraged to
know two languages: Putonghua and one foreign language; ethnic minority
citizens are encouraged to know three languages: their mother tongue, the
commonly used national language and one foreign language.
A rich country stores wealth among the people; a sagacious country accu-
mulates talents among citizens. The issue of foreign language literacy shall be
explicitly put forward in the national development blueprint, and language
requirements shall be formulated too, for example: the citizens are required to
know one foreign language; bilingualism shall be encouraged.
154 Chapter 9
Cultivating foreign language literacy shall be completed during compulsory

education. It is admitted that China is lacking in foreign language speaking
environment, so it is hard to achieve this goal in every school at this stage; how-
ever, we shall stick to this goal.
It is undisputable that national educational system is the primary part of
foreign language education, while the non-national educational system shall be
brought to its full play to build up a lifelong foreign language education system.
We shall in the future normalize foreign language training, develop foreign lan-
guage training business, offer various foreign language courses, and encourage
foreign language learning, especially non-common foreign language learning
through government policies. Language training provided by non-national educa-
tional system will enrich the foreign language repository, and provide adequate
resources for foreign language learning in special domains, special careers and
people with special need.
China is a big country in terms of learning foreign languages, but a country that
makes less use of foreign language resources. There are altogether five thousand
to six thousand languages in the world, among which only about one hundred
languages are generally introduced to China. There are about fifty to sixty lan-
guages taught in schools and dozens of languages spoken in China, but only
more than ten languages are used in China. National development and security
are in need of many non-common language professionals, and they are scarce
resources. Neither are adequate valuable literatures in other languages trans-
lated into Chinese in time, nor does China have enough journals published
in foreign languages, not to mention Chinese literature translated into other
languages. This situation does not match with national going-out strategy.
Lack of a unified administrative institution in charge of foreign language
planning accounts for the present language situation. There should be a national
organization to administrate and coordinate foreign language careers. It could
either be a foreign language bureau inside the State Council, or just promoting
the status of the State Language Commission by granting it administrative power
on national language affairs and foreign language affairs. At the same time,
research on legal status of foreign languages shall be conducted which helps
promote foreign language development and makes full use of national language
resources.
References
Chen, Zhangtai. 2005. Yuyan Guihua Yanjiu (The Study of Language Planning). Beijing: The
Commercial Press.
Fu, Ke. 1986. Zhongguo Waiyu Jiaoyu Shi (The History of Foreign Language Education in China).
Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press.
Language Education in Foreign Affairs Schools of the Late Qing Period). Beijing: The
Commercial Press.
Commercial Press.
Shu, Dingfang and Hua, Weifen. 2009. Zhongguo Waiyu Jiaoxue Lilun Yanjiu (1949–2009)
[Theories of Chinese Foreign Language Teaching (1949–2009)]. Shanghai: Shanghai
Foreign Language Education Press.
Shu, Dingfang, Liu, Zhengguang and Xu, Shenghuan. 2009. Zhongguo Guowai Yuyanxue Yanjiu
(1949–2009) [China’s Foreign Linguistics Research (1949–2009)]. Shanghai: Shanghai
Foreign Language Education Press.
Baogao: 2005 (Language Situation in China: 2005, Volume 1). Beijing: The Commercial
Press.
Baogao: 2006 (Language Situation in China: 2006). Beijing: The Commercial Press.
Language Situation in China Taskforce. 2008. Zhongguo Yuyan Shenghuo Zhuangkuang Baogao:
2007 (Language Situation in China: 2007). Beijing: The Commercial Press.
Language Situation in China Taskforce. 2009. Zhongguo Yuyan Shenghuo Zhuangkuang Baogao:
2008 (Language Situation in China: 2008). Beijing: The Commercial Press.
Translated by WEI Heng (魏蘅)

School of Foreign Languages,
China University of Political Science and Law
Chapter 10
The status of authoritative dialect in
language standardization1
Abstract: The authoritative dialect (both regional and social) provides the foun-
dation for language standardization and determines the basic outlook of the
lingua franca in a country. In the ancient times, language standardization
made reference to both authoritative regional dialect and authoritative social
dialect. Nowadays in standardising the lingua franca of the Han people, the
role of authoritative dialect has gradually been realised, and yet authoritative
social dialect has not gained adequate recognition. In the new era, it is as
important to fully acknowledge the role of authoritative social dialects in
language standardization as to establish the exemplary of contemporary author-
itative social dialect.
Keywords: regional dialect, social dialect, authoritative dialect, language stan-

dardization
0 Introduction
The survey of theories and practices applied in Chinese language standardiza-
tion, especially during the last 100-odd years after the Qing Dynasty, shows
that much attention has been paid to authoritative regional dialect, but the
recognition of authoritative social dialect is superficial and incomplete. Con-
sequently, a gap has been identified between theories and practices as far as
language standardization is concerned, so that during the process of standardis-
ing specific language phenomena, it is often the case that we encounter problems
and even misconducts of various kinds. The present article places special focus
on the status of authoritative social dialect in language standardization, seeking
1 This article was presented in the Press Conference of the Linguistics Publication Foundation
of the Commercial Press and the Young Linguistic Scholar Forum (Beijing, 17th–18th January
2002), and later after undergoing major additions it was collected in the forum Proceedings
titled Chinese Linguistics in the 21st Century (Volume 1) published by the Commercial Press in
2004. Parts of the article were incorporated in lectures delivered in the Chinese University of
Hong Kong in February 2004, Bohai University on 12th October 2004, and Nation-level Putong-
hua Tester Training Course on 18th October 2004.
158 Chapter 10
to construct a compound frame of reference for language standardization incor-

porating both regional dialect and social dialect with authoritative status, and
ultimately advocating an authoritative example of modern Chinese.
1 Authoritative dialect and its duality

1.1 Development of the meaning of fangyan ‘dialect’
According to Lu Guoyao (1991:4), as far as the extant literature is concerned the
term fangyan ‘dialect’ first appeared in the preface of Fengsu Tongyi ‘Chronicle
of Customs’ composed by Ying Shao in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, “in the
Zhou and Qin Dynasty, envoys would be dispatched each August to seek and
record dialects, and upon their return they would compile books which were to
be stored in secret chambers”. Though it remains questionable whether Youxuan
Shizhe Juedai Yushi Bieguo Fangyan ‘Dialects of Other States Transcribed by
Envoys’ was composed by Yang Xiong or not, Chronicle of Customs at least
attests that fangyan had been used as an academic term as early as the Eastern
Han Dynasty. Chao Yuen-ren (1980:98) and Zhang Qingchang (1990:39) both
asserted that fangyan in the ancient times not only referred to Chinese dialects
but also the languages of neighbouring ethnic minorities and foreign countries.
Lu Guoyao (1991:4–5) also provided a stronger testimony with his exceptional
academic acuity and rigor.
Fangyan in the archaic times literally means “languages spoken in all the
lands”, and in contrast there existed common speech of the Han people (differ-
ing from general lingua franca) such as yayan ‘elegant speech’ of the Qin
Dynasty, and tongyu ‘general speech’ of the Han Dynasty etc. The various mean-
ings of fangyan is perplexingly related to modern terms language, speech,
dialect, national language, and foreign language etc., but never indiscriminately
identical, making it of extreme difficulty to find an equivalent in modern linguis-
tic studies. The ancient definition of fangyan and related classifications distinct
from nowadays are deeply rooted in the ancient Chinese notion of Sino-egoism
and the consequent peculiar viewpoint of treating society and tribes. In accor-
dance with this notion and viewpoint, the way fangyan is defined is easy to
understand and follows naturally.
Ever since the Han Dynasty, the Chinese people have had increasing contacts
with various tribal and foreign languages, such as those multiple languages
pertinent to different language families in Xiyu ‘Western Regions’, languages
in East and Southeast Asian countries, and western languages brought by
missionaries etc. which at the same time produced opportunities of conducting
contrastive analyses of languages in the process of translation, and yielded a

language-oriented view broader than in the Han Dynasty. However Li Yuming
(2002) found that the ancient definition of fangyan had persisted unchanged
till the transition from the Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China, for example
the qieyinzi ‘phonetic alphabet’ campaign in the late Qing Dynasty and Mashi
Wentong ‘Ma’s Grammar’ published in 1989 both used fangyan in such an
ancient sense.
In the late 19th century, German scholar Georg Wenker surveyed German
variations in the country, and Swiss scholar Jules Gilliéron investigated French
variations spoken in both France and its neighbouring regions. The two surveys
have laid the foundation for the tradition of dialect geography in the West and
symbolised the establishment of modern dialectology (cf. Ji 1988:80). At the
beginning of the 20th century, modern dialectology was introduced to China
and the term dialect in English or dialecte in French was translated into Chinese
fangyan whereby the denotation of fangyan reduced to regional variations of a
national lingua franca, such as the Northern, Xiang, Wu, Gan, Hakka, Yue and
Min dialects of the Chinese language. Consequently, fangyan is positioned in
contrast to the national lingua franca (other than the lingua franca of the Han
people), which is the first great shift in history concerning the definition of
fangyan.
In 1964 sociologists and linguists in the United States held a joint academic
symposium which symbolised the birth of sociolinguistics. From then onward,
the second great shift of the definition of fangyan took place. In the framework
of sociolinguistics, fangyan is twofold, regional dialect and social dialect (socio-
lect).2 Insofar as the social properties of gender, profession, age and education,
social members can be grouped into different social fields, in which language
users manifest distinctive features. Sociolinguistics terms these language varia-
tions spoken in different social fields with unique features as social dialects. The
concept of fangyan under discussion in the present article as a sociolinguistic
term encompasses both regional and social dialect.
1.2 Relation of prestige

In theory all the dialects whether regional or social share equal social status no
less than all the ethnic languages. However, on account of multiple political,
economic, cultural and religious factors, it is often the case that there exists no
2 Some even proposed the notion of temporal dialect, defined as language variant in a certain
period of time in history.
160 Chapter 10
equal social status in reality among the dialects. The inequality is explicated in
terms of prestige in sociolinguistics, where positive prestige is associated with
upper-class dialects and negative prestige the lower-class dialects. The scale of
prestige forms a continuum with the highest one referred to as authoritative
dialect.
The relation of prestige among dialects has taken shape gradually in the
course of history. For example the Northern dialect gained its positive prestige
through the fact that the political and cultural center of China has been located
in this dialect region for thousands of years. However, the relation of prestige in
language may vary from time to time. For example Cantonese was a lower-class
dialect in history, but its social status has been increasing constantly over the
past twenty years due to the fact that the status of the Guangdong province
prevails in the process of China’s opening up and reform, and Hong Kong has
imposed a profound influence over mainland China. It is also the case with
social dialect. In ancient China high prestige came along with the Classical
Chinese used by officialdom and literates, and the language used by the general
populace was considered to be of low prestige. This kind of social dialect
prestige was likewise determined by the then political, economic and cultural
factors. However, at the end of the Qing Dynasty and especially in the aftermath
of the May Fourth Movement, the society underwent a series of revolutionary
campaigns such as casting aside Confucianism, promoting vernacular Chinese,
advocating science and democracy etc., so the Classical Chinese used by archaic
officialdom and literates lost its prestige while the vernacular Chinese used by
the general populace rapidly moved to the high end of the prestige continuum,
even learned by literates in a fairly extended period of time.
In the studies of prestige in dialects what should be borne in mind is the
duality of authoritative dialect, which refers to the reality that the authoritative
dialect as the foundation of the national lingua franca is often both regional and
social. For example, in ancient China the language standard was defined as
being elegant and correct. (Dai 1998:74–74) How was it like to be elegant and
correct? The pronunciation of the imperial capital was considered to be the
most correct. The national lingua franca or quasi lingua franca of the ancient
Han people was by and large the dialects spoken in and around the imperial
capital. Since the Zhou and the Qin Dynasty, the capital was usually the center
of politics, economy and culture, making the capital’s language a national stan-
dard. The pre-Qin yayan ‘elegant speech’ was developed on the basis of the
dialect in Chengzhou (current Luoyang in Henan province) where the capital
was located. Another case in point is tongyu ‘general speech’ of the Qin and
the Western Han Dynasty developed on the basis of qinyu ‘the Qin speech’ in
Guanzhong area (now central Shaanxi province). The later Luoyang dialect
in the Eastern Han Dynasty, Chang’an dialect in the Tang Dynasty, Bianliang
dialect in the Song Dynasty and Mandarin in the contemporary time have all
become the lingua franca of the Han people or been adopted as the lingua
franca of all the nations. (Wang 1995:48; Li 2000:7) Of note, the capital dialect
is normally the language of officialdom and education. In addition, the ancient
Chinese studied mostly for the purpose of becoming government officials, and
all the government compiled rhyme books, dictionaries and classical literatures
were taken as the language norm for the literates. On the other hand, the govern-
ment officials generally read nothing but the official literature. As a result, the
language of officialdom and that of literates were innately the same. Hence the
capital dialect in ancient China was both authoritative regional dialect and
authoritative social dialect, as defined by its property of duality.
The standard languages formed in today’s countries are mostly based upon
the capital dialect or a dialect with the capital speech as representative. For
example, the underlying dialect of French is the dialect of Île-de-France where
Paris is located and that of Russian is the Kursk-Oryol dialect of which the
Moscow dialect is the representative. (Hu 1999:23) But there also exist less
simple cases. For example the dialectal base of Italian is not the one spoken
in Rome but the dialect in Tuscany. Long before the unification of the Italian
Peninsula, the Renaissance literary masters such as Dante, Petrarch and Boccaccio
had produced copious volumes of influential literary works in vernacular Italian.
(Xing 2000:388) To be designated as the authoritative social dialect, the Tuscan
dialect has been rendered an authoritative regional dialect. Another example is
English, as pointed out in Hu Mingyang (1999:36–37), “historically the standard
English is developed on the basis of the southern speech (southern dialect), but
nowadays the Received Pronunciation does not belong to any specific dialect
(apparently distinct from the London Cockney); rather it is the pronunciation of
a social dialect prevalent in the formally educated upper class”. Despite Hu’s
description of the standard English today as a social dialect, his remark in fact
shows that the foundation of the standard English is both an authoritative social
dialect and an authoritative regional dialect (the southern dialect including
London Cockney). This is another proof of the duality of authoritative dialect.3
3 It is more interesting in German, as Chao Yuen-ren (1980:109–110) noted that “Germany is

also a country that abounds in dialects, so it is necessary to specify a standard national pronun-
ciation which is not called standard national pronunciation but Bühnenaussprache (stage
speech), because pronunciation on the stage is properly emphasized, similar to the central
German dialect.” “The standard German pronunciation is spoken somewhere to the south of
Central Germany, approximately taken as the average German pronunciation (not exactly the pro-
nunciation in Berlin, for the genuine Berlin dialect is also strange.” Bühnenaussprache is the
authoritative social dialect, and the region where it is spoken is also a geographical delineation.
Does it mean that the base dialect of German standard pronunciation also has the duality of
authoritative dialect?
162 Chapter 10
As far as the base dialect of the national lingua franca is concerned, some
have been endowed with the duality of authoritative dialect from the very begin-
ning, while some may have one first and then develop the other. It is of great
significance to realise the duality of authoritative dialect. First, in the process
of national standard language planning, it is advisable to select as foundation
a dialect of authoritative duality. If the base dialect selected has only one aspect
of the authoritative duality, then certain language policies and effective mea-
sures should be adopted to endow it with the other aspect. Second, standardis-
ing the lingua franca should make reference to both regional and social dialect,
forming a regulated compound frame of reference. Third, in the process of stand-
ardising the lingua franca, what should also be taken into account is the duality
of authoritative regional dialect and authoritative social dialect.
2 Issues in the authoritative regional dialect of

modern Chinese
2.1 Shifts of authoritative regional dialect in language life
In the process of the development from Early Mandarin to modern Chinese, the
rise of the Beijing dialect led to the disintegration of the compound frame of
reference which had been adopted by the ancient language standards of being
elegant and correct. Beijing, called Jicheng in ancient times, was the administra-
tive center of the Guangyang prefecture, one of the 36 prefectures of the Qin
State. In 938, it was selected as the secondary capital during the Liao Dynasty,
renamed as Nanjing or Yanjing. When the Jin Dynasty relocated its capital here
in 1153, it was changed into Zhongdu ‘Central Capital’ and then renamed Dadu
‘Grand Capital’ by the Yuan Dynasty as its capital. (Hu 1999:4) Through those
dynasties of Liao, Jin and Yuan, the political position of Beijing gave rise to the
prominence of its local dialect, splitting the official speech into two camps,
namely North and South, and they constantly underwent rivalry for prestige.
The hundreds of years’ rivalry resulted in the shift of authoritative dialect so
much so that the prestige of Beijing dialect was consolidated while the southern
dialects with the Nanjing dialect as representative have deteriorated.
The Southern official language represented by the Nanjing dialect used to
have a high level of prestige due to its close association with yayan ‘elegant
speech’, tongyu ‘general speech’ and yayin ‘elegant pronunciation’ in the Central
Plain in history. In addition the northern dynasties moved down to south and
eventually the Ming Dynasty built its capital in Nanjing, making the Nanjing
dialect orthodox official speech. (Zhang 2003) The northern Mandarin Chinese
represented by the Beijing dialect grew dramatically, especially after the Yongle
Emperor relocated the capital to Beijing. The political shift led to the tremen-
dous increase in prestige of the northern Mandarin Chinese represented by the
Beijing dialect. After the Manchurians dominated China, though they designated
the Manchurian language as the national language, the lingua franca all over
the country was actually Chinese. In the sixth year of the Yongzheng regime
(1728 AD), the Yongzheng Emperor mandated that Mandarin Chinese should be
taught and learned in Fujian and Guangdong province, where language insti-
tutes were set up and manned with Manchu people stationed in the local places.
(Lü 2000:46–47; Ling 1995:6–7) On account of the imperial mandate, the Beijing
dialect was granted an increasingly prestigious status and finally became the
authoritative regional dialect in the mid- and late-Qing Dynasty. During the
Daoguang and Xianfeng regimes, the imperial court also made attempts to
adopt the Beijing dialect as official speech. (Zhang 2003:96) The southern dialect
gradually lost its position as authoritative regional dialect, and despite its once
relatively authoritative status, it has become much less prestigious.
2.2 The position of the Beijing dialect in language planning

Language planning normally lags behind what it is in language life. As early as
the mid- and late-Qing Dynasty the Beijing dialect had become the authoritative
dialect in actual language life, but it took a prolonged and spiral process in
history for the reality to be reflected in the language planning.
China’s language planning in a modern sense claims to have started from
the Qieyinzi Movement in the late-Qing Dynasty. Zhongguo Diyi Kuai Qieyin Xinzi
‘China’s Easiest Modern Phonetic Alphabets’ developed by Lu Zhuangzhang in
1892 marked the beginning of Chinese Romanisation which was characterised
with fewer strokes, character-pronunciation consistency, and language uniformity.
In 1911, the last year of the Qing Dynasty, the Central Education Conference
organized by the Ministry of Education released Tongyi Guoyu Banfa’an ‘Proposal
for Unifying a Common National Language’, stipulating that “regional dialects
differ vastly and it is advised to take the capital speech as of prominence. The
fourth tone in the capital speech, namely entering tone, has yet to be deter-
mined and is pending for immediate revision, but it is recommended not to be
obliterated. The speech should be appropriate, elegant and smooth, which
should maintain in accord with logic, advisably on the basis of the official
speech”. (Language Reform Press 1958:143) The Proposal was not put into imple-
mentation due to the downfall of the Qing Dynasty, but what is of great value is
164 Chapter 10
that it recognised the prestige status of the authoritative regional dialect (Beijing
dialect) in Chinese language standardization. Of course, the recognition was far
from complete, leaving unsolved the big issue regarding Mandarin.
Nevertheless, even this incomplete recognition was difficult to be accepted
within a short time. In the early years of the Republic of China, some proposals
still advocated the Southern Min, Nanjing and Hubei dialect as standard pro-
nunciation of national language. (Yu 1996:68) For example Hu Yilu, who was
strongly influenced by Zhang Taiyan, exerted his efforts to advocate the Hubei
dialect as standard pronunciation for two reasons, for one thing the Hubei
dialect retains “ancient pronunciation of the Xia Dynasty” and for another
Hubei is geographically located in Central China. (Wang 2003:54) In May 1913,
Duyin Tongyi Hui ‘Commission on the Unification of Pronunciation’ chaired by
Wu Zhihui, held a conference and proposed the Old National Pronunciation
which was basically in line with the 1911 Proposal for Establishing a Common
National Language, retaining the Beijing dialect as the base dialect but opposing
the practice of “selecting one dialect from a city or a region as authoritative
dialect”. (Lü 2000:54) Consequently, the entering tone and voiced initials were
preserved, sharp and rounded sounds were distinguished, and the Proposal
turned out to be a blend of regional and diachronic variations. The Commission
inspected and approved the standard national pronunciation of over 6,500
Chinese characters, and another 600 so-called suzi ‘vernacular characters’ and
newly loaned academic characters which were not included in Li Guangdi’s
Yinyun Chanwei ‘An Exploration into Chinese Prosody’. Interestingly, the inspec-
tion and approval did not take into account the actual pronunciation of those
characters in Beijing but were the outcome of one-province-one-vote practice.
(Fei 1997:24; Ni 1948:67)
The entering tone in the Beijing dialect disappeared long ago while other
dialects which have the entering tone differ much in terms of manners of articu-
lation. The Old National Pronunciation retained the entering tone but was
unable to set the tone value, and the actual pronunciation was at random,
which was apparently incomplete according to the principle of character-
pronunciation consistency in promoting the national language. In 1920, Zhang
Shiyi, English Department Director of Nanjing Higher Normal School, clearly
specified in his Issues of Unifying National Language that the pronunciation of
national language should be “at least based upon the speech of those modestly
educated Beijing natives” as posing challenges to the Old National Pronuncia-
tion, which signalled the start of the disputes between the Beijing pronunciation
and the national pronunciation, a significant and long-debated issue in the his-
tory of China’s language planning. In 1924 Guoyu Tongyi Choubeihui ‘Prepara-
tory Committee for the Unification of the National Language’ decided to “adopt
the graceful Beijing dialect as the standard pronunciation” and in the year that
followed a subcommittee consisting of Wang Pu, Chao Yuen-Ren, Qian Xuan-
tong, Li Jinxi, Wang Yi, Bai Zhenying (Bai Dizhou) were elected to append and
amend Guoyin Zidian ‘Dictionary of National Pronunciation’, which symbolised
“in theory and in practice the official establishment of the New National Pronun-
ciation based upon the standard of the Beijing dialect”. (Li 1933:26–36; Wang
2003:27–28)
On 15–23 October 1955, the Ministry of Education and the Committee for
Language Reform of China jointly convened the National Conference for Script
Reform, promoting Putonghua as one of the two topics on top of the agenda.
(Guo 1955:6; Wu 1955:11) On 19th October, Zhang Xiruo, Minister of Education
gave the speech Dali Tuiguang yi Beijing Yuyin wei Biaozhunyin de Putonghua
‘Promoting Putonghua Based upon the Standard Pronunciation of the Beijing
Dialect’, for the first time providing an official description on Putonghua,
“What exactly is the lingua franca of the Han people which is taking shape
in reality? The answer is Putonghua, which takes the northern dialect as base
dialect and the Beijing dialect as the standard pronunciation”. (Zhang 1955:277)
In the following days from 25th to 31st, the Chinese Academy of Sciences organ-
ized the Symposium on the Standardization of Modern Chinese, and made simi-
lar comments on Putonghua. (Chen 1955:219) Insofar as the frame of reference of
language standardization, these two successive conferences are of great signifi-
cance to the delineation of Putonghua in two senses: first, they consolidated
what had been achieved since the dispute between the Beijing pronunciation
and the national pronunciation; second, they illuminated the concept of base
dialect, which in theory expanded the role of authoritative regional dialect from
the field of phonetics to that of vocabulary and grammar. The base dialect is not
only the foundation of pronunciation but also the foundation of vocabulary and
grammar.4 This expanded scope enables the frame of reference adopted by the
lingua franca of the Han people to rid of its shackles of Mandarin Chinese.
4 Zhang Xiruo (1955:277): “The issue of Chinese standardization have been undergoing in-
depth discussions and repeated debates in the science and education circles. Myriads of papers
and comments have been produced, in addition to the relevant conferences organised by the
Language Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the Chinese Script Reform Com-
mittee, and the Ministry of Education. Up to now, the majority have reached a consensus, that
is, as for the whole system of the Chinese language (including grammar and vocabulary), its
standards should be based upon literary refined (written form) northern dialect, and its stan-
dard pronunciation should be the pronunciation of the Beijing dialect. The above two points
are consequences of historical development.”
166 Chapter 10
The selection of modern standard Chinese pronunciation comes along with

the recognition of authoritative regional dialect and its role in language stan-
dardization. Even in the aftermath of dispute between the Beijing pronunciation
and the national pronunciation, doubts of different kind have never ceased. In
the 1930s, Hu Yilu opposed the convention of “taking as base dialect the capital
dialect as do other countries” and insisted on the Hubei dialect as standard. In
the meantime, Shanghai responded by a volley of debates about vernacular
speeches, and the widespread campaign of Ladinhua Xin Wenzi ‘Romanisation
of New Chinse’, both proclaiming that “no regional dialect should be designated
as national pronunciation. (Wang 2003:55) The academic circle was stirred up
with incessant debates even when the Symposium on the Standardization of
Modern Chinese was convened in 1955. Luo Changpei and Lü Shuxiang (1955:10–
11) pointed out that “After the establishment of New China, call for a national
lingua franca comes high on the agenda, and linguists have started debates . . .
comrades who support the selection of the Beijing dialect as standard assert that
not many people can speak the Beijing dialect but far larger a number can speak
Putonghua. It is appropriate to take into account the majority’s benefits, and
deemed nonsensical to force the majority to cater for the minority. In addition,
the written form of literary works is baihuawen ‘vernacular written Chinese’,
only a small portion of literary works are written purely in the Beijing dialect”5.
The conference brought a consensus to the arguing opinions6 and debates then
vanished. The only academic work casting doubt on the definition of Putonghua
with much weight might be Hu Mingyang’s An Exploration into the Beijing
Dialect.
5 The Putonghua under discussion here apparently does not refer to the Putonghua the speech
of which is restricted to the Beijing pronunciation. Hu Mingyang (1999:18–19) posited that in
effect it equalled to Mandarin Chinese. But taken into account the development of national
language movement and vernacular written Chinese movement, Putonghua in this context
may not be in equivalence to old Mandarin Chinese, but it refers to either the Chinese with old
national pronunciation, or even the Chinese with an underdeveloped Beijing pronunciation
(similar to today’s regional Putonghua), or a combination of all of them .
6 The Minutes of the Symposium on the Standardization of Modern Chinese noted that “with
regard to the regulation of adopting the Beijing pronunciation as the standard pronunciation,
all the participants voiced their unanimous support” (Secretariat of the Symposium on the
Standardization of Modern Chinese 1956:227).
3 Issues in the authoritative social dialect of

modern Chinese
3.1 Grammar standard of Putonghua
Shortly after the 1955 Symposium on the Standardization of Modern Chinese, the
State Council released Guanyu Tuiguang Putonghua de Zhishi ‘Directive of the State
Council on Promoting Putonghua’ which read, “The foundation of a unified
Chinese already exists, that is Putonghua, of which the norm of pronunciation is
based on the Beijing phonological system, the base dialect is based on the north-
ern dialects, and the grammatical norms are modelled after the vernacular used
in exemplary modern Chinese literary works”7. In comparison to the previous
two conferences in 1955, the only difference is the addition of grammar norms.
The grammar norms of the lingua franca were brought forth as early as the
late Qing Dynasty when the national language was proposed. For example in
1910, Jiang Qian, member of the Advisory Council of the Qing Dynasty, in his
Zhiwen Xuebu Fennian Chouban Guoyu Jiaoyu Shuotie ‘Inquiries about the Annual
Planning of National Language Education Organised by the Ministry of Education’,
remarked that “all the national languages in the world have a system of
grammar as function of articulating expressions. Though grammar originates
from habitual usage, its orders and regulations are contained in textbooks.
In compiling textbooks, does the Ministry of Education take into account the
regulation of grammar?” (Language Reform Press 1958:117) In 1911, the Central
Education Conference organized by the Ministry of Education put forth the
Proposal for Establishing a Common National Language, in which grammar was
considered in the survey and compilation. (Language Reform Press 1958:143) On
6th June 1951 the People’s Daily ran an editorial Use Correctly the Language of
our Motherland and Fight for its Purity and Well-being! The editorial remarked,
“the modern language of our country has preserved all the innate good qualities
of the Chinese language, and absorbed necessary vocabulary and grammar from
abroad. As a result, the modern language of our country is a language more
rigorous and expressive than those in the old times. Comrade Mao Zedong and
Mr. Lu Xun have set role models for modern Chinese with their works”. In this
People’s Daily editorial, the works of Mao Zedong and Lu Xun were applauded
as exemplary modern Chinese,8 in which more or less is palpable the vague
7 cf. Secretariat of the Symposium on the Standardization of Modern Chinese (1956:249).

8 The original words in the editorial read, “Comrade Mao Zedong and Mr. Lu Xun are both
masters in creating sentences. Each sentence written by their hands is well-wrought and each
word is unsusceptible to any alteration”. The statement may seem close to hyperbole.
168 Chapter 10
idea of “modelling after the vernacular used in exemplary modern Chinese liter-
ary works”.
In October 1955 the National Conference on Script Reform and the Sympo-
sium on the Standardization of Modern Chinese though did not literally illuminate
the grammar norms of Putonghua, but in theory they had grown a clear under-
standing, “the standard of modern Chinese consists in the common examples in
representative contemporary literary works. Why do we not simply refer to com-
mon examples but to those in contemporary representative literary works? It is
because there exist a wide diversity of works, some read and tossed away but
some long remembered and often recited, and undoubtedly the latter ones play
a decisive role in consolidating and developing language standards. Then why
not simply examples in representative works, but instead common examples? It
is because even in the representative works, different authors or even the same
author does not necessarily give ubiquitously uniform and uncontroversial
examples. As a result, we have to abandon those comparatively peculiar ones
and accept the common ones. As far as the contemporary works are concerned,
it is equally apparent that because language is in constant change, early works
i.e. Shuihu ‘Outlaws of the Marsh’ and Hongloumeng ‘Dream of the Red Chamber’
no matter how elegant their language is, more often than not the examples are
likely to be found unfitting for modern usage.” (Luo and Lü 1955:13)
On the basis of recognition of this kind, it is nothing but natural that
“modelling after the vernacular used in exemplary modern Chinese literary
works” was added to the delineation of Putonghua.
3.2 The compound frame of reference of language standards

At face value the release of the Directive of the State Council on Promoting
Putonghua is to supplement a definitive grammar standard to the original defini-
tion of Putonghua, or to put it another way, it is the definitive pronunciation and
grammar standards that make the “the Northern dialect as base dialect” nothing
more than a restriction on vocabulary. (Hu 1999:23–35) However, from the per-
spective of the frame of reference, what is of greater value is that it introduces
an authoritative social dialect as a new reference point for language standards.
“Exemplary modern Chinese literary works” obviously refer to the written literary
works produced by highly literate and well-educated social members. These
works have a high degree of authority and is termed authoritative social dialect.
A vast stride forward took place in the theory of Chinese language standardiza-
tion from 1925 when the status of authoritative regional dialect was established
in language standardization to 1956 when authoritative social dialect was intro-
duced into language standardization.
If the definition of Putonghua in 1956 was extended one step further, it

could be a compound frame of reference involving authoritative regional dialect
and authoritative social dialect as coordinates in the sense that the standards of
pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar should be considered both regionally
and socially.9 As such, the base dialect of Putonghua can be idealised through
the duality of authoritative dialect.
It is also of great practical significance to adopt the compound frame of
reference. The vocabulary and grammar of the Beijing pronunciation and the
Northern dialect usually include many slangs or idiosyncrasies, making it of
apparent necessity to make reference to the language used among the high-
literacy and well-educated social groups when it comes to eliminating those
slangs and normalising idiosyncrasies. Meanwhile, the robustness of Putonghua
is attributed to the fact that it constantly absorbs useful elements from ancient
Chinese, various dialects and other languages of ethnic groups and foreign
countries, as well as creates new language elements, i.e., new word coinages
and grammatical structures, so standardization in this regard must take into
account the habitual language usage of the authoritative social groups.
The basic principle of language standardization is conventionalisation, but
when it comes to practical operation we should have the awareness of authori-
tative dialect. For example, in constructing language standards it is often the
case nowadays to use corpora to survey the frequencies of certain language
phenomena so as to determine the degree of conventionalisation, a much more
scientific approach than linguistic introspection, but its scientificity still de-
pends on the selection of language data in corpora. From the perspective of
authoritative dialect, language data in corpora should be constructed upon,
rather than arbitrarily, the authoritative regional dialect used by authoritative
9 In language standardization, authoritative social dialect has been noticed for long. Zhang
Shiyi asserted in 1920 that “the national language should be based upon the dialect spoken
by, at minimum, ‘modestly educated Beijing natives’, who in effect refer to the social groups
speaking authoritative social dialect of the time”. The minutes of the Symposium on the
Standardization of Modern Chinese offered an account of the discussion on pronunciation in
1955. Cen Qixiang stated that it was the consequence of historical development that the Beijing
pronunciation should be adopt as the standard pronunciation of Putonghua. There were dis-
agreeing voices in this regard, that the pronunciation of intellectuals should be adopted
instead. Serdyuchenko said that when the Soviet Union selected the Moscow dialect as
standard pronunciation, which was not based upon all that were spoken in Moscow, but the
languages of the writers and workers in Moscow as well as the most celebrated actors and
actresses in the Soviet Union, so to speak, the pronunciation which was worth modelling after
in the language. (Secretariat of the Symposium on the Standardization of Modern Chinese
1956:227–228) All the above-mentioned discussions illustrated the importance of authoritative
social dialect in language standardization.
170 Chapter 10
social dialect speaking groups. This kind of corpus data consisting of authorita-
tive dialect is of supreme significance to language standardization.
Hu Mingyang (1999) conducted an in-depth thinking of the definition of
Putonghua and stated, “the base dialect of Putonghua is by no means a dialect
spoken in a specific region, neither the loosely claimed Northern dialect, but
a social dialect used by intellectuals prevalent in the Beijing region which
is under the influence of exemplary modern Chinese literary works” (p. 15).
“Putonghua is, as a matter of fact, not exactly based on the standard of the
Beijing pronunciation . . . its pronunciation standard is actually a mixture of
the Beijing pronunciation and Mandarin pronunciation, and has never been the
genuine Beijing pronunciation. During the process of pronunciation inspection,
many Chinese characters have substituted Mandarin pronunciation with Beijing
pronunciation . . . but still quite a number of Chinese characters have retained
Mandarin pronunciation . . .” (p. 26). To understand Hu’s opinions from another
perspective, we will find how important it is to adopt a compound frame of
reference to describe Putonghua. We will also find that the practice of standard-
ising Putonghua has in effect made reference to authoritative social dialect, i.e.
adopting a compound frame of reference.
3.3 Reconstruction of authoritative social dialect

To reconstruct authoritative social dialect, first and foremost, is to set up the
notion of authoritative social dialect in language standardization. The evolution
from Mandarin Chinese through old national pronunciation and new national
pronunciation to Putonghua can be viewed as the rivalry between new and old
authoritative regional dialects, during the process of which the new one prevails,
enabling the modern lingua franca of the Han people to break free of the shackles
of the concept of being correct and elegant (the then Southern Mandarin repre-
sented by the Nanjing dialect). But in another way, authoritative social dialect as
frame of reference was lost in language standardization.
Through reviewing the current concepts of language standardization, whether
at the level of society, government or language experts, one would discover that
there is a relatively full-grown understanding of authoritative regional dialect,
but much less in terms of authoritative social dialect. In recent years, most
discussions are concerned with how to deal with authoritative social dialect,
i.e., the relation between conventionalisation and epistemology, and the un-
satisfactory language work in the past as mentioned by the academic circles.
The authoritative social dialect, as it was, should be introduced to the frame
of reference for language standardization, which is of benefit to the Chinese
language dissemination, Chinese culture promotion, modern Chinese standard-

ization, language aesthetics, and the formation of new language concept of
correctness and elegance.
The reconstruction of authoritative social dialect also relies on the recon-
struction of its exemplary works in language practice. Since the late Qing
Dynasty, especially after the May Fourth Movement, the traditional authoritative
social dialect has always been placed at the position of being revolutionised in
language standardization, i.e., vernacular Chinese replacing classical Chinese to
become the accepted written style. Undoubtedly the decline of the traditional
authoritative social dialect denoted historic legitimacy, since the new one can
facilitate the establishment of modern culture and the development of the
modern lingua franca of the Han people. The recent century witnessed the grand
progress of constructing the Chinese lingua franca, from which emerged copious
Chinese classic works written in modern Chinese, such as works of Mao Zedong,
Lu Xun, Lao She, Mao Dun and Ba Jin. These classic works are valued as repre-
sentatives of authoritative dialect of modern Chinese and serve as the corner-
stone of modern Chinese standards.
Since the 1980s, as a result of China’s introduction of the opening up policy,
the advance of science and technology, and the spread of education and mass
media, in particular the accelerating development of the Internet, the Chinese
language has undergone dramatic changes. Loan words and new coinages in
vocabulary, flooding influx of dialects from the South and overseas Chinese
communities, youth’s language and Internet slangs, popular as they are, have
a profound influence on the mass’s language life. Some ideological trends in
society bred the concept of de-authorisation in certain language communities.
All these newly-emerging situations reduced the longstanding exemplary role
set by modern Chinese classics, and the authoritative social dialect is susceptible
to losing its status.
Luo Changpei and Lü Shuxiang (1955:14) noted that “the language stan-
dards must be incarnated in tangible matters, first of all, in all the works created
by the people, especially literary works. It is by means of these works that lan-
guage standards can be disseminated . . . Thus the authors should exercise their
extreme discretion when using language”. Since the works of authoritative
social dialect have such an important role to play, the quick-paced language
life today demands new language masterpieces to emerge. They can be found
in the works of good writers, government language (including works of distin-
guished leaders) and authoritative media. The outstanding ones are likely to
become the representatives of authoritative social dialect in the new era. To set
up authoritative examples in modern Chinese, all the language users in different
fields need to whole-heartedly pursue the language arts, and all the language
172 Chapter 10
professionals, instructors and mass media need to discover and foster the lan-
guage arts. The era is summoning new language masters.
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(Philosophy and Social Sciences), 2004, Issue No. 5.

Chapter 11
A supplement to The Status of Authoritative
Dialects in Language Standardization
Abstract: This article is meant to be a supplement to The Status of Authoritative

Dialect in Language Standardization published in Issue 5 of Journal of Tsinghua
University. More illustrations of language planning in China and abroad are
supplied to further demonstrate the important role of both authoritative regional
dialect and authoritative social dialect in language standardization.
Keywords: authoritative dialect, language standardization, Chinese
0 Introduction
On 15–23 October 1955 the Ministry of Education in collaboration with Zhongguo
Wenzi Gaige Weiyuanhui ‘Committee for Language Reform of China’ held the
National Language Reform Conference, and days later on 25–31 the Chinese
Academy of Sciences organised the Symposium on the Standardization of
Modern Chinese. The two conferences established the plans and missions of
Chinese character reform, defining that “Putonghua is based on the northern
dialects, and the standard pronunciation of Putonghua is based on the Beijing
dialect”1. The guiding principles were also discussed, such as the formation of
the national lingua franca and its relations to dialects, objects and criteria of
language standardization, language standardization in relation to language devel-
opment and personal idiosyncrasies. Works also were deployed with respect to
promoting Putonghua and advancing Chinese standardization, especially advo-
cating the entire linguistic community to unitedly conduct concrete language
projects, including Putonghua speech survey, grammar, rhetoric and logic, lexi-
cography, dialect survey, Chinese language historical studies, textbook and
pedagogy, and other fine-grained studies on certain literary works and authors’
1 Zhang, Xiruo. 1955. Promoting Putonghua with the Beijing Dialect as the Standard Pronuncia-
tion. In Secretariat of the National Language Reform Conference (ed.). Collected Documents of
the National Language Reform Conference. Chen, Wangdao. 1956. Summary of the Symposium
on the Standardization of Modern Chinese. In Secretariat of the Symposium on the Standardiza-
tion of Modern Chinese (ed.). All the paginations without citation refer to the Collected Docu-
ments of the National Language Reform Conference.
176 Chapter 11
language style.2 The two historic conferences laid the foundation for our country’s
language policies and specified the fundamental objectives for our national
language reform, which had made a great contribution to China’s development
in politics, culture, education and economics, as well as achieved tremendously
in terms of China’s well-developing language life and linguistic studies. A retro-
spect fifty years later into the historic events will reinforce the historical signifi-
cance of the two conferences.
In order to advance the nowadays language work, it is advisable to take an
in-depth and all-round investigation of the accomplishments resulting from the
two conferences, especially the two important documents which were composed
on the basis of the two conferences. On the 28th January 1956, the 23rd plenary
meeting of the State Council unanimously passed Guanyu Gongbu “Hanzi Jian-
hua Fang’an” de Jueyi ‘Resolution on Releasing the Chinese Character Simplifica-
tion Scheme’ and on the 6th February was released Guowuyuan Guanyu Tuiguang
Putonghua de Zhishi ‘Directive of the State Council on Promoting Putonghua’.
In recent years, a review of Diyici Quanguo Wenzi Gaige Huiyi Wenjian Huibian
‘Collected Documents of the First National Language Reform Conference’ and
Xiandai Hanyu Guifan Wenti Xueshu Huiyi Wenjian Huibian ‘Collected Documents
of the Symposium on the Standardization of Modern Chinese’, among other things,
has aroused various reflections and yielded numerous achievements. What
follows will discuss issues only in relation to authoritative social dialect and
language standardization and aims to elicit feedback from all sides. The topics
of discussions are associated with authoritative social dialect and language
standardization. On 17–18 January 2002 the Press Conference of the Linguistics
Publication Foundation of the Commercial Press and the Young Linguistic
Scholar Forum was held in Beijing, on the occasion of which I presented the
article The Status of Authoritative Dialect in Language Standardization. To some
extent, it discussed the relation between authoritative social dialect and language
standardization, following which this present article is named as a supplement.
1 Illustrations of the status of authoritative social

dialect in language standardization
The national lingua franca is generally based on a certain underlying dialect,
and the latter is commonly the authoritative regional dialect spoken within the
nation. As a matter of fact, the national lingua franca established only on
2 Luo, Changpei and Lü, Shuxiang. 1955. Issues in Modern Chinese Standardization, 8–22.
A supplement to The Status of Authoritative Dialects in Language Standardization 177
the basis of authoritative regional dialect is inadequate in most cases, but the
element of authoritative social dialect also needs to be taken into account by
making reference to the speech spoken by an influential social class in the
nation. Consequently, what is basically adopted in language standardization is
the dual frame of reference integrating authoritative regional dialect and author-
itative social dialect. In what follows, we will illustrate the status of authoritative
social dialect in standardization with examples in Russian, French, German,
English and Korean etc.
The underlying Russian dialect is the Kursk-Oryol dialect with the Moscow
dialect as representative. However, its standard pronunciation is not the Moscow
dialect as commonly thought of, but instead the pronunciation in those influen-
tial Small Theatres in Moscow. Invited to the 1955 Symposium on the Standard-
ization of Modern Chinese, Serdyuchenko, USSR advisor of the Language
Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, in the paper Hanyu
Biaozhunyu yu Guifanhua de Zhongyaoxing he Yixie Yuanze ‘Significance and
Some Principles of Chinese Standard Language and Standardisation’, pointed out,
So to speak, it is the southern dialect in Russia that plays an important role in the forma-
tion of the Russian national lingua franca, its Kursk-Oryol dialect, while it is the various
minor dialects in Central Russia which spread over a vast area that underlie the Russian
standard language. However, the Russian standard pronunciation is based on the dialects
of a relatively confined area, namely the Moscow dialect. In the meanwhile, the pronun-
ciation in several Academy Theatres in Moscow has long been taken as the epitome of
the Russian standard pronunciation, first and foremost the pronunciation spoken in the
Малый театр ‘Maly Theatre’ which have played a special role throughout the development
of social thoughts and cultural history in Russia as a result of the advancing Russian social
consciousness.3
The dialect spoken in the region of Île-de-France with the Paris dialect as repre-
sentative serves as the underlying dialect of French. Its standard pronunciation is
not what is spoken by average Parisians but a kind of socially authoritative Paris
pronunciation. Serdyuchenko remarked, “Nevertheless, the French standard pro-
nunciation is the Paris pronunciation cultivated among the universities in Paris,
grand theatres and other distinguished culture agencies”. (1956:41)
Likewise, German also adopts the stage pronunciation as its standard pro-
nunciation4. In the eighth lecture What is Ortheopy of his The Problems of
Chinese Language, Chao Yuen-ren (1980:109) remarked,
3 Diao Guangtan also commented that “the stage language in the Maly Theatres in Moscow
imposes a great influence on Russian” (1956:148).
4 The stage pronunciation, namely the pronunciation of prestigious actors and actresses, has
played an important role in the formation of standard pronunciation of Russian, French and
178 Chapter 11
Germany is also a country that abounds in dialects, so it is necessary to specify a standard

national pronunciation which is not called standard national pronunciation but Bühne-
naussprache (stage speech), because pronunciation on the stage is properly emphasized,
similar to the central German dialect.
The English standard pronunciation is also the authoritative social dialect. Hu

Mingyang (1999:36–37) remarked, “The Standard English historically develops
on the basis of the southern speech (southern dialect), but today’s Received Pro-
nunciation is not the pronunciation of any specific dialect (sharply distinct from
the London Cockney pronunciation), but the pronunciation of the social dialect
exclusively popular among the well-educated upper class”.
The standard pronunciation of the above listed national lingua franca
derives either from the pronunciation of the prestigious actors and actresses,
the well-educated upper class, or universities and other distinguished culture
agencies, even a combination of the factors. Different nations, due to differences
in history and culture, have vastly different preferences in terms of standard
pronunciation criteria. But in general, as Serdyuchenko pointed out, all take as
criterion the exemplary pronunciation5, or put it in another way, the authorita-
tive social dialect.
The authoritative social dialect plays a role not only in specifying the stan-
dard pronunciation of national lingua franca but also in other aspects concern-
ing standard language. Xing Fuyi (2000:388) remarked, “After the bourgeois
Third Estate got hold of social power, the Paris dialect they spoke was accepted
by the royalty who were Franks and spoke Romance Frank. Revised and refined
by the aristocrats and intellectuals, this dialect has become the true lingua
franca”. In his work, Xing also pointed out that the underlying dialect of Italian
German, as is the case nowadays that the pronunciation of radio and TV announcers is often
considered as pronunciation template. During the formation of the Chinese standard pronun-
ciation, the stage pronunciation seemingly has not played such a role, probably for lack of
well-grown theatres and drama tradition, in addition to social discrimination against play
actors and actresses. In a word, the stage pronunciation in the Chinese history had no social
authoritative status.
5 According to The Minutes of the Symposium on the Standardization of Modern Chinese,
Serdyuchenko said “. . . When the USSR selected the Moscow dialect as standard pronunciation,
it was not the case that all the dialects in Moscow were considered, but the pronunciation used
by the Moscow writers, workers, and the most accomplished actors and actresses, namely the
pronunciation that could be used as exemplary (1956:227–228). In the article Several Supple-
ments to the Significance and Some Principles of Chinese Standard Language and Standardiza-
tion, Serdyuchenko also stated, “It is well known that language is the cultural embodiment of
a nation. Hence, naturally, the standard pronunciation, as aforementioned, is founded on the
broadest social politics and culture, on the people’s intellectuals for they represent the most
advanced thoughts in their activities, they serve the people, and they express the best spirits
and intentions of the people” (45).
is not the language spoken in Rome but the dialect in Tuscany. Long before the
unification of the Italian Peninsula, the Renaissance literary masters such as
Dante, Petrarch and Boccaccio had produced copious volumes of influential
literary works in vernacular Italian. Thanks to their initiative and practice,
Italian yielded a unified language gradually.6
In 1955 Yoo Yeol, linguist of the People’s Republic of Korea who was then
teaching in Peking University, presented an article Some Experiences in the
Work of the Korean Language Standardization at the Symposium on the Stan-
dardization of Modern Chinese. In 1921 the Korean Language Research Com-
mittee was founded and in 1931 it was renamed Korean Language Society. Upon
completion of Zhengyifa Tongyi Fang’an ‘Unifying Plan of Orthography’, Korean
Language Society specifically set up the Inspection Commission of Korean Stan-
dard Language, responsible for designing the Korean standard language with
respect to pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar etc. The principle of inspec-
tion is generally “first selecting from modern Korean, followed by the Seoul
dialect, and finally the ‘middle-class social dialect’, in addition to referring to
the constituents with universal features in all the dialects. Here the middle-class
society, according to Yoo Yeol, seems to include common citizens and bourgeois.
To select from their dialect as part of the standard pronunciation intends to
dispense with the slangs in the Seoul dialect and the aristocratic “class-specific
habitual language uses” (1956:133–135). It indicates that throughout the Korean
language standardization, the Inspection Commission takes into consideration
the issue of social dialect in a conscious manner. What is unclear at present
is whether the middle-class social dialect is an authoritative social dialect. Or,
did the Inspection Commission think of it as authoritative in that contemporary
historical background.
2 Authoritative social dialect and language

standardization of Chinese
The ancient China paid much heed to written language, and the so-called lan-
guage standardization was largely intended for the standardization of written
language. The notion of standardization is to be elegant and correct7. What is
considered as the criterion of being elegant and correct is the exemplary written
language composed by the contemporary intellectuals according to the speech
spoken in the capital city as well as other influential dialects. Albeit the specific
6 Serdyuchenko also discussed the underlying dialect of Italian (1956:41).

7 cf. Dai Zhaoming (1998:74–75).
180 Chapter 11
criterion of elegance and correctness varied in different dynasties, its notion had
at least persisted up to the late-Qing dynasty.
In 1911, the last year of the Qing Dynasty, the Central Education Conference
organised by the Ministry of Education released Tongyi Guoyu Banfa’an ‘Proposal
for Establishing a Common National Language’, in which Article Three To Inspect
and Define the Speech Standards stipulated that “regional dialects differ vastly
and it is advised to take the capital speech as of prominence. The fourth tone
in the capital speech, namely entering tone, has yet to be determined and is
pending for immediate revision, but it is recommended not to be obliterated.
The speech should be appropriate, elegant and smooth, which should maintain
in accord with logic, advisably on the basis of the official speech”8. This is in
fact a discussion about the criteria of the common language of the modern Han
people. It had been widely accepted that the Beijing dialect was adopted as the
standard pronunciation of the lingua franca, but the Central Education Confer-
ence of the Ministry of Education still retained the notion of “being appropriate,
elegant and smooth” and “in accord with logic”. From the perspective of modern
Chinese standardization, the Proposal apparently was evidently imperfect, in
which however could be found the influence authoritative social dialect im-
posed on language standardization. At that time, the authoritative status of the
official speech is, if not stronger, not much weaker than the Beijing dialect, in
light of which it is now understandable why both capital speech and official
speech had been equally supported.
In 1920, Zhang Shiyi, English Department Director of Nanjing Higher Normal
School, clearly specified in his Issues of Unifying National Language that the
pronunciation of national language should be “at least based upon the speech
of the Beijing natives who have received intermediate education”9. His remark
triggered the renowned disputes with respect to the Beijing pronunciation and
the state pronunciation. At the 1955 Symposium on the Standardization of
Modern Chinese, Cen Linxiang pointed out “it is the historical consequence
that the Beijing dialect has been selected as the standard of Putonghua pro-
nunciation, and because of the disparities within, the Beijing dialect spoken
by intellectuals should be adopted” (1956:227–228). Serdyuchenko also posited
“. . . the northern dialect (Mandarin dialect) is the foundation of the common
language of all the Han people, and the Beijing dialect should be assigned to
underlie the establishment of ortheopy and correct standard pronunciation. At
the same time, according to all the materials available, the standard pronuncia-
tion is the exemplary pronunciation which develops among the common intel-
8 cf. Language Reform Press (ed.) (1958:143).

9 cf. Wang Lijia (2003:18).
lectuals (prominent scientists, writers, actors and other culture practitioners).”

(1956:41)
From the late Qing-dynasty when the discussions started about the standard
pronunciation of the common speech spoken by the modern Han people to 1955
when the common spoken language was eventually established, although the
most concerned issue is the authoritative regional dialect, all the cases above
mentioned indicate that authoritative social dialect remains in the people’s
frame of reference, whether consciously or unconsciously.
Certainly, authoritative social dialect imposes an influence on the lingua
franca of the Han people not only in terms of standard pronunciation but also
in terms of vocabulary and grammar etc. Luo Changpei and Lv Shuxiang made
it clear in The Issues of Modern Chinese Standardization, keynote address of the
Symposium on the Standardization of Modern Chinese, that “what kinds of
words (their forms and usages) and what kinds of grammar (grammatical regula-
tions and usages) should be acknowledged as the examples of modern Chinese?
As we know, language standards are gradually forming with the development
of literary language, so it is the modern literary works that we can resort to
for standards. To put it more definite, the standards of modern Chinese are the
common examples extracted from contemporary exemplary literary works”
(1956:13). As a matter of fact, as early as 6th June 1951 People’s Daily published
an editorial Use Correctly the Language of our Motherland and Fight for its Purity
and Soundness!, in which the works of Mao Zedong and Lu Xun were hailed as
standards of modern Chinese10, in terms of vocabulary and grammar.
The Directive of the State Council on Promoting Putonghua describes the stan-
dard of Putonghua as “the standard pronunciation of Putonghua is based on the
Beijing dialect, Putonghua is based on the Northern dialects, and the grammar
policy is modelled after the vernacular used in modern Chinese literary classics”
(1956:249). This description has been used ever since. At face value, this descrip-
tion is different from the original version by nothing more than an additional
portion “the grammar policy is modelled after the vernacular used in modern
Chinese literary classics”, but this inclusion of grammar standard makes refer-
ence to authoritative social dialect. Consequently, what is of more significance
is that in the definition of Putonghua the element of authoritative social dialect
is explicitly introduced, which symbolises the dual frame of reference namely
10 The editorial goes, “the modern language of our country retains all the intrinsic advantages
of our language, and it also absorbs necessary new vocabulary and grammar. As a conse-
quence, the modern language of our country is more rigorous and expressive than in the past.
Comrade Mao Zedong and Mr. Lu Xun are the models who use this kind of lively, rich and ele-
gant language.” (People’s Daily 1951:256)
182 Chapter 11
authoritative regional dialect and authoritative social dialect, which keeps in

accord with the general rules of language standardization and provide a scien-
tific summarisation of the millennia-long Chinese language planning practice.
Since 1956 when the definition of Putonghua was stated, it was always
the case that only the role of the underlying dialect and its representative the
Beijing dialect were taken notice of, rarely was mentioned the issue of authori-
tative social dialect. The reason is that language standardization theories did not
develop a conscious and adequate recognition of authoritative social dialect,
and also it certainly related to the statement of Putonghua in which authorita-
tive social dialect was underestimated as nothing more than grammar norms.
It is the inadequate conscious recognition of the status of authoritative
social dialect in language standardization that gave rise to the later fact that
“to follow the general trend” had become the most important principle when
regulating concrete standards of pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar and char-
acters, and more often than not the element of scientificity had been ignored. To
follow the general trend was plausible in its own right but doing so blindly
was also unacceptable. Apparently, to fully value the role of authoritative social
dialect, to carefully study how the subsystems of a language is standardised
with respect to authoritative social dialect, and to well handle the relation
between authoritative social dialect and authoritative regional dialect are still
important programmes in language planning, and of important theoretical signif-
icance and practical value.
Last but not least, the best way to commemorate a historic event is to place
them for reflection and research. Research should focus on its success and weak-
nesses as well as learn experience and lessons, more than just oversimplified
praise or criticism. In research, it is no less important to investigate at the point
of the happing event than retrospect from today’s higher perspective. Into the
past we can impartially evaluate the history taking an attitude of historical
materialism, and evade concluding the false inferiority of our precursors. A
today’s standpoint is to learn the experiences and lessons from our precursors
and making nowadays people smarter.
References
Chao Yuen-ren. 1980. The Problems of Chinese Language. Beijing, China: Commercial Press.
Dai, Zhaoming. 1998. An Exploration into Language Standardization. Shanghai, China: Sanlian
Bookstore.
Hu, Mingyang. 1999. An Exploration into the Beijing Dialect. Beijing, China: Commercial Press.
Language Reform Press (ed.). 1958. Collected Papers on the Late-Qing Language Reform. Beijing:
Li, Yuming. 2004. The Status of Authoritative Dialect in Language Standardization. Journal of
Tsinghua University, 5.
Secretariat of the National Language Reform Conference. 1956. Collected Documents of the First
National Language Reform Conference. Beijing: Language Reform Press.
Secretariat of the Symposium on the Standardization of Modern Chinese (ed.). 1956. Xiandai
Hanyu Guifan Wenti Xueshu Huiyi Wenjian Huibian (Collected Papers on Modern Chinese
Normalization Issues). Beijing: Science Press.
Wang, Lijia. 2003. Chinese Pinyin Movement and Standard Language of the Han People.
Beijing: Language and Literature Press.
Xing, Fuyi (ed.). 2000. Cultural Linguistics (revised). Wuhan, China: Hubei Education Press.
The original Chinese version of this paper was first published in Yuyan Wenzi Yingyong
(Applied Linguistics), 2005, Issue No. 3.

Ningbo Institute of Technology,
Zhejiang University
Chapter 12
Building up bilingual and bi-dialectical
competence
Abstract: Striking an optimal balance between language maintenance and lan-

guage communication lies at the core of national language planning. Develop-
ment of a sizable pool of people with bilingual and bidialectical competence, a
strong contingent of bilingual and bidialectical talent in particular, is critical to
achieving this goal. Currently, challenges confronting China in this regard are
many. On the one hand, its population by and large remains monolingual and
monodialectical. Even among those who are bilingual and/or bidialectical, a
relatively large percentage is restricted to non-powerful languages and dialects.
On the other hand, systematic training in Putonghua and foreign languages
does not start at a young age as it should. Additionally, improved research into
and better planning for bilingual training are required in the nation’s ethnic
minority areas.
Keywords: language maintenance, language communication, bilingualism, bidia-

lecticalism
0 Introduction
Language maintenance and language communication are two primary concerns
in contemporary language life, impacting to a great extent the national policies
on languages. Hence a holistic and coordinated approach is requisite to avoid
one-sided views being derived from a single perspective of either language
maintenance or language communication. Departure from such an approach
will result in a unilateral and isolated solution leading to social instabilities and
unrests. As a large developing country with multiple dialects, multiple languages
and multiple ethnic cultures, China is noted for its rich language resources but
meanwhile is confronted with complex language issues, which underscores the
eminence and the urgency in finding an optimum solution conducive to both
language maintenance and language communication. This paper argues that
the key to simultaneously addressing these two issues lies in a significant
build-up of talent with higher levels of bilingual and bidialectical competence.
186 Chapter 12
1 Two outstanding issues in language life

in China
Language life is a concept that has been used with ever increasing frequency.
Li (1997) pointed out, “All activities that relate to study, application of and
research into language and words as well as application in various forms into
practices of findings from the research conducted in this area fall into the cate-
gory of language life.” Viewed from this perspective, language life covers a wide
spectrum of areas and plays a very vital role in social life and societal develop-
ment. From the perspective of language planning, language maintenance and
language communication are two issues of primary importance.
1.1 Language maintenance

Languages have long been recognized as valuable social resources and China
is a country with an abundance of such resources. First and foremost, the Han
Chinese is a language having been ramified to such a diversity and complexity
of dialects that the same is rarely seen in languages of other countries. From
a historical point of view, dialects are “a warehouse of fossils” of ancient
languages and cultures, preserving a large quantity of elements and essence of
the ancient languages. Systematic comparisons and studies of different dialects
will help us delineate the general pictures of ancient languages and uncover the
trajectory of the language developments and transformations.
Dialects are also crucial carriers of the local cultures in particular regions.
A national culture is not an abstraction but a composite of a rich variety of
regional or local cultures. The local dialects and the local cultures, mingled
and embedded with elements of the national cultures from ancient times, are
irreplaceable in terms of cultural values. Viewed from the current and future
perspectives, dialects represent the “nutrient pad” for the growth of common
national language. The foundational dialects determine the basic features of the
common language to the nation and drive its development. The non-foundational
dialects, on the other hand, also contribute significantly to the development of the
common language. Since the 1980s, contemporary Han Chinese has witnessed
considerable changes in which dialects such as Yue, Min, Wu and other dialects
in southern China – including Huayu – the Chinese language widely used
by overseas Chinese communities – and the “localised Mandarin” synthesized
from Standard Chinese language and the dialects all contribute significantly to
the progress of contemporary Han Chinese language as a whole, to the pro-

liferation of new words and new phrases, to the translation and borrowing of
foreign words and expressions, to the creation of new grammatical structures
in Han Chinese, and to the transmutation of its language styles. Therefore, the
multitude of Chinese dialects has been and will remain our language and cultural
wealth in the past, at present and in the future, constituting rare language and
cultural resources to be tapped for utilization.
There are five principle language families in China: Sino-Tibetan, Altic,
Indo-European, and Malay-Polynesian. Zhou (2000:98) suggests that there are
over 80 languages in China. Due to the lack of a clear distinction between
languages and dialects, some others even argue that there are more than 100
languages in China. The exact number of languages in China remains a question
awaiting further studies, but these languages are no wonder the invaluable
treasures of linguistics, which provide the unparalleled bases for the compara-
tive study of Sino-Tibetan language families as well as these studies concerning
language typologies and language unions. A national language is one of the
principal symbols of the attributes that a nation has inherited and is closely
associated with the sentiments of that nation. Generally speaking, the status
and the destiny of a national language represent and impact the status and the
destiny of that nation. A national language is also an important carrier of the
culture for that particular nation and the different cultures in the nation, which,
many as they are, represent different cultures in various forms. The contact and
convergence of different cultures can be a powerful driver to rapid development
of cultures and in some cases create new cultures. Therefore, the large variety
of languages as well as rich cultures they represent, therefore, are invaluable
treasures awaiting for further exploration and utilisation.
However, it has to be noted that the various dialects of Chinese and plenti-
ful ethnic languages in China are undergoing dramatic changes, as a result of
the increasing exchanges between people from different territories and across
nations and with the widespread use of the Internet. Some of the indigenous
languages and ethnic languages are gradually dying out. However, the extinc-
tion of dialects and languages in the process of social advancement, although
some of them are inevitable, does not mean that nothing else can be done but
to watch helplessly or indifferently all the endangered languages vanishing.
Unlike other things, languages, once lost, are difficult to be recovered (Hebrew
probably is one of the few exceptions in this regard) and difficult to replicate.
The extinction of a language will bring with it the termination or “fossilisation”
of a culture and its subcultures. Therefore the urgency in preserving languages
can never be overemphasised.
188 Chapter 12
At present, more and more people have realised the importance and the
urgency of environmental protection, protection of endangered species, conser-
vation of water and soil, and protection of cultural relics. Recent years have seen
intensified media promotions, improved protection mechanism and increased
input of human and material resources. Regrettably, only few people place the
same priority in language maintenance and treat it with the same sense of
urgency.
1.2 Language communication

Living in a new world of peace and development and an information age that
changes rapidly with each passing day, no people or nation can shut itself
behind closed doors. No nation or people can survive and develop without stay-
ing in constant contact and mutual learning and understanding. Only through
exchanges and cooperation can differences, misunderstandings and disputes
be reduced, and common progress and joint development be achieved. None
of these can take place without languages, so language communication (or
“language-mediated cultural communication”) plays an indispensible role.
Currently, dialects throughout China have been reducing at an unprecedented
rate their differences from Putonghua and converging toward it, just like what is
described in a Chinese metaphor “the stars are gathering around the moon”. The
contacts and two-way penetration among languages of different nations are
on the increase. So is the language-mediated communication among different
regions, different ethnic groups in China and the language communication
between China and other countries, which has been facilitated by China’s rigorous
reforms and opening-up. At present, the alienation among the dialects and the
gull between different languages, however, are to a great extent hampering the
language communication and the cultural exchanges. Conflicts of languages
and cultures, big or small, implicit or explicit, direct or indirect, domestic or
international, have never ceased. For this reason, consideration should be
rendered to the resolution of these issues with language communication and
language maintenance in the contemporary language life in China, in order to
protect and utilise the existing language and cultural resources, to pass on our
own languages and cultures including sub-cultures from generation to genera-
tion, and to preserve the uniqueness of the regions and the attributes of the
Chinese nation.
1.3 Bilingual and bidialetical people in China

In a sense, language communication and language maintenance are paradoxical.
Language communication usually has an adverse impact on maintenance of
another language. Conversely, inappropriate and excessive protection of a lan-
guage will impede language communication. Reconciliation of such a contradic-
tion, however, can be achieved by maintaining a balanced view of language
maintenance and language communication, which takes into consideration
both language maintenance and language communication – an important mis-
sion for macro-sociolinguistics. In my view, building up a strong contingent of
talent with bilingual and bidialectical competence including talent with com-
petence in multiple languages and multiple dialects represents an optimal reso-
lution to the contradiction between language communication and language
maintenance.
A bidialectical person is one who can use two or more dialectics, among
which one is his or her native dialect. A bilingual person is one who can use
two or more languages, among which one is his or her mother tongue. In acquir-
ing and using their native dialect and mother tongue, on the one hand, bidialec-
tical and bilingual people inherit and carry on the dialects and languages as
well as the cultures in which the dialects and languages are rooted, thereby pre-
serving the languages and the cultures in their own way. In acquiring anther
dialect and/or language, on the other hand, the bidialectical and bilingual people
come to understand another dialect and/or language as well as the cultures in
which these dialects and languages are embedded, and acquire the capability
of communicating with people of another dialectical region and/or linguistic
community in their dialects and/or languages, thus making possible language
communication from one to the other. Bilingualism and bidialecticalism are
characterised by persistency and stability, evidenced by its continued exis-
tence among some ethnic groups over the past hundred or even thousands of
years, demonstrating that a build-up of a large number of bidialectical and
bilingual people will contribute to both language maintenance and language
communication.
2 Problems with bi-dialectical and bilingual

training in China
The phenomena of bilingualism and bi-dialecticalism can be traced back to
ancient times. Studies on the Book of Songs and the rhymes of the Eastern and
190 Chapter 12
Western Zhou dynasties have revealed that dialects of Chinese appeared as early
as in Western Zhou dynasty. (Wang 1992; Yu 1993; Jin 1993) As long as there are
communications between dialects, there are bi-dialectical people. The communi-
cations between the Han nationality and other ethnic groups in surrounding
areas began as early as in the oracle time. Since language is the precursor of
exchanges between ethnic groups, it can be deduced that there were bilingual
people as early as in Yin and Shang dynasty. They never ceased to exist in the
following dynasties, and their contributions to the exchanges between different
regions and ethnic groups cannot be neglected. In the process, education is one
of the important means of cultivating bilingual and bi-dialectical people. During
the Westernization Movement (also known as the Self-Strengthening Movement
in 1861–1895) in Qing dynasty, foreign language schools like “Guangdong Dia-
lects School” and “Tong Wen Guan” were established. The late Qing dynasty
saw the rise of the national language movement, which ushered in a new his-
torical stage of bilingual and bi-dialectical training. Over the last 100 years, a
large population of bilinguals and bi-dialecticals has been cultivated through
various means of language education.
Since the 1950s, tremendous efforts have been made in mainland China to
promote Putonghua or Standard Chinese and training in foreign languages,
bringing up hundreds and millions of bilingual and bidialectical people. These
achievements have already been reported in many government documents,
research papers and books. Hence this chapter will only discuss the problems
existing in the field and it is argued that the key issues calling for consideration
and attention include the following.
2.1 Mono-lingualism and mono-dialecticalism in China

A mono-lingual person refers to one who uses only one language, and a mono-
dialectical person is one who uses only one dialect. Generally speaking, a mono-
dialectical person is without exception mono-lingual but not the other way
round. At present, the majority of the Chinese population are still leading a
mono-dialectical and mono-lingual language life. Geographically, the mono-
lingual and mono-dialectical population are mostly concentrated in regions
where transport and communication are least developed – with the exception
of regions populated by mixed ethnic groups. Demographically, the elderly and
people with lower levels of education have a higher concentration of mono-
lingual and mono-dialectical people. What merits our special attention is a
percentage of young adults who remain illiterate or semi-illiterate despite the
miraculous efforts China has made in human history of education in success-

fully implementing the nine-year compulsory education. In regions struck by
poverty and backwardness, children dropping out from school are not uncommon,
and the number of new illiterate and semi-illiterate people is on the rise. These
illiterate and semi-illiterate people are in most cases mono-lingual or mono-
dialectical, which indicates that China’s mono-lingual and mono-dialectical
population is still increasing in large quantity. The strong presence of mono-
lingual and mono-dialectical people is no doubt hindering the language com-
munication among the different regions and the different ethnic groups within
the nation as well as the communication with other countries.
2.2 High percentage of non-powerful bi-dialectical and

bilingual population
In theory, all languages and dialects are equal in terms of legal status and social
morality. None is supposed to hold supremacy and higher status over the others.
In reality, however, the differences in history, culture, politics, economic develop-
ments and manpower contribute to the distinction between powerful and non-
powerful languages and dialects. Generally speaking, the powerful languages
and dialects are those which have been valued and used extensively in com-
munication among the people. The non-powerful languages and dialects are
those which are limited in use and hence have a lower value in communication.
In the language life in China, Putonghua is the most powerful dialect (Putong-
hua is considered as a dialect from the sociolinguistic perspective). Nationwide,
the Han Chinese people are the core ethnic group in China and Mandarin, the
Chinese language used by the Han, is widely used including in the domains
of science and technology, and thus has enjoyed the legal status of “a national
lingua franca” in China and is the most powerful language in the country. World-
wide, major languages such as English have been widely used with higher value
of communication and are regarded also as the powerful languages. Bilingual
and bidialectical people with a good command and fluent use of these powerful
languages and dialects are therefore regarded as the “powerful bilingual/
bidialectical population”, whereas those who only have a good command of the
non-powerful languages and/or dialects or who cannot have a good command
of the powerful languages and dialects are considered the “non-powerful bilin-
gual/bidialectical population. The non-powerful bilingual/bidialectical popula-
tion have some advantages over their mono-dialectical and mono-lingual peers
in communication with other groups but will perform far behind the powerful
bilingual/bidialectical population.
192 Chapter 12
In China, the percentage of the non-powerful bilingual/bidialectical people

is excessively high. In many cases, they do not speak powerful dialects such as
Putonghua or even if they do, the Putonghua they speak is at best a localised
version with a strong local accent. In regions mainly populated by ethnic minor-
ities, many bilingual or bidialectical people either do not speak any Han Chinese
dialect, or only speak a non-powerful Han Chinese dialect or localised Putong-
hua. Most Chinese people do not speak foreign languages. Even among those
who do, the standards are relatively low. Many of them cannot use foreign lan-
guages to communicate fluently in various situations. These bilingual peoples
are categorised as non-powerful bilinguals too.
There are two root causes for the existing high percentage of non-powerful
bilingual and bidialectical people in China. Firstly, the scope and the quality of
language training in China are far from being as ideal as expected. Despite the
on-going promotion of Putonhua over the past decades in China, the people
who have a good command of the language are still concentrated in certain
industries, certain regions and certain age groups, due to a number of factors:
China’s huge population with a complex mix of dialects, the impact of the
Cultural Revolution, the influence of “Cantonese expanding to the North”, and
the interference from other social factors. The situation with foreign language
is even worse both in terms of scope and conditions. Secondly, most of the
bilingual or bidialectical people are so called “naturally bilingual’ or “naturally
dialectical” people because they pick up the languages or dialects naturally
thanks to relocation, migration, living in a mixed community or in a mixed
language environment rather than acquisition via education or training. Due to
the current language distribution in China, natural acquisition of Putonghua is
rare because the ethnic minority groups in the North-East, North-West and
South-West, even if they use Mandarin, only speak their local dialects in the
areas rather than Putonghua. In the South, the second dialect that most people
pick up naturally probably is one of the southern dialects or localised Putong-
hua with a strong southern accent.
2.3 Late start in foreign language and Putonghua learning

and teaching
Needless to say, China has set great store by the education and training in
Putonghua and foreign languages, particularly after the reforms and opening-
up, but the outcomes are far from satisfactory. The inputs from the society for
language teaching and from the individuals for language learning are huge but
the outputs do not match the efforts. The reasons are many but it is believed that
the starting age for school children to learn languages is the one of the root
causes.
Research conducted by Lenneberg, Penfield and others reveal that for
language learning there are a best period and a critical period in age. (Li, 1995)
In his Dialect Acquisition, Chambers divided learners of languages into “early
learners” and “late learners”, putting forward an insight that the “early learners”
(aged seven and under) can learn a language smoothly while the “late learners”
(aged 14 and over) cannot. Learners between 7 and 14 fall into the two groups –
some are “early learners” and the others are “late learners”. Although views
vary on how to define the ages for “early learners” and for “late learners” in
the academic circle, the majority tend to regard seven as the “best period” and
13 as the “critical period”. Children at or under seven can pick up a language
very quickly and speak it fluently while those who start learning a language
after the critical period will find it difficult to achieve the same.
In schools located in metropolitan areas of the country which are better-
resourced, the majority of primary school students start learning foreign lan-
guages when they move to higher grades. In township schools which are
under-resourced, foreign languages are only taught in secondary schools. As
the students by the time have already reached or passed the critical period and
additionally the scores of foreign languages do not have much impact on the
university enrolment, foreign language training doesn’t seem to make much
progress. In most cases, people learn foreign languages in universities and other
higher educational institutions specialised in foreign languages training. Recent
years have seen greater efforts being made to reinforce foreign language training
in primary, secondary schools and universities. In some universities, courses
are required to be conducted in foreign languages. In some primary schools,
“bilingual teaching” schemes are piloted where classes are conducted in both
Chinese and foreign languages. However, these schemes are still in the experi-
mental stage and many issues arise in terms of policies and academics. Hence
the outcomes are yet to be verified by practices.
In comparison, the situation in Putonghua training is proceeding slightly
better than that of the foreign language training. However, using the local dia-
lect and localised Putonghua as the medium of instruction in educational in-
stitutions is not uncommon, particularly among universities (the situation in
teacher training institutions is slightly better) and township schools in southern
China where the tendency to speak the local dialects are strong. Many students
in these institutions have not had a good command of Putonghua before they
reach the “critical period” for language learning.
Apparently, the late start of learning Putonghua and foreign languages has
led to the high-input versus low-output in language teaching and learning. As
194 Chapter 12
a result, the quality of Putonghua training is far from satisfactory and that of
foreign language learning is very poor. In part, the deprived conditions in
education (e.g. insufficiency in qualified teachers) contribute to the late start of
language training. The key factor, however, lies in overlooking the natural law
and regulations of language learning in guiding our practices in language teach-
ing, and in lack of awareness of the significance of building a population of
“powerful bilinguals and bidialecticals”.
2.4 Issues with bilingual education in ethnic minority areas

China is a country with a great many ethnic groups. Language education there-
fore is a very sensitive issue in the ethnic minority areas. Many experts have pro-
posed that using the mother tongue as a medium of instruction in schools can
give full play to the individual potentials of the ethnic groups as well as main-
taining and extending their languages and cultures. On the other hand, learning
the core national language is not only conducive to the understanding, exchanges
and unity among all ethnic groups but also conducive to the development of the
ethnic minority groups themselves. Therefore, implementing bilingualism and
bilingual education in the ethnic minority areas are in all ways correct and
necessary. It goes without saying that bilingual education in the ethnic minority
areas should fully respect the desires of the ethnic minority people and respect
the wishes of the students and their parents.
Nevertheless, issues worth further consideration and research regarding
bilingual education with minority ethnic groups include,
1) At what age or what stage of development in their mother tongue is best for
ethnic minority children to start learning the Mandarin (the Han Chinese
language)?
2) Is it possible for them to complete the basic bilingual education during
or around the critical period, the spoken form of the second language in
particular?
3) What is the optimum combination of allocation and cooperation between
the first and the second language education? For example, what subjects
are best conducted in the mother tongue and what subjects are best con-
ducted in Mandarin?
4) How to increase the content of modern science and technology, and of the
contemporary cultural practice, in such a process of bilingual education,
and to provide the ethnic minority students with a greater variety of extra-
curricular reading materials?
Be it from the perspective of the era we are or from the perspective of Chinese
politics, culture, and economy, active and effective measures must be taken
towards the above issues, and particular attention should be paid to studies on
bilingualism and bi-dialecticalism, bilingual and dialectical education as well as
bilinguals and bi-dialecticals. It should be admitted that we still have very
limited knowledge about bilingualism and bi-dialecticalism. The launching of
any significant socio-cultural campaign should be based on solid scientific
knowledge rather than mere enthusiasm and passion. Topics of further study
should at least include:
1) Historical investigation of Chinese bilingualism and bi-dialecticalism, so

that clear knowledge can be acquired about the phenomenon in China.
2) The current state and problems of Chinese bilingualism and bi-dialecticalism
and the formulation of corresponding measures. This requires field work
and empirical studies. Measures should be formulated under the guidance
of theories in macro-sociolinguistics and applied linguistics, in accordance
with China’s basic conditions as well as from a long-term point of view.
3) The natural laws of bilingual and bi-dialectical education as well as
education reform. Bilingual and bi-dialectical education should respect the
natural law of language learning, which, however, is a comparatively under-
researched field in the Chinese academic studies. Among all types of lan-
guage acquisition and learning, first language is always the most success-
fully acquired by children, and useful insights can be drawn through further
investigation into the process of first language acquisition.
4) The mentality and advantages of bilinguals and bi-dialecticals.
5) Strategies and measures in massive production of bilinguals and bi-dialecti-
cals, which should be both feasible in operation and legally binding.
Another issue worthy of our special attention is that the promotion of

Putonghua throughout the country may lead to a new generation of mono-
lingual and mono-dialectical people. In some cases, children stop learning their
own dialects when they have started to learn Putonghua and become newly
mono-lingual/mono-dialectical. In some ethnic minority areas, children only
learn Mandarin but not their own language. Some of them use their own
language as a “walking stick” and will discard it when they have become good
at Mandarin. As a result, they become monolingual too. This phenomenon
warrants great attention.
196 Chapter 12
To sum up, language is the “gene” for the inheritance of cultures and sub-
cultures from generation to generation, and the “bridges and ferries” for the
spread and exchange of cultures and sub-cultures across different regions. The
preservation and exploration of language resources, to a certain extent, is even
more important than the preservation and exploration of the resources of spe-
cies and cultural relics. Further studies are required for the study of languages
and dialects in China, and an archive should be established for preserving the
original pictures of these dialects and languages, with a view to creating a
good eco-environment for these languages. Meanwhile, in the context of modern
science and technology, politics and economy, strategic plans for language
communication can also be developed for the cultivation of a large group of
dominant bilinguals and bi-dialecticals within a limited period of time, which
can facilitate the exchanges and cooperation at both international and national
levels and speed up China’s modernization process.
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The original Chinese version of this paper was first published in Yangtze River Academic,
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Translated by WU Dongying, Doreen (吴东英)

doreen.wu@polyu.edu.hk
Chapter 13
On the establishment of Chinese Language
Resource Audio Database1
Abstract: Chinese Language Resource Audio Database (CLRAD) is one of the

language projects being implemented by the State Language Commission. The
aim of the project is to record the language situation (including dialects and
local Putonghua) of each county and region of China and compile them into a
database for permanent preservation through the use of modern information
technology and unified working and technical standards. With the academic
and administrative development of such database, we can comprehensively
understand the national conditions of the languages in China, scientifically formu-
late national language planning, scientifically preserve and develop national
language resources, facilitate the promotion of Putonghua, expedite the infor-
matization of the spoken and written languages and promote the development
of language sciences.
Keywords: Chinese language, audio, database
1 Introduction
This project, which utilizes modern information technology to record the lan-
guage situation of China and establishes an audio database with the capability
of continuous update so as to satisfy various demands of the society, shall
benefit both current and future generations. China’s linguistic research has the
history of more than a hundred years, dialectologists and ethnic linguists have
achieved fruitful research results. The standard of modern information tech-
1 This article was written for the 60th anniversary of the Institute of Linguistics under Chinese
Academy of Social Sciences. For the past 60 years, the Institute of Linguistics has made a great
contribution to the work related to the spoken and written languages of China. The academic
conference on the Issues of the Standardization of Modern Chinese Language held in 1955 laid
down the theoretical foundation in the standardization of the Chinese language. Xiandai Hanyu
Cidian (Modern Chinese Dictionary), which serves as the role of “a teacher” in our language life,
was then compiled in accordance with the spirit of the conference. The conference also com-
menced the research on dialects that brought fruitful results to the promotion of Putonghua
and development of dialectology. The Seminar on Ethnic Language Science jointly held with
Minzu University of China in 1955 set the milestone of the work related to ethnic languages.
The establishment of the journals, such as Zhongguo Yuwen (Chinese Language), Fangyan
(Dialects), has already nurtured several generations of scholars and brought momentum to the
200 Chapter 13
nology and the economic strength of China have reached a satisfactory level. All
these conditions have made the establishment of Chinese Language Resource
Audio Database (CLRAD) realistically possible.
The State Language Commission has been in preparation for the establish-
ment of CLRAD for years, already set up several monographic studies for its
argumentation2, formulated a series of working and technical standards and im-
plemented a pilot study of more than a year in five cities in Jiangsu. This article
will talk about the basic status, features and functions of CLRAD based on the
preparations, studies and pilot study conducted by the State Language Com-
mission. Undoubtedly, the establishment of CLRAD has not yet been fully in
operation, certain technical standards (for example, standards concerning the
use of dialectal characters, the survey scheme for minority ethnic languages,
etc.) are in the course of further improvement. The aim of this article is to arouse
the attention of academic circles and the society with the hope that more com-
ments and assistance could be provided.
2 Basic status of CLRAD

CLRAD is one of the national language resource projects implemented using
modern information technology to record language data. The language data
will be converted and tagged. The processed data will be organized and stored
in the database together with relevant text documents, audio files and video
files. The data will be available for use by academic circles and the society
through databases, Internet, museums and language laboratories. The basic
status of CLRAD is summarized as follows based on Zhongguo Yuyan Ziyuan
Yousheng Shujuku Diaocha Shouce ‘Survey Handbook for Chinese Language
Resource Audio Database’ 3:
academic development. We would like to take this opportunity to show our utmost respect to
the Institute of Linguistics and wish the Institute make even greater contribution to the work
related to the spoken and written languages and language sciences of China. This paper was
originally published in Zhongguo Yuwen, Issue No. 4, 2010.
2 Scholars-in-charge of these projects mainly include: Cao Zhiyun, Dai Qingxia, Guo Long-
sheng, He Rui, Huang Xing, Li Rulong, Liu Danqing, Pan Wuyun, Qiao Quansheng, Wei Hui,
Xie Junying, Xu Daming and Zhang Zhenxing. Main staff members responsible for the co-
ordination of these projects include Li Yuming, Wang Tiekun and Chen Min.
3 The Handbook was compiled by the Office of the Leadership Team for Chinese Language
Resource Audio Database. The section of the Handbook concerning Chinese dialects (written
by Cao Zhiyun) was published by the Commercial Press. In addition to the scholars-in-charge
and project co-ordinators, the following persons also contributed a lot in the compilation of
the Handbook and the formulation of working standards: Gu Qian, Hou Jingyi, Liu Lili, Sun
Maosong, Wang Ping, Yang Erhong and Zhao Xiaoqun.
2.1. Languages and dialects survey
2.1.1 Survey points
Survey points will be set up based on county-level administrative units, which in

principle should be “one county one survey point”. Survey points can be added
or reduced if special situation occurs. The survey focuses on reflecting the actual
language situation, which is the reason why counties with greater influence will
be selected.
2.1.2 Survey respondents
Four representative informants for each survey point will be selected in accor-
dance with gender and age: two males and two females, two elders and two
youngsters.
2.1.3 Survey content
The content of the survey is divided into two main parts: linguistic structure
surveys and discourse surveys. Linguistic structure surveys are the foundation
which includes using 1,000 characters to study the phonetic system, using 1,200
words to investigate the basic lexical system and using 50 sentences to examine
main syntactic phenomena.
Discourse surveys are the focus of the survey, which are divided into speak-
ing and conversation. Speaking includes “an assigned story” and “free topics”.
The assigned story is Niu Lang he Zhi Nu ‘The Cowherd and the Girl Weaver’4
which possesses Chinese cultural characteristics and spreads across wider geo-
graphical regions. Free topics should be the ones that can reflect local cultural
characteristics, for instance: orally inherited local folk tales; local nursery
rhymes, local proverbs, local two-part allegorical sayings, local jingle rhymes;
local scenic spots and specialties; local customs and traditional festivals; indi-
vidual and family status; current affairs and hot topic commentaries. Informants
will choose several of these topics for speaking. Conversation is conducted
among the four informants on the topics selected by themselves from the
above-mentioned topics.
4 The text of the story Niu Lang he Zhi Nu (The Cowherd and the Girl Weaver) was organized
mainly by Wang Ping.
202 Chapter 13
2.1.4 Survey methodology
Specified audio recording equipment and software are used for audio recording
together with video recording and photography. In addition, survey content will
be transcribed with International Phonetic Alphabet and Chinese characters in
accordance with specific requirements. At last, all survey information and elec-
tronic files of a survey point will be named, categorized and filed.
2.1.5 Database establishment and development
Dedicated personnel as organized by the State will proceed with the acceptance
procedures and the survey information will be filed and compiled into the
database in a unified manner. Experts will be convened to commence the de-
velopment of the database in a timely manner, for instance: the compilation
of Zhongguo Yuyan Guoqing Baogao ‘Report on the National Conditions of the
Chinese Language’ which includes basic data of the Chinese languages, dialects
and local Putonghua, a table of contents of languages and dialects which are
urgently in need of protection, and a table of contents of “critical languages”
and “critical dialects” that are related to the stability of the society and the
security of the State. The data will be available for public use through websites,
open laboratories and museums so as to benefit the State and academic circles
as much as possible.
2.2 “Local Putonghua” survey

Local Putonghua is a variety of inter-languages developed from dialects towards
Putonghua, which plays an important role in cross-region communication and
serves as significant language information. To understand the status of local
Putonghua, to explore the regularities of local Putonghua in its development
from a low variety to a high variety and to conclude the consolidation features
of local Putonghua would be definitely meaningful in the promotion of Putong-
hua and the study of the regularities of language acquisition.
Local Putonghua Survey is conducted together with Languages and Dialects
Survey at the same time. The requirements of the selection of survey points
are the same as the ones specified in Languages and Dialects Survey, which
in principle should be “one county one survey point”. Three informants will be
selected for each survey point. The three informants should possess different
levels of Putonghua proficiency: one of them should possess at least Grade A
of Third Class Level of Putonghua Shuiping Ceshi Dengji Biaozhun ‘Standards of

Levels of the National Putonghua Proficiency Test’ (Putonghua Proficiency Train-
ing and Testing Centre of the State Language Commission 2008), one of them
should possess just below Grade B of Third Class Level, and one of them should
possess the worst Putonghua level which means his or her language proficiency
is closest to dialects.
The content of Local Putonghua Survey includes: 1. to narrate the assigned
story Nu Liang he Zhi Nu in Putonghua; 2. to read two pieces of short essays,
Chengshi yu Xinren ‘Honesty and Trust’ and Daxuesheng Cunguan ‘Graduate
Students as Village Officials’, aloud in Putonghua. The audio files created during
the survey will be organized and undergone the acceptance procedures. Then
they will be filed and compiled into the database to form Local Putonghua
Corpus which is a sub-database of CLRAD.
3 Some features of CLRAD

The research on languages and dialects of China has achieved many remarkable
and fruitful results, for example, Zhongguo Yuyan Ditu ji ‘Language Atlas of
China’, Xiandai Hanyu Fangyan Dacidian ‘A Comprehensive Dictionary of Modern
Chinese Dialects’, Putonghua Jichu Fangyan Jiben Cihuiji ‘Basic Vocabulary of
Putonghua Dialects’, Xiandai Hanyu Fangyan Yinku ‘Sound Archives of Modern
Chinese Dialects’, Hanyu Fangyan Dituji ‘Language Atlas of Chinese Dialects’,
Zhongguo Xinfaxian Yuyan Yanjiu Congshu ‘Newly Found Minority Languages in
China Series’, etc. CLRAD fully utilizes the past linguistic survey methodology
and research results, and forms its own design features.
3.1 Possess the characteristics of language census

The emphasis on linguistic fieldwork has been our tradition in modern dialec-
tology and ethnolinguistic studies. However, “typicality” was focused in the
past studies when survey points were selected so that representative points
of ethnic languages and Chinese dialects were preferred. Using the feature of
“typicality” as a criterion of survey point selection is appropriate for under-
standing the basic situation of a language or dialect. Nonetheless, in most cases
it is inadequate in acquiring the whole picture of the language situation of
China. Nowadays, there are still languages of many counties and regions in
which no or incomplete survey has been conducted. Chinese dialects of many
204 Chapter 13
ethnic regions have not been properly investigated. Due to the lack of typicality,
in-depth studies have not been carried out for Chinese dialects of the North-
eastern region and Inner Mongolia. The language situation of counties near
the border has not been clearly known as well. Obviously, the focus of the
representative points of ethnic languages and Chinese dialects is not beneficial
to the in-depth understanding of a language or dialect, nor is it favourable to
the accurate understanding of the regional changes of a language or dialect,
and as a result no detailed language atlas at the county level can possibly be
produced.
Data collection and recording of CLRAD are conducted based on the principle
of “one county one survey point”. It is estimated that there are actually more
than 4,000 survey points selected, which bears the nature of language census.
It is believed that this kind of “census” would discover a lot of new phenomena
with new clues to languages and dialects that have never been noticed before.
Zhongguo de Yuyan ‘The Languages of China’, as chiefly compiled by Sun
Hongkai, Hu Zengyi and Huang Xing, recorded many newly discovered lan-
guages which were mostly found because of not following the principle of
“typicality” in survey point selection. In addition, survey point selection in the
form of census can preserve a copy of language information of early 21st century
for each county administrative unit. This sets an eternal measurement reference
point for the study of national language situation in the future.
3.2 Emphasize on the factors of age and gender

Age and gender are two factors most relevant to language and language activities.
People of different age and gender show different variations in the aspects of
pronunciation, lexical choice, syntax and pragmatic usage, in which linguistic
variations between old school and new school derived from the difference in
age, very often, can also predict the direction of language development. Tradi-
tional language surveys usually select older males as informants so as to obtain
the “purest” and age-old aspect of the language, which is an academic objective.
CLRAD emphasizes the collection of language data from older males, and at
the same time it also collects the language data from older females, young males
and young females. These data can be processed into different databases in
future research, which can facilitate the linguistic study of gender and age.
With the accumulation of data in the long run, the study of linguistic variations
in various ages can also engage in scientific deduction of the direction of lan-
guage development.
3.3 Emphasize on syntax

Efforts of traditional research on Chinese dialects mainly are concentrated on
pronunciation and lexical items. In recent years, there has been an increase in
the interest on the study of dialectal syntax, even to the extent that there are
cross-dialects monographic studies. CLRAD’s survey on syntax is conducted
in accordance with the research results of typology and the actual language
situation of China by designing 50 sentences to investigate several important
syntactic features of the Chinese language and ethnic languages. Since these
data implicitly include the typological element, therefore comparative studies
can be conducted with each Chinese dialect and language. Comparison with
many languages in the world can also be administered by using these data in
order to obtain research results in the field of typology. This kind of syntactic
studies in the field of typology conveys positive meaning in the development of
syntax in China.5
3.4 Rely on discourse

Traditional language surveys are basically linguistic structure surveys in which
discourse is not much involved. Even if discourse surveys have been conducted,
they are just an appendage to linguistic structure surveys. CLRAD treats dis-
course as basic data for recording as the rationale behind is to preserve the
actual current language situation. Discourse is a linguistic component which
can reflect the actual language situation to the maximum. The best way to pre-
serve language samples is to preserve discourse. Discourse is the “real samples”
of language which include various ingredients of linguistic structures and also
cover various linguistic structural elements of speech stream changes, including
sandhi. Discourse contains relevant pragmatic content, such as differences
5 The survey design of the section related to syntax was mainly produced by Liu Danqing. The
50 sample sentences were formulated with reference to his book Yufa Diaocha Yanjiu Shouce
(A Handbook for Grammatical Investigation and Research), 2008. The Handbook uses The Lingua
Descriptive Studies Questionnaire written by Bernard Comrie and Norval Smith as an outline,
provides detailed annotations, examples, supplementary explanation and analysis concerning
the content of questionnaires, and points out the aspects which are inadequate or inappropriate
when The Lingua Descriptive Studies Questionnaire is used for Chinese language studies. It is
claimed that The Lingua Descriptive Studies Questionnaire provides a thorough and comprehen-
sive syntactic framework which is as objective as possible for the research description of human
languages all over the world, with the hope that investigators and researchers can be free from
the limitations arising from language typology and bias derived from different schools of
thought, so that the research can be based on syntactic facts to the maximum.
206 Chapter 13
between monologues and dialogues turn taking, topic links, specific realizations
of the cooperative principle and politeness principle, etc. Discourse also embodies
social life, customs and culture and the whole gamut of human emotions of
local inhabitants. These oral cultures, which are vital components of the culture
of the Chinese nation, are less investigated before and not easy to be preserved.
The emphasis of language surveys on discourse is a meaningful attempt so far
as the above-mentioned aspects are concerned.
3.5 Launch local Putonghua survey

Local Putonghua is a real state of the language situation in real life as well as
a modality arising from language learning. In recent years, though some dis-
cussions of local Putonghua have been included in the scope of research, the
overall study of this area is still insufficient. The linguistic nature and status of
local Putonghua have not yet been confirmed, its survey methodology has not
yet been explored, its overall picture has not yet been fully described, and even
the term “local Putonghua” has not yet been finalized. Local Putonghua Survey
is a task to fill in all these gaps.
3.6 Fully utilize the results of informatization

Using audio recording as a means to support the operation of language surveys
is not a new idea; some pioneers already used this method to create sound files
for some dialects and languages. Generally speaking, however, most of the
language surveys are still basically conducted by using written means, where
sound recording is just used as a kind of “memorandum”. The data collection
of CLRAD is mainly implemented in the form of sound recording which is
supplemented by photography and video recording. Written means has become
a kind of “memorandum” instead. The quality of sound recording is the core
technical indicator which is a cause for concern in CLRAD. In order to ensure
the quality of sound recording, standardized requirements are stipulated for
the equipment, software and environment of recording. At the same time, a
series of working software has also been specially designed so as to facilitate
the tasks of investigation, acceptance and database building. Each staff member
participating in the survey tasks of CLRAD needs to attend special training on
information technology. All these measures aim to give impetus to the advance-
ment of language surveys to the new platform of informatization.
3.7 Unified standards

The establishment of CLRAD emphasizes on unified standards. In order to achieve
this objective, tremendous efforts have been made concerning the formulation
of working and technical standards which are continuously tested for further
improvement. Working standards include a series of standards concerning
survey point selection, informant selection, academic qualities of field workers,
survey procedures, data recording environment, acceptance and database build-
ing. Technical standards mainly cover a series of standards concerning character
lists, word lists, syntactic lists and discourse patterns used in the surveys; topics
and discourse materials used in discourse surveys; the application of Inter-
national Phonetic Alphabet; the use of dialectal characters; sound recording
techniques; and database building techniques. By adopting identical working
and technical standards, the quality of work can be guaranteed, the data col-
lected in each survey point can be matched with subsequent processes, further
statistical analysis can be conducted with the data, and the survey results of
each point can be shared to the maximum. In addition, once these working
and technical standards are put to use in other research projects, the language
data of these research projects can then be integrated into CLRAD so as to fulfil
the expansion and updating of CLRAD.
Undoubtedly, these standards are the national standards for the audio data-
base. There is a guarantee that each place uses unified standards to complete
the task of data collection of the national database, and at the same time more
content related to language and culture of each place can be augmented in
accordance with its own circumstances so as to constitute a language database
with local characteristics.
4 Functions of CLRAD
Using modern information technology to collect Chinese language data on a
large scale and establish CLRAD will generate remarkably important influence
on the language life planning and language science research of China. Several
functions of CLRAD will be summarized in the following section.
4.1 Full knowledge of the national language situation and

scientific formulation of language planning
Language life is an important aspect of social life. Language situation contributes
to the basic national condition. Language is the most significant semiotic system
208 Chapter 13
used in human communication and thinking as well as a vital resource of the

State, which is a crucial factor in affecting social stability and national security.
The following tasks and factors have to be taken into consideration in relation to
the language planning of China in the 21st century: facilitate the promotion of
the national lingua franca within the State and internationally; be consciously
aware of protecting and fully utilizing national language resources; properly
manage the complex relationships among various languages (or dialects) in China;
safeguard the language rights of citizens; provide the society with language
services with high quality and efficiency; and establish a harmonic language
life. In order to devise language planning which is appropriate to the national
situation, it is necessary to understand comprehensively and thoroughly the
language conditions of China.
China had conducted several language and dialect surveys of various scale
over the past 50 years or so. These surveys played an important role in the
scientific formulation of national language policies and their implementation.
In 1956, a language census for the Chinese language and ethnic languages
were commenced in accordance with the directives from the State Council. The
language census covered Chinese dialects of 1,849 counties and cities. Seven
ethnical language survey teams were organized to investigate the languages of
major ethnic regions. The language census was crucial to the promotion of
Putonghua and the standardization of the Chinese language, the reform and
creation of ethnic minorities’ characters, and the recognition of ethnic identity.
In 1999, 11 ministries and commissions, including the Ministry of Education and
the State Language Commission, jointly initiated the Survey of Chinese Lan-
guage Usage, employing the survey format of household questionnaires. 1,063
counties, cities and districts were involved in the survey with more than
470,000 persons being interviewed directly.6 Basic data of language use in China
were collected in this survey, which served as vital support for the decision-
making of language matters at the present time. In addition to the two large-
scale language surveys, enormous research results were obtained by scholars
in China on the investigations and studies of Chinese dialects, ethnic languages
and overseas Chinese language.
However, language life is complicated and ever-changing. Due to the con-
straints arising from the length of time since the data collected, the change of
survey rationale, the alteration of survey objectives, the advancement of survey
methodology (including survey techniques), or the shift of survey areas, various
language surveys conducted in the past 50 years or so may no longer reflect
the true state of the national language situation. It can be said that the national
6 For details, see Office of the Survey of Chinese Language Usage (ed.) (2006).
language situation is in the state of rough sketches and many aspects are still
not clear. Under the condition of unclear national language situation, decision-
making concerning language matters would have to rely much on historical
inertia, decisions on related areas, and the deduction miracle of the “brain
laboratory”. This practice is definitely not appropriate for a country where de-
velopment is so rapid, and it certainly cannot master the complicated and ever-
changing language life. With the speedy economic development of China’s
society and the drastic changes of language situation, the survey of the national
language conditions has become an urgent task. CLRAD adopts the method of
“one county one survey point” in recording census data and investigating the
status of various languages, dialects and local Putonghua in China, hoping
that basic data concerning the national language conditions which serve as
effective support for language planning of the State can be acquired.
4.2 Promotion of Putonghua in a scientific manner

Since the promotion of the unification of national language started from late
Qing period (Wu 1958), a lingua franca of modern Han nationality has gradually
been formed and promoted as the universal language of the State. Nowadays,
more than 60% of the population of the country can speak Putonghua7; the pro-
portion of teenagers who can speak Putonghua is even greater. In the new era
where Putonghua is prevailing, the promotion of Putonghua needs a new
strategy. The new strategy is: to adjust the focus of the task and to raise the effi-
ciency of the promotion of Putonghua.
Firstly, more emphasis should be placed in certain special regions and com-
munities, for instance, rural areas and Western regions, and preschool children
and primary students. Little efforts have been made in the promotion of Putong-
hua in rural areas and Western regions. However, mastering Putonghua as the
universal language of the country is essential to rural area advancement and
Western Region Development. In accordance with the regularities of language
acquisition, the time span between preschool period and primary school period
is crucial to the learning of Putonghua. Once a sound foundation of Putonghua
7 In accordance with the statistical figures obtained at the end of the 20th century, 53.06%
of the population of the country could speak Putonghua (see Zhongguo Yuyan Wenzi Shiyong
Qingkuang Diaocha Ziliao ‘Survey Information on the Language Use in China’). Ten years have
passed, it is expected that people who can speak Putonghua should be more than 60% of the
population.
210 Chapter 13
(especially Putonghua pronunciation) has been established during this period,

there will be no need to incur high social costs in promoting Putonghua in adult
period.
Secondly, there is a need to enhance the efficiency of Putonghua learning,
including the speed and quality of Putonghua learning. CLRAD can assist the
understanding of the characteristics of various Chinese dialects and ethnic lan-
guages, and enhance the knowledge of the features of “local Putonghua” and
the regularities of learning Putonghua from a dialectal perspective. All these
can undoubtedly increase the efficiency of Putonghua promotion and the quality
of its learning.
4.3 Preservation of the actual state of languages

Languages and dialects are an important vehicle as well as a significant com-
ponent of cultures. Chinese languages and the culture loaded in these languages
are the foundation of Chinese culture. CLRAD records the actual state of contem-
porary language and serves as a copy of digitized spoken language samples
which can be permanently preserved for the Chinese nation. CLRAD is also a
“Chinese language atlas” in which further processing is allowed. In the era
when modern information technology had not yet been properly developed,
researchers could only use written means to record languages and dialects.
Hence enormous amount of language information was omitted and the actual
state of the languages could not be preserved. Today, modern information tech-
nology and database technology, which have been remarkably developed, are
ready to be used in language surveys and make possible the permanent preser-
vation of the pronunciation of languages in their “original form”.
The characteristics of spoken languages are that they retain a lot of age-old
linguistic elements and cultural content. However, spoken languages develop
and change rapidly when they are being passed on from generation to genera-
tion. During the rapid development and change of spoken languages, linguistic
elements and cultural content will be lost in a relatively short period of time.
Judging from this nature, the preservation of spoken languages is in essence a
“rescue” task. Especially in the recent several decades, the ethnic minorities’
languages and the Chinese language have changed drastically with the speedy
progression in the aspects of political and economic affairs, cultural and educa-
tion affairs, mass media, communication and transportation: the changes in
structural elements (especially in lexical items), the changes in functional usage
and the changes in language users. Particularly, hundreds of millions of farmers
went to cities to look for jobs. The progress of urbanization in China has been
accelerated in great speed. “The language atlas” of China will be strikingly

modified, causing many minor languages and minor dialects to shrink, or even
die out. There is a danger of drastic loss of Chinese language resources. Endan-
gered languages have aroused widespread concern in the international society.
Due to the issue of endangered languages, the diversification of human cultures
has faced the threat which has never occurred before. Some warned that 90%
of the languages would cease to exist by the end of this century! (Xu 2001)
Under this international and national circumstance, the establishment of CLRAD
apparently plays a role in rescuing and preserving language information, and
protecting the heritage of Chinese linguistic culture.
4.4 Advancement of the development of language sciences

in China
The establishment of CLRAD will bring momentum to the development of lan-
guage sciences in China. As far as language surveys are concerned, the CLRAD
project lays emphasis on the influence of the factors of age and gender, specify-
ing the age and gender of informants as basic requirements. This practice views
language not as a homogeneous system, but as a heterogeneous system which
develops and changes at all times. This method consummates linguistic struc-
ture surveys, puts the collection of syntactic data in an appropriate position,
and supplements the former practice of only stressing pronunciation and lexical
items. In addition, these syntactic items were designed based on the guidance
from the parameters of linguistic typology which ensure the systematicness and
comparability of the syntactic data. The CLRAD project focuses on discourse
surveys together with the consideration of monologues and dialogues as well
as language and culture so as to allow language surveys to explore from the
aspect of abstract structural elements into the dimension of specific discourse
reality.
Modern information technology is applied to the CLRAD project as the basic
means of data collection, processing and storage. By using such technology, a
series of hardware and software are selected and developed for the language
survey. As a result, language survey techniques have reached a new stage.
Although the staff members participating in the survey are required to have
competent capability in differentiating and memorizing pronunciations, it is
even more essential for them to master modern information technology. With
the establishment of CLRAD, a new breed of academic teams has been fostered
for academic circles.
212 Chapter 13
CLRAD has stored enormous capacity of raw data, which saves academic
circles the trouble of conducting their own field surveys. Academic circles that
jointly develop and utilize the database for various researches in the long term
will definitely yield numerous direct and indirect results. To a very large extent,
the development of linguistics relies on the collection and processing of linguistic
facts. As far as the collection of language data is concerned, CLRAD is at the fore-
front of the era. If the database can be developed and utilized to the maximum
based on the principle of data sharing, it would become academic treasures.
With the advancement of language surveys from structure to discourse and
from written means to modern information technology, the collection of mass
capacity of raw data available for long-term academic development and research,
and the fostering of a new breed of academic teams during the implementation
of the project, CLRAD certainly brings momentum to the progression of lan-
guage sciences in China.
4.5 Other functions

CLRAD is not only useful to academic research, it is also valuable to administra-
tive development. It is not only essential to linguistics related works, it is also
beneficial to other areas. The database is available for use for the benefit of the
whole society. For instance, the audio database can be used to train machines to
recognize various dialects, languages and local Putonghua, which can enhance
the level of language informatization. The results of language informatization
can further be utilized in various areas, such as speech recognition, speech syn-
thesis, human-machine speech interface, etc., so as to facilitate the informatiza-
tion of production and daily life. The results of language informatization can
also be used in military, public safety and border defence for the benefits of
crime detection and national security.
In addition, there are more than 30 cross-border languages, such as Korean,
Hezhen, Oreqen, Evenkie, Daur, Mongolian, Uyghur, Kazak, Kirgiz, Tajik, Tatar,
Uzbek, Russian, Tibetan, Monba, Lhoba, Jingpo, Dai, Buyei, Hani, Lisu, Wa,
Lahu, Nu, Derung, De’ang, Zhuang, Yao, Gin, etc. Until now the cross-border
distribution and usage status of each of these languages have not been fully
known. In-depth understanding and scientific use of these languages are crucial
to the establishment of a harmonious relation with neighbouring countries,
which also serves as a new safety line along the border. CLRAD can assist the
understanding of these cross-border languages.
Furthermore, the collection of discourse data of CLRAD is based on certain
discourse topics which can also be regarded as cultural materials. Hence,
CLRAD can be considered as a database of Chinese spoken language culture
which can be utilized for cultural development. For instance, if the discourse
materials related to the realities of life (such as birth, old age, sickness and
death) of each place are marked, local customs of each place concerning this
aspect can be obtained; and if the discourse materials related to agricultural
activities of each place are tagged, a picture concerning agriculture of each
place can be realized. Starting from this basis, further research on local oral
culture (such as traditional operas, ballads, folklore, special historical relics, etc.)
can be conducted for places of interest if certain conditions can be met. Together
with visual materials, such as pictures and videos, these local oral cultural mate-
rials can be compiled into a database of local language culture. This database can
use the local language as the core, discourse as the skeleton and local culture as
the skin, which will serve as an important cultural establishment task in cultural
protection and museum exhibition implemented by local areas.
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Translated by CHAN Man Ho, Benny (陈文浩)

(Freelance translator)
bennycmh@netvigator.com
Chapter 14
Some thoughts on the standardization of
lexical items1
Abstract: The standardization of lexical items is an important task in the stan-

dardization of language. The social functions of language should be taken into
full account in the standardization of lexical items. Consideration should be
given to various different characteristics of different fields of lexical items. The
systematicness of language and standards should also be considered. The rela-
tionship between academic theories and reality should be tackled with care so
that sufficient space would be left for language development.
Keywords: spoken and written language, lexical items, standards
0 Introduction
Lexical items are the most important and active components of language. They
are also the object of language standardization. The reasons are: first, disregard-
ing the factor of dialectal pronunciation, the obstacle for communication within
the same language community mainly is the discrepancy in the use of lexical
items, for example, dialectal words, foreign words, technical terms, jargons,
etc.; second, new words arise as the society develops. These new words often
go beyond the normal standards with their word formation opposite to existing
rules, or with their system violating the commonly known one. For instance:
dădī (打的, meaning ‘take a taxi’), dàgēdà (大哥大, meaning ‘mobile phone’), yóubiān
(邮编, meaning ‘postal code’), kălāOK (卡拉 OK, meaning ‘karaoke’ ), VCD. . .
1 This paper was submitted to the “National Conference on the Issues of the Standardization of
Chinese Lexical Items” which was held in Xiamen in December 2001. The Conference was
hosted by Xiamen University with the co-organization of the Institute of Applied Linguistics of
the Ministry of Education, Beijing Broadcasting Institute, the Commercial Press and the Xiamen
Municipal Language Commission. Some of the paragraphs in the original paper were trimmed
due to the limitation of space when it was published. Some of these paragraphs were restored
when the paper was included in this collection. This paper was originally published in Journal
of Xiamen University (Arts and Social Sciences), 2002, Issue No. 2.
216 Chapter 14
At first, it would be an eyesore to look at these words. It is already quite

strange to say chūzūchē (出租车, meaning ‘taxi’) as díshì (的士, meaning
‘taxi’), let alone to abbreviate díshì into dí (的) and make it as the objective
case of the verb dă (打, meaning ‘fetch’) to form a new word dădī (打的). The
structure of dàgēdà (大哥大) is “adjectival element + nominal element + adjec-
tival element” which did not exist in Putonghua before. Yóubiān (邮编) is an
abbreviation of yóuzhèngbiānmă (邮政编码) by using the first syllable of the
two words yóuzhèng (邮政, meaning ‘postal’) and biānmă (编码, meaning
‘code’). However, in the word biānmă, the character mă (码, meaning ‘code’) is
in fact more meaningful than the character biān (编, meaning ‘to compile’).
Therefore, it is said that the abbreviation of yóuzhèngbiānmă should be yóumă
(邮码) which is better than yóubiān (邮编). In the word kălā OK (卡拉OK), Latin
letters are placed beside Chinese characters. All Latin letters are used in the
word “VCD”. All these new words go beyond the common practice and have
become the topics of discussions for the standardization of lexical items for
many years.
However, there is extreme difficulty in the standardization of lexical items. It
is not only because of the complexity of existing lexical items themselves and
their proliferation, but also due to the fact that so far there is still insufficient
understanding of the regularities concerning the standardization of lexical items.
Quite often, lexical items that are regarded as non-standard are the ones that
have great vitality, such as dădī, dàgēdà, yóubiān, kălāOK and VCD mentioned
above. These lexical items, though being criticized seriously, are still actively
used in our language life. Nevertheless, it is possible and necessary to standardize
lexical items. This paper discusses some thoughts concerning the standardization
of lexical items as a means to seek advice from linguistic experts.
1 Standardization should thoroughly take the

functions of language into account
Language is the most important semiotic system of communication, thought,
and cultural propagation and inheritance of humans. This definition may not
be accepted by academic circles, but it rather comprehensively summarizes
human understanding of language, especially the understanding of the three
social functions of language (communication, thought, and cultural propagation
and inheritance). As an important sub-system of language, lexical items should
be standardized in a way where the three social functions should be taken into
full account. For a long period of time in the past, people only consider the com-
munication function of language when it comes to the standardization of lexical
items. Such practice is obviously inadequate.
There is a great inertia in communication and thought. This inertia forms a
basis for language acquisition since we were young. Our language capacity is
then gradually developed in full through practice. The word “inertia” here
means the habit of language usage cultivated on the basis of language instinct.
It is extremely difficult to change the habit of language usage. There needs to be
an environment to facilitate such change with a relatively long period of time
required for such process. Hence, the habit of language usage should be taken
into consideration thoroughly so far as the standardization of lexical items is
concerned.
In December 2001, the Ministry of Education and the State Language Com-
mission (2002) released Diyipi Yixingci Zhenglibiao (DYZ, A Table of the First
Batch of Verified Variant Word Forms) with full consideration of the habit of
language usage. First, there were 388 groups of verified form words selected
from more than 1500 groups of variant form words collected. There was a quite
obvious tendency of social usage of the majority of these 388 groups. The
verified variant forms recommended in these 388 groups in accordance with
the tendency of social usage were in fact to affirm the habit of language usage
by means of standardization. Second, the verified variant forms were only recom-
mended for trial use. One form in each group of variant forms was recommended
as a verified form for trial use and at the same time it was not meant to annul
other corresponding forms. By doing so, a standard was provided for the society
to follow and it also served as a guiding function without posing a psychol-
ogical pressure on language users. Undoubtedly, this also left sufficient time for
the revision and updating of the publications and corpora so as to reduce the
economic losses incurred.
Language is not only a tool of communication and thought for humans, it
is also an important vehicle for cultural propagation and inheritance. Contem-
porary languages are the result of tens of thousands years of historical accumu-
lation. The standardization of lexical items needs to consider fully the historical
continuity of language. Again, variant form words are used as an example. If we
are concerned only about the communicative function of a language, one form
is sufficient for each group of variant forms. However, DYZ did not annul other
corresponding forms, in which the cultural and linguistic historical continuity
were taken into consideration. Each variant form is a historical product. The
formation of each of these variant forms embodies a “language story”. These
variant forms may be created with different word-formation rules, or may be a
218 Chapter 14
result of interchangeability of Chinese characters, or may possess a slight con-

trast between formal and informal style, or may even have a minor difference
in meaning. For instance:
– 鬓角 and 鬓脚 (both pronounced as bìnjiăo, meaning ‘sideburns’) have

different word-formation rules. The word 鬓角 focuses on the shape of an
acute angle of the sides, while the word 鬓脚 was created by describing
the “foot of the sides”.
– In 百废俱兴 and 百废具兴 (both pronounced as băifèijùxīng, meaning
‘all neglected tasks are being undertaken’), 俱 and 具 are interchangeable
characters.
– In 淡泊 and 澹泊 (both pronounced as dànbó, meaning ‘without seeking
fame and wealth’), the former is more informal and spoken in style and the
latter is more formal and written in style.2
– In 人才 and 人材 (both pronounced as réncái, meaning ‘talent’), there is a
slight difference in meaning after careful deliberation. The second one em-
bodies a metaphorical factor.
These discrepancies could be ignored when the variant form table was devised,
however, these forms do record “historical stories” of the language which are
valuable to the study of the development of the Chinese language and useful to
the reading of ancient texts. This is also an important reason why DYZ provided
one recommended form for each group of variant forms without annulling other
forms.
2 Standardization should take the characteristics

of lexical items in various fields into account
Lexical items in various different areas possess shared features as well as their
own characteristics. The standardization of lexical items should consider the
characteristics of these items in various fields. Lexical items are generally div-
ided into universal lexical items and special terms. Universal lexical items are
those lexical items commonly used by the whole race in communication. Special
terms are those lexical items commonly used in a certain field or profession.
Universal lexical items contain more synonyms and polysemic words. Since
uniqueness of the signified is required for proper nouns and technical jargon,
2 These examples are quoted from Variant Forms Standardization Team of the State Language
Commission (2001).
synonyms and polysemic words are objects of standardization. So far as this

aspect is concerned, universal lexical items are different from proper names
and technical jargon.
Proper names and technical jargon too have their own characteristics. For
instance, place names under proper names possess strong ethnically cultural
characteristics. Many place names are “living fossils” of ancient cultures and
languages, for example, place names as “Xiangcheng (项城), Xixian (息县),
Dengzhou (邓州), Gongxian (巩县), Qixian (杞县), Wenxian (温县), Mixian
(密县), Xuchang (许昌), Yuzhou (禹州), Shangcai (上蔡), Xincai (新蔡) and Yu-
cheng (虞城)” were all originated from the ancient state names of Xia Dynasty
to Spring and Autumn Period. These place names retain the history of enormous
number of ancient states existing in Central Plains. Handan (邯郸) of Hebei
(河北) was the capital of the ancient state Zhao. Some place names such as
“Huichexiang (回车巷), Chajianlin (插箭岭), Zhujianlu (铸箭炉), Shuzhuanglou
(梳妆楼) and Zhaomeichi (照眉池)” in Handan are the records of many stories
happened in the ancient state Zhao. (Li 1998:107–108)
In her study of the place names of Hainan, Zhang Huiying (2001: 230–237)
pointed out that the word měilán (美兰) of the Meilan Airport of Haikou is in
fact a refinement of the word mŭlán (母栏, meaning ‘the home of the maternal
side’). Using the word mŭ (母) as a naming custom can be traced back to
the ancient eras of oracle-bone inscriptions (甲骨文) and bronze inscriptions
(金文). This practice is also common in some regions of Southeast Asia. The
word měilán (美兰) and other relevant place names of Hainan retain plenty of
linguistic information, revealing some traces of ancient civilizations.
The standardization of place names should take into full consideration of
“the reasons of having such a name” and the psychology of refinement. The
focus of the standardization should not be solely on the issue of orthodox or
simplified characters with a solution of simply replacing the character with a
homonym. The pronunciation of place names very often retains an ancient pro-
nunciation or a dialectal pronunciation. The standardization of the pronuncia-
tion of place names is also a valuable topic to study.
Technical jargon emphasizes more on the accurate representation of con-
cepts when compared with ordinary lexical items. It is because the system of
technical jargon is in essence a system of concepts. Hence, the standardization
of technical jargon is in fact an organization of the concept system of various
subjects. (Feng 1997) It is necessary to organize technical jargon in the past,
however, the work related to technical jargon should focus more on the present
and future. Undoubtedly, contemporary Western world has technological advan-
tage. Rapid and accurate translation of technical jargon in foreign languages
into Chinese has become an important task related to the work of contemporary
220 Chapter 14
terminology in China. Technical jargon should be localized into Chinese in

accordance with the Chinese word-formation rules. The ideal is certainly the
achievement of “fidelity, fluency and elegance”. However, the translation of
technical jargon often emphasizes on timeliness without too much time for
detailed deliberation. The result is that the original form is copied or slightly
modified to form acronyms in Chinese3, such as “IT hángyè (IT行业, meaning
‘Information Technology industry’), E shídài (E时代, meaning ‘electronic era’),
NT jìshù (NT技术, meaning ‘NT technology’), DVD and ISO”.
One of the most important features of contemporary scientific technological
development is the rapid shortening of its horizontal transmission cycle. The
swift infiltration of the scientific technology of one field into other subjects, has
resulted in a shift of area of use of its technical jargons, followed by the semantic
shift of the jargon as well. Consequently, many technical jargons have changed
from monosemies to polysemies. Nowadays, as technology is heavily empha-
sized in China and it pervades promptly every part of our social life, technical
jargon has more opportunities to enter into ordinary social life to become uni-
versal lexical items. As technical jargon enters into our daily life, or as it is
changed into common use, popular names of the technical jargon occur. For
instance, jìsuànjī (计算机, meaning ‘computer’) is commonly known as diànnăo
(电脑) and wúxiàn yídòng diànhuà (无线移动电话, meaning ‘mobile phone’) is
commonly referred as shŏujī (手机). This causes the phenomenon of “one object
with several names”. In addition, Chinese communities spread across overseas
with each of them having their own interpretation of technical jargon. This also
results in the production of several translation versions of the same technical
term, for example, ruănjiàn (软件, meaning ‘software’) and xìnxī (信息, meaning
‘information’) are used in Mainland China, while ruăntĭ (软体) and zīxùn (资讯)
are used in Taiwan respectively. Obviously, the standardization of technical
jargon has its own characteristics which should be considered thoroughly when
it is implemented.
3 Standardization should tackle the relationship

between academic theories and reality with care
Academic theories of the standardization of lexical items refer to the reasons of
the formation of lexical items, the systematicness of lexical items and the dia-
3 Of course, there are other reasons for the occurrence of acronyms in Chinese.
chronic developmental regularities of lexical items. The reality of lexical items

means the actual usage of lexical items in the society. Overall, academic theories
and reality are consistent in the sense that for one thing, academic theories
are derived from the study of linguistic facts and the analysis and conclusion
of several thousand years of language in reality; for another, language has its
own self-adjusting function in accordance with the language regularities (aca-
demic theories) and that means the development of lexical items has its own
regularities as well.
However, there are divergences between academic theories and reality. It is
because: first, there is a limitation of understanding of the object of study. The
academic theories learnt are not comprehensive; second, language is dynamic
and it is always in the state of changing. Discrepancies inconsistent with regu-
larities occur inevitably for any language that is used by thousands of millions
of people. The discrepancies which are inconsistent with regularities may form
new regularities, or may need to be conformed to the regularities through the
means of standardization.
Language is not a pure and ideal logical structure, which is why the dis-
crepancies between academic theories and reality are normal and natural. To
tackle these discrepancies is an issue that needs to be faced and solved in
the process of standardization. In the course of dealing with the relationship
between academic theories and reality, the first thing is to have a sensible mind
so as to avoid the state of being contracted “linguistic mysophobia” which
exaggerates the consequence of having phenomena in reality inconsistent with
regularities as if there will be great chaos in language use. The second thing is
that linguists do not only describe linguistic facts and can do nothing about the
discrepancies with their academic authority. Linguists definitely can use their
academic authority to perform an active guiding function. Undoubtedly, lin-
guists are neither “language police” nor doctors specially diagnosing “linguistic
diseases”. However, when dealing with the discrepancies between academic
theories and reality, linguists should hold a positive attitude to discover new
theories in reality or to take a sound and effective measure in standardization.
The treatment of the relationship between academic theories and reality
also involves a list of issues of theory and practice.4 It is not the purpose of this
paper to discuss these issues comprehensively, only the issue concerning the
reference point of standardization will be explored. It is crucial to select a
correct reference point of standardization when the task of standardization is
conducted. The reference point of the standardization of lexical items should
be an authoritative regional or social dialect. The authoritative regional dialect
4 See also Yuan (2001) and Li (2001) for the discussion of this topic.
222 Chapter 14
is the Northern dialects as represented by Beijing dialect. The authoritative

social dialect is the social language used by more educated class of the society.
By including an authoritative social dialect as well in the standardization of
lexical items, it is essentially valuable in theory and meaningful in practice. In
the past, standardization was implemented by adopting “the rule established by
popular usage” as the ultimate criterion. When there is a contradiction between
academic theories and reality, very often the former has to be subordinated to
the later. If an authoritative social dialect is used as a reference point, the view
that “the rule established by popular usage” as the ultimate criterion would
deserve to be reconsidered totally. In addition, by utilizing the data of usage fre-
quency of lexical items from linguistic corpora, the degree of “popular usage” of
certain lexical items can further be confirmed and proved. The use of reference
data in this way for the standardization of lexical items has become a significant
methodology in standardization in modern era. To a large extent, the scienti-
ficity of this methodology depends on the selection of language materials of
the corpora. From the point of view of social dialects, the selection of language
materials of the corpora should not be performed randomly. The corpora should
be built by incorporating the language materials of an authoritative social dia-
lect. Only by doing so will the standardization of lexical items using the analysis
of such corpora be most meaningful. An authoritative social dialect is in essence
closest to academic theories. It is advantageous to take the issue of social dia-
lects into consideration when dealing with the disagreement between academic
theories and reality.
4 Standardization should leave sufficient space

for language development
In ancient times, language standardization carried a heavy flavour of “rectifying
errors and breaking bad habits”.5 The influence of this view still exists nowadays.
Many people treat the issue from the point of view of “rectifying errors and break-
ing bad habits”, regardless of whether they support or oppose the implementation
of language standardization. Admittedly, language standardization possesses
the function of “rectifying errors and breaking bad habits”, which in itself is
not a bad thing. However, in addition to this function, language standardization
is more vital in enhancing communication, facilitating language development,
5 See the discussion of Xu (2000), Yu (1996) and Lü (2000).

maintaining cultural continuity and upholding national image. This paper focuses
on the discussion of the point of facilitating language development.
Language standardization and language development are in essence comple-
mentary to each other. Theoretically speaking, appropriate language standardiza-
tion is advantageous to the healthy development of language which in turn can
facilitate the standardization of language and is beneficial to the work related.
Nonetheless, language standardization most probably may contradict language
development during the actual implementation of the former.
The objects of the standardization of lexical items are mainly variations
such as those items with the same form but different pronunciations, variant
form words of the same word, synonyms, parasynonyms, loanwords, abbrevia-
tions, new words and words with new usage, that includes all the phenomena
that are not conformed with the current language standards. It just so happens
that these phenomena are the new growing points of language development.
When language standardization is implemented at the growing points of lan-
guage development, the points can be damaged with just one faulty step in the
process of such standardization. Hence, extreme caution is required in this
standardization process so as to differentiate which phenomena should be
standardized and which ones should be preserved. For those phenomena that
are not clear at a certain point in time, no conclusion should be reached rashly.
During the formulation of the standards, it would be better to take into con-
sideration of dissenting views, especially opposing opinions, in order to avoid
basing on only the likes and dislikes of the personnel in charge of the project.
More guidance should be provided when the standards are released so as to
leave more space for language development.
In fact, standards are not static as unchanging infallible laws. On the con-
trary, standards should be dynamic in the sense that continuous revision, main-
tenance and upgrading of the existing standards should be conducted in accor-
dance with the development of language in order to better serve the needs of the
language life.
5 Standardization should possess systematic

concepts
When specific standardization is implemented, it needs to have corresponding
systematic concepts. Systematic concepts include systematic concepts of lan-
guage and standards. First, we will discuss the issue of systematic concepts of
language.
224 Chapter 14
Lexical items have their own system in which various items interact with
each other in diverse ways. Language standardization should take the systematic-
ness of the standardization of lexical items into account. For instance, 象 (xiàng,
meaning ‘appearance, shape, image’) and 像 (xiàng, meaning ‘likeness, image,
portrait, picture, statue’) are words as well as word-formation morphemes. Dur-
ing the language standardization process in 1950s and 1960s, 像 which was
treated as the orthodox form of 象 was annulled, although it was specified in a
footnote of Jianhuazi Zongbiao (A General Table of Simplified Chinese Characters)
released in 1964 that 像 was still allowed to be used if the two characters caused
confusion. The status of 像 as a standardized character was resumed when Jian-
huazi Zongbiao was re-published in 1986. However, there were still some con-
fusions on the aspect of word-formation of the two characters. In order to stan-
dardize the usage of the two characters, the China National Committee for Terms
in Sciences and Technologies published Guanyu Keji Shuyu zhong 象 (xiàng) yu
像 (xiàng) Yongfa de Yijian (Opinion concerning the Usage of 象 (xiàng) and 像
(xiàng) in Technical Terms) in 1990. On 18th October 2001, the China National
Committee for Terms in Sciences and Technologies and the State Language Com-
mission jointly held a conference to examine over 140 related technical terms
item by item and confirmed the following:
象 is used to signify the states and forms in nature, of humans or objects. 像
is used to signify the images of humans or objects produced using the methods
of an imitation, a model or similar ways, which also include the pictures identi-
cal or similar to the original and formed using reflection and refraction of light.
The conference also pointed out that the implementation of Guanyu Keji
Shuyu zhong 象 (xiàng) yu 像 (xiàng) Yongfa de Yijian (Opinion concerning the
Usage of 象 (xiàng) and 像 (xiàng) in Technical Terms) released by the China
National Committee for Terms in Sciences and Technologies in 1990 should be
terminated.6 The treatment of the standardization of the word-formation issue
of 象 and 像 should not be dealt solely for one or two words. It should be
tackled systematically within the same group of words. Undoubtedly, in accor-
dance with the stipulation of the usage of 像, the relationship between 像 and
相 (xiàng, meaning ‘looks, appearance, posture, photograph’) also needs to be
clarified. Other similar cases include:
– 订单—定单 (dìngdān, meaning ‘order form’) 订户—定户 (dìnghù, meaning
‘subscriber’) 订婚—定婚 (dìnghūn, meaning ‘engaged to be married’) 订货—
定货 (dìnghuò, meaning ‘order goods’) 修订—修定 (xiūdìng, meaning
‘revise’) 制订—制定 (zhìdìng, meaning ‘formulate’)
6 For details, see the China National Committee for Terms in Sciences and Technologies and
the State Language Commission (2001).
– 分量—份量 ( fènliàng, meaning ‘weight’) 分内—份内 (fènnèi, meaning ‘one’s

duty’) 分外—份外 (fènwài, meaning ‘especially, not one’s job’) 身分—身份
(shēnfèn, meaning ‘identity’) 辈分—辈份 (bèifen, meaning ‘seniority in the
family or clan’) 成分—成份 (chéngfèn, meaning ‘ingredient’)
There are slight differences in meaning between 订 and 定 as well as 分 and 份.

The words formed by these pairs need to be standardized on the basis of the
lexical system in order to enlarge the differences between the morpheme in
each pair and achieve systematic division of labour in their usage.
Pronunciation and written forms (for written language) serve as the physical
shells of lexical items. Lexical items then combine with other items in actual
usage in accordance with certain grammatical rules. When systematic concepts
of language is considered, the implementation of the standardization of lexical
items cannot be solely based on the items themselves, the relationship of related
aspects, such as their pronunciation, grammar and writing forms, with the
lexical items also needs to be fully contemplated. For instance:
– 树阴—树荫 (shùyīn, meaning ‘shade’) 柳阴—柳荫 (liŭyīn, meaning ‘shade

of a willow tree’)
There is little difference between 阴 and 荫 in the above two words as if the two
characters can be combined into one as perhaps 阴. However, 阴 can easily be
associated with 阴间 (yīnjiān, meaning ‘nether world, Hades’) and 阴曹地府
(yīncáodìfŭ, meaning ‘nether world, Hades’). There is a place in Beijing called
柳荫街 (liŭyīnjiē, meaning ‘Willow Tree Shade Street’). If the street name is
changed into 柳阴街, it would sound a bit awkward for people living in that
neighbourhood. The Chinese translation of the personal names of other ethnic
groups also needs to be managed carefully. The standardization of lexical items
needs to consider the relationship of various aspects, such as written forms and
pronunciation, of these items.
Next, we come to the issue of systematic concepts of standards. Standards
should not be formulated in isolation. The matters in relation to the standards
already published and to those issues in formulating relevant standards should
be deliberated carefully in the course of standardizing lexical items. All these
are systematic concepts of standards. Again, using DYZ as an illustrative exam-
ple. During the course of verifying variant forms, it was discovered that the
following phenomena existed in the social language life:
– 抵触—*牴触 (dĭchù, meaning ‘contradict’) 家伙—*傢伙 (jiāhuo, meaning
‘fellow, tool’) 氛围—*雰围 (fēnwéi, meaning ‘atmosphere’)
– 纨绔—纨*袴 (wánkù, meaning ‘silk trousers, sons of the rich’) 札记—*劄记
(zhájì, meaning ‘reading notes’)
226 Chapter 14
Characters with the sign “*” in the front are those variant forms already dis-
carded or those orthodox characters already having a simplified counterpart.
These non-standard phenomena need to be pointed out when verifying variant
forms. However, if these characters are placed in the main text of the Table, they
will be contradictory to the standardized simplified characters published before.
These characters were listed in the Appendix7 of DYZ, which served as a guiding
function and avoided the contradiction with the existing standards. Although
338 groups of variant forms were verified in the Table, some variant forms with
relatively high frequency had not been standardized, for example, 交代 and
交待 ( jiāodài, meaning ‘explain, transfer’). DYZ specially emphasized on overall
principles so as to provide theoretical preparation for the verification of the next
batches of variant forms. Furthermore, the formulation of Guifan Hanzi Biao
(GHB, A Table of Standard Chinese Characters) is in process and variant forms
had not been fully verified so as to leave some room to manoeuvre for the pro-
duction of GHB.
At the beginning when the People’s Republic of China was founded, the
work related to the spoken and written languages as a cultural engineering
project was highly regarded by various bodies and people and great achieve-
ments were acquired. As the society is progressing, the work related to the
spoken and written languages needs to advance accordingly. For the past
several decades, the reform and opening up as the fundamental national policy
of China contributed to the rapid development of the economy. After a certain
period of economic development, a new upsurge of cultural progress will inevi-
tably appear. Language is always the foundation of culture. It is expected that
with the development of economy and culture, there will be a great progress in
the work related to language. In the new century, how to update the concept of
standardization and how to better proceed and promote language standardiza-
tion deserve a serious study.
References
China National Committee for Terms in Sciences and Technologies and the State Language
Commission. 2001. 象 (xiàng) he 像 (xiàng) zai Mingciyi shang de Yongfa you Xinjieding –
Guanyu 象 (xiàng) yu 像 (xiàng) Yongfa Yantaohui Huiyi Jiyao [New Stipulations on the
Nominal Usage of 象 (xiàng) and 像 (xiàng) – Minutes of the Conference on the Usage of
象 (xiàng) and像 (xiàng)]. Chinese Science and Technology Terms Journal, Issue No. 4.
7 For details, see PRC Ministry of Education and the State Language Commission (2002).
Feng, Zhiwei. 1997. Xiandai Shuyuxue Yinlun (An Introduction to Modern Terminology). Beijing:
Li, Rulong. 1998. Hanyu Dimingxue Lungao (Discussions on Chinese Toponyms). Shanghai:
Shanghai Education Publishing House.
Li, Yuming. 2001. Tongyong Yuyan Wenzi Guifan he Biaozhun de Jianshe (The Formulation of the
Norms and Standards of Universal Spoken and Written Languages). Yuyan Wenzi Yingyong
(Applied Linguistics), Issue No. 2.
Lu, Jianming. 2000. Kuaru Xinshiji hou Woguo Hanyu Yingyong Yanjiu de Sange Zhuyao Fang-
mian (Three Major Aspects of Applied Study of the Chinese Language in China Towards
the New Era). Zhongguo Yuwen, Issue No. 6.
Publishing House.
PRC Ministry of Education and the State Language Commission. 2002. Diyipi Yixingci Zhengli-
biao (A Table of the First Batch of Verified Variant Word Forms). Beijing: Language and
Culture Press.
Variant Forms Standardization Team of the State Language Commission. 2001. Diyipi Yixingci
Zhenglibiao (caoan) Shuoming [An Exposition of A Table of the First Batch of Verified
Variant Word Forms (draft)]. Yuwen Jianshe, Issue No.11. Beijing: Language and Culture
Press.
Wang, Jitong. 1999. Wang Jitong Diming Lungao (Discussions on Toponyms by Wang Jitong).
Beijing: Social Sciences Academic Press (China).
Xu, Jialu. 2000. Weichengji – Lun Xinshiqi Yuyan Wenzi Gongzuo (Unfinished Collection –
Discussion on the Work Related to Spoken and Written Languages in New Era). Beijing:
Yu, Genyuan. 1996. Ershi Shiji de Zhongguo Yuyan Yingyong Yanjiu (Applied Linguistics Studies
in China in the 20th Century). Shanxi: Shuhai Publishing House.
Yuan, Guiren. 2001. Yi Guifan Biaozhun Jianshe wei Hexin, Kaichuang Yuyan Weizi Yingyong
Yanjiu Xinjumian (Initiating a New Trend in Applied Research of Language with Focus on
Standardization Criteria). Yuyan Wenzi Yingyong (Applied Linguistics), Issue No. 3.
Zhang, Huiying. 2001. Hanyu Fangyin Daici Yanjiu (A Study on Dialectal Pronouns in Chinese).
Beijing: Language and Culture Press.

Chapter 15
On terminology1
Abstract: The main tasks of terminology focus on the localization, standardiza-

tion, and internationalization of terms. The localization of terms refers to the
introduction of foreign technical terms to one’s native language by means of
liberal translation, transliteration, pictographic translation and the correspond-
ing variants, with preference for liberal translation. The standardization of terms
undertakes three missions: systematic analysis of terms, standardization of
ambiguous terms, and terminology correlation. The internationalization of terms
refers to the export and coherence of terms. The former relies on technological
innovation as well as spontaneous strategic planning. The terms in Chinese
should be both consonant with the international community and aware of the
multicultural factors. The article also highlights the importance of social science
terms, minority group terms, and the modernization of terms.
Keywords: term, localization, standardization, internationalization
0 Introduction
Terminology study has long been conducted in China. Since the first terminology
dictionary Er Ya (尔雅) from Han dynasty, as pointed out by Feng Zhiwei (1997a:
8–10), a great number of ancient literature has contributed tremendously to the
creation and consolidation of technical terms, for instance, Baopuzi (抱朴子)
from Ge Hong, Zhui Shu (缀术), Shui Jing Zhu (水经注) by Li Daoyuan, The
Dream Pool Essays (梦溪笔谈) from Shen Kuo, Complete Treatise on Agriculture
(农政全书) by Xu Guangqi, Song Yingxing’s Exploitation of the Works of Nature
(天工开物), and Li Shizhen’s Bencao Gangmu (本草纲目).
Terminology tasks, in the contemporary sense, began in late Qing dynasty.
The first organization for compiling scientific terms is the Scientific Term Institute
(科学名词编定馆) headed by Yan Fu, which was established in 1909 by the
Qing government. The compiling of scientific terms became an undertaking of
the country since then. In 1919, Committee for Scientific Terms (科学名词审定委
员会) has been set up after the 1911 Revolution. The National Government insti-
1 The paper was adapted from the presentation at the 2nd Election Conference of China Termi-
nology network (Beijing, 6th December, 2001).
230 Chapter 15
tuted the Translation Standardization Committee (译名统一委员会) in 1928 and

the National Institute for Compilation and Translation (国立编译馆) in 1932 for
the compilation of scientific terms.
The terminology tasks continued occupying a high place since the founding
of New China. The government established the Working Committee for Scientific
Term Standardization (学术名词统一工作委员会) in 1950. Soon afterwards,
China National Committee for Terms in Science and Technologies (全国科学技术
名词审定委员会) and National Standardization Technical Committees for Termi-
nology (TC62) (全国术语标准化技术委员会) were set up in April and October of
1985 as the times required. For more than a century, especially since New China,
thousands of experts have been engaging in the compilation of terminologies in
more than 20 disciplines, and a Chinese characteristic has gradually developed
during the process.
Terminology is the language projection of human scientific knowledge.
The study and dissemination of terminology systematically assorts and diffuses
human scientific knowledge; meanwhile, the standardization of terminology
promotes the development of science and technology, unifies the specification
of technological products, and advances scientific and technological exchanges.
The great importance of terminology tasks makes it the groundwork of the
strategy of “revitalizing China through science and education”.
1 The localization of terms

Different countries and nationalities, due to their uneven development, con-
tribute diversely to science and technology. Be that as it may, the development
of science and technology is driven by all nations via learning and meriting from
each other. During this process, the exchange of terminology is indispensable.
Technical terms of each nation are expressed and stored via its own lan-
guage, which renders three issues to the terminology tasks of all nations,
namely the localization, the standardization, and the internationalization of
terms. We will start our discussion with the localization of terms.
1.1 The nature of localization

The localization of terms refers to introducing foreign technical terms into one’s
native language by means of translation, which is a converting process of
language forms. Computer, for instance, is an English term first used in the
On terminology 231
States, which is localized as 计算机/电脑 once introduced into China; Radar,

an English acronym for Radio Detection and Ranging, is translated as 雷达 in
Chinese. Only language forms are changed, while the original senses of these
words are retained.
The development of modern science and technology mainly took place in
western countries. Therefore, the main terminology task of China, since the
Westernization Movement, has been focusing on the localization of terms.
1.2 Liberal translation, transliteration, and pictographic

translation
Localization changes a foreign term into one’s native language, which relies a
lot on the method of translation. Basic methods of translation adopted in the
20th century are liberal translation (意译), transliteration (音译), and pictographic
translation (形译), based on which three variants, namely transliteration and
liberal translation, partial transliteration-partial liberal translation, and partial
pictographic-partial liberal translation, are developed.
1) Basic methods of translation
a. Liberal translation
Liberal translation conveys the meaning of a foreign term with one’s native lan-
guage, for instance, translating computer as 计算机/电脑. This process amounts
to creating new words, which calls for a fairly high level of knowledge regarding
both source language and target language. Difficult as it is, liberal translated
terms are much more comprehensible. Moreover, it widens the applicable range
of the Chinese language to science and technology – the translation of each
term adds a new technical element into the language inventory.
b. Transliteration
Transliteration maps the letters of the source script to letters pronounced simi-
larly in the target script. For instance, 克拉利翁 is a transliterated term of the
English clarion, and 马赛克 is from the English mosaic (the art of creating im-
ages with an assemblage of small pieces of colored glass, stone, or other
materials). One-to-one correspondence is not likely to be observed between two
languages, meaning that transliteration is always accompanied by some slight
changes of the source term by adding or reducing some phonemics. The Chinese
characters adopted in transliteration only marks the pronunciation, and the
choice of these characters often follows certain standard rules. Chinese people,
232 Chapter 15
who do not like meaningless characters, endow these sound-marking characters,

in a way, with meanings. For example e-mail is transliterated as 伊妹儿, and mini
as 迷你/米尔. Note that these far-fetched meanings have no bearing on the
source terms, so they are still categorized as transliteration, instead of liberal
translation. Convenient as transliteration may be, it is still unfavorable for
people to grasp.
c. Pictographic translation
Pictographic translation refers to entirely copying the written form of certain

term from a foreign language. This means of introduction is still treated as
“translation” since this process is often accompanied by phonological changes
to conform to the target language. Terms translated to Chinese, for instance, no
longer have the inflectional/morphological changes of gender, number and
case; they also need to abide by the combination rules of Chinese. Pictographic
translation used to be widely adopted in translating Japanese terms, due to
the fact that Japanese words are Chinese in origin. A considerable number of
terms are directly copied from Japanese: 标本 (sample), 低能 (dysnusia), 地下水
(groundwater), 电报 (telegram), 动脉 (artery), 反射 (reflex), 方程式 (equation),
高射炮 (anti-aircraft gun), 火成岩 (igneous rock), 金刚石 (carbite), 静脉 (vein),
领空 (territorial air space), 上水道 (water-supply line), 退化 (degenerate), 温床
(hotbed), 血栓 (thrombus), 液体 (fluid), 因子营养 (molecular nutrition), 游离
(dissociation), 元素 (element), and 原子 (atom) (cf. Liu, et al. 1984).
Some of the aforementioned terms are translated from other languages to
Japanese, which functions as a way station from foreign languages to Chinese.
In recent years, there has been an outpouring of translating from western lan-
guages. For instance, ASCII, CAD, CD, CPU, CT, DNA, DOS, DVD, E-mail, E-book,
ISO, MTV, SOS, UFO, VCD, WTO, and so forth. Pictographic translation is also
convenient and efficient. Specifically, pictographic translation from Japanese is
more accessible to Chinese people, and that from western language advances
the internationalization of terms. But less than that, the compatibility between
Chinese language and pictographically translated western terms is fairly limited,
and it is time-consuming for Chinese-speaking people to use freely.
2) Corresponding variants
The above three methods of translation can be applied in combination with each
other, generating three variants.
a. Transliteration and liberal translation
Translating radar into 雷达 is an instantiation of transliteration. Moreover, the

meaning of the two characters 雷达 in Chinese is related to the English term
On terminology 233
radar in certain degree. This kind of translation is regarded as transliteration

and liberal translation, which is different from the aforementioned 伊妹儿 or
迷你. The meanings of the latter ones are not associated with their English
counterparts.
b. Partial transliteration-partial liberal translation
斯柯达炮 (Skoda gun) and 啤酒 (beer) are two instances of partial trans-
literation-partial liberal translation, in which 斯柯达 and 啤 are the translitera-
tion part, whereas 炮 and 酒 specify the natures of the terms. In the former case,
the meaning part specifying the category of the term is a result of liberal trans-
lation, i.e. from gun to 炮; while the translation of the latter one adds a suffix 酒
to indicate the category of the term.
c. Partial pictographic-partial liberal translation
In terms such as B超 (type-B ultrasonic), X射线 (X-ray), B and X are pictograph-

ically translated; whereas 超 and 射线 are liberally translated.
All of these three variants counterbalance the shortages of transliteration
and pictographic translation with liberal translation.
1.3 A preference for liberal translation

As has been pointed out, the translated terms are added into the inventory of the
target language, which requires the translation to take the linguistic features
and existing terminological system of the target language into consideration.
The linguistic features of Chinese favor liberal translation and its variants, and
its terminological system is a tree structure as illustrated below:
234 Chapter 15
This structure can be further extended into multiple layers, and it bears two
features. First, terms follow a superordination-subordination relationship; and
second, the word formation of the terms on each layer is regular and con-
formable, which would be violated were we to transliterate 语法 as 葛郎玛, or
pictographic translate as Grammar. The linguistic foundation of Chinese termi-
nological system is morpheme, which determines the preference of the language
for liberal translation.
2 The standardization of terms

The standardization of terms is a twofold task consisting of the standardization
of the autochthonous terms and that of those introduced ones. The standardiza-
tion of terms undertakes three missions: systematic analysis of terms, standard-
ization of ambiguous terms and terminology correlation.
2.1 Systematic analysis

The primary task for the standardization of terms is to classify and categorize
terms from a macro perspective on the basis of each disciplinary system. This is
the aim of terminology analysis; furthermore, it observes and in turn solves
problems regarding certain terms in this process, which grants great importance
to such systematic analysis.
2.2 Standardizing ambiguous terms

Ambiguous term is an important yet challenging issue for terminology standard-
ization. Homonyms and synonyms are two major manifestations of ambiguous
terms. Theoretically, there should be a one-to-one correspondence between a
term and the concept it refers to. That is to say, one term can refer to only
one concept, and one concept could be conveyed through only one term. It is
apparent that ambiguous terms should always be avoided in any terminological
system. However, specific cases demand more detailed and concrete discussion.
1) Homonyms
Ambiguous terms should be defined in specific application fields. Homonyms

are allowed in different disciplines. In other words, one term could refer to
different concepts from different disciplines. For instance:
On terminology 235
铁塔 (Tower):
① (architecture) a tall, narrow building, which either stands alone or forms
part of another building such as a church or castle.
② (power transmission) a tall structure that is used for sending radio or televi-
sion signals.
同化 (Assimilation):
① (biology) the conversion of nutrient into the fluid or solid substance of the
body, by the processes of digestion and absorption
② (linguistics) a linguistic process by which a sound becomes similar to an
adjacent sound.
透视 (perspective/fluoroscopy):
① (painting) Perspective is the formation of an image in a picture plane of a
scene viewed from a fixed point, and its modelization in geometry
② (medical) Fluoroscopy is an imaging technique that uses X-rays to obtain
real-time moving images of the internal structures of a patient through the
use of a fluoroscope.
温床 (hotbed):
① (agriculture) a bed of earth covered with glass and heated by rotting manure
to promote the growth of plants.
② (daily) a situation that is ideal for rapid development (especially of some-
thing bad).
Homonyms are also found within one academic realm. Li Yuming (2002)
discusses about the phenomenon of expressing both whole and parts with one
term. For example:
足球 (football):
① (sports) a kind of ballgames that involve kicking balls with the foot.
② (balls) balls that are used in the football game.
小麦 (wheat):
① annual or biennial grass having erect flower spikes and light brown grains
② grains of common wheat
According to Li, such phenomenon has two subcategories: ballgames and

plants. Almost all terms of ballgames express a part-whole relation, for instance,
棒球 (baseball), 冰球 (ice hockey), 橄榄球 (rugby), 高尔夫球 (golf ball), 篮球
(basketball), 垒球 (softball), 乒乓球 (Ping-Pong ball), 排球 (volley ball), 台球
(billiard ball), 网球 (tennis), 羽毛球 (badminton), etc. Part-whole terms could
also be found in terms of agricultural crops, vegetables, fruitwood, flowering
236 Chapter 15
wood, and medical herbs, for example, 高粱 (sorghum), 芝麻 (sesame), 棉花

(cotton), 番茄 (tomato), 萝卜 (turnip), 南瓜 (cashew), 橄榄 (olive), 苹果 (apple),
桃 (peach), 牡丹, 芍药 (peony), 天麻 (rhizome gastrodiae), and so forth.
It is noted recently that gymnastics also witness such kind of phenomenon:
跳箱 (vaulting box):
① (gymnastic apparatus) a box-shaped, trapezoid gymnastic apparatus, height
adjustable.
② (gymnastic event) jumping over the apparatus by different postures.
The same is the case for 鞍马 (pommel horse), 单杠 (horizontal bar), 吊环

(hand ring), 高低杠 (uneven bars), 双杠 (parallel bars), and 跳马 (vaulting
horse), etc.2
The meanings of these terms must be distinguished and differentiated whilst
the standardization of sports science and botany terms. Take the term 桃 for
instance, its plant could be further specified as 桃树 (peach tree), and its fructi-
fication as 桃子 (peach fruit). Similarly, the sporting event of 排球 (volleyball)
could be termed as 排球运动/排球比赛 (volleyball game), and the sports ball
as 排球.
2) Synonyms
Synonymous terms are widely observed across-disciplines in different periods

and at different regions due to the divergence in means of term construction
and term introduction. Synonym is another focus of the standardization of
terms, which demands solid analysis concerning concrete terms.
Some terms have contracted forms. 微机 (microcomputer), for instance, is
the contracted form of 微型计算机. Theoretically, full terms and their contracted
forms are synonyms and their coexistence is allowed. Generally, the full term is
regarded as the main form and the contracted term as a supplement; however, if
the contracted forms are more commonly adopted, it could also be treated as the
main form of the term. For instance, 高中 (high school) is the contracted form of
高级中学, the former is more commonly used in everyday life and thus becomes
the main term of this concept.
Some academic terms are endowed with common names in everyday com-
munication. 电脑 (computer), for instance, is the common name for 计算机;
and 微电脑 (micro-computer) for 微型计算机/微机. Formal terms and common
names are also allowed to coexist, since it is both inconvenient and unnecessary
to employ the formal academic term in daily use.
2 Synonyms are also observed in martial arts or acrobatics. For instance, 单刀: ① (single-
broadsword) a kind of broadsword with short shank. ② (single-broadsword event), an event
of martial arts played by using single-broadsword.
On terminology 237
Terms are supposed to be unified among different regions. However, syno-

nyms widely exist among the Chinese communities at home and abroad due to
complex history and realities. One study from Zhou Qihuan (2001) systemati-
cally analyzes the divergence in aviation terms between mainland China and
Taiwan. Below are some examples:
English terms Mainland China Taiwan

Airship 飞艇飞船
Communication 通信通讯
Data 数据资料
Fighter 歼击机战斗机
General aviation 通用航空普通航空
Information 信息资讯
laser 激光镭射
Memory 存储器记忆体
Network 网络网路
Robot 机器人机械人
Standardizing these terms would be difficult in short terms, but different com-
munities are beginning to make some inroads into term standardization by
compiling dictionaries and leading active interactions. All Chinese communities
should take active part in work on this concern.
2.3 Terminology correlation

Terminology correlation refers to building relations among terms via various
means. Systematic analysis as talked about at the beginning of this section
could be regarded as terminology correlation in the broad sense, beside which
the following three aspects should also be taken into consideration:
1) Building correlation among interrelated terms cross disciplines. Study

object, methodologies as well as equipment may overlap among different
fields, which allow the adoption of the same term by multiple subjects.
Take the aviation terms listed above for instance, communication, data,
information, laser, memory, network, robot, etc. are interdisciplinary. Such
correlation facilitates the communication among subjects, and helps in the
standardization of terms by discovering the difference of the same term
cross disciplines. As pointed out by Zhang Yanyan (2001), robust is trans-
literated as 鲁棒 in the field of automation and navigation. The same term
is adopted by topography at first, which was re-translated as 稳健 in the
1950s, and 抗差 in the 1980s. Another example is root-mean-square. It
238 Chapter 15
is translated as 方均差 in physics and electrotechnics, and as 均方差 in

mathematics. Such discrepancy could only be observed via terminology
correlation, based on which further negotiation can be carried out so as to
unify these terms.
2) Building correlation between formal terms and common name; among
terms of different regions; and among related languages.
3) Building correlation between formal terms and the discarded ones.
The task of terminology correlation is indispensable in that it increases the

quantity of information, facilitates inter-disciplinary communication, provides
the base to standardize ambiguous terms, and reflects the progress of term
standardization.
It might also be noted that, the standardization task would be rather
difficult once the terms are widely used. For example, between 选单 and 菜单
(menu), 光碟 and 光盘 (compact disc), 因特网 and 互联网 (Internet), the
former ones are the standard forms according to the government; however, the
latter ones are still extensively used nowadays. To avoid such kind of passive
situation, the guiding principle should be “mainly to recommendation before
used as a supplement to standardization afterward”. As mentioned, the termi-
nology task of our country has mainly been focused on the introduction of terms
which, unfortunately, will continue long. That being the case, the main task of
terminology should concentrate on tracking the international terminology devel-
opment, translating and introducing the important terms, and setting standards
for the newly introduced terms. The China National Committee for Terms in
Science and Technologies and National Standardization Technical Committees for
Terminology (TC62) are now making considerable effort to enhance the policy of
“recommendation before used”, which should be promoted.
3 The internationalization of terms

The meaning of term internationalization consists of term export and terminology
coherence. The former refers to exporting our own terms to foreign countries,
and the latter advocates coherent forms of terms from domestic and abroad.
3.1 The export of terms

The export of terms is the reverse course of term localization, which shows the
national strength and international influence of a country. Moreover, term export
On terminology 239
contributes to the development of science and technology, and it depends on the

advanced degree in science and technology of the exporting country. Countries
differ in the fields of science that they take leading position. Most of the geo-
graphical terms, for instance, are from German; while astronautic terms are
mainly from English and Russian. English is also the main source for terms of
modern information technology and computer science. These facts demonstrates
that Germany used to take a leading position in geography, America and
Russian lead world in aerospace technology, and America also predominates in
modern information technology and computer science.
Ancient China used to be a major term exporter. The traditional “sinophere”
has assimilated a great deal of technical terms from our country and this influ-
ence even rippled through the western world. As shown by Wu Tieping (1982),
the term expressing the concept of 书 (book) in many countries situated above
the 35th degree of Northern Latitude were borrowed from the Chinese character
经. This character, taking Old Turkish as medium, has been borrowed by all
the Slavic languages, and then Armenian, Lithuanian, and Hungarian. Wu
Shusheng and Tian Zibing (1986) points out that China used to be called Serica
by many ancient western countries, and Serica is a transliterated term of 丝 in
Ancient Chinese. The same is the case for 茶. As pointed out by Zhou Zhenhe
and You Rujie (1986), the term expressing tea in many countries are trans-
literated from 茶, for instance thee in Dutch, tea in English, tee in German, thé
in French, chai in Russian, shai in Arabic, chay in Farsi, and ceai in Romanian,
etc.
China still is a term exporter to certain extent. Traditional science and
technology with unique ethnic features, such as traditional Chinese medicine,
Tibetan medicine and pharmacology, martial arts, and traditional linguistics,
continue to play a role in nowadays and gain widely attention all over the
world. As for modern science, we are not as competitive; however, we are devel-
oping steadily and approaching or even reaching the advanced global levels.
The export of terms depends not only on the development of science and
technology, but also on our strategic planning. Firstly, our Chinese scholars
should recognize the importance of term export, and create terms by using
Chinese morphemes (including pinyin) in their works and papers, as well as in
their discoveries and technical inventions owning independent intellectual
properties, so as to increasing the proportion of “Sinoxenic terms”.
Secondly, we should employ various measures to escalate the presence of
“Sinoxenic terms”:
1) Scientists should follow the development of domestic science and technology,

adopt more Sinoxenic terms, and build up the presence of Sinoxenic terms.
240 Chapter 15
2) By translating more Chinese literatures, and publishing more magazines

and books in foreign languages, we can introduce our achievements in
traditional and modern science and technology, increase our impact on
international science and technology, and accelerate the popularization of
Sinoxenic terms.
3) Translators and scholars writing in foreign languages should unify the
translation of Chinese terms, which caters to the language habits of the
target language on the one hand, and retains Chinese characteristics on
the other.
4) Compile bilingual dictionaries of Chinese terminology. In doing so, a
panorama of the Sinoxenic terms in our leading or featured fields could be
comprehensively displayed.
5) Consolidate the foundation of global popularization by coordinating the
scientific work of global Chinese people as well as establishing the prestige
of Sinoxenic terms among them. The traditional “Sinoshperic regions” also
deserves special attention due to the fact that we share similarities in
cultures and that we have long been borrowing terms from each other.
3.2 Terminology coherence

Science and technology is developing and spreading at an unprecedented rate.
The forming cycle of scientific terms is getting shorter, and the quantity increases
in an explosive pattern. The internationalization of terms has always been advo-
cated to meet the globalization in the information era. It is proposed that
scientific terms worldwide should adopt identical or similar written forms.
The written form of ISO (International Organization for Standardization), for
instance, is identical among all the western languages. Term, according to Feng
Zhiwei (1997a: 1), is also a highly internationalized term:
Term English, Dutch, Swedish, Welsh

Terme French
Termi Finnish
Termin Russian, Bulgarian, Romanian, Slovak, Czech, Polish
Tèrmine Italian
Término Spanish
Terminus German
It is natural for the Indo-European languages to adopt identical or similar terms

given that they are cognate languages, and they all adopt alphabetic writing
system. Chinese, however, differs from the Indo-European languages greatly in
On terminology 241
that it does not use alphabetic writing system. Hence, the internationalization of
terms would be rather difficult due to the limitation of pictographic translation
of terms from western languages. Similarly, borrowing terms carried by Chinese
characters are also restricted.
In spite of that, ignoring the trend of terminology internationalization is
never a choice. China should keep pace with the world on this concern in a
broader sense by 1) building a terminology system on the basis of international
academic standardization and system; 2) using “loan translation” as often as
possible, i.e., translating terms in accordance with the language structure of
the source language, for instance, equivalent term as 等价术语, online as 在线
(的), E-book as 电子图书, etc.; 3) adopting variants of transliteration and picto-
graphic translation; 4) creating the abbreviation form of Sinoxenic terms by
using pinyin, for example the abbreviation of 汉语水平考试 is HSK and that of
普通话水平测试 is PSC; and 5) establishing a multi-lingual terminology system
to facilitate the communication with foreign countries.
Culture diversity is another issue under consideration besides globalization.
Confronting the trend of mono-market, mono-language, and mono-culture of
the information era, UNESCO adopted the Universal Declaration on Cultural
Diversity3 in its 31st session of General Conference held in Paris, October, 2001.
The internationalization of terms is also obliged to take culture diversity into
consideration.
4 Other terminology tasks related issues

Having seen the much of terminological localization, standardization, and inter-
nationalization, three more issues, namely the importance of social science
terms, minority group terms, and the modernization of terms, require the same
attention.
4.1 Social science terms

Terminology task also lays more stress on science than arts. For the 20th
century, terminology task in our country has been concentrated on the fields of
natural science and technology, while neglecting social science. Terminology
task of social science should also be emphasized given the follow reasons:
3 cf. Secretariat of China National Commission for UNESCO (2001: 47–48).

242 Chapter 15
Firstly, social science is a component part of science, which is as important

as natural science. Terminology task promotes the development of social
science, and untangles the present confusions of terminology in this field.
Secondly, the emergence and development of interdisciplinary subjects is a
new trend, which brood many new branches of science, and advance many
important technologies that are closely related to economic and social develop-
ment. For instance, linguistics, as social science, intersects with mathematics
and computer science forms computational linguistics, which is the academic
foundation of Natural Language Processing. Psycholinguistics and neurolinguis-
tics, as the interdiscipline of linguistics with psychology and neurology, are key
subjects of studying human information processing and cognitive laws. The
intersection of phonetics with acoustics and computer science plays an indis-
pensable role in speech synthesis, speech recognition, and computer speech
processing. The many interdisciplinary subjects of linguistics and law, such as
“soundprint identification”, play a prominent part in crime investigation.
Thirdly, China is a nation with long history of culture. Various unique cate-
gories of social science carry their own weight in the world, such as ethnology,
literature, historiography, linguistics, etc. Hence, intensive research on social
science advances the international spread of our social science and relevant
terms.
Fourthly, the formation and application of social science terms is not exactly
the same as that of natural science. The difference can be summarized as
follows: (1) social science terms are highly “sinicized” – borrowed terms are far
outnumbered by coined terms; (2) high accuracy of terms is not required in
social science – extended and metaphoric meanings are allowed; (3) terms
from social sciences are more closely related to everyday life – it is quite possi-
ble for these terms and everyday language to convert mutually. Research on the
formation and application of social science terms provides a comprehensive
picture of the characteristics of terms in general, enriches the theoretical system
of terminology, and refines our methods of terminology study.
The standardization of terms in social science promotes the development

of social science, conduces to multi-disciplinary intersection between social
and natural science, advances the development of terminology, accelerates the
export of Sinoxenic terms, and extends the international influence of Chinese
culture and social science. The China National Committee for Terms in Science
and Technologies is now working with Chinese Academy of Social Science
in the standardization of linguistic terms, which is quite a farsighted act. At
present, how to conduct efficient standardization of terms in social science is
still a pressing research topic due to our lack of practice in the regard.
On terminology 243
4.2 Minority group terms

There are 55 minority groups in our country. They distribute throughout the
country and boast long histories and splendid cultures. More than 100 lan-
guages or dialects and about ten written languages are still in use among these
people.
Firstly, the terminology tasks of minority languages play an important part
in the Development of Western Regions. The development of minority regions
relies on the promotion of literacy and the popularization of science and tech-
nology, both of which demand adaptable terminology systems for different
minority groups.
Secondly, extending and standardizing technical terms is also essential to
the development of minority languages and cultures. A language with few scien-
tific and technical terms is neither complete nor dynamic, so terminology task is
indispensable for the development of minority languages and cultures.
Thirdly, minority groups possess a wide variety of unique traditional science
and technology. Exploring and internationalizing the terminology system of
these traditional science and technology is both propitious to the preservation
of tradition and beneficial to the development of science and society of our age.
Terminology tasks in minority regions also focus on the localization, stan-
dardization, and internationalization of terms. Both the localization and inter-
nationalization of minority terms take Chinese as its medium. To accelerate the
minority terminology task, establishing bi-lingual or even multi-lingual termi-
nology system, by translating minority terms into Mandarin, is a solid move.
Such system facilitates the domestic communication of terminology, shares
researches of Chinese terminology with minority groups, and speeds up the
pace of minority terminology tasks.
China has a large number of minority languages, some minority groups
is now adopting Chinese language, and some written systems are not well
preserved. In view of the current circumstance, terminology tasks of minority
languages should start with the languages that are widely used and with well-
preserved written systems. We can take textbooks and publications as entry
point and further generalize to other fields.
4.3 The modernization of terms

Internet, developed in the late 1990s, is now influencing our life on every side. It
also is the foundation of the modernization of terms. Internet should be fully
used and adapted in all aspects of terminology tasks, such as term collection,
244 Chapter 15
classification, compilation, consultation, recommendation, publication, database

construction, database query, and database upgrading, etc.
The coverage of these tasks may include building a digital, real-time up-
dated massive database of scientific and technological literature via Internet
and timely retrieving new terms and raw terms from the database. Moreover,
the terms can be classified and compiled through contexts and various defining
methods, with extensive consultations from experts and the community via
Internet and other media. Tentative terms can then be recommended to the
community and published, with an Internet-based multi-lingual terminology
database established for query and communication.
Network sharing is the key idea of cyber society. In regard of terminology
tasks, sharing refers to the share of achievement and intelligence. To make it
happen, we should 1) convert and upload terms onto online database in good
time, improve the database by conform standards or interchangeable methods,
and open to the public as far as possible. In doing so, we share achievements. 2)
promote academic democracy by adopting an open attitude to the public during
the whole process of terminology task so as to mustering the wisdom from the
entire society. In this way, terminology task conquers the limitation of a few
experts, and grows into a public event, and intelligence sharing is thus achieved.
The terminology task in China is both onerous and difficult. First, terminology
task is closely related to spoken and written language, and the status of the
latter is complicated in our country given a multitude of minority languages
and dialects and the discrepancy of language between mainland China and
Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. Secondly, the standardization of terms is
bound up with the development of education, economy, and science and tech-
nology. China, a vast country, witnesses an uneven development in these aspects
between eastern and western regions, as well as between mainland and Hong
Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. Thirdly, as the intersection of interdisciplinary sub-
ject, and the implement of the strategy of “revitalizing China through science
and education”, more and more terms are spreading from one subject to another
and from academia to the daily life in a rapid rate. Under these complex circum-
stances, the harmonization of terms among different minority groups, different
communities, and different technology categories demands more effort and finan-
cial resources. As the acceleration of the process of global economic integration
and China’s joining WTO, the harmonization of terms between China and the
On terminology 245
other countries becomes more urgent, and the requirements for the internation-
alization of terms becomes more exigent.
From an academic perspective, the complexity of research objects is propor-
tionate to the difficulty of research work, and the more complex the object is, the
greater the academic achievement is. In the process of terminology localization,
standardization, and internationalization, we should carry on the tradition of
Chinese terminology. Meanwhile we should also learn from the main schools of
modern western terminology, such as the German-Austria school, the Russian
school, the Czechoslovakia school, and the Canada-Quebec school, etc. In doing
so, China is on its way to make its impact on the international terminology, and
create our own terminology school.
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tion and Unification of Chinese Characters in Information Era). Shuyu Biaozhunhua yu
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No. 2.
Translated by LEE Po Lun, Peppina (李宝伦)

Department of Linguistics & Translation,
City University of Hong Kong
ctpllee@cityu.edu.hk
WUYUN Saina (乌云赛娜)

Department of Linguistics and Modern Languages,
The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Chapter 16
Reflection on the modernization of
lexicography in China
Abstract: China boasts a long history of lexicography with a large amount of

dictionaries of all sorts, but it is yet among the top countries that excel in this
field. The modernization of lexicography in China is slow and in great need of
strategic planning at the macro level, practices and collaboration at the world
level, as well as globally renowned works with long-term impact. Endeavor
should be put to modernize the means of dictionary compilation, to develop
large-sized corpora, databases, and software, and to promote publication of
electronic dictionaries such as on CDs or on the Internet. Only comprehensive
measures incorporating traditional and virtual media could ensure China of the
path to a leading position in modern lexicography.
Keywords: electronic dictionary, dictionary compilation, modernization of lexico-

graphy
0 Introduction
China is among the first countries that started compiling dictionaries since
ancient times. Cao Xianzhuo (1986) stated that rudiment of lexicography emerged
before the Han Dynasty (202 BC–220 AD). For example, the ancient Chinese
classics from the Spring and Autumn Periods (770–476 BC) had included books
on exegesis. Chinese Primers such as Shi Zhou Pian of the Zhou and Qin Dynasties
(Zhou, 11 century BC–256 BC; Qin, 221–207 BC), and Cang Jie Pian, Yuan Li Pian,
Bo Xue Pian of the Qin Dynasty, marked the beginning of lexicography with
early attempts in compilation of Chinese characters. Er Ya, Fang Yan, Shuo Wen
Jie Zi ‘Etymological Dictionary by Xu Shen’ written in the West Han Dynasty
(202 BC–9 AD) laid the foundation of Chinese lexicography that finds heroic
achievements in times from the Han Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty (1636–1912)
including YongLe DaDian ‘the Great Encyclopedia of the Emperor Yong Le’, Gujin
Tushu Jicheng ‘the Collection of Books from the Past and Present Days’, Kangxi
Zidian ‘Kangxi Dictionary’.
The years from the end of the Qing Dynasty to before the establishment of
new China (1912–1949) recorded the emerging of modern Chinese lexicography,
which was pioneered by the Shanghai Guoxue Fulunshe ‘Rotary Club for National
248 Chapter 16
Learning’ who published the Dictionary of Liberal Arts in 19111. Earlier works of
great significance also include Zhonghua Da Zidian ‘The Great Character Dic-
tionary of China’ in 1915, and later, Ci Yuan, Ci Hai, and GuoYu Cidian. Despite
these important achievements then, China had been lagged far behind by Western
countries considering developments of modern lexicography.
In the past 50 years since 1949, great development has been recorded in the
field of lexicography with a number of excellent dictionaries such as Xinhua
Dictionary, Xiandai Hanyu Cidian ‘Modern Chinese Dictionary’, Hanyu Da Zidian
‘Dictionary of Chinese Characters’, Hanyu Da Cidian ‘Dictionary of Chinese Words’,
Zhongguo Da Baike Quanshu ‘Encyclopedia of China’, Xiandai Hanyu Fangyan
Da Cidian ‘Dictionary of Modern Chinese Dialects’, Putonghua Jichu Fangyan Jiben
Cihuiji ‘Collection of Basic Vocabulary of Base Dialects for Putonghua’, Guxun
Huizuan ‘The Comprehensive Collection of Exegesis’. In regions of Hong Kong
and Taiwan, dictionaries of significant merits have also been published. In other
words, half-a-century’s effort has brought about huge progress in lexicography
in terms of types, circulation sizes, and numbers of household copies.
A leading country in the quantity of dictionaries as it is, China does not yet
excel in the quality, with only a few dictionaries that are highly recognized
worldwide. There is much room between China and the countries that are lead-
ing the field, considering means and concepts of dictionary compilation. To keep
up with leaders in the world, lexicography in China must accelerate its modern-
ization process.
1 To modernize the means of dictionary

compilation
The age of information is characterized by digital technology for information
processing and corpus as the main media of information. So, the modernization
of lexicography means an embrace of digital technology and corpus in every
stage of dictionary compilation. Specifically, it requires large corpus and data-
base, and powerful software for dictionary compilation.
1.1 Corpus
Li Yuming (2004) defined a modern corpus as a sizable and organized collection
of transcribed and tagged natural discourse. Thus, the first modern corpus in the
1 The article by Li and Guo (2002) referred to the Rotary Club as the publisher of A New Popu-
lar Encyclopedia. They did not mention Zuo Xin She in their discussion of the dictionary.
world is the Brown Corpus established by the Brown University in 1964, follow-
ing which a series of corpora were build up, e.g.,
a) LOB Corpus, which was initiated in 1970 and finished in 1978;
b) The American Heritage Intermediate Corpus, built in 1971;
c) London-Lund Corpus, built in 1973
d) Kolhapur Corpus of Indian English, built in 1978
e) The Cornell Corpus, build in 1980
f) Corpus of English-Canadian Writing, built in 1984
g) Wellington Corpus of Written New Zealand English, built in 1986
h) Australian Corpus of English, built in 1986
Corpora listed above with a size of at least 100,000 words or over 1,000,000
words are considered as the first-generation corpus2. The second generation
started in the 1980s with a size of more than 10,000,000 words, and later in the
1990s, corpora with over 100,000,000 words appeared. Recent decades have
seen many more and larger-sized corpora with diverse functions and fine taggings
for all purposes3.
Corpora vary in their purposes, but may share an important one in common,
i.e., to compile dictionaries. Following this direction, excellent outcome based
on corpora could be found in dictionaries such as the Collins COBUILD English
Language Dictionary (Harper Collins Publishers, 1987) that was based on the
COBUILD corpus run by the same company since 1980. The corpus was renamed
as Bank of English in 1991 and has been extending ever since to have included
more than 450,000,000 words by January, 2002. The COBUILD corpus had in-
augurated a reform in lexicography, and become exemplary practice for publish-
ing houses including Oxford University Press, Longman, Cambridge University
Press, and MacMillan Publishers. (Tseng 2005: 83; Zhang Y. 2004: 65–66)
Corpus-assisted compilation of dictionaries is a breakthrough in lexicogra-
phy. Previous literature (Cheng 1997: 48–56; Xie 1997: 57–64; Wang 2001: 15–21;
Qian 2002: 58–68; Zhang Y. 2004) has reviewed roles of corpora in dictionary
compilation, which can be summarized in the following aspects:
1. To facilitate the discovery of new words, new meanings and new usage of
existing words. People differ in their life experience, which affects their
knowledge in language, which in turn determines their language awareness.
As an epitome of language practices and an extension of language experi-
ence, a corpus can contribute to enhance people’s language awareness. A
2 A corpus is classified according to the number of words it includes, for example, 100,000
words, 1,000,000 words, and so on.
3 For a more detailed review on the development of corpora, refer to Zhang (2004:61–79).
250 Chapter 16
wordlist generated by a corpus helps discover new words, which improves

the comprehensiveness and up-to-datedness of a dictionary. A corpus is
also helpful in discovering new collocation. New meaning or new usage of
words identified in this way will add to the full explanation of words.
2. To calculate statistics of frequency and distribution of words, meanings, and
usage (both grammatical and pragmatic). Frequency calculation is an advan-
tage of corpora, and is useful in determining the size of a dictionary. For
example, small to medium-sized dictionaries may include words of higher
frequencies only. Statistics of frequency and distribution of meanings and
usages are helpful in determining the need of explanation and the order of
lemmas.
3. To select and prune example sentences. Sentences to illustrate the usage
and meaning are important, the selection and pruning of which exemplifies
the quality of a dictionary. A corpus is a large collection of authentic usage
of languages. To select sentences from a corpus or to revise based on such
sentences is not for convenience but more importantly to enhance the
authenticity of examples.
4. To carry out knowledge mining. Language is the fruit of human knowledge
and experience. Linguistics is therefore not only a study on the language
but also on the expression of such knowledge. The discipline has thus
made significant contribution to information processing and data mining.
The interrelationship between language and knowledge determines that a
corpus is not only a collection of language practices but also one of knowl-
edge. So, a corpus is for language studies and for knowledge mining as
well. The realm of knowledge mining is wide and diverse, covering the
denotation and connotation of words, and (dis)similarities between words.
Following this direction, a corpus is useful in defining inter-word relations
including synonym, antonym, hyponym, and related words.
Corpora play a significant role in lemma selection, word collation and explana-
tion, example selection and pruning. A high-quality corpus is therefore key to a
high-quality dictionary4. Tseng (2005) emphasized that corpus development is
4 Wang and Ma (2003, 5:20–28) discussed differences between corpus and language usage in
real life, arguing that the incomprehensive representativeness of corpora affects the scientific
merits of dictionaries that are based on them. Their argument reminds researchers that corpora
are powerful but should remain a tool of assistance in dictionary compilation. On the other
hand, the importance of corpora in lexicography shall not be underestimated or dismissed
due to its incompleteness. It is only appropriate to speed up the development of corpora and
minimize its distance from language in life.
crucial, in that the thriving of corpora will soon obsolete those who cannot keep
up. In this sense, building excellent corpora suitable for compiling dictionaries
should be the top priority for lexicographers in China.
In lieu of the abundant literature on corpus development, the paper will not
discuss this topic, but still finds it necessary to reiterate the following points:
1) To select materials in a scientific way and update them constantly. There are
huge amount of materials on the Internet for search and download. (Zhang
2004: 56–61) Due to quality and authenticity reasons, cautions must be
taken in selecting materials for dictionaries, especially those that aim high.
To purchase corpora of authority may be a safer approach.
2) To increase sizes of corpora. Quantities are essential to quality.
3) To improve corpora per lexicographic needs. Basically, taggings are needed
for all materials to be added to a corpus, for example, meta-information
regarding copyright, publication, and data sampling, transcription and others.
The strength of a corpus is determined by the width and depth of its tagging5.
4) To promote the idea and practice of co-building and sharing corpora.
1.2 Knowledge database

Dictionaries are databases of human knowledge; hence, lexicography is the
grooming of culture accumulated through human history and can only be
accomplished with the aid of dictionaries. Using dictionaries from the past
warrants heritage of traditional knowledge; whereas using contemporary ones
facilitates integration of modern knowledge. The explosion of information and
burgeoning of knowledge accretion make it impossible to read through dic-
tionaries with mega data, and it is therefore essential that corpora suitable for
lexicography should be established.
Building up a knowledge database requires accumulation and effort in a
long term. The first step is to set up the thematic framework and entry lists that
are based on scientific classification of knowledge systems. Second, data could
be collected, then categorized and tagged before included in a corpus.
The current means to knowledge retrieval in China is still mainly indexing;
and that to knowledge accumulation is information collection. It means, to lexi-
cographers’ regret, that knowledge database is yet at its initial stage, which
should prompt lexicographers to take up the initiatives in this field.
5 See Li Yuming (2004) for more discussion on tagging in corpora.

252 Chapter 16
1.3 Lexicographic software

In addition to corpora and knowledge databases, lexicographers need software
suitable for dictionary compilation. (Cheng 1997: 48–56) Lin Shenqing (1997b:
38–47) listed ten functions that software should have for compiling electronic
dictionaries6. Ma Jing (1998: 26–33) reported the roles of computational lexico-
graphic editing system developed in 1995, in the compilation of the Dictionary
of Chinese Books. In general, such software should contain the following basic
functions:
1. To help lexicographers to use corpora and knowledge databases. Corpora

and databases are large collections of information, so their developers usually
design software to assist users for their various purposes. Software of such
kind must accommodate the actual needs of lexicography. For example,
lexicographers can find with ease explanations to a word entry in a certain
dictionary, or even compare explanations across dictionaries. Lexicogra-
phers are not all computer experts, which should be taken into consideration
in software development. Good software should pay attention to help lexi-
cographers who lack computing skills realize seemingly small functions,
such as frequent download, and information export to certain folders.
2. To provide symbols and special characters for easy export and revision of
dictionary entries. Symbols are often used in lexicography to mark content
in entries, for brevity and ease in reading. For example, in Modern Chinese
Dictionary (5th Ed.),
a) word types are marked with the simplified type name in square brackets;
b) examples following a definition are listed in SimSun fonts;
c) self-reference in examples are substituted with the wavy line “～”;
d) multiple examples are separated by a vertical line “|”; and
e) metaphoric usage are led by a diamond-shaped symbol ‘◇’7.
There are also in the Dictionary, phonetic markers, IPA symbols, traditional
Chinese characters, Japanese Kanji, and so on. All the above-mentioned symbols
and special characters require specific support in the input system for con-
venience in use.
6 The ten functions are: to input and revise data, to output data, to sort data, to generate permu-
tation index of entries, to retrieve data, to automatically classify, merge, and proofread entries, to
provide statistical analysis, to generate automatic reference and transcription to assist searching,
to process audio and video, to recognize keywords and theme words and substitute one with
another automatically.
7 Refer to the Guide of the Contemporary Chinese Dictionary (5th Ed).
3. To allow metalanguage functions. Metalanguage refers to the language used

in defining words in a dictionary. It is a language with restrictions in choices
of words, means of explanation, and grammar forms, and dictionaries vary in
their degree of restrictions. According to Jiang Lan and Zhang Zhiyi (2004):
a) Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English: English-English (1988) uses
2,182 words to define and explain 55,000 entries of words;
b) Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English uses about 2,000 words to
define and explain 56,000 entries of words;
c) The New Method English Dictionary (4th Ed.) by West and Endicott uses
1,490 words to define and explain 24,000 entries of words.
The restricted vocabulary and grammar enable lexicographers of a definite col-

lection of expressions to deal with a wide range of contents in a dictionary.
There has been little research on metalanguage and lexicographers mainly rely
on their experience to handle issues relating its usage, which resulted in the fact
that the metalanguage of most dictionaries has been left to its natural state.
(Jiang and Zhang 2004:1–10) To promote the awareness and software-assisted
usage of metalanguage is without doubt beneficial to the improvement of
dictionary quality.
4. To manage editing and proofreading. Lexicography requires team effort and

coordination between scholars, to ensure consistence in formatting. More-
over, rounds of revision and proofreading in drafting and editing all involve
meticulous work on a large amount of details, during which errors are
inevitable. Good software should provide effective ways to manage different
processes in editing and proofreading.
2 To promote the development of electronic

dictionaries
It was predicted in the 1980s that we were heading fast into a paperless era8,
and electronic dictionaries are an example. Electronic dictionaries use computer
and relevant technology to present information on the screen of a device9. The
concept was first proposed in research on machine translation in the United
8 Lancaster, Information Retrieval System, National Library of China Publishing House, 1984,
as cited in Wang Shiwei (1996).
9 In strict sense, there are two kinds of electronic dictionaries depending on the reader, i.e., by
people or by machines. The paper discusses the former kind.
254 Chapter 16
States in the 1940s, and developed in great steps in the 1980s to form the new
discipline of Electronic Lexicography or Computational Lexicography. (Zhang
and Huang 1996: 67–82) The first electronic dictionary, Academic American
Encyclopedia, produced on CD-ROMs by Grolier in the 1980s in the United
States, signaled the division of medium of lexicographic publication10. The
recent two decades have seen the rapid expansion of all sorts of electronic
dictionaries, such as dictionaries on CD-ROMs, mini-electronic dictionaries
(also called palm dictionary, or dictionaries run by microchips), and online dic-
tionaries. In a word, electronic dictionaries, especially online dictionaries, mark
the beginning of a new era in lexicography.
2.1 Advantages of electronic dictionaries

Electronic dictionaries surpass the print ones in the following aspects:
1. Powerful retrieval functions. Dictionaries are mainly to search for informa-

tion, and electronic dictionaries excel in this function. They allow searching
for word entries, or words used in the explanation of an entry, thus enabling
a more comprehensive search outcome. Multiple retrieval means also
increase accuracy. Moreover, it is much faster to search in electronic dic-
tionaries than browsing through printed pages. Wang Shiwei (1996: 1–11)
pointed out that the print Ci Hai was considered as a dictionary that was
easy to use, as it provides 5 ways of retrieval including character radicals,
number of strokes, pinyin, four-corner coding, and entries in foreign lan-
guages. The CD-ROM version of the Shanghai Dictionary (1996) allows 12
ways to retrieve an entry: fuzzy search, search with conditions, logic search,
graded search, classified search, regional search, associating search, located
search, indexing search, search for full text, distance search, and code
search. Zhang Guoqiang (1999) reported a more detailed comparison of the
traditional indexing used in Ci Hai and the efficient and lost-cost means by
computing technology. The rapid development of information retrieval tech-
nology has indeed changed the way of information searching, allowing all
possible perspectives to searching that a reader can imagine11.
2. Resources efficient. Electronic dictionaries take fewer spaces. An encyclope-
dia in print takes more than twenty volumes, which can all be stored in just
a couple of CD-ROMs. The electronic version only uses some space on a
10 See Ma Gonglan (2001) on a brief discussion on the development of electronic dictionaries

domestically and overseas.
11 For more information on retrieval in electronic dictionaries, refer to Lin Shenqing (1997b).
computer hard disk. Online encyclopedia is even more space-efficient. (Jin

2001: 14–22) Electronic dictionaries also save considerable cost on printing
and circulation; and online ones save on storage, transportation and sales.
Saving on cost lowers the price, which benefits both the publisher and the
reader. Bill Gates in his book The Road Ahead claimed that “When you buy
a paper book, a good part of your money goes for the cost of producing and
distributing the book rather than for the author’s work”12. Actually, with less
than 20% of the price for a dictionary in print, one can buy or download
the electronic version of the book or one that is even bigger and better.
(Zhang G. 2001: 20–28)
3. Greater portability. Dictionaries on CD-ROMs and mini-dictionaries are much
smaller than those in print. Electronic ones can be embedded through soft-
ware or hardware into other appliances, whereas online dictionaries are
always accessible wherever there is Internet connection13. Dictionaries are
not books for regular or essential reading, so it is very possible that elec-
tronic dictionaries will eventually replace their print counterparts.
4. Ease in revision and update. Any revision and update of print dictionaries
require re-composition and re-print, which demands large amount of paper
and time. It does not only increase cost, but also fails to satisfy the ever-
changing needs of the reader as the most efficient update may take years to
complete. Therefore, some researchers even suggested that lexicography and
publication should be “stabilized”. (Yu 1996: 56–66) For electronic dic-
tionaries, re-composition is easier and the reader can access latest editions
through upgrade. Online dictionaries do not even require re-composition, as
revision is update. Many electronic dictionaries guarantee monthly update.
(Jin 2001: 35–41) Updates and revision in time are also evidence to the
quality of a dictionary.
5. Multimedia presentation of content. Sounds, pictures, and videos, all add to
the richness and attractiveness of the content of a dictionary. Multimedia
makes it possible to display information in ways that the traditional printing
find difficult to realize. For example, in the Microsoft Encarta Multimedia
Encyclopedia 1998 developed by Microsoft USA on the basis of Funk and
Wagnalls New Encyclopedia, there are over 110,000 entries with 1,223 of
12 As cited in Zhang Guoqiang (2001).

13 Yu Jian (1996) reported more than hundreds of online dictionaries of all sorts in 1996,
including bilingual ones, of new words, of slangs and idioms, and so on. Zhang Jinwen (2001)
cited statistics from yourDictionary.com that by Sep. 2000, the website has set up indexing for
more than 1,500 online dictionaries covering 230 languages.
256 Chapter 16
them containing sounds and videos. There are also 11,605 pictures, 590
maps, 232 tables, 341 figures, 725 tif pictures, 78 cartoons, 22 interactive
demonstrations, and brain teasers and so on (Jin 1998: 83–88), which turn
the dictionary into a pop-up multimedia gallery and has become a standard
in CD-ROM publication. (Jin 2000: 14–22)
Sounds in the multimedia presentation deserve special attention as it enables a

reader to read and listen at the same time. Audio application with machine
translation technology can instantly translate one language into another, so that
a dictionary in one language can be changed into another in various types of
other languages. Audio application can also serve as a tool to learning pronun-
ciation. Last, it is a new retrieval means, search by sounds.
2.2 Reform of lexicography led by electronic dictionaries

Electronic dictionaries play a significant role in the development of lexicogra-
phy. Such a role may lead to reform in means and functions of compilation.
Some of the above-mentioned advantages of electronic dictionaries have already
brought forward changes to dictionary compilation, two points of which worth
more discussion here:
1. Open compilation. Online dictionaries may adopt an open compilation, i.e.,

readers (Internet users) may also provide entries, edit examples and contribute
to writing content, or comment on needs for revision. The open-to-public
mode creates a new interactive relation between offline editors and online
users, or even result in a switch between editor and user. This is clearly
very different from the traditional way of interaction between readers and
editors, such as letters from the reader or soliciting suggestions by editors.
What also deserves our attention is that some online dictionaries, especially
those that involve readers in editing, may often times become a public asset
that allows free use by all. There have been quite a number of websites
nowadays that provide free online dictionaries. This is a new type of supply-
need relationship.
2. Comprehensiveness. People vary in their needs of a dictionary. Lexico-

graphers traditionally would accommodate such specialized needs by pro-
viding dictionaries for specialized fields and for different literacy levels.
Dictionaries of specializations have replaced dictionaries for general pur-
poses and become the main trend in contemporary dictionaries in print.
Due to its large storage capacity, electronic dictionaries allow various settings of
searching conditions to satisfy different needs. Therefore, comprehensiveness
should be the goal of electronic dictionaries that are collections of many dic-
tionaries integrated systematically with the assistant of software. For example,
Microsoft developed Bookshelf 2000, which is representative work of the latest
lexicographic integration. Bookshelf 2000 is indeed a mini-library by incorporat-
ing the American Heritage Dictionary (3rd Ed.), Microsoft Press: Computer and
Internet Dictionary, the Original Roger’s Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases,
the Encarta Desk Encyclopedia, the Columbia Dictionary of Quotations, the
Encarta World Atlas, the Encarta 2000 New World Almanac, the Encarta 2000
New World Timeline, the Encarta Manual of Stylistics and Usage, and Web
Links14.
Large integrated dictionaries are powerful knowledge databases with infor-
mation retrieval systems, which allow readers to create new knowledge and to
explore uncharted areas. Acquisition of new information and creation of new
knowledge may in turn become a new function of dictionaries.
In China, the attempt on electronic dictionaries dated back to 1970s. (Zhang and
Huang 1996: 67–82) Introduction of automatic lexicography in the West started
in 1979 and more up-to-date follow-ups were seen ever since then, which
all contribute to the modernization of lexicography. For example, Instant-Dict
EC1000 “Kuai Yi Tong” in 1989 marked the beginning of rapid development in
the market of electronic dictionaries. There had been over 20 products by dif-
ferent companies such as Besta “Hao Yi Tong”, Wen Qu Xing, Shang Wu Tong15.
The development of Encyclopedia of China began in 1992 and accomplished in
1997, which aimed at a database of Chinese terminology. (Wang 1998: 18–22)
The CONULEXII jointly developed by the Commercial Press and Nanjing Univer-
sity was completed in November, 1997 (Sun and Ye 1999: 81–86). In the same
year, two dictionaries on CD-ROMs, the Hanyu Da Cidian and Kingsoft Power-
word, were published. A couple of years later, Learners’ Dictionary of Chinese
Characters CD-ROM was published and followed by Zhaomi Ciwang 2001 pub-
14 Luo Yi (2000) and Jin Liping (2000) in their discussion of dictionary integration, refer to this
as trends of integration and Omnipedia.
15 Refer to Zhang Yihua (2004: 356–401) for more discussion on mini electronic dictionaries.
258 Chapter 16
lished by Joint Publishing Company16. In April 2001, the Lexicographical Society

of China was set up. (Shuang 2001:10–14) On March 7, 2004, the Lexicography
and Corpus Research Center, the first lexicographic organization in Taiwan
was established. In the same year, the website offering free access to online
dictionaries, the web of the Chinese language and characters, http://www.
china-language.gov.cn/, was launched with the joint-effort of lexicographers
and publishers.
In sum, China’s lexicography is in general slow in modernization. It lacks
strategic planning at macro-levels, and insists on too much attention to tradi-
tional dictionaries. There is also a great need of copyright legislation, the lack
of which prevents the electronic publication of well-known dictionaries. There
are still obstacles facing lexicographers of Chinese electronic dictionaries,
though they have realized the significance. (Liu 2005:110–118) Corpora, knowl-
edge databases and supporting software are all in need of development. Re-
luctance in sharing compilation outcomes results in repeated works. Lack of
awareness in dictionary integration prevents modernization of concepts as well.
It is pressing that theories in words be applied into practice.
A leader in lexicography requires publication of world-renowned dictionaries
and influential research works. Lexicography in China must be equipped with
modern ideas and methods so that it will become among the top in the field
worldwide in the future.
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Translated by LI Bin (李彬)

binli2@cityu.edu.hk
Chapter 17
On Zhongguo Yuyan Shenghuo Lüpishu
(Green Paper on the Language Situation
in China)1
Abstract: Zhongguo Yuyan Shenghuo Lüpishu ‘Green Paper on the Language

Situation in China’ is a series of publications concerning language situation in
China, encompassing two different categories in accordance with the content.
Category A promulgates the soft norms of the language while Category B inves-
tigates and analyzes the language situation. The Green Paper released by the
State Language Commission is a specific measure of language planning in
modern China, embodying new concepts of the state language management
and new developments in linguistic research in China. The purposes of compil-
ing and publishing Zhongguo Yuyan Shenghuo Lüpishu are to serve as reference
for the government’s decision-making in related matters, to offer services for
linguistic researchers, language product researchers and manufacturers and
other stakeholders, and to guide the social language life towards harmony. This
article is intended to introduce the design, operation process and basic content
of Zhongguo Yuyan Shenghuo Lüpishu so as to enhance a comprehensive under-
standing of it and to expect more supports from the academic circle and the
society with the better utilization of it.
Keywords: language situation, green paper (Lüpishu), soft norms, language data
0 Introduction
The publication of Zhongguo Yuyan Shenghuo Zhuangkuang Baogao: 2005 ‘Lan-
guage Situation in China: 2005’ (hereafter ‘Zhuangkuang Baogao’) marked the
coming of Zhongguo Yuyan Shenghuo Lüpishu ‘Green Paper on the Language
1 Thanks to Zhou Qingsheng, Yu Guilin and Zheng Mengjuan for providing valuable materials
during the process of the compilation and publication of Zhongguo Yuyan Shenghuo Zhuang-
kuang Baogao: 2005 (Language Situation in China: 2005). And thanks to the work of my collea-
gues Wang Tiekun and Chen Min. Also thanks to all the experts and writers of Zhongguo Yuyan
Shenghuo Zhuangkuang Baogao: 2005. Last but not least, thanks to Wang Tiekun, Guo Xi, Su
Xinchun and Ji Chuanbo for their comments on the amendment of the text. This article was
originally published in Yuyan Wenzi Yingyong (Applied Linguistics), Issue No. 1, 2007.
264 Chapter 17
Situation in China’ (hereafter ‘Lüpishu’). Lüpishu is a series of publications re-

leased by the State Language Commission concerning language situation in
China, encompassing two different categories in accordance with the content.
Category A promulgates the soft norms of the language while Category B in-
vestigates and analyzes the language situation. With their content divided into
Category A and B and assigned with serial numbers, various volumes of Lüpishu
are published every year based on the situation of the year. This article is
intended to introduce the design, operation process and basic content of
Lüpishu and its relation with Zhuangkuang Baogao: 2005 so as to enhance a
comprehensive understanding of it and to expect more supports from the aca-
demic circle and the society with the better utilization of it.
1 Genesis of Lüpishu
In January 1986, the State Language Commission convened the National Con-
ference on Language Work, advancing the realization of language standardiza-
tion and expressly treating Chinese language information processing as a task
in a new era of national language work.2 At the beginning of 1995, the State
Language Commission set up the Chinese Information Department. In 1998, the
State Language Commission was merged into the Ministry of Education with
the Chinese Information Department being restructured into the Department of
Language Information Management of the Ministry of Education. Having more
than a decade of practical working experience, the State Language Commission
has gradually developed the basic rationale for the administration of language
information: “The formulation of language norms as the core of the work, the
informatization as the main line of the work, with evaluation and certification
as the grip, and the language engineering development and scientific research
as the foundation”.3 The compilation and publication of Lüpishu is one of the
important measures to achieve the basic rationale mentioned above.
2 “The Party and the State Council promulgate the direction of language work in the new era in
a timely manner as: . . . enhancing the normalization and standardization of spoken and written
language. . . . The major task at the moment is: . . . to investigate the issues on information
processing of Chinese language and characters and to participate in the review of research
findings. . .” The Secretariat of the National Conference on Language Work (1987), Minutes of
the National Conference on Language Work, p. 3.
3 This rationale was officially proposed in 2001, which was stated as: “The formulation of
language norms as the core of the work, the informatization of language as the leading task,
with scientific research as the foundation, and evaluation and certification as the grip”. There
was a minor amendment of the wording in 2003: “The formulation of language norms as the
On Zhongguo Yuyan Shenghuo Lüpishu 265
There are regularities in the structure, usage, development and changes of

language. Hence, theoretically speaking, it is possible to formulate language
norms. However, on the other hand, it is extremely difficult to formulate such
language norms. One of the difficulties lies in the complexity of language per
se. The regularities in the structure, usage, development and changes of lan-
guage are peculiarly complex. Current linguistics only unveil a shallow bit of
language. Another difficulty concerns the diversity of social norms. There are
different attitudes towards different views of standardizations for the same lan-
guage phenomenon. For instance, until recently there still exist various different
views concerning the work of the simplification of Chinese characters after
the release of Hanzi Jianhua Fangan (A Scheme for the Simplification of Chinese
Characters) in 1956. Some of the views are even mutually exclusive.
The release of Diyipi Yixingci Zhengli Biao ‘A Table for the First Batch of
Standardized Variant Forms of Chinese Characters’ (hereafter ‘Variant Forms
Table’) further showed the level of difficulty in formulating language norms in
a new era. In the written language of Putonghua there exists a set of Chinese
characters with the same pronunciation and meaning, but in different forms.
These characters are called “variants”, for example:
(1) 侈靡／侈糜 (chĭmí, meaning ‘extravagant and wasteful’)

(2) 恍惚／恍忽 (huănghū, meaning ‘absent-minded’)
(3) 影像／影象 (yĭngxiàng, meaning ‘image’)
As early as 1966, Gao Gengsheng wrote an article to the journal Zhongguo Yuwen
to point out the issue of systematizing Chinese variant forms.4 After that, papers
related to this issue were published from time to time. Chinese language refer-
ence books contributed enormously in providing solutions to this issue. On the
basis of years of research, Variant Forms Table was published in the capacity of
core of the work, the informatization as the main line of the work with scientific research as the
foundation, and evaluation and certification as the grip”. In 2004, the concept of “language en-
gineering” was introduced and the ordering of “evaluation and certification as the grip” was
revised with some wording being polished. The description was then finalized as “The formula-
tion of language norms as the core of the work, the informatization as the main line of the
work, with evaluation and certification as the grip, and the language engineering development
and scientific research as the foundation”. The changes of the description in some places are
a matter of wording, while in other places are related to the deepening of the understanding
of the subject matter. Many thanks to the Consultative Committee of the State Language Com-
mission which offered tremendous support and valuable advice during the formation of the
rationale and its description. We are also extremely grateful to Vice Chairman Zhu Xinjun of
his enormous help in the deliberation and refinement of the wording.
4 Gao called Chinese variant forms as “yìtǐcí” (not “yìxíngcí”). See Gao (2000: 331–337).
266 Chapter 17
the Ministry of Education and the State Language Commission on 19th Decem-
ber 2001 after the examination and approval of the Evaluation Committee for
Language Standards of the State Language Commission and put into trial imple-
mentation on 31st March 2002.
After the release of Variant Forms Table, related news and commentaries
spread across various newspapers and networks and the full text of Variant
Forms Table was reprinted in various media nationwide. Many publishing units
immediately reproduced Variant Forms Table and distributed it to their editorial
staff for study and reference. These phenomena showed that there was a genuine
need and concern of language norms. The Department of Language Information
Management collected various opinions from different channels after the release
of Variant Forms Table. The negative comments gathered for Variant Forms Table
were mainly as follows:
1) Some people thought that the term yìxíngcí ‘variant form words’ was not
scientific. They thought that only written characters have xíng ‘forms’. Cí
‘words’, which are under the category of spoken language, do not have
forms. Therefore, it should not be termed as yìxíngcí ‘variant form words’,
at best it should be called yìxiěcí ‘variant written words’.
2) Some people thought that some words in Variant Forms Table were not
variant forms, they were just near synonyms, such as 定金／订金 (dìng jīn,
the former meaning ‘earnest money’, the latter meaning ‘deposit put down
for future purchase’).
3) There were 3 major principles proposed by Variant Forms Table in standard-
izing variant forms: (1) principle of universality; (2) principle of reasonable-
ness; and (3) principle of systematicness. Some people considered that
the principle of universality was in fact the so-called “follow the crowd and
conform to the custom” which should not be used as one of the major
principles, or even it should not be regarded as a principle. The principle
of reasonableness should come first. Some people even proposed that
we should follow ancient usage instead of current one. For instance, the
Chinese idiom 必恭必敬 (bì gōng bì jìng, meaning ‘reverent and respectful’)
was originated from the poem Xiăobiàn under the section Xiăoyă of Shījīng.
And 毕恭毕敬 (bì gōng bì jìng), which appeared at a later stage, should not
be used as the main entry. This view did not only concern the issue of stand-
ardizing variant forms, it also involved the treatment of the relationship
between “practice in reality” and “academic theories” which came across
in every aspect of language related matters. As to how to deal with this
relationship, it essentially depended on our understanding of the develop-
mental regularities of language.
4) Variant Forms Table made use of corpus statistical technique and fully utilized
the linguistic data of several corpora available at the time. Word frequency
statistics were conducted for variant forms and this was used as important
reference to screen the variant forms. However, some viewed that the word
frequency in the corpora should not be over-weighted: 1) Currently, the
corpus technology had not reached a satisfactory level. The sampling might
not reflect the reality of the language situation in China; 2) The text in
newspapers and magazines had been edited by editors who followed the
established standards. Therefore, the language data which came from these
sources were in some ways blemished as they had been altered; 3) There
was a sharp decline in education standard of the people in modern age.
High word frequency did not necessarily mean that it was reasonable and
scientific.
5) Variant forms in Putonghua might not be regarded as variant forms in
ancient text and dialects. Accordingly, some thought that the standardiza-
tion of variant forms might affect the publication and reading of ancient
classics, or this might also increase the difficulty of those dialect-speakers
in learning Putonghua.
6) The treatment in Variant Forms Table was not consistent with the ones in pop-
ular dictionaries. Some would worry that there would be “two sets of stan-
dards” in the society and this would pose much problems in language usage.
7) The Chinese people in Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and other overseas Chinese
communities also used Putonghua (also called guó yǔ ‘national language’,
or huá yǔ ‘Chinese’). Some would worry that there was a possibility of
enlarging the language discrepancies among the Chinese language com-
munities if the standards were solely formulated by Mainland China.
8) Standards in Variant Forms Table were recommendation standards, not
mandatory ones. Some would worry that teachers in primary and secondary
schools might teach these standards in class, or even use them to set
examination questions. This might increase the workload of primary and
secondary students.
People did have very different views concerning the comments listed above. This
article does not intend to analyze and discuss these comments. The aim of citing
these comments is to illustrate the degree of difficulty in formulating language
standards. Perhaps some would say that since it is so difficult to formulate lan-
guage standards, it would be better to leave the language system to adjust itself,
or to ask scholars to standardize the language through dictionaries and text-
books. It should not be a task for the government to formulate such standards
for the language.
268 Chapter 17
In ancient times the scope of using language to communicate was small.

There were not many literate people. With just few character dictionaries, rhym-
ing dictionaries, selected works and readers, the demand of standardizing lan-
guage could easily be satisfied. However, nowadays, education is universal and
mass media are highly developed. In addition to the functions of dictionaries
and textbooks, the government needs to standardize the language by promulgat-
ing certain language norms through some standardization documents. Especially
in an era where the development of information technology is impressively
rapid, the standardization of language is not only for humans, it is also for
machines. The language standards for machines are somewhat like industrial
standards in nature with heavy emphasis on timeliness. The formulation of
language standards has become the core task of the work related to the Chinese
language in a new era. In 2001, Wang Zhan, Chairman of the State Language
Commission at the time, addressed in the National Language Commission Office
Directors’ Meeting as well as Putonghua Proficiency Test Working Report Meet-
ing: “The specific tasks of the work related to the Chinese language can be
summarized into two categories which are the formulation and promotion of
language standards. The formulation of language standards is of core impor-
tance which is regarded as the foundation of all other work. The normalization
and standardization of the language should be conducted scientifically and
realistically in accordance with the development and needs of the language
situation so as to provide a basis for the promotion of standards and the pro-
gression of other standardization work.”
Undoubtedly, there are difficulties in formulating language standards. In an
era of frequent language communication and rapid development of information
technology, there is a need to promptly formulate various language standards to
meet various demands. Using Lüpishu as a means to promulgate the soft norms
of the language may be one of the ways to solve the issue raised in an era.
Hence, it can be said that Lüpishu is a product of the practice of the Chinese
language in a new era.
2 Lüpishu and its operating process

Originally, Lüpishu was designed as a means to promulgate some soft norms for
the language. The rationale behind is to recognize that there is more flexibility
in the nature of language than rigidity. First, various different characteristics
exist in each subsystem of language and their different areas of usage. These
characteristics contribute to the difference between flexible and rigid language
standards.5 For instance, the standards for the aspects of pronunciation, characters
and punctuations can be more rigid, then the standards for lexicon can be a
little bit less rigid and this goes lesser to syntax and semantics with the prag-
matics of the language being further less rigid. Second, the study and research
of different aspects of the Chinese language is not balanced. For those areas
where the study is more matured with greater social needs, the standards
devised can be more rigid. On the contrary, for those areas where the study is
less matured with less social needs, the standards can be more flexible. Third,
the language standards for machines can be more rigid, while the ones for social
needs can be more flexible. The rigid and more matured language standards
can be promulgated through national standards (Guóbiāo, GB) and the State
Language Commission standards (Guīfàn) with other ones to be published in
Lüpishu.
The language standards published in Lüpishu do not possess the legal status
as those specified in the Biaozhunfa (Standardization Law of the People’s Republic
of China). In other words, these language standards are not mandatory. They are
just recommendations for those in the society who need to have such reference.
This realizes the notion of “language services” and the standards serve as a
guiding function to the language situation in the society. The absence of legal
status of the language standards published in Lüpishu allows a longer trial
period for these newly devised standards for further improvement. Some of
these standards could be upgraded into official standards entering into Guóbiāo
‘national standards’ or the State Language Commission Guīfàn ‘standards’.
Lüpishu bears the characteristic of openness. Standards entering into Lüpishu
are not merely those studied in the research projects conducted by the State
Language Commission. Research findings of other fund organizations, even of
enterprises or personal endeavour can be included in Lüpishu, provided that
they meet the requirements specified. In addition, the publication of Lüpishu
is not restricted to a certain publishing company. All publishing units with
relevant qualifications can participate in the publication of Lüpishu through
negotiation. The content of Lüpishu for publication is selected together with the
publishing unit in accordance with particular selection procedures. The open-
ness of Lüpishu is aimed to bring the initiative of the society into full play and
gather the language wisdom of the society.
The idea of compiling the Lüpishu6 series was deliberated since 2003. On 3rd
January 2004, the Sub-committee for Applied Foreign Languages of the National
5 Li, Yuming (2001) discussed the issue of flexible and rigid language standards.
6 Initially, Lüpishu was once called Zhongguo Yuyan Shenghuo Baipishu (White Paper on Lan-
guage Situation in China).
270 Chapter 17
Technical Committee of Language Standardization of the State Language Com-

mission was established. The news of publishing Lüpishu series was announced
to the society during the inauguration of the Sub-Committee. In the course of the
actual preparation of the publication, the research achievements of the State
Language Commission under the Tenth Five-Year Language Research Plan were
further enhanced and the State Language Resource Monitoring and Research
Center started to operate. It was gradually recognized that the release of actual
research data and the research findings related to the language situation could
serve as a guiding function to the language life and as a complement to the soft
norms promulgated. On the basis of this understanding, the content of Lüpishu
is formally divided into Category A and Category B. Category A promulgates
the soft norms of the language while Category B investigates and analyzes the
language situation. By releasing the language data and research findings, the
aim is to serve as reference for the government’s decision-making in related
matters and to offer services for linguistic researchers, language product re-
searchers and manufacturers and other stakeholders.
After around six months of preparation, the list of the first batch of the
Lüpishu series for publication was drafted: publications for Category A included
Xinxi Chuli Xiandai Hanyu Fenci Cibiao ‘Word List for Chinese Word Segmentation
in Information Processing’, Putonghua Tongyong Cibiao ‘Putonghua Universal
Word List’7, etc. and publications for Category B included Zhongguo Yuyan Wenzi
Guoqing Diaocha ‘A Research Study of the National Conditions of the Chinese Lan-
guage’, Zhongguo de Yuyan ‘The Languages of China’8, Zhongguo Shaoshuminzu
Wenzi Zifu Zongji ‘The Character Sets of Ethnic Minorities’ Writing System in
China’, etc. The proposed publications were then put out to tender with the
exposition of the intentions of the publications as well as the duties and obliga-
tions of various parties involved in the publication project. Publishing com-
panies were invited to bid for the tender. The Commercial Press, Language
and Culture Press and Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press showed
interest in the publication projects.
During the two weeks’ time from 27th August to 11th September 2004, three
editorial and publishing working meetings were held consecutively, in which ex-
perts and representatives from the publishing companies of the Lüpishu project
7 This title was later called Xiandai Hanyu Changyong Cibiao (Modern Standard Chinese Com-
mon Word List) when it was formally published.
8 After repeated study and deliberation by several experts, it was decided that Zhongguo de
Yuyan (The Languages of China) would not be included in Lüpishu. However, some important
language data were included in the Appendix of Volume 1 of Zhongguo Yuyan Shenghuo
Zhuangkuang Baogao: 2005.
attended. The work of Lüpishu was finally initiated. At that time, it was planned
that there should be a Lüpishu editorial board with consultants, chairman, vice-
chairman and various members. However, later it was agreed that it would be
better not to create such editorial organization. Instead, editorial and reviewing
staff should be hired in accordance with the actual situation of each publication.
Hence, though the name list of the editorial board of Lüpishu had been drafted
and even actual meetings had been held, the editorial board was not established
at last.
After two years of effort, Zhuangkuang Baogao: 2005 was finally published,
representing the coming of Lüpishu. The planning of Lüpishu realizes the under-
standing of the work related to the language in a new era: the emphasis of the
work should be put on guidance and service. It also realizes the functional
transfer of language departments: the transfer from management-oriented to
guidance- and service-oriented. The Vice-Chairman of the National People’s
Congress Standing Committee of the PRC, Xu Jialu and the Chairman of the State
Language Commission Zhao Qinping were invited as the consultants of the
project. The Vice-Minister of the Ministry of Education, Yuan Guiren and the
Vice-Chairman of the Consultative Committee of the State Language Com-
mission, Zhu Xinjun followed closely the progress of the project. Vice-Chairman
Xu Jialu also inscribed the title of the book in calligraphy. All these meant that
Lüpishu was highly regarded by the leaders.
3 Zhongguo Yuyan Shenghuo Zhuangkuang

Baogao
Zhongguo Yuyan Shenghuo Zhuangkuang Baogao ‘Language Situation in China’ is
a series of annual reports of the language situation under Category B of Lüpishu.
It is published annually and divided into Volume 1 and 2. Volume 1 is written by
the Topic Team of Zhuangkuang Baogao. It mainly concerns various aspects of
the language life of the society. Volume 2 is written by the State Language
Resource Monitoring and Research Center. It mainly publishes various language
data analyzed by using corpus statistical analysis.
Zhongguo Yuyan Shenghuo Zhuangkuang Baogao is the earliest title published
in the series of Lüpishu. Interestingly, it was not originally included when Lüpishu
was designed. On 3rd September 2004, when the Department of Language Infor-
mation Management convened a meeting with experts to discuss the editorial
matters of Lüpishu, Zhou Qingsheng proposed the compilation of an annual
report of the language situation. It immediately aroused the interest of the
272 Chapter 17
participants of the meeting. On 11th September 2004, relevant personnel were

invited by the Department of Language Information Management for another
meeting and specific work of the editorial and publication of Lüpishu was then
confirmed. After the meeting, Wang Tiekun, Zhou Qingsheng, Guo Xi, Zhou
Hongbo and Li Yuming discussed the initiation of the project Zhongguo Yuyan
Guoqing Baogao ‘Report on the National Conditions of the Chinese Language’
(later known as Zhongguo Yuyan Shenghuo Zhuangkuang Baogao ‘Language
Situation in China’) which was included under Category B of Lüpishu. The aim
was to publish the first annual report in 2005. If resources allowed, the annual
report would also review the historical language life of the past 100 or 50 years.
The Fourth National Conference on Sociolinguistics was held in Beijing from
16th to 17th October 2004. At the night of the close of the conference, Li Yuming,
Zhou Qingsheng, Guo Xi and some PhD students in Beijing gathered together to
discuss the issues concerning the initiation of Zhuangkuang Baogao. By then the
first batch of editorial staff of Zhuangkuang Baogao was formed to start the
work. In January 2005, Zhuangkuang Baogao was officially accepted as a project
under the State Language Commission.
During a period of more than a year’s time, the Topic Team conducted a
research on various “coloured” papers published in China and overseas. Based
on the result of the research, they devised a style guide for Zhuangkuang Bao-
gao. With the use of newspapers and the Internet for collecting materials, they
drafted the contents and outline of each article. After five editorial meetings (in-
cluding online meetings), the first draft of more than 500,000 characters was
completed. The first expert review meeting was held in Badaling Manor Hotel
during 23rd and 24th February 2006 and the title of the book was officially
named as Zhongguo Yuyan Shenghuo Zhuangkuang Baogao: 2005. In accordance
with the “coloured” papers published in China and overseas, there are two types
of year numbering systems: one is numbered based on the year of publication,
which is referred to as “publication year”; another is numbered based on the
year of the content, which is referred to as “content year”. It was decided that
Zhuangkuang Baogao would use the year numbering system based on the year
of the content, which meant Zhongguo Yuyan Shenghuo Zhuangkuang Baogao:
2005 reported the language situation of the year 2005 in China. With the aim of
completing the reviewing task as soon as possible, Guo Xi and Feng Xuefeng
had to stay in Badaling for a week to revise each article in accordance with the
comments collected from the first expert review meeting so as to produce the
second draft. In the meantime, the Commercial Press sent the revised draft to
more than 20 relevant experts across the country in a timely manner so as to
produce the third draft.
During the long holiday of 1st May 2006, Chen Zhangtai, Wang Tiekun, Zhou
Hongbo, Chen Min and Li Yuming gathered together to conduct “negative” edit-
ing for the third draft of Zhuangkuang Baogao: 2005, in which the main tasks
were to deal with politically sensitive issues and modulate the overall structure
of the book in order to produce the fourth draft. In addition, three items were
confirmed: 1) Relevant content of Zhuangkuang Baogao: 2005 would be sent to
related government departments for examination and approval; 2) Chen Zhangtai,
Dai Qingxia, Lu Jianming and Xing Fuyi were invited as revisers9 so as to guar-
antee the academic quality; and 3) If the language data of 2005 collected by the
State Language Resource Monitoring and Research Center were ready, they
could be incorporated into Zhuangkuang Baogao: 2005 which could be divided
into Volume 1 and 2 for publication.
The reason for discussing the three items mentioned above was that the
statistical work conducted by the State Language Resource Monitoring and
Research Center was in process and the time to announce the data had already
been set. The State Language Resource Monitoring and Research Center consists
of Sub-Center for Graphic Media Language, Sub-Center for Audio Media Language,
Sub-Center for Network Media Language, Sub-Center for Education Teaching
Materials and Overseas Chinese Languages Research Center which were estab-
lished in succession and came into operation during the period of June 2004
and September 2005. The first working meeting of the State Language Resource
Monitoring and Research Center was held from 9th to 12th October 2005 in
Wuhan. It was proposed that some of the results of the statistical work of
character frequency, word frequency and new words should be announced to
the society in a timely manner and these data could be published as the content
of Category B of Lüpishu. Two sessions of meetings were held during mid-March
and mid-April 2006 to investigate the issues of releasing the language data of
2005.
After the 1st May editorial review meeting, the fourth draft of Zhuangkuang
Baogao: 2005 was sent to the revisers Chen, Dai, Lu and Xing for revision. On
9th May, based on the editorial spirit of the 1st May meeting, the experts from
the State Language Resource Monitoring and Research Center were invited to
study the issues concerning the release of statistical data of Zhuangkuang
Baogao: 2005. It was agreed that Chinese characters, punctuations and symbols
(including punctuations, numbers, letters and symbols) and the language situa-
9 At that time, it was decided that there were five revisers in total.
274 Chapter 17
tion of BBS could be regarded as the content of release.10 Zhou Hongbo and Yu
Guilin of the Commercial Press had been working on the project. Furthermore,
Wei Li and Liu Yiling joined in to deal with the issues concerning Chinese char-
acters and punctuation marks. Su Xinchun and Li Jinxia participated in working
on the issues concerning the statistical work of vocabulary. Wang Lei and He
Tingting jointly worked on the issues concerning BBS language.
A meeting was held on 10th May 2006 to discuss the matters related to the
press conference for the publication of Zhuangkuang Baogao: 2005. In order to
ensure that Zhuangkuang Baogao: 2005 could be ready when the press con-
ference was held, Hou Min, Yang Erhong, Wang Lei, Zhou Hongbo, Chen Min,
Wei Li and Yu Guilin revised the content of Volume 1 starting at 9 am, 18th May
based on the feedback from various parties. Later, the comments from Li Yuming
and Wang Tiekun were added and the fifth draft of Volume 1 was completed. The
revision of Volume 2 was then followed. The work continued overnight until 9
am, 19th May. Editors from the Commercial Press also worked round-the-clock
to edit and proofread the galleys until 21st May. 150 copies of Zhuangkuang
Baogao: 2005 was printed as the first preliminary edition for comments on the
basis of the third galleys. On 22nd May, the press conference for the publication
of Zhuangkuang Baogao: 2005 was held in Beijing. The Vice-Minister of the
Ministry of Education as well as the Chairman of the State Language Com-
mission, Zhao Qinping gave a written speech with the title “Pay Attention to
the Language Situation, Establish a Harmonious Language Life”. The press
conference, which attracted various feedback, were seated with full house of
reporters and a live broadcast was conducted through the Internet.
On 5th June 2006, the Department of Language Information Management
held a meeting to discuss the feedback received after the press conference and
deployed the publication of the finalized edition of Zhuangkuang Baogao: 2005.
The Commercial Press hired Huang Youyuan and Shi Guangan to carefully
examine the preliminary edition of Volume 1. The third editorial meeting was
held on 25th June with various staff, including revisers, editor-in-chief and assis-
tant editor-in-chief of Volume 1 and 2. The second preliminary edition of Zhuang-
kuang Baogao: 2005 was distributed for comments during the end-of-term con-
ference of the State Language Commission which was held in the Ministry of
Education on 26th June. The sixth draft of Zhuangkuang Baogao: 2005 was then
produced.
10 At that time, it was also originally prepared to release the language data related to the
teaching materials in the teaching of Chinese as a foreign language. However, it was decided
that such language data would serve as a focus for the year 2006. Therefore, such language
data were not covered in the 2005 report.
The fourth editorial meeting as well as Language Situation and Language

Policy Conference were held in Bohai University from 1st to 4th July 2006. With
the attendance of some of the members of the revision and topic team, cross-
editing was conducted for the overall content of the title in order to produce
the seventh draft. On 28th August, the Vice-Chairman of the National People’s
Congress Standing Committee of the PRC, Xu Jialu inscribed the title of the
book Zhongguo Yuyan Shenghuo Lüpishu ‘Green Paper on the Language Situation
in China’ in calligraphy. During the period from July to September, Chen Zhang-
tai, Zhou Qingsheng, Wang Tiekun, Guo Xi and Li Yuming further polished and
revised the seventh draft and finally produced the eighth draft (the finalized
version). On 18th September 2006, Zhongguo Yuyan Shenghuo Zhuangkuang
Baogao: 2005 was officially published.
Zhuangkuang Baogao: 2005 was the first annual report of the language
situation in China released in the name of the government, which was rare in
the world. The experience and inadequacy of Zhuangkuang Baogao: 2005 should
be reviewed. A review meeting was convened by the Department of Language
Information Management on 4th to 30th September 2006 and the experts and
writers of Zhuangkuang Baogao: 2005 were invited. An annual working con-
ference of the State Language Resource Monitoring and Research Center was
held in Xiamen on 25th to 27th August 2006. The topic team meeting of “Lan-
guage Situation in China” was held in Beijing to prepare for the compilation
of Volume 1 and 2 of Zhongguo Yuyan Shenghuo Zhuangkuang Baogao: 2006.
During these meetings and conferences, various feedback and comments were
gathered for Zhuangkuang Baogao: 2005. Main comments were as follows:
1) Zhuangkuang Baogao: 2005 was a serious publication. In total there were

more than ten rounds of revision meetings and four editorial meetings with
the participation of nearly one hundred writers and experts and more than
twenty government departments. There were eight drafts, five galleys and
two preliminary prints for Zhuangkuang Baogao: 2005, in which two years
were spent on its completion. Though a serious publication may not always
be an excellent one, an excellent publication must always be a serious one.
2) Zhuangkuang Baogao: 2005 received the support and cooperation of various
parties. The compilation of Zhuangkuang Baogao: 2005 was guided by the
government with the experts as the foundation and the young scholars
as the main writers. This could be termed as “1 + 1 + 1” model. Zhuangkuang
Baogao: 2005 was published in the name of the government, which meant it
represented the attitude of the government. The government is the main
guiding force of the language life of the people and the major holder of
the language information; hence it is natural that the government plays a
276 Chapter 17
leading role. During the editing and examination process of Zhuangkuang

Baogao: 2005, various government departments and units (including the
State Ethnic Affairs Commission, the State Administration of Radio, Films
and Television, the General Administration of Press and Publication, and
the Department of Language Planning and Administration, the Higher Edu-
cation Department, Hanban and the Ethnical Education Department under
the Ministry of Education) either provided personnel to assist the writing of
relevant chapters and sections or supplied relevant data, or even conducted
enormous amount of revision and supplementary work. The publication of
Zhuangkuang Baogao: 2005 owed the personnel, departments and units of
the government a great debt of gratitude. The experts and scholars worked
selflessly irrespective of their own rewards. For instance, Chen Zhangtai
revised Volume 1 not less than five times. He even continued his revision
work when he was ill. The group of young scholars, who was swift in
response and proficient in modern information technology, used the Internet
to collect materials and perform academic exchanges. Their manuscripts
had been greatly revised without any complaint, which expressed their
broad-mindedness. Their academic quality grew rapidly with their working
in this publication project and they would certainly become experts in
various fields in the future.
3) Modern information technology was fully utilized in this publication project.
The compilation of Volume 2 of this publication made use of the large
capacity real text corpus of 900 million characters for statistical analysis.
Together with the downloading and conversion of electronic text, the
establishment of language data corpus and the software for linguistic unit
segmentation, all these tasks could only be made possible with the latest
language information processing technology. During the course of acquiring
specific data, new issues were encountered and some of them were solved.
The newly found issues would become new topics for language information
processing and the solution to these issues would further advance the
development of language information processing.
4) The issues covered and data released in Volume 1 and 2 of Zhuangkuang
Baogao: 2005 revealed the situation in reality. The correctness of these
issues and data needs to be examined and explanation to be provided. Their
value in actual application also needs to be further explored by academics
so as to contribute a series of theories and applicable research findings.
5) More attention should be given to language life in reality. What impressed
the compilers of Zhuangkuang Baogao: 2005 the most is that people do
not understand much about the language life in reality. In the past, more
attention was paid to the areas of the language life of education, press and
publication, radio and television broadcasting and legislation in which the

concerns tended to be emotional and lacking in research data. The language
situation of the areas related to transportation, industries and commerce,
tourism, medical and health work, personal and place names, etc. and of
the communities concerning farmers and workers, large construction project
migrants, the blind, the deaf and the dumb are rarely known. Measures
should be taken to strengthen the linguistic research of these areas and
communities.
Lüpishu is an important measure of language planning of contemporary China
and an exploration of the solution to the new issues raised during the work
related to the spoken and written language of a new era. The design, editing
and publication of Lüpishu, which realize some new ideas of the language work
of China in the new century and new development of Chinese linguistic
research, is a product under the cooperation of the government, academics and
commercial organizations. Starting from the proposal to its official publication,
Zhuangkuang Baogao: 2005 had been permeated with romantic enthusiasm in
which the spirit of hard struggle and creativity was demonstrated. It also
showed the power of cooperation and team work, and the practice of meticulous
and precise academic discipline.
In November 2006, Language and Culture Press published Zhongguo Yuyan
Wenzi Shiyong Qingkuang Diaocha Ziliao ‘Information on the Survey of Chinese
Language Usage’11 which came as the second publication of the Lüpishu series.
On 6th January 1997, the 134th session of the Premier Working Meeting of the
State Council approved the first survey on the language use in China. The prepa-
ration work of the survey started in 1998. The survey was implemented in 1999
with the stage of organization and statistical work of the data commenced in
2000. In December 2004, the research data were officially released to the society.
Zhongguo Yuyan Wenzi Shiyong Qingkuang Diaocha Ziliao added further value to
the Lüpishu series as it represented the major result of the effort of thousands of
research personnel participating in the first survey on the language use in China
over a span of six years.
11 This was also known as Zhongguo Yuyan Wenzi Guoqing Diaocha (A Research Study of Lan-
guage Conditions in China) as included in ZYSL at the early stage of the publication plan.
278 Chapter 17
Furthermore, it is known that a large scale field study of ethnic languages is

being organized and it is expected that the research findings of that study will
be included in Lüpishu. Some scholars who were inspired by Lüpishu proposed
to publish Zhongguo Yuyan Wenti Lanpishu ‘Blue Paper on the Language Issues in
China’ using academic perspectives to review the issues in the language life
in China and provided various constructive opinion. In the afternoon of 11th
November 2006, a group of scholars gathered together at the Commercial Press
and discussed the publication of Lanpishu ‘Blue Paper’. It was said that some
other scholars proposed that a systematic study on foreign language policy and
language situation should be conducted so as to provide reference to the formu-
lation of the language policy of China. They intended to name that publication
as Yuyan Huangpishu ‘Yellow Paper on Language’. If this can be materialized as
one of the publications in the series on the language life of China and foreign
countries, the perspectives of Chinese people in the knowledge concerning lan-
guage life would be greatly widened.
References
Chen, Yuan (ed.). 1993. Xiandai Hanyu Yongzi Xinxi Fenxi (Modern Standard Chinese Word
Usage Information Analysis). Shanghai: Shanghai Education Publishing House.
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Culture Press.
Gao, Gengsheng. 2000. Hanzi Yanjiu (A Study of Chinese Characters). Shandong: Shandong
Education Press.
Language and Culture Press (ed.). 1993. Yuyan Wenzi Guifan Shouce (Zengdingben) [The
Handbook on the Standardization of the Chinese Language (Extended Edition)]. Beijing:
Language Teaching Research Institute of Beijing Language Institute. 1986. Xiandai Hanyu Pinlü
Cidian (A Dictionary of Modern Standard Chinese Word Frequency). Beijing: Beijing
Language Institute Press.
Li, Yuming. 2001. Tongyong Yuyan Wenzi Guifan he Biaozhun de Jianshe (The Formulation of the
Norms and Standards of Universal Spoken and Written Language). Yuyan Wenzi Yingyong
(Applied Linguistics), Issue No. 2. Beijing: Institute of Applied Linguistics (Ministry of
Education).
Li, Yuming. 2005. Zhongguo Yuyan Guihua Lun (A Theory of Language Planning in China).
Changchun: Northeast Normal University Press.
Li, Yuming (ed.). 2006. Zhongguo Yuyan Shenghuo Zhuangkuang Baogao: 2005 (Language
Situation in China: 2005). Beijing: The Commercial Press.
Office of the Survey of Chinese Language Usage (ed.). 2006. Zhongguo Yuyan Wenzi Shiyong
Secretariat of the National Conference on Language Work. 1987. Xinshiqi de Yuyan Wenzi
Gongzuo – Quanguo Yuyan Wenzi Gongzuo Huiyi Wenjian Huibian (Language Work in a
New Era – Papers from National Conference on Language Work). Beijing: Language and
Culture Press.
State Language Commission of the PRC and the Standardization Administration of the PRC.
1992. Xiandai Hanyu Zipin Tongjibiao (A Dictionary of Modern Standard Chinese Word
Frequency). Beijing: Language and Culture Press.
Variant Forms Research Team. 2002. Diyipi Yixingci Zhenglibiao Shuoming (An Exposition of the
First Batch of Standardized Variant Forms). Beijing: Language and Culture Press.
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Zhou, Qingsheng (ed.). 2003. Guojia, Minzu yu Yuyan – Yuyan Zhengce Guobie Yanjiu (Nation,
Nationality and Language – Language Policy Study by Country). Beijing: Language and
Culture Press.

Chapter 18
Issues of the Chinese language in the
information age1
Abstract: The rapid development of information technology has caused the

formation of the digital gap in the modern world, which in turn has led to
greater imbalance among languages, and threatened the sustainability of a vast
number of languages. The Chinese language has its competitive advantages as
well as disadvantages in the information age. The Chinese government should
adopt a clear language policy with viable measures to reinforce the Chinese
language by promoting Putonghua, enhancing the standardization of Chinese
scripts, enhancing and implementing the Hanyu Pinyin ‘Chinese Phonetic
Alphabet’ System. It should also strive for a competitive status for the Chinese
language in the cyberspace through the use of language information processing
and rapid construction of online databases, and allow the Chinese language to
play a more important role in the global context by means of promoting its use
in the international community.
Keywords: information age, digital gap, language issues in formation age,

language policies
1 Digital gaps in the information age

1.1 The information age
We, human beings, are now entering the information age, which can be described
or defined from different points of view. It can be defined as an age where digital
technology is used for processing information. “Digital technology” refers to the
1 As the Chair of the Conference Steering Committee, I gave a presentation on “Issues of

Language in the Information Age” at the opening ceremony of the 1st Student Workshop
on Computational Linguistics (SWCL-2002), organized by the Chinese Information Processing
Society of China and held at the Institute of Computational Linguistics, Peking University, on
August 20, 2002. The presentation was then published as the preface to the conference proceed-
ings. The same article was also presented at “China’s Construction of Language Standards in
the Information Age” Working Conference, organized by the Department of Language Informa-
tion Management under the Ministry of Education in Wuhan during September 23–25, 2002.
Thereafter, the content of the article has been repeatedly reported in different cities such as
Beijing, Shanghai, Zhejiang, Yunnan, Jiangsu, Hubei, Heilongjiang, Guangdong and Hong
Kong. In 2004, I was invited by Guangming Daily to contribute, on the basis of the aforemen-
tioned presentation, another article “The Languages of World Powers and Language Power”,
282 Chapter 18
use of computers and the Internet to collect, collate, store, exchange, search,
and retrieve as well as process information.
The history of mankind has been closely related to the invention and im-
provements of information processing technology. Each stage of development
of such technology has led to further progress or even ground-breaking changes
in human society. New findings have shown that language did not come
into being concurrently with human beings who had lived in a very long “pre-
language” stage prior to the creation of language. During the pre-language
stage, human beings communicated with each other merely by body signs
and cries, somewhat similar to what chimpanzees and other apes use to com-
municate.2 As human beings evolved, human language was created around
40,000–50,000 years ago. (Hu 1985: 17–23) There emanated a genuine qualita-
tive change in human beings’ ability to exchange and process information.
Such ability separated human beings from other fauna and allowed human beings
to dominate the globe. The emergence of writing systems helped language break
the constraints of time and space. It facilitated the preciseness of information
processing and the efficiency of information exchange, paving the road for
human beings to enter a new era of civilization. In addition, subsequent devel-
opments of written languages, printing technology, communication technology,
analog signal systems for telephone and television have caused a series of infor-
mation revolutions and enabled human beings to walk into modernization.
The emergence and development of digital technology has made informa-
tion processing in large volume, at high speed and with good quality possible.
Information will play an unprecedentedly important role in the lives and pro-
duction activities of human beings. It has become the very foundation of life as
well as the capital for production. Information technology is also the prominent
realization of technology advancement. Therefore, the information age can also
be described as the digital age due to the involvement of information processing
by computers and the Internet. In the digital age, the level of information process-
ing in a nation usually reflects its level of economic development. The information
industry is the most representative of the high-tech industry, and is the top
priority of a national economy.
1.2 Digital gap

For various historical reasons, there is an imbalance among the world’s nations
in terms of politics, economy, science and education. Such a serious inequality
which was published on July 28, 2004. This was subsequently reported in Dalian, Shanghai,
Guangzhou and Hong Kong. An abridged version of the article was published in Yuyan Wenzi
Yingyong (Applied Linguistics). The full version of the article is now presented in this work.
2 For the discussion of the communication strategy used by chimpanzees, see Li (2000:191–192).
has brought about a large number of international social problems that threaten
the world order and even human survival. In the information age, the unbalanced
developments of different countries in the world have constituted an ever-
widening digital gap.
In September 1993, the U.S. government headed by Bill Clinton announced
that it would implement an information superhighway program. On January 25,
1994, President Clinton further ambitiously announced in his State of the Union
Address that all classrooms, hospitals and clinics as well as libraries in the U.S.
would be connected to the Internet before 2000. In February 1994, the European
Commission, following Clinton’s ambitious plan, also announced the construc-
tion of an information superhighway. It was followed by a successive wave of
construction of information superhighways all over the globe. (Yao 1997:34–35)
In 1995, the Internet became an international commodity. On February 26, 1998,
President Clinton made a formal announcement of his “New Network Policy.”
In December 1999, the European Commission initiated the political agenda of
e-Europe. In 2000, the Japanese Prime Minister Mori Yoshiro introduced the
idea of e-Japan to create an “IT-based society” for Japan. (Hu and Zhou 2002:34)
The digital gap reflects the imbalance in the development of information
technology, especially in the uneven distribution of Internet users. As pointed
out by Hu and Zhou (2002), 20% of the population of the highest income coun-
tries owns 93% of the Internet users while 20% of the lowest income countries in
the world owns only 0.2% of the Internet users. In August 2000, there were
168.68 Internet hosts per thousand people in North America against only 0.31
Internet host per thousand people in Africa, which is 1/540 of that of North
America. In October 2000, countries in the Organization for Economic Coopera-
tion and Development (OECD) had 95.6% of the total Internet hosts, while those
not in the OECD had only 4.4%. These figures clearly show that some countries
or regions were digitally wealthy, or digitally privileged, whereas other countries
or regions were digitally impoverished.
The digital gap is much more than just an issue concerning the great dis-
parity in the number of Internet users or Internet access. In the new order of
the information age, the digital gap will bring about gaps in social, economical,
technological, educational and perhaps other aspects. The digital gap implies a
serious imbalance in the allocation of knowledge and resources. Those countries
or people with limited access to information networks will be living in the
margins of economic globalization and information revolution. Thus, the digital
gap indeed brought about social gaps. The information industry is currently the
key to a country’s economic growth worldwide. The digital gap will naturally
cause an economic gap. Information technology has also become the cutting-
edge technology and an indispensable modern tool for scientific research. Like-
wise the digital gap has brought about technological gap. According to the
284 Chapter 18
United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO),

new information technology could provide greater potential to improve teaching
and learning, increase learning opportunities, improve the quality as well as
management of education. The digital gap is contributing to a wider knowledge
gap. (Chinese National Commission for UNESCO Secretariat 2001:33) In this
regard, the digital gap should be defined as the huge disparity in various aspects
of society as a result of the unbalanced development of information technology.
The digital gap was first reported by the National Telecommunications and
Information Administration (NTIA). The agency released four reports, between
July 1995 and October 2000, on the issues of the nationwide digital gap, naming
it the number-one economic and human rights issue in the United States. It
proposed that all Americans be integrated into a network society. (Hu and Zhou
2002:35) In recent years, the international community is extremely concerned
about the problems created by the digital gap. For instance, on August 23,
2001, the 4th E-9 Ministerial Review Meeting adopted the Beijing Declaration
that proposed to achieve the potential of EFA (education-for-all) to narrow the
digital gap through data mining and further development in information and
communication technologies. (Chinese National Commission for UNESCO Secre-
tariat 2001:23) The Beijing Declaration was incorporated into the UNESCO docu-
ments at the 46th UNESCO International Conference on Education held between
September 5 and 8, 2001 in Geneva. Furthermore, the issues concerning the
digital gap as well as possible ways to narrow the digital gap in the education
sector were also discussed.3
2 Linguistic effects of the digital gap

The digital gap has not only affected politics, science, technology, economy and
education, but has also constituted the most serious impact on languages and
the way we use language in our daily lives, which are mainly manifested in the
following two aspects:
2.1 Widening language inequality

All languages are supposedly equal. However, a de facto language inequality
has emerged due to the uneven demographic, economic, cultural and military
3 See Chinese National Commission for UNESCO Secretariat (2001: 33, 40).
developments of different people speaking different languages. The majority of

languages merely play a minor role to serve a small number of people in their
everyday communication whereas some languages have emerged as the mutual
communication tool of a country, a region and even the world, standing tall over
other languages. For instance, English, French, Russian, Spanish, Arabic and
other dozens of languages are more frequently used across the modern interna-
tional communities, whereas English is the super-language above all others.
English was only a minority language around 1600. Latin was the super-
language of the Western World in ancient times, being the lingua franca of
Western Europe until the medieval times. It was then replaced by French as the
diplomatic language in the 17th century. It was not until the end of the First
World War that English was poised to challenge the status of French. (Liberson
2001:608–609) The United States became the world leader in terms of military
power and technological development after the Second World War, making
English, rather than French, the prevailing language in diplomacy, trade, tech-
nology and education. The United States and Great Britain have taken each and
every effort to promote English as the lingua franca of the world after the 1950s.
The rapid expansion of the dominance of English has eventually made it the
super-language of our time. (Phillipson 2001)
The United States leads other countries by a long way in the area of new
information technology. In July 1998, there were more than 179 Internet hosts
per thousand people in the United States whereas there was only an average of
62 Internet hosts in OECD countries. In July 2000, the figures were 230, 88 and
42 Internet hosts per thousand people in the United States, OECD countries and
EU (the European Union) countries respectively. (Hu and Zhou 2002:39) The
rapid development of information technology in the United States lends more
power to English to become the most dominant language in the Internet.
According to the statistics released in 2001, 78% of the languages used in the
cyberspace was English, leaving a mere 22% share for other languages.
There has always been inequality among languages. However, at the end of
the 20th century, the situation became that there was even a wide disparity
among the international major languages. The inequality of languages is bound
to bring about language discrimination, with some languages being esteemed
and some being disparaged. It follows that language discrimination would in-
evitably give rise to ethnic and cultural discriminations. Therefore, in UNESCO’s
46th session of the International Conference on Education, it was agreed that
World Culture is a continuous process of construction and renewal, not to be
monopolized by certain countries or certain cultures of some particular regions.
All cultures from different regions and people should be integrated into the
286 Chapter 18
World Culture and, through such a process, maintain their very vitality. (Chinese
National Commission for UNESCO Secretariat 2001:31)
Language is wealth, and language inequality virtually means an uneven
distribution of wealth. The non-English speaking countries and ethnic groups
will need to spend a great deal of time and money on acquiring this language
of power. If one has to spend CNY20,000 to learn to understand, speak, read
and write 5,000 English words, then each word will cost CNY4. Also, the stan-
dards of the equipment for modern information technology, such as computers
and networks, have to be in compliance with English or the standards in the
English-speaking countries. These are only a few examples. The cash spent on
acquiring English as well as the investment in technical equipment also consti-
tute a considerable outflow of funds in favour of the English-speaking countries,
which, in turn further widens the economic gap.
2.2 Threat to the survival of a majority of languages

There exist or have existed 5,000 to 6,000 languages in the world, of which
hundreds have been extinct, especially those aboriginal languages of America
and Australia. In the recent two centuries, language extinction has clearly taken
a more rapid pace, thanks to industrialization as well as the formation of
regional and international markets. Currently, hundreds of languages are on
the brink of extinction. Zhou (2000:86) has pointed out that among the minority
nationalities of China such as the Hezhen, the Gelao, the Tujia, the She and
the Manchu, only 14.78%, 10.36%, 5.27% , 0.11% and 0.01% of the respective
minority nationality population are able to speak their own aboriginal lan-
guages. These are all endangered languages.
According to a study by Wurm (2001), the reasons for language extinction
are mainly the extinction of the language groups, changes of the ecological
environment of the languages, language contacts and cultural clashes, political
influence and conquests, among others. In the information age, the digitaliza-
tion of language causes extreme inequalities among languages, accelerates the
speed of language extinction, and increases the number of endangered languages.
Thus, in this new era, information technology has become a cause, or even a
major cause, for the demise of languages.
We live between two spaces, the real space we live in physically and the
virtual space created by the Internet. With the development of information tech-
nology, virtual space has become increasingly important. Visionary leaders in
society predict that in future we will be living in a network-oriented society. The
languages being used in the real space are the results of natural development
in human history whereas the languages used in the virtual space have been
dictated by language hegemony from the onset. They are in the tight control
of those countries with more advanced information technology development,
which in turn reinforces such language hegemony in the virtual space. The vast
majority of the world’s languages have no chance of becoming a language in
the Internet. Some languages might have stood a chance, but also fail in the
competition because they are unable to join the club of language hegemony.
They can only play a minor role in the Internet. Russian, French, German,
Spanish and other major languages are also experiencing a sense of crisis in
the virtual space.
The virtual space and the real space are not separated from each other;
rather, they are constantly linked to each other in their developments. On the
one hand, the development of the virtual space relies on economic develop-
ment, and the level of development and penetration of information technology.
On the other hand, the actual operations in the real space are increasingly
dependent on the virtual space. The real space, therefore, becomes more con-
strained by the development of virtual space. As a result, the development of
information technology not only threatens the survival of languages in the real
space, but also exerts tremendous impact on the language situation in the real
space through the language situation that it has constructed in the virtual space.
Those languages that cannot become a language in the Internet will lose their
vitality; those languages that are at a disadvantage position in the Internet will
fall into decline, or even face extinction.
Wurm (2001:89) agrees with his peer linguists that language is an intrinsic
part of culture and society. It reflects the way how people look at the physical
and the spiritual world. The language of each speech community also reflects
the way how its people solve worldly problems, form their own thoughts and
philosophical systems as well as understand the world around them. If such lan-
guage becomes dead, the knowledge of how its users think and view the world
will be irreplaceably and irrevocably lost forever. The international community
was extremely concerned about the trend towards “a single market, a single lan-
guage, a single culture” in the information age. Many countries have put in
place strategic plans for their language development to cope with the challenges
posed by the information age. Such concern was reflected in the Universal
Declaration on Cultural Diversity adopted at the 31st session of the General Con-
ference of UNESCO held in Paris in October 2001. (Chinese National Commission
for UNESCO Secretariat 2001:47–48)
288 Chapter 18
3 China’s language strategy in the information

age
3.1 Development of information technology in China
China has been paying close attention to the development of information
technology worldwide and actively promoting its own information technology
nationwide. In the following, we use the Internet as an example to illustrate
the development of information technology in China.
The prelude to China’s Internet era was officially announced when Professor
Qian Tianbai sent the country’s first email on September 20, 1987, with the
following message: “Over the Great Wall, we can reach the world”. On March 2,
1993, the Institute of High Energy Physics (IHEP) of the Chinese Academy of
Sciences (CAS) rented a 64K dedicated line from AT&T which connected an
international satellite communication channel to the Stanford Linear Accelerator
Center (SLAC), which was China’s first dedicated line partly connecting the Inter-
net. China was thus officially recognized as an Internet country when the
National Computing and Networking Facility of China (NCFC), located in the
Zhongguancun area, accessed the Internet through the Sprint Corporation in
the United States on April 20, 1994.
As mentioned above, the Clinton administration announced that it would
implement the “information superhighway” program in September, 1993. On
March 12, 1993, China’s Vice-premier Zhu Rongji proposed the construction and
deployment of a national public economic information network (known as the
“Golden Bridge Project”). On August 27 1993, the government authorized US$3
million from the reserve fund to finance the preparation stage of the project.
On June 8, 1994, the preparation works of the Golden Bridge Project started
full swing. On February 11, 1996, the State Council issued Decree No. 195 of the
Computer Information Network and Internet Management Interim Provisions of the
People’s Republic of China to promote the orderly development of the Internet in
China.4 A strategy was further formulated in the National Economic and Social
Development Tenth Five-Year Plan of the People’s Republic of China to “accelerate
the development of information industry and vigorously promote information
technology”. (Zhu 2001) Beijing, Shanghai and other cities soon responded by
putting forth their proposals for the construction of a digital city.
4 This is based on the online data from China Internet Network Information Center (http://
www.cnnic.net.cn/).
From October 1997 to July 2002, China Internet Network Information Center
(CNNIC), in collaboration with four network companies, has published semi-
annual Statistical Report on Internet Development in China, the latest one being
the tenth report. The table below shows the numbers of Internet-connected com-
puters and Internet users:
Year 1996 1998 1998 1999 1999 2000 2000 2001 2001 2002
Month Oct June Dec June Dec June Dec June Dec June
A 29.9 54.2 74.7 146 350 650 892 1002 1254 1613
B 62 117.5 210 400 890 1690 2250 2650 3370 4580
Notes:
1. The years and months above represent the cut-off time for statistical data
collection.
2. “A” and “B” (both in ten-thousands) represent the number of online com-
puters and the number of Internet users respectively.5
As could be seen from the above table, the development of the Internet was
taking a fast pace in China. In terms of absolute numbers, both of Internet-
connected computers and Internet users were approaching the level of developed
countries. The rapid development of the Internet and other aspects of information
technology are conducive to the development of the use of Chinese in the virtual
space, which is growing year after year. China’s information technology is catch-
ing up at a galloping speed with the world’s advanced levels.
3.2 Advantages and disadvantages of the Chinese language

The Chinese language is having an ever-increasing influence on the world. In
the information age, Chinese has its advantages, but at the same time there is
also a crisis lying within.
5 The following table shows the latest data on Internet users in China since June 2002. The data
is based on the online data from China Internet Network Information Center’s (http://www.
cnnic.net.cn/).
Year 2002 2003 2003 2004 2004

Month Dec June Dec June Dec
A 2083 2572 3089 3630 4160
B 5910 6800 7950 8700 9400
290 Chapter 18
First of all, the Chinese language has its primary advantage in terms of its
number of speakers. A statistical report has estimated that there are about 1.3
billion speakers who use the Chinese language as their first language, making
it one of the world’s most popular languages. Secondly, it also has an advantage
in culture. The Chinese language carries with it a culture inherited from China’s
long history, with which the world is fascinated. Thirdly, it also has a potential
economic advantage. In recent years, China’s economy continues to grow at
a rapid speed, which is significantly conducive to raising China’s international
status. The United States, South Korea, Japan and other countries have already
incorporated the Chinese language as a major foreign language in their educa-
tional system.
The disadvantages of the Chinese language can be seen in the following
aspects.
Despite the large number of speakers, the Chinese language lacks a good
internal consistency. There are significant differences in the dialects spoken in
China, not to mention the differences between simplified characters and tradi-
tional characters. There has been a significant progress in promoting Putong-
hua, the official tongue, and standardized Chinese characters in recent years.
However, the current situation is still far from being satisfactory. It is not un-
common that dialects and non-standardized characters, instead of Putonghua
and standardized characters, are being used in official occasions, teaching
activities and communication in public places. Many surveys have shown that
the level of Chinese proficiency of the younger generations of the majority Han
ethnic group is declining drastically. In those regions populated by the various
ethnic nationalities, the country’s official language and standardized Chinese
characters are not widely spoken or used. In fact, there exist policies and regu-
lations or a socio-psychological propensity to put more weight on a candidate’s
fluency in foreign languages (mainly English) rather than his or her Chinese pro-
ficiency when it comes to admittance into higher education, recruitment, and
promotion in workplaces, etc. There is little awareness of the use of the nation’s
standardized language in society. It is also common to see that the mass media
use non-standardized language in a casual manner. There is still room to
improve in three areas of education, namely the teaching of Chinese as a foreign
language, the teaching of Chinese to the minority ethnic groups and the teach-
ing of the mother language to the majority native speakers. The truth, however,
is that not only the educational theories and teaching methodologies are not
yet full-developed, but also an organic and efficient mechanism has to be in
place for coordinating the management and research methods in these areas of
education.
Research on modern Chinese characters is not profound enough, and there

is still no research center specialized in Putonghua or modern Chinese characters.
Budget allocated for the research on the Chinese language including Chinese
characters is extremely limited. The standardization of the Chinese language
and characters has still left much to be desired. For instance, there is no full
table of Chinese syllables or full-length and comprehensive grammatical rules
for the Chinese language commensurate with the status of the language. There
are only a few standardized rules for some commonly-used Chinese characters
for printing and publishing.
There is still a huge gap between Chinese information technology and those
of developed countries, especially in terms of proprietary intellectual property
rights which Chinese core information technologies have managed to acquire.
It is still rare to find in the Internet Chinese corpora or multilingual databases
including the Chinese language that are open to the public, which makes both
the utilization rate and the practical value of the Internet fairly low.
In terms of daily uses in an international context, Chinese does not stand an
advantage either. Few countries and regions in the world have made Chinese a
national common language or working language; although the United Nations
has adopted Chinese as one of its working languages, it is seldom used in meet-
ings of regional or international organizations. Regionally and internationally,
the use of the Chinese language as a communication tool is very limited in
important areas, such as diplomacy, trade, technology and education. It is rather
difficult for the offspring of overseas Chinese living in non-Chinese speaking
environments to keep using Chinese, and thus a great number of them have
given it up. The number of foreigners learning Chinese is rising, but few could
really manage to master it or use it practically in their daily lives.
These aforementioned factors are not conducive to the consolidation and
optimization of the Chinese language, the promotion of the common national
language in China or the dissemination of Chinese internationally. Needless to
say, they do not help enhance the prestige or status of the Chinese language at
home or abroad.
3.3 Measures for promoting the Chinese language

In order to accelerate the dissemination of the Chinese language and enhance
its functions and status in the information age, the following measures should
be adopted.
292 Chapter 18
3.3.1 Promoting Putonghua
Back in the late Qing dynasty, it was suggested that a unified language should
be seen as “the fundamental element of statehood”. (Qing et al 1910/1958) It was
also believed that a unified language could “unite people from all parts (of
China) together and create one single spirit” (Lin, 1898/1958), “enhance the con-
solidation of all groups and raise the sense of patriotism” (Wu 1902/1958), and
“preserve the quintessence of Chinese culture” (Lu 1906/1958). The primary
purpose of having a unified language is to facilitate communication, but it is
also indeed an important factor in enhancing national cohesion. Today, it is
also seen as an indispensable foundation for promoting the development of
information technology, and leading the Chinese language to the world.
It is top priority to raise the public’s awareness in the national language,
and to foster a sense of identity with Putonghua and a sense of pride in speak-
ing Putonghua, thereby enhancing the reputation of Putonghua as a language.
To reach this goal, it requires people working in education and radio and televi-
sion broadcasting as well as government officials to take the lead to use and
speak proper Putonghua and set good examples for the public to follow. It is
also imperative to enrich the language skills of the speakers so that more and
more of them will be able to freely use Putonghua in all occasions. Currently,
in addition to promoting Putonghua in the public services industry (a.k.a.
“window industry”), the government should also a) improve the training and
assessment of Putonghua proficiency in the public services industry through a
market-oriented vocational certification system; b) study the language issues
concerning people in the small-towns and villages as well as migrant peasants
working in cities; c) put efforts in promoting Putonghua in the regions populated
by the minority ethnic groups; d) enhance the social communication within and
between overseas Chinese communication and; e) support overseas Chinese as
well as their offspring to learn the Chinese language so that the language will
sustain.
3.3.2 Accelerating the standardization of Chinese characters
A mature, outstanding and influential language should have a series of scientific

and effective norms and standards in its language structure, writing system and
applications in society so as to facilitate its use in language education and daily
communication, information processing and help improve its reputation.
Apart from the basic norms and standards of the Chinese language such as
compiling standardized Chinese character lists, special attention should also be
paid to the standardization of various uses and applications of language in daily

communication in order to create a healthy and orderly language environment.
For instance, there should be standards to regulate the proper use of Chinese
characters and words in different types of education (literacy education, national
language education in schools, teaching of national language to minority ethnic
groups, teaching Chinese as a foreign language) and different levels of education
(kindergartens, primary schools, junior secondary schools, etc.), as well as
standards for proper nouns such as names for people and places and their trans-
lations, contraction and simplification of low dot matrix Chinese characters
on screens, computer fonts, structures for constructing corpora, standards for
language used in cyberspace and acronyms of jargons in the Internet, etc.
3.3.3 Role of the Hanyu Pinyin ‘Chinese Phonetic Alphabet’ System
The Hanyu Pinyin system or simply pinyin is the product of more than a
hundred years of social practice6 and the statutory system selected from
thousands of proposals, which makes use of Romanization to write out the
Chinese language and transliterate Chinese characters. This is especially useful
in situations where writing Chinese characters is not possible or convenient.
Pinyin acts as an excellent assistant to Chinese characters, particularly in learn-
ing Chinese characters and promoting Putonghua. It plays another important
and indispensable role in communication with people from other countries and
between human and machine.
The Hanyu Pinyin system is basically capable of representing the pronun-
ciation of Chinese characters. However, if it has to be fully effective in writing
out Chinese characters and in situations where the use of Chinese characters is
not possible or convenient, further research and improvement are still needed.
Apart from those traditional research areas such as the distinction of homo-
phonous Chinese characters, rules for using upper case and lower case and for
pinyin representation of segmented words, there are still many issues which
require more efforts to solve, particularly in the education, information process-
ing and international exchange aspects.
Very little research has been done on the applications of the Hanyu Pinyin
system. Currently, there is a tendency to play down the importance of teaching
6 The historical roots of the pinyin system could be traced back to the various Romanization
systems devised by early missionaries such as Matteo Ricci in the Ming dynasty. Chinese pinyin,
thus, actually has a history of social practice longer than a hundred years.
294 Chapter 18
pinyin in primary schools. The proficiency level in using pinyin among adults is
also low. The general public are still rather confused in terms of understanding
and applying pinyin. These issues have restrained pinyin from fully performing
its functions. These issues should be taken up seriously.
3.3.4 Promoting research on Chinese information processing
Information processing of the Chinese language and characters presents a

bottle neck to China’s development of information technology. It is a decisive
battle that China must face and win in order to further develop its information
technology. The information processing of Chinese is switching its focus from
processing individual characters and words and terms towards sentences and
discourse, and from written texts towards speech. Meanwhile, the foremost
priority is to implement strategic plans to assemble a pool of talents from differ-
ent disciplines such as linguistics and information technologists to conduct joint
researches with an aim to cultivate leaders in the field. Secondly, there should
be strategic plans for the allocation of key resources to the development of a
variety of language and software resources with proprietary intellectual property
rights, such as corpora of written language and spoken language with syntactic
and semantic tagging and various kinds of information and knowledge dic-
tionaries. The sharing and complementariness of resources will be enhanced
through clear definition of intellectual property rights and implementation of
uniform standards and protocols. Thirdly, a development strategy should be
implemented, which will convert research results into commercial products in a
timely manner and rapidly capture market shares. It will create both social and
economic returns, which can be reinvested into new technological researches.
The goal is that China’s language information processing will be able to take a
giant leap onto a new stage in five to ten years.
3.3.5 Constructing online databases
Networks are “roads”; web-pages are “vehicles”; databases are “cargo” carried
by vehicles. Insufficient “cargo” is the biggest problem causing a low efficiency in
networks. Without sufficient databases, especially those publicly open databases,
services such as e-government, e-commerce, e-education, and e-entertainment
cannot be smoothly provided. The Chinese language should be basically used
for these databases, which will not only allow our nationals to use them with
ease, thus attracting many more users, but also help increase the relative share
of the Chinese language in the virtual space quickly. At the same time, multi-
lingual databases should also be developed with the Chinese language as the
core language so that foreign users may visit web-pages in Chinese easily. The
operations in the virtual space follow an axiom: “whoever owns also possesses”.
Therefore, building a leading database with powerful functions would amount
to occupying a domain or an academic field in the virtual space. The partition
of the cyber world has just begun. To occupy more domain and space in the
cyber world, various kinds of databases will be needed.
Chinese culture is a precious wealth of humanity. The construction of data-
bases for Chinese culture, such as digital libraries, digital museums, etc., will
allow Chinese culture to preserve permanently through the new digital media,
and researchers across the globe to dig into the treasures of Chinese culture
by using these databases. The construction of databases for Chinese culture
requires a comprehensive set of ancient and modern Chinese characters, a full
set of characters and words used by minority ethnic groups from the past to
the present, and all the useful symbols to be stored in ISO space.7 This is the
only way to ensure that Chinese culture will be preserved and developed as it
originally is, and there will not be any barrier for communication in the Internet.
3.3.6 Strategies for the international dissemination of the Chinese language
For a long time, the United States, Britain, France, Spain, Germany, Japan and
other countries (Ammon 1992; Hirataka 1992) all have strategic plans to globally
disseminate English, French, Spanish, German and Japanese. The United States
and Britain have been promoting English globally mainly by way of trade,
media, education, culture among other means. (Phillipson 1992) France has tried
hard to coordinate the issues concerning French in thirty-four countries where
French enjoys a privileged status and the Francophonie regions in three other
countries, and has even appointed a government minister to specially deal with
language issues in these regions. (Clainéden 2001) Spain has been using a con-
cept known as Hispanidad to promote and spread its language to the world.
(Sanchez 1992/2001)
In the information age, the international dissemination of the Chinese lan-
guage should deserve great attention. There should be a clear line of thoughts
and effective measures to achieve that. For instance, based on people and
7 These words and symbols can be collectively named “the Collection of Chinese Characters.”
Its construction has already started and is now in the stage of collecting character types and
designing subsets.
296 Chapter 18
regions using Chinese, three strategic areas could be identified: the overseas
Chinese communities, the traditional cultural circle of Chinese characters (North
Korea, South Korea, Japan, Vietnam, etc.) and the radiated circle (other coun-
tries and regions). China should first strengthen the communication and coordi-
nation between home and overseas Chinese communities. After that, it should
form language coalition with those countries in the traditional cultural circle of
Chinese characters based on a common culture foundation, and try to radiate
the effects of such coalition to the radiated circle. For instance, it may consider
the following steps: First, China should fight for the status of the Chinese lan-
guage in international conferences; second, it should gradually fight for the
working language status for the Chinese language in international organi-
zations, and then the status as a primary foreign language in countries in the
traditional cultural circle of Chinese characters and the radiated circle. Cur-
rently, the major means of dissemination can be education, trade and large-scale
international events held in China (e.g. the 2008 Olympics and 2010 World
Expo). In terms of organization, it can mainly rely on non-government organiza-
tions for the international dissemination of the Chinese language, supplemented
by a highly efficient government authority for coordination. Such strategies,
together with various practical implementations, should facilitate the Chinese
language to enter the world stage in a speedy manner.
The phenomenal development of new information technologies has formed
digital gap in the world which consequently leads to gaps in social, economical,
technological, knowledge and many other aspects of society. At the same time, it
has created greater inequality among languages and even threatens the survival
of many languages. In the competition among languages in the information age,
the Chinese language has many inherent advantages such as demographics,
culture, etc. Furthermore, due to the economic growth, China has been on its
rise in the international context. The Chinese language has become more popular,
and is now widely accepted as one of the foreign languages to be included in
the curricula of education in some countries. On the other hand, the Chinese
language also has some obvious disadvantages. For instance, there are signifi-
cant differences among its dialects, inconsistencies in its writing systems as
well as Chinese characters; language standards are much less than perfect; the
nation-wide promotion of Putonghua has become a challenging task; the Chinese
language is not widely used in the cyberspace and it thus could only play a
limited role as an international language.
Faced with the challenges of the digital gap, China should have a clear
language policy: to promote Putonghua nationally and internationally; to enhance
the language standards for the standardization of the Chinese language, especially
the Chinese characters; to promote, perfect and implement the Hanyu Pinyin
system. All these measures are meant to revamp the status of the Chinese lan-
guage as a preferred language in the information age. The Chinese language
should compete for a reputable status in virtual space through the rapid devel-
opment of Chinese information processing and online databases. This series of
strategies to disseminating the Chinese language could help the Chinese lan-
guage maximize its function and influence as an international language.
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Vol. 1.
Translated by CHIN Chi On, Andy (钱志安)

Department of Linguistics and Modern Language Studies,
Hong Kong Institute of Education
andychin@ied.edu.hk
Chapter 19
Language tasks in the information age1
Abstract: There are two new language tasks in the information age: 1. language
information processing; 2. healthy language activities in the Internet world. The
three traditional language tasks of Putonghua promotion, Chinese character
standardization and Hanyu Pinyin implementation should also be completed on
an informatized platform. The key to successfully completing these tasks is a
new understanding of language.
Keywords: information age, language, language work, tasks
0 Introduction
As early as the 50s and 60s of the 20th century, forward-looking scholars
were already studying problems of the future information society. In 1959, the
American sociologist Daniel Bell introduced the concept of post-industrial society.
In 1962, the American scholar Fritz Machlup introduced the concept of “knowl-
edge society” in his book Knowledge Industry. The Japanese scholar Tadao
Umesao introduced the concept of “information society”, in Information Industry
Theory: Dawn of the Coming Era of the Ectodermal Industry. Attention began to
be paid to the role of knowledge or information in the future society, and it
was gradually realized that in the information society, among the three kinds of
resources usable by human beings – material resources, energy resources and
information resources – information resources would be the most important
one.
The past half century has seen some characteristics of the information
society gradually emerge as a result of the development of the information
industry. In particular, since the coming of the information superhighway initia-
tives and their implementation in many countries and regions of the world in
the early 1990’s, and since the beginning of the commercialization of the Inter-
net in 1995, suddenly, man has taken a big stride forward in the information age.
1 Presented at National Conference on the Informatization of Language and Writing, Department

of Language Information Administration, Ministry of Education, Changsha, 4th–6th November,
2013. Also presented at 3rd Annual Conference of the Applied Linguistics Society, Hangzhou,
8th–10th November and published in the proceedings. (Hong Kong Joint Scientific Publisher,
2004)
300 Chapter 19
The 2nd July 2001 issue of U.S. News and World Report pointed out that the
proportion of manufacturing production in the gross domestic product (GDP) of
the United States of America had fallen from 28.7% (in 1960) to 17%. For many
years, information industry production in China has been growing at an average
rate of more than 25% per year, three times the growth rate of our total domestic
production. At present, the total number of telephones installed in our country
has reached 490 million, including 245 million fixed-line installations and 245
million mobile phone installations, ranking first in the world. On 30th June
2003, the number of computers connected directly to the Internet in our country
had reached 25.72 million and the number of our Internet users had reached 68
million. E-commerce, E-administration and E-education have now become a part
of our life, having great influence on our life-style and life attitudes.
With the arrival of the information age, language workers must keep abreast
of the times by critically reviewing the nature of our language work, which
should address the needs of the time.
1 New language tasks in the information age

1.1 Three important formulations of national language tasks
Since the founding of the People’s Republic of China more than half a century
ago, timely progress in national language work has played an irreplaceable role
in the cultural development and modernization of our country. During this
period, our national language tasks had been formulated and re-formulated
three times to address the needs of the times.
The first time took place in the 60s. Premier Zhou Enlai (1958: 1) pointed out:
“The Language reform tasks of our time include simplification of Chinese
characters, promotion of Putonghua, and design and implementation of Hanyu
Pinyin.” These were the three major language tasks of our country in the 50s
and 60s of 20th century.
The second time took was kicked off by a national conference on language
work held on 6th January 1986. Our country entered a new era of social develop-
ment in the 80s of the 20th century. In accordance with the new social situations,
five major national language tasks were formulated during the conference, they
are (Liu 1986:23–24):
1) standardization of modern Chinese; promotion and popularization of Putong-

hua.
2) research on standardization of Chinese scripts for the formulation of related

standards.
3) continued implementation of Hanyu Pinyin; studying and finding solutions
for problems arising in its actual use.
4) research on information processing issues concerning the Chinese language
and Chinese scripts; participation in assessment of such research results.
5) strengthening fundamental and applied research on language; conducting
social surveys and consultations; providing social services.
The third time was kicked start by another national conference on language
work held on 23rd December 1997. Four language tasks were identified for the
new era (Xu 1997a: 442–445):
1) upholding the legal role of Putonghua, and pushing for its promotion.
2) upholding the direction of Chinese script simplification, enforcing the use of
standardized scripts in the whole society.
3) strengthening macro-management of Chinese information processing, grad-
ually realizing quality enhancement and standardization of Chinese infor-
mation technology products.
4) implementing Hanyu Pinyin while at the same time expanding its scope of
use.
Two remarks can be made on these three formulations of national language

tasks: First, promoting Putonghua, standardizing Chinese scripts and imple-
menting Hanyu Pinyin have always been major national language tasks for
more than half a century, although they have been formulated differently, under-
stood differently and given different emphases in different periods. For the sake
of convenience, we can refer to these three as “traditional tasks” in our national
language work. Second, in the new era, language information processing has
been recognized as a national language task.
1.2 Language information processing

Recognition of language (including writing) information processing as a national
language task is based on two considerations: (1) the tremendous influence
of informatization on society; (2) the close relationship between language and
informatization. In fact, our country has long been paying close attention to
information technology development. Since long time ago, we have had a good
understanding of the close relationship between language and informatization.
302 Chapter 19
In the 80s of the 20th century, language information processing had just
started to take up momentum. Research results had not yet been applied on a
big scale to society at large. Wan Li, Vice Premier of the State Council, pointed
out at the opening ceremony of the 1986 National Language Work Conference:
“Widely using computers to process different kinds of information is an im-
portant aspect of the new technological revolution. To make it possible for
computers to carry out orders of humans, we must conduct research on how
language is used and understood. There is now great interest in and a lot of
research on computer input methods, which are highly relevant to our work
on language.” (Wan 1986: 13–14) The report of the National Conference on
Language Work gave a depiction of the scenario of informatization and began
to study the role of language work in the information age: “Now, the world is
in an era of rapid informatization. Using computers to process information,
automate library information work, modernize printing and document for-
matting, automate production management and automate office administration
are important objectives in modernization and development. In view of this,
strengthening research on language and putting more efforts in language stan-
dardization are now more important than any time in the past.”
At that time, the State Language Commission had already come to realize
that “Achievements made in the area of language have indeed played a definite
role in research on Chinese information processing technology”. It was pointed
out that “More and more use of Hanyu Pinyin has been made in Chinese in-
formation processing. The development of automatic Hanyu Pinyin-to-Chinese
character conversion computer systems has increased information processing
capabilities and created good conditions for popularizing and developing com-
puters in our country.” (Liu 1986: 21–22) This was an understanding that kept
abreast of the time. It was indeed remarkable that we were able, then, to identify
“research on information processing issues concerning Chinese language and
Chinese scripts and participation in assessment of research results” as language
tasks.
When another National Language Work Conference was held ten years later,
big achievements had been made in information technology and language proc-
essing. Some characteristics of information society had already emerged. Xu
Jialu, head of the State Language Commission, said clearly at the closing cere-
mony of the conference, “A big difference between today’s economic develop-
ment from that of the 50s and 60s is that a higher degree of informatization
has been achieved. Language standards have become increasingly important
in information processing. Language used in publications, video screens and
public places are relying more and more on computers. On the other hand, the
popularization and internetization of computers have brought about more re-
quirements on language standardization. While promotion of Putonghua will

still be the first language task of the 21st century, Chinese information process-
ing will be the force that takes our language work forward. Failing to see this,
we will not be able to have a full understanding of the characteristics of the lan-
guage work in front of us. We will not be able to correctly serve and contribute
to the economic development of our country.” (Xu 1997b: 452)
From the point of view of language information processing, the 1997
National Language Work Conference had two achievements. First, it was realized
that the role of the government in language information processing should be
on the macro-management level, and that objectives of its work should be
“quality enhancement and standardization of Chinese information technology
products”. Second, it was stated clearly that these objectives were to be achieved
by efforts in four directions: “First, accelerate the pace in establishing standards
for use in Chinese information processing, e.g. standardized character sets in
different professional domains, new character font and glyph standards for use
in printing, standardized integrated assessment criteria for Chinese keyboard
input methods, and standards for Chinese character sorting. Second, strengthen
fundamental theoretical and applied research. Organize information processing-
oriented research on modern Chinese words in accordance with the urgent
needs of Chinese word processing, and solve “bottle-neck” problems in the
area. Third, engage in foundational language engineering and construction
activities that support Chinese information processing, especially in the com-
pilation of modern Chinese corpora, in language corpora processing and in
corpus-based applied developmental work. Fourth, gradually establish a co-
ordinated management mechanism to supervise and assess the implementation
of national standards in Chinese language information technology products.”
(Xu 1997a: 444)
Since then, formulation of standards, carrying out of scientific research,
construction of foundational engineering, supervision and assessment have
always been four important aspects of our work in national language informa-
tion management. Following the fast development of information technology,
the rapid formation of the information society, and the initiation of language
information management, languages used in information processing have now
included most major languages in China as well as foreign languages like
English. Language information processing is developing rapidly in terms of
both breadth and depth. Recent developments indicate that informatization of
language is the basis of informatization. Without the former, the latter is impos-
sible. The level achieved in informatization of language also determines the
level of informatization. Therefore, language workers must not fail in their
historical duty to strive for the informatization of language.
304 Chapter 19
1.3 Healthy language activities in the Internet world

The Internet is the greatest invention of the 20th century. The information age
is formed based on its use and propagation. The Internet has created for us a
virtual space, which is an ingenious product of information technology, as well as
the most important locus for information processing. Language activities in this
virtual space have already become an important part of human language activities.
At present, it is still impossible to accurately depict the scenarios of lan-
guage activities in this virtual space. Actual applications of the Internet that
are already in use include digital governments, electronic commerce, distance
education and remote scientific research, and Internet games. These four will
become the main human activities in the virtual space. All of these activities
rely heavily on different kinds of digitalized databases. Because of this, the com-
pilation of digitalized databases (like digitalized libraries, digitalized museums
and digitalized record archives) and their transmission over the Internet, ade-
quate sharing and exploitation, etc., are now issues of the information age that
must be seriously considered and competently dealt with. Since language is
the carrier of information, the compilation, transmission and use of digitized
databases are now the new contents of man’s language activities. Language
workers should take the initiative to be involved, to conduct research and to
guarantee the healthy development of the language activities in the Internet
world, which should be an important language task in the information age.
There are many things to be done. For example:
1) Collect and compile scripts, including all characters and symbols (i.e. the
China Character Set) that carry elements of the Chinese civilization, find
solutions for problems in storing, inputting, outputting, indexing and re-
trieving these characters; create character sets to support the compilation
of all kinds of databases; participate in works related to the establishment
of national and international standards; establish national and international
encoding standards for the Chinese character sets to ensure that databases
will function without problems on the Internet. (Li 2003b)
2) Work with other countries to establish convention(s) on language in the
virtual space; so as to gradually remove language barriers in Internet com-
munication, and to guarantee the stability and inter-operability of informa-
tion transmission from the linguistic-philological perspective.
3) Pay close attention to the life and development of our native languages
(Chinese and minority languages of our country) in the virtual space, so
as to ensure their vitality and efficiency, and to safeguard linguistic and
cultural multiplicity in the virtual space, in order that the safety of Internet
language information can be guaranteed.
2 Up-lifting traditional language tasks to the

level of informatization
The “traditional language tasks”, such as the promotion of Putonghua, the stan-
dardization of Chinese scripts, and the implementation of Hanyu Pinyin, should
also be implemented from the perspective of informatization. There are two
meanings in this: first, the promotion of informatization should be added to
the traditional language tasks as a new substance so that language work can
support the informatization of our country; second, we should use informatiza-
tion techniques and results to help achieving the language tasks.
Xu Jialu (1995: 164) says clearly: “The State Language Commission is also in
charge of promoting Putonghua and managing the use of scripts in the society
(in movie and television subtitles, in published and printed materials, and
in public venues). Although these two tasks are listed side by side with that of
Chinese information processing, both the content and format of the former are
affected by the latter. For example, in the task of Putonghua promotion, com-
puters are now important teaching and assessment tools. Continued growth in
the popularity of computers will provide driving force for the promotion of
Putonghua. Progress in the promotion of Putonghua, on the other hand, will
also make computers more popular and push forward computer technology
developments. For example again, except in hand-written texts, nearly all char-
acters used in our daily life are now produced by character production machines
and sub-title production machines. On the other hand, language and writing
standards in Chinese information processing must also take into account the
needs of Putonghua promotion and daily script use. In my opinion, in this age
of economic reform and rapid development of science and technology, especially
electronic technology, success in the language work of our country can only be
achieved through Chinese information processing.”
Computers, multimedia and the Internet are now rapidly growing and
becoming increasingly popular. Enormous amounts of real-life text data are
being worked on by language-processing facilities of the computers. With the
increased use of information products, language data produced by language
users is becoming more and more likely to be turned into real-life text data pro-
cessed by computers. Computers are made to serve people. They should provide
support for people’s language activities. The problem is: using computers to
process real-life text is very difficult. In order to facilitate the development of
language information processing, and to enable members of the society to
effectively use information products, we should speed up the standardization of
language activities in our daily life, so that various kinds of text data that need
306 Chapter 19
to be processed by computers will become more standardized and the process

of informatization of our country will be speeded up. Standardizing the use of
language through promoting Putonghua and standardized Chinese scripts is a
need of the information age. This is also an important way in which language
work contributes to informatization.
For example again, the enormous contribution of Hanyu Pinyin to informa-
tion processing has been verified. Now, when we design standards on the use
of Hanyu Pinyin, promote its role, investigate the scope of its use and look for
solutions for residual problems of Hanyu Pinyin, we must adopt the perspective
of informatization and consider problems in the context of the information age.
Arguments that have been plaguing us and issues that have been puzzling us
may become much clearer when viewed in the perspective of informatization.
Professor Yuan Guiren (2001), Head of the State Language Commission, has
identified six major functions of the Chinese Language Net: “First, making
known the direction and policy of our national language work. Second, pro-
viding the society with information and advice on language work. Third, imple-
menting online distance language education, including Putonghua training and
assessment, language proficiency assessment, etc. Fourth, implementing Inter-
net-based national language work and scientific research management. Fifth,
providing a platform for publishing standards and collecting opinions from the
society; providing channels for discussing language issues. Sixth, providing a
bridge to link up academic research on language in our nation with those in
overseas countries.”
Professor Yuan Guiren’s remarks show that language work needs to use the
techniques and results of informatization: Doing language work on the Internet
is a way of using informatization techniques. Language information processing
is an indispensible component of informatization. Language work and language
workers should also become path-breakers for making use of informatization
techniques.
3 Examples of a renewed understanding of

language
In order to accomplish new language administration tasks in the information
age, such as the facilitation of language information processing and Internet
language activities, we must realign traditional language administration work
with informatization. The most important thing is to develop a new understand-
ing of language (including writing). With such a new understanding, we can
treat language from a different angle. For example, a different understanding

of language will give us a new view of Hanyu Pinyin and its functions, a new
view of simplified Chinese characters and traditional Chinese characters, a new
view of language in overseas Chinese communities, and a new view of dialectal
variation, etc. The importance of having a new understanding of language is
illustrated below by examples in language standards and attitudes towards
language resources.
3.1 Language standards

Although language standardization has been around for so long, many people
may still be uncomfortable about establishing language standards.2 Language
standards are extensions of language standardization. Higher requirements are
set for them than for other more ordinary standardization tasks. In 1986, the
State Language Commission, in response to the need of language informatiza-
tion, proposed that Chinese characters should be standardized “so that modern
Chinese characters will be standardized in terms of quantity, written forms,
pronunciations and ordering.” (Liu 1986: 27) In 2001, Wang Zhan, then Head of
the State Language Commission, considered that the establishment of language
standards plays a core and foundation role in language work. “Language tasks
can be divided into two categories: establishing standards and implementing
standards. The establishment of standards has a core and foundational role to
play. We must establish good, scientific, practical language norms and standards
to provide the necessary basis for implementing standards and standardization.”
(Wang 2001) In the information age, standards are needed for language. Without
standards, we will not be able to satisfy the needs of information processing; we
will not be able to satisfy the commercialization needs of language information
products. The establishment of language standards will make it possible for
applied linguistics research to be applied more directly to the economic devel-
opment of the society, especially to the development of the IT economy. Thus,
in the information age, we should be aware that language contains more than a
cultural aspect. Language work is not mere cultural work.
In the past, language standardization was mainly carried out for meeting
the needs of societal communication and language teaching. Nowadays, language
standardization (often taking the form of various language standards) caters
2 In the past, people talked about “standard language” and “standard pronunciation”. For
example, Putonghua as “modern standard language of the Han nationality”; “pronunciations
in Beijing being adopted as the standard pronunciation of Putonghua”.
308 Chapter 19
more for the needs of the information domain. Because of this, the establish-
ment of language standards should be carried out and developed with informa-
tization as the main line. As information technology is advancing rapidly every
day, language standards related to information technology must also be estab-
lished and revised timely at a rapid pace. Under such circumstances, it will not
be practical to aim at producing perfect standards. With this understanding in
mind, designers of standards will be able to produce standards more quickly,
and users will also be more ready to accept standards that are less perfect.
Commercial and industrial enterprises are the main embodiment and agents
of market economies. They should play an important role during the establish-
ment of language standards for the consumption of the information industry.
Agents that establish language standards also need to be diversified. Other
than the state, academic institutions and standardization committees, enterprises
and individuals should be encouraged to propose standards. Besides, standards
should not be implemented solely through the means of administrative orders.
There should be mechanisms for proposed standards to be introduced to the
market and to be subjected to evaluation and verification procedures. In the
new age, exploration of a market-directed and enterprise-led mechanism for
the development of language standards should be constructed.
3.2 Language is a state resource

From the point of view of language communication, dialectal variations will
adversely affect communication among members of a nationality. If a number
of languages are used in a country, communication among its citizens will also
be affected. In the 20th century, generations of Chinese people have worked
hard to make it easy for members of the Han nationality and members of the
whole nation to communicate effectively. (Wang 2003) Putonghua and standar-
dized Chinese characters are not only a common language for members the Han
nationality. They are also, by law, the national language of the whole country. It
is the duty of our generation to continue our ancestors’ efforts in this cause.
However, working on language communication is only one aspect of national
language planning. From the point of view of culture and informatization, lin-
guistic plurality and dialectal plurality are also a form of wealth and resource.
As many scholars have said in the past, language is a kind of cultural
resource. People have also come to realize that language is also a resource for
the information industry and the Internet world. Competitions in the information
industry and in the Internet world are not just technological competitions. They
are also competitions between cultures and competitions between carriers of
cultures – i.e. competitions between languages. We should therefore protect
and develop local language resources to preserve their vitality in the informa-
tion age, and to prevent local languages or dialects from losing out. While pro-
moting the use of some languages for facilitation of communication, we must
also protect other languages in a reasonable manner. For the same token, when
we promote foreign language learning for the sake of international communica-
tion and interchange, we must also pay attention to protecting and developing
mother languages and local languages. The state must work hard to develop
language resources, compile national-level language corpora and linguistic
knowledge bases, etc. Endangered languages should also be protected, and
strategy for the international propagation of languages be formulated. Normal-
ization and standardization of languages should be accompanied with measures
to ensure language vitality.
In the human history, economically powerful nations have always been
powerful in terms of their languages. On the other hand, powerful national lan-
guages have always given birth to economic powers. A powerful language does
not come to be recognized as such just because it is spoken by a huge popu-
lation. It is also determined by the number of learners of this language as a
second language, by the number of books and documents published in it, and
how big a role it plays in the international community and on the Internet. Our
nation is becoming an economic power in the world. We should also work hard
to make it a nation with a powerful language.
It is strategically important for linguistic research to adapt to the information
age, by developing applied linguistics, especially computational linguistics,
which is most relevant to language informatization. There is a need to digitalize
existing linguistic research results for enhancing the capability of our computers.
The use of modern techniques in linguistic research should be promoted, so that
future research results can all be digitalized. To nurture linguistic research talents
who are well-adapted to informatization is therefore an urgent mission to be
accomplished.
Language work must also adapt to the information age. Strategies for
language work in the information age and relevant language policies should be
formulated. Not only should traditional language work be conducted on an
informatization platform, new language tasks for the information age should
also be considered, so as to facilitate processing of language information, and
the healthy development of language activities in the Internet world, so that
our language work will be able to keep up with the strides of the time.
310 Chapter 19
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Translated by LAI Bong Yeung, Tom (黎邦洋)

cttomlai@cityu.edu.hk
Chapter 20
The work of language standardization in the
information age
Abstract: As education, mass media and IT products are widely popularized in

China today, it is a must to establish, as early as possible, a system of standards
for the Chinese language to suit our social needs. In the information age, lan-
guage standards have acquired the features of industrial products. The work
of language standardization is, therefore, part of the national standardization
strategy as well as the basis of our language work. The current epoch requires
us strongly to manage wisely the macro system of language normalization, to
establish a new perspective of language normalization, and to coordinate the
work of standardization well.
Keywords: information age, language and writing, standardization, perspective

of normalization
0 Introduction
Recently, the Ministry of Education, the State Language Commission (SLC) has
held several meetings related to language standardization work, to investigate
into the situation, to discuss its mechanism, and to deploy relevant tasks. From
23rd–25th September, 2002, the China Information Age Language Standardiza-
tion Construction Working Conference was held in Wuhan; from 26th–28th July,
2004, the China Language Standardization Working Conference was held in
Qingdao; on 11th May, 2005, the Language Standardization Technical Committee
Working Conference was held in Beijing; from 26th–27th July, 2005, the Chinese
National Language Normalization, Standardization and Informatization Working
Conference was held in Urumchi; from 1st–2nd December, 2007, the Chinese
Minorities Language Standardization Work and Exchange Meeting was held in
Kunming; from 10th–11th October, 2008, the China Language Standardization
Working Conference was held in Beijing.
In order to satisfy the needs of language standardization, a team was formed.
Within one year (November, 2003–November, 2004), six subcommittees of the
National Language and Script Standardization Technical Committee were set
up, namely, the Subcommittee of Chinese Pronunciation and Phonetic Alphabet,
314 Chapter 20
the Subcommittee of Chinese Vocabulary, the Subcommittee of Chinese Grammar

and Discourse, the Subcommittee of Chinese Character, the Subcommittee of
Minorities’ Language, the Subcommittee of Foreign Language Application,
covering basically the normal areas of languages and writing systems. In July
2003, as the government cut down items requiring administrative approval, in
order to enhance language standardization, the Certification Center for Language
Standards of the State Language Commission was approved to be set up. In
order to enhance minorities’ language standardization and normalization work,
in 2004, the China National Technical Committee for Terminology Standardiza-
tion Minorities Special Sub-technical Committee was formally set up, under which
Tibetan, Languages in Xinjiang (Uygur language, Kazakh, Kirghiz), Mongolian,
Korean Working Groups were set up in succession. Recently, Yi Working Group
has also been planned.
In view of the theoretical thinking and concrete practice of language stan-
dardization and informatization, SLC gradually came up with the working idea
which takes informatization as the principle line, and formulation of language
standards as the focus, verification and certification as the starting point, and
language engineering construction and scientific research as the basis.
On top of the above work, the future work of standardization should be
considered seriously from the panoramic perspective of national development.
In this paper, three areas will be discussed, 1. Systematic language and writing
standards in the information age; 2. The macro system of normalization; 3.
Establishment of a new perspective of normalization.
1 Systematic language and writing

standardization in the information age
We are now in a passionate age full of creativity. It has already become a social
norm that new thinking, new concepts and new things occur incessantly. Drastic
changes have occurred in the theoretical conceptions and social conditions
guiding the language work in the past, not to mention the technical means,
and national and international situations we are confronting. These new
changes create new demands to our work, which requires a full-fledged dis-
cussion. However, that is beyond the scope of this paper and also my capability.
As a result, only two areas concerning the imminent needs of our time towards
language standardization will be expounded.
1.1 The popularization of education, mass media and

IT products
The most obvious achievements of education in China for the past three decades:
universal nine-year compulsory education, tertiary education transformed from
elite education to mass education. The former eliminated illiterates among the
young and middle aged people basically, and the latter brought forth the popu-
larization of science and culture. The two combined brought the popularization
of education, realizing the 100 years’ Chinese dream of strengthening the country
through education, elevating the big populous country to a big human resource
country and laying the foundation for its realization. The basic method to imple-
ment education is through language and writing, and to popularize education,
we need to set up necessary standards for the pedagogical language, such as
the status of mother tongue, foreign languages, etc. in teaching; the Putonghua
standard of teachers, the number of characters students need to master at dif-
ferent levels in compulsory education; the normalization of scientific terms in
textbooks; the standardization of language and writing in the information edu-
cation; and so on. Rising up in the international world, China has been promot-
ing the internationalization of its language at an unprecedented speed, which
requires standardization norms for the international education of the Chinese
language for purposes of language assessment and teacher training.
The recent 50 years have witnessed the development of the mass media,
bidding farewell to typesetting and ushering the unprecedented booming of the
print media. Meanwhile, the audio media including radio and television have
covered all rural areas, offering plenty of channels and diverse programs. In
more recent years, the Internet due to its advantages and features, since its
debut has soon secured its share of the mass media and already grown rapidly
in to all-in-one media surpassing the other two types. In this wave of new
media, mobile phones have also transformed from a simple communicative
device into a new type of media, promising great prospects in text messages
and phone broadcasting. Good development of the mass media is ensured by a
standard system of language, its fundamental carrier. The language used by the
mass media is the model for the society, and thus it should conform to norms of
language and writing. In the years of few types of media and works, basic stand-
ardizing rules and one advisory committee of linguists would suffice. However,
the increasing booming of media necessitates much work in the standardizing
of language and writing. For instance, normalization and standardization of
variant forms of Chinese characters, of the pronunciation of characters with
neutral tones and retroflex suffixes, of characters with alternative pronuncia-
tions, of the translation and transliteration of foreign words, of new words, of
font display on phone screens, etc.
316 Chapter 20
IT products have had profound influence on our ways of living, manufactur-

ing, and studying, although they have only been widely applied into our society
in the past dozen years in China. The development of computer and the Internet,
in particular, has created a virtual world that begets linguistic life in the virtual
society. Information technology is fruits of efforts endorsed by language stan-
dards, which also become industrial standards, e.g., the international code stan-
dards of Chinese and minority languages, computer character codes, keyboard
input of Chinese and minority languages, dictionaries targeting information
processing, norms of corpus annotation, and so on. Information technology
allows the transfer of language and linguistic knowledge into productive forces,
and turns standards of language and writing into productive tools. Languages
are the essential medium of education, the major carrier of information, and
the key subject of information technology. The popularity and development of
education, media, and IT products demand the warrant of language standard-
ization at a massive scale. Meanwhile, the mass popularization of the three
areas has brought about the industrialization and internationalization of rules
regulating language standardization, bestowing features of economic resources
on languages. This new situation also prompts reflection on the traditional view
of language and the “descriptive yet inactive” attitude towards language stan-
dardization, as linguistics should play an active role in the process of informati-
zation of the nation.
1.2 National strategies of standardization

Facing the trend of a global economy and the fact that China is a member of
WTO, national standards have acquired the role of a “third customs”. The first
customs is the physical customs in the real world. In those ancient years when
China was closed up from the outside world, the first customs protected national
trades and other national interests. Since the start of the reform and opening-up
and China’s entrance into WTO, however, this protective role, though indispens-
able, is receding. The second customs is the quality assessment, protecting the
national and individual rightful interests by checking on the quality of imported
goods. The assessment requires standards, especially those of our own, without
which assessment can only follow the rules set up by the club of rich countries.
This would mean opening up the gates of our customs. Therefore, it is of critical
significance that all sorts of standards be established and take effect, which are
abided by “international game rules” yet are able to protect our own rights and
interests. This will be our third customs.
Language standards are related with industrial and service products.

Product manuals and text logos concern the functioning of products and con-
sumer rights. IT products usually dealing with languages involve conformity
with policies of language and writing in China, with the norms of Chinese and
minority languages, and with the conventions of language use by Chinese
people. The national strategic demand of standardization states that standard-
ization regulations of language and writing should be set up following inter-
national norms, and also China’s own language policies, language norms, and
conventional use of language, so as to protect our markets, products, and national
interests as well as to promote language-related national industries and products.
The user of language standards has been human being, and now it includes
machines too. Standards targeting at the use by people usually focus on sounds
and texts, thus they are fewer in number and more stable once set up, but allow
lenience in enforcement. On the other hand, standards targeting at the use by
machines are more specific and cover a wider range of contents, allowing little
flexibility in effect and demanding constant upgrade and maintenance to keep
up with the development of technology. Such divergences are natural results of
the differences between human beings and machines.
Before the wide application of information technology in the society, stan-
dards targeting at use by human beings and machines were established inde-
pendently. With the increased popularity of information technology, standards
for machines inevitably influence users of products and the general public. In
this sense, standards for machines must take human beings into considera-
tion and seek the largest common grounds between machines and people. For
example, codes for decomposing Chinese characters used in software for IT
skills education for elementary schools should fit for teaching Chinese characters
at the elementary level. This raises the difficult level of standards of language
and writing, raising new questions for linguists and information scholars.
2 The macro system of standards for language

and writing
The standardization of language and writing need overall planning and coordi-
nation, which are the basis and provide macro understanding of the standard
system of language and writing. Knowledge of the system helps clarify the status
of standards in the system and also facilitates the overall standardization of
language and writing.
318 Chapter 20
2.1 Statute conventions and written regulations

In theory, standards of language and writing are the embodiment of rules of
language and writing. Setting up standards is to use language to describe the
rules discovered. Standardization of language and writing, thus, prompts the
social application of rules of language and writing.
These rules can be classified in three groups:
a) rules of language structures, such as speech sounds, vocabulary, grammar,

and writing;
b) rules of language use, such as the writing of numerals, proper names and
generic names of places in translation;
c) rules of language change.
When these rules are perceived and recognized, they become norms. Some are
conventions that are not written down, and others are written down as regula-
tions. Most norms are unwritten conventions, which are “acquired” naturally in
language use. For example, the four ways of collocation of two characters “读”
of the word “阅读” ‘reading’ and “报” of the word “报纸” ‘newspaper’.
i) 阅读报纸; ii) 读报纸; iii) 读报; iv) *阅读报
In the above four combinations, the first three are grammatical but iv) is not. The
item of iv) violates the prosodic rule but not the semantic rule. In Chinese, it is
not preferred that a disyllabic verb should take a monosyllabic object. This rule,
however, was not taught in school or written in books, but rather picked up from
the nursery rhymes hummed by our parents: “小老鼠, 爬灯台, 偷油吃, 下不来”
(Xiao Laoshu, Pa Dengtai, Tou You Chi, Xia bu lai). The influence from child-
hood limericks is implicit in the process of language acquisition and use; and
the rule is not written down nor taught explicitly.
Rules that are written down are not fruits of natural processes, but rather
the results of social planning of languages. They are the efforts of social inter-
vention of language and healthy language life.
In the ancient times, rules were not written down. They were only recorded
in more recent human history. The earlier rules were mainly in forms of dic-
tionaries and textbooks, which were closely related with events concerning edu-
cation, language and culture, such as Li Si’s Cang Jie Pian in the Qin Dynasty
(221 BC–207 BC), children’s reading books including Zhao Gao’s Yuan Li Pian
and Hu Wu Jing’s Bo Xue Pian, Xu Shen’s Shuo Wen Jie Zi ‘Etymological Dic-
tionary’ in the Han Dynasty (202 BC–9 AD), and other rhyming books and char-
acter books. Only until the 1980s did we see a boom of standards on records. In
the past two decades, computers have been widely used in almost all areas,
which necessitates the establishment of standards for information technology

and IT products. In a certain sense, the increase in the amount of standards is
related to the introduction of language and writing in industries. In this era,
many set-up norms are regarded as standards, and this pushes the standardiza-
tion of language and writing into schedule. In January 1986, The National Lan-
guage Work Conference proposed four criteria in language standardization:
quantification [regulate the amount of frequently-used modern characters, com-
monly-used characters, specific characters (for personal names, place names,
entity names, classical Chinese characters)], formalization (regulate the printed
and hand-written forms of modern characters (including the xingshu script and
caoshu script, i.e. cursory style), confirmation of the standard fonts, elimination
of the complex fonts and variant fonts, standardization of pronunciation (regu-
late the Putonghua standard pronunciation of modern characters, determine the
standard pronunciation, eliminate unnecessary pronunciations of characters
and variant pronunciations), standardization of the sorting order (regulate
several unified indexing methods and sorting orders for modern characters).
Since then, the ideas of standards and language standardization have been
gradually accepted by the society.
Distributional features of written and unwritten norms can be revealed with
more in-depth observation. For example, there are more written norms regarding
language itself than those governing its applications. In sub-systems of lan-
guage, such as orthography and pronunciation, it is relatively easier to set up
norms; then follows vocabulary and other subsystems. In fact, only for ortho-
graphy and pronunciation, are “hard” norms found. Secondly, in education,
mass media, printing, and information communications, there are more written-
down norms than other areas. For example, in education, there is the List of
Frequently Used Characters in Modern Chinese, textbooks of Chinese, and copy-
books for calligraphy. In printing, there are the General List of Print Fonts of
Chinese Characters, a Table of Commonly Used Characters in Modern Chinese
and the Administrative Regulations of Chinese Characters in Publications and so
on. In information communications especially, there are lots of gentleman’s
agreements and the area is in urgent needs of standards. At present, most of
the 150 pieces of standards of language and writing are in the area of informa-
tion communications.
2.2 Norms to be written down

What should be written into the norms and in what kind of macro-systems are
issues to explore further. In the beginning, an attitude that allows certain flexi-
320 Chapter 20
bility is more desirable, which can include all written materials that bear some
nature of language standardization. Norms to be written down can, hence, be
classified in four groups:
a) Official documents on norms. These documents are the core of the written
norms.
(i) The national policy of language and writing, and all sorts of government
enacted regulations. For example, Law of the People’s Republic of China on
the Standard Spoken and Written Chinese Language, Regulations on the Study,
Use and Development of the Tibetan Language in the Tibet Autonomous, Tem-
porary Administrative Regulations of the Language and Writing in Advertising
and so on.
(ii) National, regional, and industrial norms on language standardization, such
as a Table of the First Batch of Verified Variant Word Forms, the Radical Table
of Chinese Characters, Rules of Transliteration of Personal Names from Uygur
into Chinese, and so on.
(iii) Government issued advisory guidelines on language and writing (so called
soft norms), and explanatory and supplementary notes on those mentioned
in (i) and (ii). For example, Table of Frequently-used Modern Chinese Words
(draft) in Volume A of The Green Paper on Language Situation in China, the
Reading Text of Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Standard Spoken
and Written Chinese Language, and so on.
Strictly speaking, the norms for language and writing are mainly seen in the
second group of documents. The first group provides guides, bases, and funda-
mental frameworks, and the third for the interpretation of norms.
The governing effects of norm documents are in three folds: effect range,
time span, and degree of force. Some norms are widely applicable in the society,
such as general rules for punctuation, Hanyu Pinyin orthography. Some are
targeted at certain areas such as the Keyboard Representation Norms for Hanyu
Pinyin issued in February 2001. A standard’s degree of forces can also be ex-
amined based on what norm it is. Some standards are compulsory and must be
followed; while some are advisory and the enactment is voluntary. Standards
of language and writing are mainly advisory. Their degrees of force may vary
according to official documents by certain authority. For example, if an advisory
standard of such kind is chosen as the assurance standard of products, then this
standard changes to compulsory in the manufacture of this product. So, the
effects of a standard may be determined by its nature and also by the decision
of an authority unit.
b) Dictionaries. Dictionaries in ancient times are the most important statute

norms of language and writing, and most of them were issued by the im-
perial courts or the feudal authorities. For example, Gu Yewang’s Yu Pian
was compiled under the order of Emperor Taizong of Liang in Southern
and Northern Dynasties, AD 420–589; Yan Shigu’s Yanshi Ziyang was com-
piled under the order of Emperor Taizong in the Zhenguan Period of Tang,
AD 627–649; Yan Yuansun’s Ganlu Zishu was compiled on the basis of Yanshi
Ziyang for the purpose of helping officials then to write government docu-
ments in orthodox Chinese characters; Chen Pengnian, Qiu Yong’s Guangyun
was compiled by revising a series of rhyme books such as Qieyun by the
imperial order in early Song Dynasty (AD 960–1279); Ding Du, Li Shu’s
Jiyun, an official rhyme book, was compiled on the basis of Guangyun, by
the order of Emperor Renzong of Song. There was also the Libu Yunlüe to
be used in imperial examinations in early Song Dynasty; Yue Shaofeng,
Song Lian, Wang Zhuan et al’s Hongwu Zhengyun compiled by the imperial
order in the early Ming Dynasty (AD 1368–1644); Zhang Yushu, Chen Ting-
jing’s Kangxi Dictionary by the order of the Emperor of Kangxi in the Qing
Dynasty (AD 1616–1911).
In the modern age, there are more kinds of dictionaries and more press houses
of such kinds. Dictionaries, especially Chinese dictionaries, are like the “silent
teachers”, playing an enormous role in language standardization in the society.
Dictionaries encode the written norms and deliver in their own forms to the
readers. Those unwritten norms are also encoded in dictionaries as advice from
academic authorities on the standardized use of language and writing, thus ex-
erting its influence in areas with no written norms or where written norms may
not reach. There are, of course, some dictionaries that are merely descriptive and
documentary, such as dictionaries on new words, classical Chinese dictionaries,
and dialect dictionaries, and so on. These ones are in general not playing any
role of regulation.
c) Language textbooks. These textbooks include those on mother tongues

and foreign languages, providing systematic knowledge of language and
language rules. Textbooks of such for elementary and middle schools con-
cern the literacy of the public, the language standards of the society, and
the quality of the language life. Textbooks for higher education concern the
training of language experts and in-depth exploration of language stan-
dards. The ancient reading books for children are components of the written
norms, and the contemporary language textbooks should also take up such
roles.
322 Chapter 20
d) Classic works in contemporary languages. Putonghua as the standard

written Chinese has always been used in those classic works used for lan-
guage learning. The ancient classics were exemplars that students modeled.
For example, Xiping Stone Classics in the Han Dynasty (206 BC–220 AD),
were the stone inscriptions of proofread classics, namely the Book of Songs,
Book of Documents, Book of Rites, Book of Changes, Spring and Autumn
Annals, Gongyang Zhuan, the Analects of Confucius, set up in front of the
Luoyang Imperial University as a model for all intellectuals then. Works by
Mao Zedong, Lu Xun, Lao She, and so on are models of modern Chinese,
and are irreplaceable in the standardization of modern Chinese. Similarly,
exemplary roles can be found in Shakespeare’s works for English, Dante’s
Divine Comedy for Italian, and Pushkin’s works for Russian.
The above discussed are the macro system of language standardization. In

actual work currently, some of the components in the macro system have yet
to be included in the consideration or are ignored. These facts have turned the
language work single-dimensioned, which is lacking in depth and width. With
a macro system in mind, we could take a more comprehensive perspective to
language standardization. But, of course, the roles of components of the system
differ from one another, and so are those of the four kinds of norms. Documents
of norms set up rules of language standardization policies, principles, and spec-
ifications. The scopes are clear and so is the range of effects. Therefore, these
documents are the core of standardization. Dictionaries and textbooks interpret
these norms in their own ways, spread knowledge of standardization, and guide
language life through academic authorities. In areas where unwritten norms
are applicable, they serve as supplements. Model works in written standard
languages encoding written and non-written norms are implicit examples of
standard language use. Each norm can be further classified into smaller groups,
which are also characterized with unique features and regulating roles that
warrant further discussion.
3 Setting up the perspective of language

standardization for the new century
The key to language standardization is to promote the standards of language
and language use. The critical question at present is to set up a perspective
towards language standardization suitable for the new century. Works of lan-
guage and writing in modern senses can be dated back to 100 years ago; or at
least 60 years ago, since the year of 1949. We should show respect to the history
which laid the foundation of contemporary language standardization. Language
work in China is as reformed and developed as work in other areas in China. It
is paramount that we set up a goal of constructing harmonious language life.
Though it is yet unclear to us what the new perspective should be towards
language standardization of the 21st century, there are some major issues that
deserve our consideration.
3.1 Appropriate handling of four relationships regarding

language and writing
21st century standards of language and writing should guide the public to
handle the relationships regarding language and writing scientifically. Currently,
we are faced with four important relationships of such:
i) between the mother tongue and foreign languages;

ii) between ethnic languages including the relationships between these lan-
guages and the national standard language;
iii) between Putonghua and dialects;
iv) between the simplified and traditional Chinese scripts.
Proper handling of the relationships mentioned above requires a multi-dimen-

sional perspective, and never a “take either-this-or-that” attitude. All languages
and their varieties are linguistic resources of China. We need to guarantee the
status of the national standard language and writing system, as well as that of
the ethnic languages and their writing systems. We also need to pay equal atten-
tion to dialects, the traditional Chinese script, and foreign languages, creating a
harmonious situation where all languages and writing systems can coexist.
3.2 The need of informatization

21st century norms require proper dealing with issues brought about with the
process of informatization, little consideration of which will be harmful for
effective work. Our work in this area should be focusing on two aspects:
First, to establish a steady language platform for national informatization. In

addition to hardware, informatization also needs a three-layered construct: its
bottom is composed of the norms of language standardization, codes, font
types, word corpus, and word processing software; the mid-layer contains soft-
324 Chapter 20
ware for processing textual, audio and visual input; and the top layer integrates
all contents. Of three layers, the language and writing platform is the founda-
tion, which determines the level of informatization. Our current platform of this
kind is not strong enough yet, as our proprietary intellectual property rights are
rather limited in number. This affects adversely our country’s economic benefits
generated through high technology, the process of informatization, as well as
the national information security. It is of principal importance that China’s
own standards of language and writing, and those of language processing,
should be established, thus providing a firm language platform for nation-wide
informatization.
Second, proper handling of language life in the virtual world. Informatiza-
tion has created a virtual world for people, where languages suitable for the
world are used. We have accumulated plenty experience in managing our real
language life, but still lack an understanding of that in the virtual world. For
example, we know little of the so-called Martian language used in the Internet,
new words, new expressions, and so on. As the virtual language life would
influence that in the real world with an ever increasing speed and strength, the
Internet language has become a main source of new Chinese words; whereas in
the past, classical Chinese, dialects, and foreign languages had been the main
sources. Some Internet vocabulary, at first look, may not appear attractive. But
actually, all new words may seem the same in the beginning. Language use in
the virtual world is a new topic that requires an open mind and tolerance. The
new thing should be dealt with in a way that is different from languages in the
real world.
Moreover, language work in the information age should also consider the
improvement of work efficiency and quality through the use of IT products,
which is an issue of an e-government.
3.3 Culture inheritance and innovation

A 21st century perspective to language standardization should be beneficial to
culture inheritance and innovation. Language is an integral part of culture and
also its carrier. Language work is also major components of our national cultural
construction. Ever since the spreading of the idea of “soft power”, culture has
enjoyed an unprecedented prestigious status. Decades ago, the traditional cul-
ture was considered as a feudal burden that we were eager to shake off. Today,
culture is part of the comprehensive national power. To inherit our culture, to
learn it, to create new culture, and to maintain it, become popular topics in our
society. Language work incorporated with culture will introduce charm and
vibe, which will be welcomed by the public.
Recently, there is increasing attention on the traditional Chinese script and
dialects, which has invited diverse opinion academic or not on related topics.
These discussions require profound understanding in Chinese and its culture.
The State Language Commission has called on “cherishing Chinese language
resources”, and planned to establish audio corpora of these resources. The first
trial was started on Oct. 10th, 2008 in Jiangsu Province, receiving attention
and support from all areas. “Language resources” have become an important
concept in modern language planning, which is significant to the creation of a
harmonious language life.
3.4 To promote the Chinese languages globally

21st century perspectives of language standardization must incorporate the
world view of Chinese languages. To promote our languages we must take three
issues into consideration:
First, the relationship between Putonghua in the mainland, the so-called

“national language” of Taiwan, and Huayu spoken overseas. People overseas
used to think that Putonghua was the only standard and the Mandarin they
speak was not. This affects the linguistic confidence of the expatriates, and the
mother tongue heritage. Now, a concept of “greater Huayu” is proposed to refer
to a common language (a lingua franca) based on Putonghua that is spoken
by the Chinese all over the world. This concept then gives linguistic status to
Cantonese in Hong Kong and Macau, Mandarin in Taiwan, and Chinese over-
seas, providing a theoretic foundation to mutual benefits. Putonghua has benefited
from communicating with others, and so have others from Putonghua. Chinese
overseas was the earlier attempt of globalization of Chinese languages, reveal-
ing patterns of language spreading for further research. Meanwhile, Chinese
overseas is a powerful drive in the current efforts in promoting the globalization
of Chinese languages.
Second, the international education of Chinese languages. The term of
“Chinese as a foreign language” has been transformed into the “international
education of Chinese languages”, which symbolizes the fast development of the
field. There are more and more people in the world staring to learn Chinese, and
more people coming to China to learn it. It is estimated that the number of
foreign students increased by 20% annually from 2002 to 2007. There were about
200 thousand foreign students in China in 2007, in 15 majors, including 120
326 Chapter 20
thousand (61% of the total) devoting to learning Chinese. Students in other majors
also needed to learn Chinese, which accounted for about 14%. Altogether, there
were 75% of foreign students in 2007 that needed to learn Chinese. This neces-
sitates more attention to the teaching quality that can only be guaranteed by
language standards, pedagogical standards, which contribute to improving learn-
ing efficiency, thus promoting the education of the Chinese language globally,
and fulfilling the duties of a country of the target language.
Thirdly, the international education of ethnic minority languages. The glob-
alization of Chinese languages does not only refer to the Chinese language, but
also those of ethnic minority groups such as Mongolian, Tibetan, Uygur, and
Manchurian languages, which share some educational demand in the world.
We need to realize the meaning of the international education of these lan-
guages in China. We need to train language experts and teachers, compile teach-
ing materials, schedule courses, and launch international cooperation, taking
up the leading role in the international education of ethnic minority languages
as a country of these target languages.
The State Language Commission is compiling the mid- and long-term planning
of language and writing for the year of 2020, including those for language stan-
dardization. Language plans take into consideration the current state and capa-
bility but also the developmental needs of the country. We need to discuss
setting up new systems and mechanisms, such as turning establishment of
standards from government-enacted into government-guided, encouraging enter-
prises to take up the lead in establishing standards for their industries. We
need further foster the disciplinary development and expert training, and intro-
duce standard language and writing into classrooms such as in Modern Chinese,
General Linguistics, and Applied Linguistics.
Standards are the basis of work concerning language and writing. Local
Language Commissions should pay attention to such standards. All regions
should focus on cultivating the proper perspective towards language standard-
ization, and the implementation of the standards. We need to learn to make
good use of the standards in all walks of life, for example, some regional
authorities have issued or are preparing to issue regulations of language in local
places, including the English translation of Chinese cuisines and menus, use of
foreign words in road signs, use of foreign letters in public. In theory, there
should not be too many regional regulations and they must be made with the
national standards in mind, so that the regional regulations can later be trans-
formed into national ones without turning into railways of different sizes. The
standardization of ethnic minority languages and its implementation will be
taken up mainly by the local ethnic authorities, so that Minority Language Com-
mittees have a great responsibility on their shoulder.
Work concerning language and writing has always focused on the language
issues encountered in the country’s development. In different ages, our nation is
faced with different issues and problems of languages. In the 21st century, we
are entering an age of economic integration, Internet-based informatization,
and cultural diversity. China has risen as the third economic power in the world.
The popularization of education, media, and IT products have revamped the
social landscape of language work. The standards of language and writing have
acquired the properties of industrial standards. Thus, embracing the historical
change, linguists and language experts should examine the new situation,
understand the key language issues affecting national development, set up new
perspective towards language and language standards, and make greater con-
tribution to a better and more harmonious language life and a stronger China
in the Information Age!
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Vol. 2.

binli2@cityu.edu.hk
Translated by LUN Suen, Caesar (蔺荪)

ctslun@cityu.edu.hk
Chapter 21
Constructing the grand platform of China
Character Set1
Abstract: In order to have permanent exact representations of Chinese texts

that lend themselves to text processing, to meet the needs for digital libraries,
museums and archives, to step up the construction of databases for knowledge
mining, and to ensure the unobstructed conveyance of Chinese cultural informa-
tion on the Internet, the China Character Set must be constructed as soon as
possible. The thrust of this paper is to discuss the content of this character set
and the technical problems that need to be solved.
Keywords: China Character Set, literature preservation, digitizing, knowledge

discovery, knowledge mining; Internet
1 A brief review of character processing in China

Computer processing of language covers a huge area, in which Han character
processing is an important aspect. In the 1950s there were forerunners in China
who began to tackle the issue of Russian-Chinese machine translation, when the
Telegraphic Code or the 4-corner Code was utilized as the Chinese character
code. (Fu 1999:51) In the 1970s the issue of computer processing of Chinese char-
acters began to attract people’s attention. Keyboard coding, dot-matrix specifica-
tion and character output became must-tackle issues. (Shi 1986) In January 1986,
the State Language Commission convened a national level conference. It was
at that time that the nation, sensitive to frontier technological developments,
incorporated information processing of the Chinese language into the national
language developmental work-plan as a key aspect of the latter. (Liu 1986:12)
1 This paper was read to the Second Kent Ridge International Roundtable Conference on Chi-
nese Linguistics (26–29 November 2002, Singapore) and benefitted from the comments by Li
Bing, Zhang Shuyan and Chen Shuangxin there. It has been updated before it is published
here. The content of this paper was also presented in the form of invited academic report to
Zhejiang University (9 Nov. 2003) and Huadong Normal University (17 Nov. 2003). The CCS is
now a formally instituted project. Such works as data collection, tasks coordination and regis-
tration as international standards are all underway in an orderly manner.
330 Chapter 21
In the past 30 years, computer processing of Han characters (or “ideographs”)

has made great strides.2 The various keyboard inputting methods for Han char-
acters that were developed over the years solved the once intractable problem of
computer Han character inputting. Han character output has realized font mul-
tiplicity3 and size multiplicity. Specification for Han characters font production
has advanced from dot-matrix to vector to curve outline. Automatic recognition
technology for Han characters stands at an advanced level by international stan-
dard, spinning off commercialized products in the market. The CJK character set
of ISO/IEC106464 was developed from the 6763 commonly used characters in the
early days. Extension A and Extension B of the CJK set are now completed. At
present Extension C1 is being discussed. After the completion of Extension C1,
the number of coded CJK characters will be over 70,000.5 These achievements
have fuelled the spread of computers in China and paved the way for the devel-
opment of applied computer technology and digitization.
In the realm of computer processing of Han characters, there exist, however,
some problems that require fixing. For example:
1) The existence of innumerable coding systems for inputting worries the

industry. Following the advancement of computer language processing from
“characters and words” to in-depth understanding of language, enhancement
of the quality of keyboard inputting is determined not by character encod-
ing per se but rather predominately by the building up of various resources
in connection with language understanding, e.g. highly developed data-
bases and the compilation of electronic dictionaries and syntax dictionaries.
Only when keyboard inputting comes to be supported by such resources can
there be breakthroughs in its development.
2) How can the quality of Han character recognition be enhanced, especially
for handwritten characters in the off-line context?
3) Automatic conversion between voice and text, including text display of
speech input and speech output of text, has a promising arena of applica-
tion, and yet there are numerous technological difficulties awaiting break-
through. Conversion from Han characters to Pinyin and to IPA (or annota-
tion of the former with the latters) should not be difficult technologically
speaking but has not attracted the attention of software developers.
2 For details see Ministry of Education, the PRC (2002: 254–259), Xu (1999: 117–130, 202–237),
Feng (1999: 150–172) and Fu (1999).
3 There now exist over 120 different fonts for the computer.
4 “C” stands for China, “J” for Japan and “K” for Korea.
5 70 205 characters for the latest draft submitted.
4) Conversion between Simplified and Traditional characters has not reached

full automation. In particular, conversion from simplified to traditional char-
acters requires quite a bit of human intervention.
5) The delineation of various relationships among the characters considered to
have variant-form relation.
6) The character shape standards of the four common print fonts Song, Fang-
song, Kai and Hei should be extended to cover a larger character set, while
other fonts should have their norms or norm-principles established. In this
connection lesser norms for low-resolution dot matrix character shapes
should be established for use on palm computers or similar mobile devices.
Apart from all this, how handwritten styles and calligraphic styles should be
treated on computers is worth studying.
Apart from those issues, Han character processing consideration should also
include the issue of constructing the China Character Set. The current paper dis-
cusses the content of this very character set, the significance of its construction
and the technical problems to be solved. It is hoped that the discussion serves to
attract the attention towards and win the support for such a grandiose project
which bears on the development of Chinese culture in the information era.
2 The China Character Set and its significance

The 20th century saw the advancement of technology with great strides. The
computer and the Internet were two of the most important inventions of the
century. In particular, the Internet has fabricated for human beings a brand
new virtual space, presenting a bright scenario in the information era. However,
the advent of the computer and the Internet has also brought about huge “digital
gaps” throughout the world, coupled with various new social problems on the
international arena. When a modern nation institutes its language planning, it
cannot afford not to take into consideration the questions of computer process-
ing of language, verbal communication on the Internet and how digital gaps can
be reduced by means of informatization of speech and writing.
The Internet is an entity that is not only technological but also cultural. It
follows that bridging of digital gaps requires not just the right technology but
also the right culture. Culture is the accumulation and precipitation of human
civilization and the very basis of human life. The continuation and development
of culture are important aspects of human living and development. In a digitized
information era with the computer and the Internet as the two underlying tech-
nologies, continuation and development of culture become even more important.
332 Chapter 21
The Chinese culture is a time-honoured, many-splendoured culture built up from

a multitude of different nationalities. As such it has irreplaceable significance in
the development of the culture of the world. It is thus our responsibility, in a
historical sense, to strive for the Chinese culture to contribute even more in the
information era.
The character set that represents the repertoire of characters as carriers
of Chinese culture is to be called “the China Character Set”, which covers the
following nine areas:
1) The modern-day Han characters as a carrier of mainstream Chinese culture

since the inception of the Lishu style, including the simplified characters,
complex characters, stable characters, and variant characters.6
2) Non-standard Han characters, including dialect characters, folk characters,
inscriptional variant characters and erroneous characters throughout history.
3) Pre-Lishu Han scripts, including oracle bone inscriptions, bronze inscrip-
tions, Warring States period scripts, bamboo-and-silk and seal scripts, Small
Zhuan scripts, and any other scripts or individual characters before the
Lishu transformation.
4) The scripts of ethnic minorities throughout history that were or are some-
how attached to the Han character set, including, among others, the ancient
Zhuang script, the Buyei script, the Dong script, the Maonan script, the
Mulao script, the old Miao script, the Yao (Mien) script, the Bai script, the
Hani script, the Tangut script, the Jurchen script, the Khitan large and small
scripts.7
5) The ideographic scripts of ethnic minorities throughout history not attached
to the Han character set, e.g. the Dongba (also Tomba or Tompa) script of
the Nakhi (Naxi) tribe, the Sui script and the Ersu-Shaba script.8
6) The phonetic scripts of ethnic minorities throughout history, e.g. the Mon-
golian script, the Tibetan script, the Uyghur script, the Kazakh script, the
Korean script, the Yi script, the Dai scripts, the Manchu script, the Pollard
Miao script, the ’Phags-pa script, the Kharoṣṭhī script, the Uyghur Khaganate
script, the Chagatai script, the Old Turkic script, the Saka script, the Tocharian
script and the Sogdiana script.
6 It should also include the 248 characters in the Second Chinese Character Simplification
Scheme (Draft), put on trial use in 1977, put on hold in 1978 and officially rescinded in 1986.
7 The Nüshu script and Lisu script could belong here. There are about 25 000 characters of this
kind.
8 There are about 17 000 characters of this kind.
7) The IPA and other phonetic symbols needed for the transcription of all lan-
guages and dialects of China throughout history.9
8) The components (including radicals) and strokes of characters of China
(chiefly Han characters).
9) All kinds of symbols with cultural significance, such as the porcelain symbols
unearthed at Banpo of Xi’an, the 64 hexagrams, Daoist symbols and the
symbols used in traditional Chinese mathematics and music.
Establishing the China Character Set is of extremely important significance for
the preservation and development of Chinese culture in the information era.
First, this character set can serve as a platform to produce permanent, faithful
versions of all Chinese texts extent that lend themselves to text processing in
the electronic world. Without such a character set, Chinese texts (especially
ancient writings) can only be kept as image defying text processing. Or else
they may be transliterated by means of whatever character set at our disposal
(e.g. the set of some 70,000 characters after the completion of Extension C1),
when certain original shapes of character will inevitably be lost, which in turn
implies the loss of a lot of linguistic and cultural information.
Second, it paves the way for establishing digital libraries, museums and
archives. Ever since the 1990s, close to 20 countries, including the USA, the
UK, France, Germany, Japan and Russia, have invested, one after another, huge
amounts to start the research on digital libraries. It is reported that the amount
of investment on digital library research by the USA has exceeded US$800M;
even though Russian economy has yet to fully recover, the Russian Government
plans to spend 200M Rubles per year from 1999 to 2004 to support the research
on digital libraries; Japan not only has injected 1500M Japanese Yen to develop
a Japanese text database but will also inject US$400M to the Kansai Electronic
Library (now being built as a branch of the Library of Congress), with a view to
turning it into a center of documents for the entire Asia. Following the develop-
ment of electronic public administration, electronic business and distance edu-
cation, work on the establishment of digitized libraries, museums and archives
has already begun and Phase One of Construction Work for the Digital Library
of China (2000–2005) has been formulated.10 However, the nature of Han
characters dictates that the establishment of high-end digitized libraries, museums
and archives cannot be realized unless and until the China Character Set is in
place.
9 Including the symbols used in Hanyu Pinyin, Bopomofo and the main phonetic scripts or
phonetic transcription schemes since Late Qing.
10 Information by courtesy of the Digital Library of CHINA (d-library.com.cn).
334 Chapter 21
Third, it provides a firm platform for building up databases for knowledge

mining. The development of smart computers depends on all kinds of databases
capable of knowledge mining. The intelligence of smart computers can be
enhanced through database knowledge mining. In order for computers to be
“conversant” in Chinese culture, large-scale Chinese culture databases that are
“learnable” by computers must be established. In the realm of research, espe-
cially in the humanities area, databases will gradually become a predominate
means. Thus, people using bibliographic databases to search for bibliographic
information and use other databases for statistical analysis, knowledge mining,
pattern extraction and results examination. The China Character Set will make
possible the establishment of Chinese culture databases for knowledge mining
and development.
3 The realization of China Character Set

The China Character Set (CCS hereinafter) will be largest character set since the
computer processing of text began. In the course of its realization there are
bound to be technical barriers waiting to be properly overcome after earnest
research.
First, the selection of graphemes. Here “graphemes” include both script
characters and non-script symbols that need to be part of the CCS. The graphemes
of the CCS involve the study of Han scripts throughout history, the study of ethnic
minority scripts throughout history, phonetics, dialectology, folklore, textual
criticism and a host of other disciplines. As such, the project calls for the mobi-
lization of the scholars of all the involved disciplines to collect comprehensively
and exhaustively all the graphemes in use. In the course of grapheme collection,
existing dictionaries of various kinds, the results of related studies, existing
archives of ancient texts and area-specific corpora all have to be adequately
utilized and assimilated. At the same time, folk characters and certain ethnic
minority characters that scatter among various communities call for fieldwork
to be done with a view to maximally collecting graphemes in use.
On the basis of such extensive collection, experts should be organized to do
discrimination, duplicate-check, screening and the final selection.
Second, grapheme shape standardization. Of the ultimate set of graphemes,
a grapheme shape standard should be established for every subset of the
graphemes, on the basis of which typical or standard grapheme shapes can be
provided for the graphemes. Perceivably of the ultimate set of graphemes there
will be those that do not have an existing print style, e.g. folk characters, in-
scriptional variant characters, erroneous characters, variant characters used in
the Bianwen literature of Dunhuang, bamboo-and-silk characters unearthed,

ancient characters of ethnic minorities, etc. For these scripts, there is the need
for devising a print style for them on the basis of the hand-written form. For
the pre-Lishu Han scripts (oracle bone inscriptions, bronze inscriptions, Zhuan
scripts, etc.), not only will we need to provide the various grapheme shape
norms for them but there is also the need for mapping such graphemes to the
Kaishu script in accordance with some Lishu-transformational algorithm.
Third, font production. In accordance with the grapheme shape norms
established, fonts should be produced for use by and input into computers. If
circumstances warrant, even different font styles can be gradually produced.
In view of the enormous scale of the character set and the complexity of the
technology involved, software should be developed for producing fonts for the
computer so that font production can be carried out with a lot of work relegated
to the computer.
Fourth, storage. The CCS has the characteristics of huge in quantity and
non-homogeneity. Non-homogeneity of the CCS is apparent in the following
two points: 1. It incorporates a number of different scripts and symbolic systems;
it is non-homogeneous in terms of the nature of the symbols used. 2. The
domain and frequency of use differ vastly among different members of the
set: some are a must in modern life and yet some are used only in very specific
domains; the set is non-homogeneous in terms of domain and frequency of use
of its members.
Because of the vastness of the set, all the existing sorting principles, be it
alphabetical or shape-oriented, fail to apply. According to what principle will
the graphemes be ordered or storage is an issue that needs to be resolved.
Because of the non-homogeneity of the CCS, we must consider dividing the
set into a number of subsets so as to fulfil the needs of different domains and
different communities. The following three principles can be considered in
subset division:
1) Principle of ethnicity. The script of an ethnic group and related scripts

should be placed in the same subset as far as possible. For example, the
Tibetan script should be a subset by itself; the Uyghur script, the Kazakh
script and the Kirgiz (Kyrgyz) script, being cognates, should belong to the
same subset; Han scripts and the closely related scripts of other languages
should belong to the same subset; etc.
2) Ancient characters and current characters differ greatly in terms of usage.
For example, the ancient Han scripts before the Lishu Transformation are
used mainly by experts only while the ordinary people seldom have any-
thing to do with them. For the modern script developed after the Lishu-
336 Chapter 21
Transformation, there still exist some characters that are used entirely in
ancient texts and are never or rarely used in present-day communication.
Therefore, in addition to the division by ethnicity principle, the ancient vs
current divide is needed for further division. Nevertheless, for scripts that
are no longer used in present-day communication, e.g. the Tangut script,
the Jurchen script and the Khitan large and small scripts, such further divi-
sion is not necessary.
3) Frequency principle. Frequency of use should be a factor in subset division.
Accordingly to a study done by a research center of the Huadong Normal
University, within the set of bronze inscriptions of the Western Zhou
dynasty, there are 612 characters with frequency counts of 10 or above.
While the figure 612 stands for just 19% of all the characters in that set, the
total frequency count of these 612 characters is as high as 65 792, or 92%
of the grand total frequency count. Then, of the commoner characters in
this set, ones that have frequency count of 100 or above, 99.2% are the
deciphered characters. The deciphered characters were used more frequently
than the undeciphered ones. These two cases show that ancient scripts
should be subjected to the consideration of frequency of use. As for the
modern scripts, especially for non-alphabetic scripts, some graphemes
have dropped out of use in present-day communication. If at all they func-
tion only as reserves, having very low frequency of use. A reserve subset is
where they should belong. The graphemes that are actually used in present-
day communication, e.g. the Han characters for modern linguistic life, can
still be further divided according to frequency of use.
These subsets, some parallel with others, some being subdivisions of other sub-
sets, and some cross-cutting with certain others on different strata, depict an
intricate internal structure of the CCS. It would benefit the future application of
the CCS if issues of storage could be handled in accordance with its internal
structure.
Fifth, retrieval and inputting. The traditional retrieval and inputting systems
ill-apply to the CCS. These traditional systems are mainly pronunciation or
character-shape oriented. Pronunciation oriented systems fail to apply to the
CCS because:
1) there are too many homophones in the set;

2) there are more than one sound systems operating;
3) there are symbols without any pronunciation.
Character-shape oriented systems are also faced with insurmountable problems

because:
1) the CCS has graphemes with vastly different graphical principles;

2) there does not exist a set of principles of character component extraction
that applies to the entire set;
3) the radical system fails to serve as the overarching principle.
Retrieval and inputting are the two most important operations that underpin the
working of any character set. We therefore must invest intense effort to work out
some accurate and quick ways of retrieval and handy ways of inputting.
4 The China Character Set and international

standards
Internet is the most advanced means of human information interchange. The
virtual world that it has constructed will be a very important novel communi-
cation space for mankind. Internet communication activities include real-time
interactive communication of various kinds, web publication, etc. Today when
Internet has linked up the entire world, the establishment of the CCS must take
Internet communication into consideration. To be more exact we should first
and foremost consider the issue of Internet communication.
If Internet communication is not considered, then the CCS can have more
than one set of internal codes, allowing different corporations to have their
own coding system for their products, or different countries or regions to use
different coding systems. The inevitable result of such a technological approach
would be as follows. Any electronic product that involves the CCS must carry
with it a special-purpose character set of very huge size; a user who uses such
a product must download the special-purpose character set, or establish some
mapping relation between different character sets. With the sharp increase
of storage space and the rapid increase of operating speed of computers, such
a technological approach is not impossible. However, the drawback of this
approach is very obvious:
1) It increases product development costs;
2) It increases the trouble on the part of the user to download a character set
or travel to and fro between different coding systems;
3) The information interchanged through the web is far from reliable, as the
user often encounters disruptions caused by coding-related errors.
In order to overcome coding error induced problems in web communication, to
ensure the reliability in information transmission, to realize barrier-free commu-
nication on the web, to spare the troubles of bringing one’s own character set
and of travelling between different coding systems, to reduce development cost
and to increase convenience, the CCS must embrace the technological approach
338 Chapter 21
of internationalization in setting its internal codes, namely adopt the internally

unified coding system.
An internationally unified coding system bestows on the CSS two major
attributes: 1. the code-point for every grapheme in the CSS is unique; 2. there is
only one coding system for the CSS and it is universal.
ISO and IEC have created a sufficiently roomy 125 x 256 x 65 536 character
space for scripts and symbols. The space consists of 128 groups (groups 0–127),
each consisting of 256 planes (planes 0–255), each capable of placing 65 536
characters. At present, 17 planes (planes 0–16) of group 0 have been defined, of
which planes 0–14 are for placing characters while planes 15 and 16 are reserved
for special purposes. Plane 0 of Group 0 is the Basic Multilingual Plane (BMP).
As this plane is basically completely filled already11, extension of character
sets needs to resort to other planes. The ISO/IEC JTC1/SC2/WG2/IRG Ideographic
Rapporteur Group is responsible for the international encoding of the Han
characters (referred to as “ideographs”) used in China, Japan and Korea. As
mentioned above, the number of coded Han characters is to exceed 70 000 very
soon. In addition, ISO/IEC 10646 has established the international standards for
Tibetan script, the Uyghur script, the Korean script and the Yi script of Sichuan
and will soon establish those for the Mongolian script and the Dai scripts. The
some 70 000 Han characters and the characters for the ethnic scripts of Tibet,
Uyghur and Yi and for the Korean script can already fulfil the needs for daily
verbal communication and the publication of ancient texts in the Han script.
The achievement of ISO/IEC 10646 is commendable. (Zhang 2002) However, a
lot needs to be done to go from this basis to the goal of completing the interna-
tional encoding of the CCS and making the encoding an international standard.
5 Other remarks
The Department of Language Information Management of the Ministry of Educa-
tion of China threw out the idea of establishing the CCS in accordance with the
suggestions of many experts. The idea won the supports of linguists and ICT
experts and scholars and relevant government departments, industries and corpo-
rations in society at large. On 15 March 2002 the Department of Language Infor-
mation Management convened a conference on ISO “Information technology –
Universal multiple-octet coded character set”, soliciting “extra-set” characters
from certain government departments and industries. On 13–16 July of the same
year the Seminar on the Comprehensive Han Character Set and the IPA was con-
vened in Harbin, in which the necessity, urgency and feasibility of constructing
11 With about 1000 or more code-points left unfilled at present.

the CCS and the approaches of its operation were studied. On 26 July and 2
September, two rounds of roundtable discussion were convened for experts on
ethnic minority languages and scripts to study the issue of incorporating ethnic
minority scripts into the CCS. On 30 and 31 October, experts and government
officials from the four regions on both sides of the straight, namely the inland,
Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan were invited to a meeting convened in Fuzhou to
compare notes. In addition to further discussing issues related to Extension C1,
the meeting also had a preliminary discussion on problems concerning the
subsets of the CCS and the future coordination among the four areas. Certain
commonalities were reached, including the birth of the Chinese Digitization
Forum or CDF. Construction work for the CCS has already begun. We are now at
the stage of collecting graphemes and devising subset divisions. A memorandum
of intention and a general design of the entire scheme have been submitted to
international meetings concerned.
Apart from the above, the State Language Commission instituted the project
on the development of the Standardized Chinese Character List 12 in May 2001
and it is hoped that the first draft will be ready for submission to the authority
for comment. In the course of the development of the List, the project team has
convened four rounds of specialized academic seminar, with location in Shanghai,
Jinggangshan, Hefei and Yantai respectively.13 On 26 December 2002, the project
team gathered relevant experts in Beijing and listened to their views. The Stand-
ardized Chinese Character List includes the characters for Modern Standard
Chinese, for proper names and for science and technology. It should be able to
fulfill the basic needs for communication with Chinese characters in language
use in modern life, whereby solving the fundamental question in modern life
involving Chinese characters. The List will need to be internally stratified with
respect to frequency of use and domain. It will also need to undergo pronuncia-
tion standardization and character shape standardization.
The List can be regarded as the one most fundamental set within the CCS.14
For the ordinary user of Chinese characters, using the built-in character set of
the List in the computer suffices. Specialized users can append to the built-in
set of the CCS or some subset of it. As such, this suggests a “1 + X” approach to
character set use.
12 The project has been listed by the Ministry of Education as a major work. See China Educa-
tion Journal, p. 2, 2 Jan. 2003.
13 The Seminar on Chinese character norms was convened in Shanghai on 21–22 Dec 2001; the
Seminar on Variant Characters was convened in Jinggangshan on 16–17 May 2002; the Seminar
on Simplified Characters was convened in Hefei on 22–23 Jun 2002; the Seminar on the Char-
acter Shape for Print Fonts was convened in Yantai on 22–23 Aug 2002.
14 This fundamental subset of the CCS will need to be supplemented with Han characters
frequently used in Japanese and Korean on top of the Standardized Chinese Character List.
340 Chapter 21
The scale of the CCS is so huge we are not expected to solve all problems at
one go. There are many issues that can only be solved in phases and need the
participation of and support from various sectors. I hope people from within
the country and without can pay their fair share of attention to the issue and
offer their wisdom and labour to the realization of the CCS.
References
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(The New Global Divide between Rich and Poor: the Widening Digital Gap). Chinese Social
Science, 3.
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tion Era Calls for a Higher Level of Language Standardization). Terminology Standardiza-
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Information Era). Applied Linguistics, 1.
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The original Chinese version of this paper was first published in Journal of Chinese Information
Processing, 2003, Vol. 2.
Translated by CHEUNG Kwan Hin (张群显)

kwan.hin.cheung@polyu.edu.hk
Chapter 22
On annotation of language knowledge in
the corpus1
Abstract: In this paper, we define modern linguistic corpus as a “sizable,

machine-readable database of natural language with a certain structure and
annotation of knowledge.” This definition reflects the five most important
features of modern corpus: 1) capable of being processed by computers, 2) con-
taining natural language data, 3) a sizable scale, 4) a principled structure, and
5) knowledge annotation. Knowledge annotation refers to the meaningful,
machine-readable tags marked on language fragments. Depending on the con-
tent of the tags, annotation can be divided into raw data annotation, linguistic
annotation, annotation of other types of knowledge etc. Annotation is the core
issue of corpus construction, because the type, accuracy and depth of annota-
tion determine the function and value of a corpus. At the end of this paper, we
also discuss the corpus-based approaches of obtaining linguistic annotation as
well as the importance of corpus-based linguistic research.
Keywords: corpus, linguistic knowledge, annotation, standard
0 Introduction
In the era of information technology, it is important to understand that corpus is
an indispensable foundation for natural language processing, a crucial platform
for linguistic and applied linguistic research, and a necessary tool for extracting
linguistic knowledge and other types of knowledge.
Over the years, corpus-related issues have enjoyed wide attention, with new
plans of corpus construction launched incessantly and existing corpora put into
use and further development. Corpus linguistics becomes an increasingly re-
searched area. Ph.D. dissertations have been published on specific corpus-
related topics; the State Language Commission (SLC) has an ongoing project on
corpus standardization. Despite these efforts, corpus construction in China is
1 This paper is based on my invited talk titled In-depth Development of Linguistic Corpora at the
2nd HNC and Linguistics Conference held at the Institute of Acoustics, Chinese Academy of
Sciences on September 20–22, 2003. HNC refers to the Hierarchical Network of Concepts pro-
posed by Huang, Zengyang (1998).
342 Chapter 22
still in an early stage, both in theory and in practice. There are many questions
that are yet to be addressed. For example, what types of corpora need to be built
for academic purposes and actual application? How to create the necessary con-
ditions of building special-purpose corpora (e.g. corpora of ancient Chinese or
corpora of ethnic minority languages, etc.)? How to conduct in-depth processing
of the language data in corpora? How to standardize corpus construction and
annotation? How to maximally share corpus data? How to deal with copyright
issues?
In this paper, we will discuss three issues: the nature of corpus, the role of
linguistic annotation in corpus construction, and the acquisition of linguistic
knowledge. All three issues are related to the in-depth processing of corpus
data.
1 Nature of corpus
In order to recognize the role of linguistic annotation in corpus construction, we
must first define corpus. According to previous literature (see the references
list), a corpus can be defined as a sizable collection of machine-readable natural
language data with a certain structure and annotation.
This definition describes corpus from five aspects, which may also be viewed
as the five characteristics of modern corpus.
1.1 A corpus can be processed by computers

The word “process” may have three meanings here: 1) using computers to
manage corpora; 2) using computers to index and survey the language data; 3)
using computers to process the language data automatically or semi-automati-
cally. There has been a long-existing tradition of indexing books and creating
index card databases in lexicography and language research, but the results
of such practice cannot be processed by computers, and therefore are not con-
sidered as modern corpora.
Some scholars essentially summarize this feature of modern corpora as
“machine-readable”, focusing on the second meaning of “process” stated above.
This is indeed what mainly distinguishes modern corpora from the “index card
systems”, and automatic indexing and surveying language data is truly the main
function of modern corpora. However, from a general perspective of corpus
management and given the current development in machine learning systems
and automatic corpus annotation, we think that the extension from “machine-
readable” to “machine-processable” as well as the three meanings of “process”

as listed above has some value.
1.2. A corpus contains natural language data

Natural language refers to the language data produced by humans in natural
contexts as they have actually occurred, as opposed to artificial languages (e.g.
computer programming languages such as C++, BASIC) or language data that
have been revised or edited by the data collector. Natural language is real, there-
fore a corpus includes not only language production that conforms to various
linguistic rules, but also mistakes or errors in language use. Authenticity is the
spirit and the very value of a corpus. Revision and editing of the raw language
data, even for the purpose of correcting errors, will harm the authenticity of the
data and hence lower the value of the corpus. For example, during the construc-
tion of a certain large-scale corpus, all traditional Chinese characters in the raw
data were converted to simplified characters due to the limit of the character
database that was used for the corpus. Because of this technical revision, the
corpus has lost a potential function, that is, to be used for studying the usage
patterns of traditional and simplified Chinese characters in the 20th century.
The conversion may also affect the calculation of character frequency and word
frequency in this corpus.
Consider another example. It is now convenient to download hundreds of
millions of words of language data from the World Wide Web (WWW). Some of
these data are first published online, in the form of online news reports, novels,
messages and posts on discussion forums, but in most cases, the data are first
published on traditional printed press and “transferred” to the WWW later. In
reality, transferred content often lacks careful proofreading, resulting in error
rates that exceed the relevant standards in the country. Corpora based on such
“unauthentic” materials may be useful for rough investigation, but are not suit-
able for fine-grained linguistic research.
Language is always used in a certain social context and therefore carries
features of the context. Using language data from different domains with differ-
ent features, one can construct corpora for different purposes. A written corpus
comprises of data from the written language, while a spoken corpus contains the
spoken language. Language data from a specific domain will help form a
specialized corpus, while language data from a balanced variety of domains
will form a balanced corpus. One may also construct a synchronic corpus or a
diachronic corpus, depending on when the language data have occurred. Thus,
the usage domain, usage feature and occurring time of language data can all be
used to define subcategories of corpora.
344 Chapter 22
1.3 A corpus has a sizable scale

The scale of a corpus refers to the amount of language data in the corpus. A key
function of corpora is to calculate the statistics of language use. If a corpus is
not big enough, it will not have enough data for statistical analysis and there-
fore will fail to function as a corpus in a major way. Of course, the scale of a
corpus does not have absolute standards, since the standards vary with time
and technical conditions. Generally speaking, the scale of a corpus depends
on three factors – or put it another way – the harmony of the following three
aspects:
1) The difficulty and cost of obtaining language data. With the abundance of
online resources, the difficulty and cost of obtaining language data have
been greatly reduced. However, as mentioned before, due to the loss of
authenticity during data transfer, downloading language data from the
WWW cannot completely replace other approaches of language data collec-
tion. In addition, since the copyright issue of corpus data is still unclear, it
remains a question how to properly pay for the production and transfer of
the original language data. The cost of a corpus will surely increase if the
expenses regarding copyright issues are also considered.
2) The storage and processing power of computers and network costs. The
rapid development of information technology, as well as the advancement
of computer storage and processing powers, has overcome most technical
challenges in corpus construction. However, to realize the value of a corpus
in use, the WWW has become an important medium for providing corpus-
based services in the Internet era. Therefore, the conditions and cost of
network services cannot be ignored in corpus construction.
3) The applications of different types of corpora. Corpora of different types
often show different relations between scale and functional uses. For exam-
ple, corpora used for surveying high-frequency words, common words or
general grammatical phenomena do not need to be particularly large in
size. By contrast, those that are used for surveying infrequent words or char-
acters or rare grammatical phenomena must be large, due to data scarcity.
1.4 A corpus must have a principled structure

There are three types of corpus structure: 1) storage structure, 2) content struc-
ture, and 3) physical structure. Language data in a corpus must be stored in a
principled way, which forms the storage structure of the corpus. Besides, there
must be some relation (in terms of time, domain of usage, authorship, theme,
etc.) among the language data in the same corpus. The general link among the
language data is the content structure of a corpus. In the most general sense,
the structure of a corpus must also include the physical and software system
that processes the language data.
Both the storage structure and physical structure of a corpus depend on its
content structure. Corpora with different functions also differ in the complexity
of the content. Generally speaking, the more complex the content structure is,
the greater its function or potential value.
1.5 A corpus is tagged with annotation

Annotation refers to the machine-readable tags on segments of language data in
the corpus. These tags are corpus-internal symbols for computers to recognize
and process. There are three types of annotation distinguished by the content
of the tags:
a) Raw data annotation, which refers to the annotation of metadata such as

copyright information, medium and sampling information. Raw data anno-
tation is often related to the content and structure of the corpus, and
can affect how the corpus may be used. Sometimes, information about the
collector and proofreader of the language data will also be recorded and
tagged. Such tags may also be considered as raw data annotation.
b) Linguistic annotation. Linguistic annotation is the general term for the
annotation of features of different linguistic units, the syntactic and semantic
relations among the units, the pragmatic labels of language fragments, etc.
The term “linguistic unit” has a wide definition, which may refer to character,
word, phrase, sentence, discourse and so on, with their orthographic (for
characters), phonetic (or prosodic), semantic, syntactic and pragmatic prop-
erties and the mutual relationship among the units. Of course, the depth
and scope of linguistic annotation may vary widely depending on the time
of corpus development, the purpose of the corpus and the view of linguistic
annotation held by the corpus developers. Linguistic annotation of a corpus
is often a gigantic project that demands continuous contribution from
several generations of developers.
c) Other annotation (or Type C annotation). The relationship between language
and knowledge has two sides. On one hand, language is the most important
medium of human knowledge; on the other hand, the use of language
requires other human knowledge, such as common sense and specialized
knowledge required in the communication. Therefore, for computers to
process language, knowing only the linguistic information is not enough –
346 Chapter 22
it is also important to know other common sense and specialized knowledge.

Liu (2000:1) pointed out, “more than 80% of the knowledge in the field of
information technology is carried by the medium of language”. That is to
say, corpus is also a database of human knowledge and furthermore an
important source for knowledge acquisition. It is because of this reason
that corpora also need the Type C annotation. However, since the research
on knowledge retrieval from corpora has just started, the technology for
Type C annotation has not matured yet.
2 Role of linguistic annotation in corpus

development
Knowledge annotation is one of the five features of a corpus, but it is an impor-
tant indicator for the depth of corpus development and the applied values of the
corpus. The in-depth development of a corpus is mainly reflected by the various
types of knowledge annotation on the corpus. The type of annotation determines
the potential use of the corpus. For example, raw data annotation is external
to the language data in the corpus. A corpus that only contains raw data anno-
tation is a “raw” corpus, which may be used for simple search and statistics
counting based on linguistic units. The actual usage of a raw corpus depends
on the amount of raw data annotation in the corpus. Different from raw data
annotation, linguistic annotation is internal to the language data and represents
what computer programmes may know about the language data. A corpus with
linguistic annotation is a “processed” corpus, which allows for complex search
and statistics counting based on various linguistic aspects. Computers installed
with such processed corpora will have a certain degree of language intelligence.
Type C annotation may also be language-internal annotation, which, when com-
bined with linguistic annotation, will greatly increase the value of the corpus
and empower the computer with more language intelligence and other types of
intelligence. It is fair to say that the amount of different types of annotation a
corpus has as well as the depth and accuracy of the annotation determines the
usability and the value of the corpus. Therefore, knowledge annotation has
always been a core issue in corpus development.
Although all sorts of knowledge annotation have some significance for the
value of the corpus, linguistic annotation is still the most important issue given
the current situation of corpus construction and academic development. This is
because:
1) Raw data annotation represents the basic standard of corpus construction.

A widespread problem in present-day corpus construction is the ignorance
or lack of standard in the annotation of raw language data, which has
resulted in low reusability and inter-operability. The issue does not involve
technical difficulty – it only depends on how much effort the corpus devel-
opers devote to raw data annotation, whether the design of data types is
comprehensive, whether the plan for data collection is well-implemented,
what symbols are chosen for annotation and whether the forms of anno-
tation are reusable, etc. However, linguistic annotation may be extremely
hard, and the difficulty lies in the principal scientific approach as opposed
to actual techniques or cost effectiveness.
The scientific difficulty of linguistic annotation lies in two aspects: First, current
linguistic research, especially the research on semantics and pragmatics, cannot
fully satisfy the need for language comprehension by computers; second, the
annotation of linguistic information is still under investigation. For example,
several English corpora have been annotated for the syntactic tree structure,
e.g. the Penn Treebank. There have been some similar trials on Chinese data,
including the testing Chinese Treebank (ThTree) by Tsinghua University in
China, the Penn Chinese Treebank by the University of Pennsylvania in the U.S.
and the Treebank project by the Academia Sinica in Taiwan. However, does tree-
bank annotation work equally well for Chinese and English? This is still a ques-
tion. In addition, semantic features and semantic relations can be highly com-
plicated and there are many different theoretical frameworks and perspectives
(e.g. traditional semantics, valency grammar, case grammar, semantic feature
analysis, semantic orientation analysis, etc.). How should we integrate these dif-
ferent streams of studies in the annotation of semantic meanings? Furthermore,
there is even less exploration and understanding of pragmatic annotation in the
corpus.
2) Being a type of database, corpus is different from other types of database. A

corpus with only raw data annotation and Type C annotation is not a real
corpus. Only when a corpus has linguistic annotation will it allow extraction
of linguistic information, which may enable computers to understand
human language. Linguistic annotation is thus the center of a corpus.
3) Corpus development in our country is currently in a critical stage in terms of
linguistic annotation. Great progress has been made in word segmentation,
with a consensus achieved in the field; several electronic dictionaries with
practical values have been compiled; segmented language data have been
tagged with part of speech according to certain grammatical systems; issues
348 Chapter 22
regarding semantic disambiguation have been discussed; an annotation

system for Chinese has been proposed, etc. Thus, given the practical situa-
tion of corpus construction and academic development, linguistic annota-
tion is the most important pending problem in the field.
3 Acquisition of linguistic information

3.1 Two approaches of acquiring linguistic information
Linguistic annotation ultimately relies on the linguistic knowledge of the annota-
tor, therefore, the acquisition of linguistic knowledge is the origin of the problem.
After corpora came into being, there are two basic approaches of acquiring lin-
guistic knowledge: a) corpus-based and b) non-corpus-based. The classification
of these approaches based on the use of corpora or otherwise is due to the fact
that corpus-based acquisition of linguistic knowledge has important features
and great potential.
Firstly, the A approach employs statistical analysis as its basic processing
method, and is therefore referred to as the “statistical-based” approach. Strictly
speaking, statistical analysis is not separable from linguistic analysis. The
design of statistical analysis needs to be supported by linguistic knowledge,
and the results of statistical analysis must be integrated with linguistic analysis.
Furthermore, statistical methods are also used in the B approach and are defi-
nitely not exclusive to the A approach. However, the use of statistical methods
is extremely widespread in the A approach, to the degree that basically all find-
ings from the A approach are supported by statistical data.
Secondly, language data processed with the A approach are not only huge
in data size but also include examples of non-standard language use due to the
authenticity of corpus data. The annotation obtained from such large-scale
authentic language data through statistical methods must bear some differences
from the annotation obtained from the B approach. Not only does the B approach
draw conclusion from much smaller datasets, its source data are also pre-selected
and only contain examples of standard language use.
Thirdly, linguistic annotation generated by the A approach is more easily
readable by machines.
The B approach acquires linguistic rules by careful observation of linguistic
phenomenon, relying more on qualitative analysis than quantitative analysis.
Compared with the statistical-based A approach, the B approach is considered
as “rule-based” or “reflection-based”. The non-corpus-based B approach enjoys
a long history of at least thousands of years and has contributed to numerous
important results in humanities research, which lay the foundation of today’s

language processing techniques. Unfortunately, linguistic knowledge acquired
with this approach has not been fully utilized in the construction of linguistic
corpus in our country, due to the following reasons:
1) Linguistic knowledge acquired with the B approach is scattered and lacks

integration. For example, the major findings regarding modern Chinese
grammar are represented in different linguistic dissertations, but so far there
has not been a single work that gives a comprehensive account of the
research on modern Chinese syntax. Most current linguistic books and text-
books on this topic only provide an overview of the syntactic system or the
general framework of Chinese syntax, without detailed syntactic analysis,
which makes it impossible for anyone to collect all the theoretical linguistic
findings, let alone use these findings in linguistic annotation.
2) The traditional way of representing linguistic findings is appropriate for
human reading but not for machine reading. Converting linguistic rules
written for human reading to rules for machine reading requires creative
work from scholars who have expertise in both linguistics and computer
science. There are currently few such dual-expertise scholars, and even
fewer are willing to take up the conversion work.
3) Some corpus developers do not consider linguistic knowledge acquired
through the B approach as important, because they believe that one can
acquire enough linguistic knowledge by just using statistical-based methods
and therefore rule-based research is not needed (at least for now). This view
may stand by itself, but it is most likely biased. The two approaches of
acquiring linguistic knowledge, as well as the linguistic knowledge acquired
through these approaches, should complement each other and benefit each
other.
3.2 Computerization of existing linguistic knowledge

Linguistic annotation ultimately relies on the linguistic knowledge of the anno-
tator, but it is also limited by the degree of computerizability of the knowledge.
In my point of view, the most important strategy of in-depth corpus annotation
(i.e. linguistic annotation) is to organize and computerize the numerous theo-
retical linguistic findings generated by the B approach. The key of this strategy
is to build a database of linguistic knowledge, which will probably include the
following tasks:
350 Chapter 22
1) Search all relevant linguistic literature. Classify the literature by subfield

and input into the computer in order to make a bibliography database.
2) Properly handle the copyright issues of the collected literature in accor-
dance with national and international law and common practice.
3) Digitize the collected linguistic literature, converting print media to digital
media that can be processed by computers. The process of conversion needs
to maximally utilize the power of computers while also ensuring converting
quality by careful proofreading.
4) Compile a database of digitized linguistic literature and build appropriate
data managing software. This will result in a digital linguistic bibliography
database.
5) Design an appropriate theoretical linguistic framework, in preparation for
organizing linguistic knowledge. It is crucial for the general framework to
be accommodating, so that all the knowledge in the literature can find a
place in it.
6) Based on the linguistic framework, compile a catalogue of knowledge points
and the corresponding list of annotation symbols.
7) Annotate all the knowledge points in the linguistic bibliography database
using the designated symbol set. The annotation process should be maxi-
mally computerized, which, with the aid of specialized computer soft-
ware, can be either computer-assisted manual processing or human-assisted
machine processing.
8) Organize the annotated knowledge points into a linguistic knowledge data-
base.
9) Fully computerize the knowledge points in the linguistic knowledge data-
base, in order to achieve machine-readable linguistic knowledge. Integrate
the computerized linguistic knowledge with corpora, and form corpus-based
annotated linguistic knowledge, which will become the artificial language
intelligence.
We believe that the establishment of a computerized linguistic knowledge data-

base which includes a linguistic literature catalogue, a linguistic bibliography
digital database and a linguistic knowledge set will significantly improve the
linguistic annotation of corpus and therefore lead automatic language process-
ing techniques into a new era.
Of course, linguistic knowledge database is not only useful for the annota-
tion of corpus, it will also stimulate theoretical linguistic research. The establish-
ment of such a database will effectively combine and integrate the various find-
ings of linguistic research that used to be scattered around, and thus provide a
solid basis for future linguistic research and the training of future scholars. The
fact that the database is fully computerized makes it easier for researchers to
access and utilize this platform.
3.3 Promoting corpus-based linguistic research

Both approaches of acquiring linguistic knowledge will be used for a period
of time in the foreseeable future. However, with the continuous improvement of
corpora and the development of corpus-based linguistic research software, more
and more people will start to use corpora for linguistic research, due to the
following reasons.
Firstly, corpus makes it easier to gather language data and make linguistic
observation. Corpus provides a large amount of authentic language data, which
are easier to search than manually collected data and more comprehensive than
language data generated by self-reflection. Furthermore, corpus data can be
easily analyzed with statistical methods.
Secondly, linguistic research not only needs qualitative description of the
rules. Quantitative description, which is based on statistical data of the distribu-
tion and combination of different language units, is also important for studying
the use of a language. Corpus is the most ideal tool for conducting quantitative
linguistic analysis and for gathering various statistical information about lan-
guage use.
Thirdly, linguistic research has multiple purposes. One of the most impor-
tant purposes is to digitize language information, which also needs the help
from corpus, especially linguistically annotated corpus.
Fourthly, corpus-based linguistic research may lead to discoveries of new
features and rules of language and furthermore, the development of novel lin-
guistic theories and research methodology.
Undoubtedly, the advantages of corpus as stated above will attract more lin-
guistic scholars to use corpus. In order to make corpus-based linguistic research
more convenient for scholars, it is important to develop more computer-assisted
linguistic analysis software, including language data search engine, language
data downloading and cataloging programmes, statistical analysis programmes
and result evaluation programmes, etc. Linguistic knowledge database, linguis-
tically-annotated corpus and linguistic analysis software should be considered as
the three magic tools for modernizing linguistic research methodology. Scholars
who have access to these tools will be able to make profound contribution to
linguistics research. Corpus-based linguistic research will gradually become the
352 Chapter 22
mainstream approach for acquiring linguistic knowledge, and the results can be
easily computerized. The so-called statistical-based and rule-based methods will
also become more and more similar and integrated in the future, through com-
plementing and benefiting each other.
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y.yao@polyu.edu.hk
Chapter 23
The needs for language learning and
teaching Chinese as foreign language
Abstract: This paper takes that the needs of foreigners for learning Chinese as
second/foreign language nowadays come from six causes of different arrays for
acquiring three levels of proficiency as expected outcomes. These are the primary
considerations on which all syllabus design and assessment are based. Further
to these, this paper holds that in the development of L2 Chinese, in addition to
the above-mentioned objectives, what is most important is to highlight the value
of the Chinese language, to enlarge the scope of needs for learning, to strive for
the status of Chinese to be used in the domains of economics, tourism, oversea
studies, diplomacy, and international conferences.
Keywords: language learning needs
0 Introduction
The teaching of Chinese to foreign people in a systematic manner can be dated
back to the Han Dynasty. Fu Ke (1986:3) points out that in the 9th Year of the
Yong Ping era (66 B.C.) of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Emperor Ming established
a school for the youngsters of four families of merited officials, namely Fan,
Guo, Yin, and Ma, known as “Si Xing XiaoHou Xue” (School for Young Nobles
of Four Families). As the school became famous, the nomadic Xiongnu located
north of China also sent their children for schooling. Fostering Xiongnu children’s
the Chinese language and culture implies an implementation of foreign the
Chinese language teaching (FCLT).
As Yang Xuanzhi recorded in Volume 3 of Luoyang Jialanji, at the time of
Northern Wei Dynasty (386–535 A.D.), in the capital city Luoyang, alongside
the high street of the city, there were schools for learners from all places of
“lower cultivated societies”. And, stretching from the west of Cong Ling (now
Pamirs) to Da Qian (Ancient Rome), people of numerous foreign empires and
cities were eager to migrate to the central cities of China. Those merchants and
business dealers who shuttled between inner cities and outskirts, knew very
well about the good and bad of all places. They loved the Chinese culture and
custom, and chose to dwell there. As a result, there had been millions of such
migrated families being settled in these preferred central cities. Although there
358 Chapter 23
is no mentioning of actually in what ways these migrated families and people

studied Chinese, or how their children acquired the language, it is almost certain
that there must be some pedagogical enterprises focusing on these foreigners’
the Chinese language education.
However, it was not unusual in the Chinese history for a government to
restrict the teaching of the Chinese language to foreigners, for fear of unveiling
the people’s daily life to other nations. For instance, near the end of 16th
Century, when Matteo Ricci came to Xiang Shan via Macau, he saw an official
public notice with a big seal by the Governor, saying that teaching Chinese to
foreigners was a crime that carried death penalty1. This referred, in the Ming
Dynasty, to the realization of the national closing-up policy both by land and
by sea.
On the whole, throughout the history of nearly two thousand years, from the
Eastern Han Dynasty, across the peak of Tang, through Song, Yuan, Ming, Qing,
to Min Guo (the Republican period), despite various ups and downs, the foreign
the Chinese language teaching enterprise had continued persistently.2 Neverthe-
less, the real development of FCLT, as a contemporary academic subject, and a
major national establishment, can only be regarded within two decades from
1978.3 During this period, there have been rapid growth in the number of foreign
students to China, curriculum development, teacher training, overseas exchanges
and collaborations and the like, a scale of flourishing in “Foreign Chinese Teach-
ing” that has gone far beyond the coverage of the notion connotatively.4 There
have been brilliant ideas in academic circle about where to move on for further
development, for example, associating the functions of FCLT with the inter-
1 See Limadou Zhongguo Zhaji (Lettere dalla Cina 1584–1608). 1983. Chung Hwa Book Com-
pany, pp. 156–7, cited by Yuan Weishi. 2003. 9–10.
2 For the history of Foreign the Chinese language teaching, refer to Lu Jianqi (1998), Zhang
Yajun (1990).
3 For the development of Foreign the Chinese language Teaching in the 20th Century, in particular
since 1950, refer to Lü Bisong (1990), Liu Xun (2000:37–56), Zhao Jinming (1989), Zhang Dexin
(2000).
4 Subsequent to the advances in career development and in research, people of concern feel
discontented with the term “teaching Chinese as second/foreign language” for several reasons.
First, to teach a person to learn Chinese involves not merely a set of teaching activities, but
justify a subject in its own right, which, in addition to teaching, includes a series of “educa-
tional” components. As such, some people propose to use “the education of Chinese as
second/foreign language”. Second, it seems that the title of teaching Chinese as second/foreign
language is applicable to the national development in this aspect, but its implication does not
cover the educational activities of Chinese as second/foreign language in oversea countries.
Third, it is a tradition for overseas Chinese to develop Chinese education in which teaching
Chinese is one of the essential activities. Although descendants of overseas Chinese are holders
The needs for language learning and teaching Chinese as foreign language 359
national promotion of Chinese, and for a harmonious national development; as

a channel to observe the communications amongst Chinese communities, to
properly address the issue of simplified vs complex scripts of Chinese characters,
and to form a unified strength in Chinese for international promotion etc. The
ideas from political sector are even more ambitious as to build the “Chinese
Bridge” engineering, to expand the development of the “Confucius Institute”,
to recruit volunteers in FCLT, and to organize international conferences on the
Chinese language etc. Being moderate, I would also like to make an intellectual
contribution to the “Heat of FCLT”. This paper is to discuss the development of
FCLT from the perspectives of needs for language learning.
1 Needs for learning Chinese and levels of

Chinese proficiency
1.1 Needs for Learning Chinese
Language learning is driven by the need of the learners to learn a language.
Whenever there are needs, there is a demand for meeting those needs. The activ-
ities that are organized to satisfy the needs will then become language learning
activities. From a learner’s perspective, the need for learning a language will
turn into his learning motivation. From a language educator’s perspective, the
major learning objective will be to satisfy learners’ learning needs. Therefore,
it is of primary importance in the development of FCLT to clarify the needs for
of foreign passports, they are different from other foreigners in that, the Chinese language
naturally becomes their mother tongue. Therefore, to them Chinese education is not the same
as teaching Chinese as second/foreign language. From this point of view, their dissatisfaction
is fully understandable. However, the term “teaching Chinese as second/foreign” is still
employed in this paper based on two considerations: In the first place, even though this paper
regards Chinese education from a global point of view, including those teaching of Chinese as
foreign language, and teaching of Chinese in overseas countries. The theme of discussion refers
back to the teaching of Chinese to foreigners in China; secondly, in the ideal situation, the act of
naming can represent the underlying concept. But the name in use is only a symbol of the
referred concept. In many cases, a name is unable to reflect the embedded concept satisfac-
torily, and it is improper to interpret the underlying concept just from the language expression
on the surface. For example, the semantic interpretation of “subject” in linguistics does not
necessarily imply “active” or “main”; “literary language” if used as a linguistic term, directs
to standardized code (with emphasis on written language), and does not associate with the
language in literary works. Besides, it is difficult to make any alternation to a commonly used
name for which, it is perfectly alright to keep its original appearance, if there is nothing partic-
ularly wrong with it.
360 Chapter 23
language learning. Even though foreigners’ needs for learning Chinese has
already been addressed by a number of academics, such topic, being closely
connected with the development planning of FCLT, has not received sufficient
attention, nor being supported by sound and workable scientific research
findings.
The needs of foreigners for learning the Chinese language differ in different
periods of time in terms of nature and degrees. Conclusively, a contemporary
account on such needs could be understood from six aspects as follows.
A. To keep abreast of new happenings
In the eyes of foreigners, ever since the visit of Marco Polo, China, as manifested
in the Chinese characters and its cultural heritage, has been a mysterious and
charming country to them. It is not surprising that some westerners want to
learn Chinese in order to know more about China.
B. To tour around in China
Tourism has been an important consumer activity at our present time. Many
foreigners are interested in having a tour in China. In recent decades, increasing
number of international events, games and expos are being held in China. They
serve as major highlights and attractions for tourists. It is always useful to learn
some Chinese for such journeys.
C. For employment
The Reform of China and her opening up to the world has enabled our economy,
culture to attract world-wide attention and considerable foreign investments
with related business to the China market. There is then a great demand for
talents who know Chinese and China, and thus creates considerable new jobs
that are the Chinese language related. To apply for job opportunities, one needs
to learn the Chinese language.
D. For study in China
Chinese medicine, Chinese philosophy, Chinese history, the Chinese language,

Chinese literature, martial arts, and Chinese operas are unique to many other
cultures in the world, thus attracting generations and generations of foreign
students to study in China. Alongside with rapid developments in science, edu-
cation and culture in the modern time, China also shows excellence in certain
non-traditional-Chinese academic and cultural areas, which also become abstrac-
tions to foreign students. To study in China, students need to learn the Chinese
language.
E. For study of China
China is one of the big countries with long history. It is not only a mission for
the Chinese people to have a better understanding of our own country, but is
also a duty for international scholars to fulfill. As China is getting stronger,
scholars and those in politics, economics, and diplomacy should join the team
to study the country. In the past century, there have been schools of Sinology
and China Studies in Japan and certain western countries, creating noticeable
impact. Over the recent decades, the study of Chinese economy, Chinese political
system, population system and ethnic issues etc. have also become hot topics.
To become a China expert, one needs to know the Chinese language.
F. Appreciation and promotion of the Chinese language and culture
Many westerners are highly interested in the Chinese language and culture, and
are devoted to learn and to spread the Chinese language and culture to the
world. They are a group of people who recognize the value of Chinese culture,
and some of them shall become Sinologists of the contemporary era. Cultural
recognition is the biggest source of learning need, which is also long-lasting.
These people do not only learn the Chinese language, very often, they make con-
tributions in the areas of the Chinese language study and the Chinese language
teaching.
1.2 Levels of Chinese proficiency

These different arrays of needs for learning Chinese determine the expectations
of the learners whereby learning objectives can be formed. In accordance with
various expectations or objectives as described above, there are 3 levels of
mastery of the Chinese language, namely (a) rudimentary Chinese, (b) inter-
mediate Chinese, and (c) advanced Chinese.
A. Rudimentary Chinese
The level of proficiency for the needs in A (to keep abreast of new happenings)
and B (to tour around in China) of 1.1, is not high. It only requires a mastery of
simple exchanges in basic Chinese. Up until now, not much effective planning or
researches have been done regarding this level of learning. In fact, a large num-
ber of learners belong to this “rudimentary level”, which is likely to become an
important departure point for the enterprise of foreign Chinese teaching. After
passing this level, a lot of people would also feel interested to continue their
learning, who, if properly guided, may then become the endless reserve forces
for promoting to the steady learners of Chinese.
362 Chapter 23
While learning Chinese for the first time, many learners find Chinese inter-
esting, easy to pick up and practical. For this particular period of learning,
course providers should consider giving up the boundary of college-style teach-
ing, but design effective textbooks that are of interest, making good uses of
Hanyu Pinyin and the learners’ native languages. Teaching plans could be de-
signed for various span of learning, and more Chinese schools in the learners’
own countries could be established. Rudimentary Chinese classes could be offered
during major international events, such as international games expos. There
should be multiple ways of motivating learners to learn Chinese, from the point
of view that they are the breeding ground of foreign Chinese teaching.
B. normal/Intermediate Chinese
Those learners who fall into the needs of C (for employment) and D (to study in
China) of 1.1, form the major layer of foreign Chinese teaching. In the past, many
foreign students learned Chinese in order to study in China. This was the depar-
ture point of teaching Chinese as foreign language in China where we have ac-
cumulated experience and have achieved remarkable success. From another
point of view, most of those foreign students in the past aimed at grasping the
knowledge and art of traditional Chinese culture, whereas for the increasing
number of students coming to China nowadays, their targets are knowledge
and art of the contemporary era. What level of Chinese proficiency should those
new students achieve becomes a question that deserves in-depth investigation.
At the same time, there was no much planning or attention paid to the require-
ment of the Chinese language for employment. The required Chinese standards
such as language usages and skills of communication for different posts vary in
accordance with various job nature. This is an unexplored area in teaching Chi-
nese as foreign language, an urging task for the development of professional
oriented Chinese teaching for different posts in the job market.
C. Advanced Chinese
To fulfill the goal of E (the study of China) and F (appreciation and promotion of
the Chinese language and culture), one needs a higher level of Chinese profi-
ciency. There are only a few learners who adopt such goal in their study of the
Chinese language, but it carries significance. It is worth making great effort to
cultivate a Chinese philologist, or a Sinologist who are the fountainheads for
spreading the Chinese language and culture. In history, there had been scholars
of this type in Japan and the western academic circle. In recent decades, some
foreign scholars who studied in China have become Sinologists. On the whole,
nevertheless, we do not have enough experience, or any useful establishments,
or even the awareness of fostering Sinologists. In view of the fact that foreign
Sinologists of former generations had either passed away or retired, the mission
of nurturing Sinologists appears to be more important and pressing.
It is a conceptual distinction in drawing the lines for three levels of Chinese
proficiency according to different needs of acquisition. Each of these levels may
embed a number of practical issues which, in turn, imply various demands on
teaching as well as on Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi (Chinese Proficiency Test, in
short, HSK). It is necessary to diversify the design of our teaching, textbooks,
and methods of assessment according to the different demands. To foster develop-
ment in the teaching of foreign Chinese means to have a rigorous analysis of the
needs of the Chinese language learning throughout the world, from which new
aspects of growth and levels of requirement could be identified.
2 Promoting the value of the Chinese language

for extending the needs of learning the
language
2.1 Major efforts to promote the value of the Chinese
language
The purpose of teaching Chinese as a foreign language is to satisfy foreigners’
needs of learning it, and the development of this enterprise depends on how to
create international needs for learning the Chinese language. Whether or not
there are needs for learning a language up to a certain level of achievement
depends on the needs of learning it in society. On the other hand, the social
needs come from the social value of that language. All living languages learned
by people, including those languages not really in use such as Latin, Sanskrit,
must still bear some kinds of value in society. Such value may refer to material
value, scientific value, or spiritual value of a nation. To create the needs for
learning Chinese means to promote and to elevate the values of the Chinese
language.
The ups and downs of a language’s value are associated with the inter-
national status of that particular nation to which the language belongs. In the
flourishing period of the Tang Dynasty, when China was a powerful country,
people came to China from all Asian countries to learn Chinese, resulting in the
first peak of teaching Chinese as a foreign language in the Chinese history. In
contrast, from mid 19th century to early 20th century, when China was weak
364 Chapter 23
and being invaded by big powers of the world, foreign learners of the Chinese
language were scarce. Liu Xun (2000:37) points out that there were records
showing that during the 40’s, Yenching University could only appoint aged
scholars who were good in classical Chinese, but had no knowledge in linguis-
tics nor competence in any foreign language to teach the foreign students who
requested to study Chinese. The lack of L2/FL Chinese teacher at that time was
owing to the fact that many foreigners considered Chinese, being the language
of a poor country, a worthless language, and there was hardly anybody who
might need to learn it.
The value of a language may increase in accordance with the growth of a
nation and country. However, this is not the whole story. The superior status of
English as a world language in the contemporary era has been achieved not
only by the power of the then British Empire and the modern day America, but
also by their joint efforts in promoting the English language. For the prosperity
of our country, as well as for developing the Chinese language, it is necessary to
consciously create the needs of learning Chinese, to adopt a scientific perspec-
tive in promoting the Chinese language internationally, and to elevate the inter-
national status of the Chinese language. Such language planning is far beyond
the capacity of any single department, but is a national strategy which requires
close collaborations among all departments, and the participation of scholars
and non-governmental associations.
2.2 Aspects of extending the needs of learning the

Chinese language
In order to enhance the value of the Chinese language and to extend the needs
of learning Chinese, there are things achievable in a number of aspects as
follows. For example:
A. Trading and business
China is a lasting world class market, and all imported commercial products
should be subject to the requirement of using the Chinese language in their
advertisement, product details and explanations, for satisfying the consumers’
right to know about the product they purchase5. China is a very active “product
processing factory of the world”. The products for export should use or be
5 It is estimated that this item alone could generate a lot of Chinese language related positions,
which would drastically increase the needs for learning Chinese, and would also provide
Chinese language experts with enormous job opportunities.
attached with the Chinese language for advertisements, product explanation

and product markers, so that the Chinese language could spread to the world
together with the products made in China. From the perspective of promoting
equality and cultural diversity between countries, requirements should be set
to protect the status of the Chinese language in world trade. For instance,
Chinese should be adequately used for commercial negotiation, setting rules
for trading, and in making and signing contracts. Another step to be taken is to
strive for the legal equivalence of documents written in Chinese and in English.
Trading and business have been importance forces for promoting language.
The space and force are tremendous for promoting the Chinese language and
extending the needs of learning through the activities in this aspect.
B. Travel
China possesses very rich and charming travel resources to people all over the
world. Big events such as the 2008 Olympus and the 2010 World Expo will help
to attract even more tourists to China. In order to show our hospitality to travel-
ers from overseas, it is useful for the Chinese people to learn some foreign lan-
guages in order to promote tourism and to provide tourist guiding. However, it is
equally important that we should make use of such opportunities to promote the
Chinese culture. For instance, it is possible to trigger foreign guests’ interest in
the Chinese language through the distribution of Chinese-foreign languages
bilingual travelling guides or handbooks; or, to offer some short courses on Chi-
nese during their visits. On occasions when China may conduct major interna-
tional events, some sorts of pre-training courses on Chinese culture could be or-
ganized, and materials such as 900 Chinese sentences could be compiled, etc.
Making use of tourism to promote the Chinese language is likely to create posi-
tive international atmosphere, and the effects obtained may go beyond one’s ex-
pectations.
C. Study abroad
Since the 80s of the twentieth century, there has been rapid increase in the num-
ber of foreign students coming to China for study. The fields of study extend
from the Chinese language and Chinese specific scholarship and arts, to explor-
ing more other subjects with educational qualifications. This is a designated
result of education development in China. To attract more foreign students to
come to China, the required standard of Chinese proficiency to these students
could be a bit lenient, but on the other hand, to promote the Chinese language
through education is as well a big business that needed to be plan as early as
possible. First, attention should be paid to the teaching of Chinese for preparing
the learners to study in China, so as to solve the medium-of-instruction problem
366 Chapter 23
and to guarantee the quality of teaching. Second, during the courses, effort
should be made constantly to enhance foreign students’ level of Chinese pro-
ficiency, and to cultivate them with Chinese culture. Third, there must be a
requirement on the Chinese language standard of degree dissertation and viva.
Such requirement should not be played down. The requirement is not only an
international practice, but is also the realization of education standard, the sym-
bol of education ownership, a major commanding baton for promoting Chinese
culture, and an important move to establish the international status of academic
literature written in the Chinese language.
In theory, any attempt to acquire an academic degree from China must
include certain level of ability to use either the Standard Chinese (Putonghua,
standardized Chinese characters), or languages of the nationalities concerned in
both spoken and written forms. The actualization of this is to use the Chinese lan-
guage to write the thesis and to conduct oral examinations. In view of the fact
that the education of China has just been introduced to the outside world, there
could be some adjustment in the requirement of writing thesis in Chinese and of
the oral examination. For instance, some prescriptions could be set as follows:
(a) For those who study Chinese specific knowledge and art such as the Chinese
language, Chinese literature, Chinese history, traditional Chinese philosophy,
Chinese medicine and pharmacy, Chinese painting, ancient Chinese architec-
ture, traditional Chinese music and opera, Chinese physical education etc.,
Chinese must be used for writing thesis and for taking oral examination.
(b) For those who study issues about modern China (can be classified and
entitled as “Modern China Study”), such as economic management in
China, political system of China, trends of mass media in China, population
issue in China, strategic development of rural area or villages in China, edu-
cation policy in China, and history of China diplomacy etc., permission
could be given to them to use foreign language for thesis writing at this
stage, but an abstract of the thesis written in Chinese should be provided,
and spoken Chinese should be used for oral examination, and a Chinese
copy of the thesis should be submitted.
(c) For those who study in other areas such as mathematics, physic, chemistry,
biology, geology, computer science, medicine, agriculture etc. foreign lan-
guages can be used for writing the thesis and for defending in oral examina-
tion at this stage, but a Chinese abstract of the thesis, and a Chinese copy of
the thesis should be submitted.
D. Diplomacy and international conference
The language for diplomacy is abided by international conventions. In the past,
Latin and French had been the languages of diplomacy in Europe. Similarly,
Hanyu (the Chinese language) had been used for diplomatic relations across
countries in eastern Asia. Today, those major types of language, English in par-
ticular, are playing the role of common languages for diplomacy. The diplomacy
of China must follow the contemporary conventions. This does not prevent the
Chinese language from being used as a working vehicle in the organizations of
United Nations. Besides, it has been an international rule that it is a symbol for
a self-governing state to use her own language in diplomatic contexts. There-
fore, it is necessary to expand the functions of the Chinese language in sub-
ordinate bodies, to strive for higher status of the language in other international
associations, and to use the Chinese language as far as possible during formal
diplomatic conferences and bilateral talks. It is laudable that the spokesman of
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China uses Chinese for making announcement
and for answering questions.
In addition, we must strive for using the Chinese language as official language
in all kinds of international conferences. It is particularly necessary for those
conferences in which participants are mostly Chinese, with themes on Chinese
philology, Chinese art, Chinese history or other Chinese issues.
In the international interaction and trading exchanges, we should learn to
make such requests as “I need a Chinese edition”, “I would like to use Chinese
for my speech”, “I need Chinese translation”.
3 Other related issues

3.1 “Consolidating” the value of the Chinese language
There seems to be a need to “consolidate” the value of the Chinese language
through various ways. Certification is one of the important initiatives. A certifi-
cate can be obtained through examination, so the first thing to do is to develop
different kinds of examination to cater for the various needs of test takers. Apart
from those major examinations such as HSK, the national team of teaching
Chinese as second language is taking the lead to develop measurement tools
on Chinese proficiency for commerce, tourism, secretarial work, and nursery,
all of which are done in line with the direction as mentioned above. The issuance
of proficiency certificates should be able to meet the manifold needs of the job
market and professional positions associated with the Chinese language. That is
to say, the value of the Chinese language is to be consolidated by means of the
act of issuing certificates.
Laws and regulations refer to another important formal device. For example,
the Chinese language requirements for foreigners who want to acquire academic
qualifications in Chinese, once put in black and white, its implication and the
impact would be massive and profound.
368 Chapter 23
In using certification and regulations to consolidate the value of the Chinese

language, one should also pay attention to the possibility of bringing foreign
companies and associations’ internal forces into play. For example, it would be
constructive to support foreign countries to include the Chinese language as a
subject in their education system, to encourage foreign countries to conduct or,
through collaboration with us, to develop educational organizations, to estab-
lish qualification pegging mechanisms between HSK and foreign examinations,
through which, HSK could be hooked with activities of recruitment, promotion,
salary adjustment etc. of labour markets in foreign countries.
3.2 The functions of the Chinese language in overseas

countries
In stressing the value of the Chinese language and creating the needs of learn-
ing it, it is also important to think highly of the roles played by overseas
Chinese. With the rising of status of the Chinese language in foreign countries,
the needs of Chinese language learning will also increase. The development of
the Chinese language in foreign countries is the forerunner of internationaliza-
tion of FCLT, and Chinese education in overseas countries is the “base camp” for
globalizing Chinese language education.
3.3 Issues related to Putonghua and simplified characters

In the process of developing FCLT, it is necessary to address the issue of incon-
sistencies between the spoken and written forms of Chinese. The former refers to
the difference between Putonghua and other Chinese dialects, and the latter
refers to the contrast between the complex characters and the simplified charac-
ters. Theoretically speaking, all the varieties, be them Putonghua or dialects,
complex or simplified characters, all are important means of communication
and cultural heritage preservation. They are the treasures of Chinese culture de-
served to be valued and inherited. Nevertheless, in FCLT, Putonghua and simpli-
fied characters should be adopted, for the following reasons:
(a) As indicated in Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Standard Spoken
and Written Chinese Language, Putonghua and simplified are the official
forms of spoken and written Chinese. For Chinese pedagogy to overseas
learners, standardized Chinese should be the target form for teaching.
(b) In the long run, for those foreigners who want to interact with the People’s
Republic of China, it is a must for them to use Putonghua and simplified
characters. The uses of dialects and complex characters are confined to the
communication in specific regions, and to specific fields of study. It is only
for some foreigners who want to go into those areas or places that they
would have to learn the dialects and complex characters.
(c) The teaching and learning of Chinese as a second/foreign language is as
well an important economic enterprise. The teaching materials and supple-
mentary materials produced in Putonghua and simplified characters would
collectively bring the economic advantages back to our country.
(d) More importantly, to create the needs for learning, and to elevate the value
of the Chinese language in a situation when different linguistic varieties
exit, is in fact to create the needs for, and to enhance the value of Putong-
hua and simplified characters. This is seen from the perspective of national
benefit. In the past, complex characters were used in the overseas edition of
“People’s Daily”. Simplified characters were used later, which is a move
with foresight and sagacity.6
The needs of foreigners to learn Chinese is the basis for developing the enter-
prise of teaching Chinese as a foreign language, which deserves serious atten-
tion. At present, the foreigners’ needs for learning Chinese can be classified
into six aspects: A. to know about the exotic things and knowledge, B. to tour
around in China, C. to seek employment, D. to study in China, E. to study about
China, and F. to appreciate and to promote the Chinese language and culture.
These learners expect to reach certain standard of Chinese proficiency that can
be described in three levels: rudimentary Chinese, intermediate/normal Chinese,
and advanced Chinese. It is necessary to consider their needs and the respective
required levels to come up with appropriate and diversified curriculum, text-
6 However, this has not been commonly noticed. For example, Air China uses complex char-
acters in the electronic display timetable during aircrafts takeoff and landing. Many manufac-
turing companies (including exported products) in mainland China use complex characters for
product description. Many people (including government officials and teachers) use complex
character for their name card. From the view point of promoting Putonghua and simplified
characters, there is still much room for improvement.
370 Chapter 23
books, teaching methods and assessment tools, so that FCLT could be ade-
quately developed.
In addition to the pedagogical considerations in teaching Chinese as a
foreign language, more effort should be made in creating the new demand for
learning Chinese, and in promoting the international status and values of the
Chinese language, which is the ground work of FCLT. At present, the vast areas
of development are in the sectors of commerce, tourism, study abroad, diplo-
macy, and international conferences. Furthermore, the idea of issuing certifi-
cates and adopting laws and regulations, in order to “consolidate” the interna-
tional values of the Chinese language, should be taken seriously. The goal is to
establish the reputation of the Chinese language (Putonghau and simplified
characters) to be one of the languages for international communication.
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Translated by CHAN Wing Sat (陈荣石)

wing.sat.chan@polyu.edu.hk
Chapter 24
The significance of a study on the history of
the international dissemination of Chinese
Abstract: Language dissemination is an important phenomenon in human his-

tory and the development of culture. The Chinese language and Chinese culture
had spread eastward, westward, and southward in ancient and modern times,
contributing significantly to the cultural development of neighboring regions
and of the world. Recent years have seen another surge of Chinese dissemina-
tion worldwide. A study on the history of the internationalization of Chinese
would shed light on the direction of development in the current trend.
Keywords: Chinese, Sinology, international dissemination, history
0 Introduction
The dawn of the new century witnessed rapid dissemination of the Chinese lan-
guage around the world, which is one of the most exciting events in the new era.
To enhance such dissemination, it is necessary to review the relevant history in
the following aspects: the dissemination of Sinology in the East and the West;
language maintenance and development by overseas Chinese; and Chinese
pedagogy overseas in the past 50 years.
1 The early dissemination of Sinology in the East

and the West
The dissemination of the Chinese language traces back to the early Qin Dynasty
(before 221 BC). The process culminated in Han (202 BC–220 AD) and Tang
Dynasties (618–907 AD), eventually resulting in the formation of Sinospheric
regions including Vietnam, Korea, and Japan. The dissemination of Chinese in
Asian regions was characterized by domestication of Chinese writing system,
starting with an introduction of Chinese classics and teaching Chinese as a
second language. The higher social class and the intellectual community studied
Chinese classics, writing in Chinese and transcribing official documents into
Chinese. These groups also used Chinese to record their native languages, with
374 Chapter 24
changes in functions of some Chinese characters and coinage of new Chinese

characters to meet the indigenous need. The Vietnamese Chữ Nôm and the
Japanese Kokuji are examples of such domestication of Chinese. Later on,
various Asian countries designed their native writing systems by adopting fea-
tures of the Chinese language, e.g., Japanese Kana and Korean Hangeul which
have been in use with Chinese hand-in-hand for a long time. Till today, there
are still in use, 1945 Chinese characters in Japanese and 1800 or so in Korean.
Moreover, there are lots of Chinese loan words in Japanese, Korean, and Viet-
namese, though Vietnam and North Korea have both abandoned the Chinese
system.
Domestication of Chinese results in the indispensability of Chinese characters
in life in those Asian countries. In Japan, 2/3 of about 8 million mobile phones
can send Chinese messages. Chinese fonts produced by Japanese IT companies
contain more than 2,900 types of Chinese characters. Some Japanese elementary
schools promote reading of the Analects of Confucius. In South Korea, Chinese
characters were once abandoned as were in the North Korea. But having recog-
nized and rationalized the importance of Chinese characters, the former Presi-
dent, Mr. Kim Dae-Jung said that as Korean classics and historical documents
are written in Chinese, ignoring Chinese characters will make it difficult to
understand Koreans’ own classic literature and traditions. On 9th February
2005, the Korean Government announced a full resume of using Chinese charac-
ters in all government documents and transportation signs and so on, marking
the re-introduction of the parallel usage of two languages in then Korean-only
official documents1. In Vietnam, a well-known jurist, Pham Duy Nghia, and a
dozen scholars wrote to the Ministry of Education, proposing the offering of
Chinese as a core subject in elementary and secondary schools. This proposal is
the outcome of long-time reflection on the heritage of the Vietnamese history
and culture. In sum, it is a modest saying that Chinese characters are foundation
to these cultures and an indispensable component of their languages.2
The Chinese language reached Central Asia in the Han Dynasty, continued
its route westward along the Silk Road to West Asia, and eventually reached
Europe. Sinology in the West, however, did not start until after the time of Marco
Polo, when news and reports of China and the Chinese language poured in with
returns of missionaries and introduction of Chinese documents. Sinology in the
West was formed with a boom of studies on Chinese and Chinese documents,
especially after the latter half of the mid of the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644 AD),
by missionaries and scholars such as Michele Ruggieri, Matteo Ricci, Nicolas
1 See Global Times, 7 June 2007, P.11.

2 See http://blog.phoenixtv.com/user3/phoenixok/archives/2007/675825.html
The significance of a study 375
Trigault, Varro, Joseph de Premare, Jean-Pierre Abel-Rémusat, Robert Morrison,

Joshua Marshman, Joseph Edkins, Thomas Francis Wade, Georg von der
Gabelentz, Samuel Wells Williams, Nikita Yakovlevich Bichurin, and Benjamin
Hobson. Sinology of the West differs from the Sinospheric Regions in that the
former was founded through scholarly works on missionaries, languages and
cultures. Some of its representative figures were old China hand, who spoke
Chinese or studied Chinese dialects. There were also some who did not under-
stand Chinese or never went to China. These people studied China with the
help of literature and documents written in Chinese or those translated from
Chinese. Little or no knowledge in spoken Chinese characterized Sinology of
the West at that time. Sinology of current days has undergone significant
changes including an increase in the population of learners of spoken and
written Chinese. Traditional Sinology however, can still find traces and impact
in Chinese pedagogy and studies of China nowadays.
2 Maintenance and development of Chinese in

oversea regions
The past centuries recorded migration of Chinese people for business or as
labor workers to Southeast Asia or as far as to the Americas. Chinese migrants
brought their native language, or more accurately, Chinese dialects other than
the Mandarin Chinese to their new habitats. Later on, to communicate with
Chinese communities speaking different dialects and to educate the next gen-
eration, the Mandarin Chinese was introduced into Chinese education, thus
marking the dissemination of Mandarin abroad. Cross-dialect communication
and Chinese education overseas were both influenced by the many language re-
forms taking place at home, such as the Mandarin Campaign, the Vernacular
Movement, and the Chinese Script Reform. In the second half of the 20th
century, there emerged an ethnic family called the “Hua Nationality” in Southeast
Asian countries such as Singapore and Malaysia. The Hua people promote learn-
ing their language – Huayu, a term for the common language shared by Hua
people around the world. The standard variety of Huayu is actually Putonghua
in the Mainland or Mandarin (the national language) in Taiwan. In China towns
in Europe, Americas, and Africa, both Putonghua and Chinese dialects are used
side by side as a result of communicative needs and influence of new immi-
grants from the Mainland.
The coinage of the term “Huayu” could be dated back to the time of Sui
Dynasty and Tang Dynasty. (Guo 2004) The term means the same as Chinese,
376 Chapter 24
but is used in particular to contrast with “Yiyin” or “Yiyu”3 at that time. Under-
going gradual changes till the end of the 20th century, the term of Huayu has
become a reference of the common language shared by overseas Chinese, and
is used to distinguish it from Chinese dialects. Originating from the same source
as Chinese dialects in China, those dialects spoken in oversea Chinese com-
munities have developed in their unique ways to meet local needs and as a
result of influence from local languages and from each other as well. So, though
Huayu recognizes Putonghua as its standard form, its varieties vary from places
to places and carry non-Chinese characteristics in their systems.
Overseas Huayu and Chinese dialects are spearheads of the international
dissemination of the Chinese language and have had great impacts on local lan-
guages and communities. The 50-million Chinese expatriates are all pioneers in
Chinese internationalization and conservation, which merits supports from their
mother land. Studies on Chinese in recent years have recorded proposals from
scholars such as Lu Jianming, Guo Xi, Wang Huidi, and Zhang Congxing, on
a new term of Greater Huayu for better liaison among domestic and overseas
varieties of Chinese. Greater Huayu is defined as “the common language with
Putonghua as its core and used by Chinese people all over the world”. Their
proposal aims at promoting mutual respect, enhancing cross-community inter-
action, and fostering tolerance of linguistic differences. One of my work in
progress, QuanQiu Huayu Cidian (Global Chinese Dictionary), is also an attempt
of such spirits. Moreover, there have been appeals for tolerance and apprecia-
tion of the traditional and the simplified Chinese systems, suggesting that both
are heritage of the Chinese people and deserve mutual understanding of each
other by people who use them. Communities using the simplified Chinese could
learn to read the traditional one, and vice versa. Whether to use one over the
other or both should be at the discretion of the communities themselves. Dis-
crepancy in opinions could be solved through communication and by resorting
to real practice for guidance.
3 Teaching and learning of Chinese as a foreign

language in the past five decades
The pedagogy of Chinese-as-a-foreign-language (CFL) traces back to the early
Qin Dynasty. Then, in the Han Dynasty, Zhang Qian found the road to the West,
3 The language used in the Wu Kingdom (in the Zhou Dynasty, BC 1046-BC 256), founded to the
south of the Yangtze River, is called Yiyu.
The significance of a study 377
which allowed traders and monks to come to the East from places as far as Per-
sia. Many of these early visitors to China learned to use Chinese well. According
to Luoyang Jialanji ‘A Record of Buddhist Monasteries in Lo-yang’ by Yang
Xuanzhi (translated by Yi-t’ung Wang, published by Princeton University Press
1984), as early as in the Northern Wei Period (386–534 AD) founded by the Xian-
bei Ethnic Group, there was Siyi Guan in the Capital City of Lo-yang (currently
called Luoyang), to provide accommodation to traders from foreign places such
as the ancient Rome. Lots of these foreign visitors could use Chinese. Decades
later, the Imperial Academy of the Sui Dynasty and the Tang Dynasty enrolled
a number of foreign students and offered Chinese courses for them, recording
the official standardization of CFL teaching and learning, which since then has
carried on through ups and downs and through the modern times.
In modern China since 1949, the recruitment of 33 East-European students to
learn Chinese by the Tsinghua University marked the revival of CFL pedagogy.
The following 50 years since then recorded the establishment, the development,
and new rises of the discipline of Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language
(Cheng 2005): publication of hundreds of textbooks and dictionaries; training
of language teachers; formation of overseeing government units, establishment
of institutions, branches, and organizations, founding of research journals, and
training of foreign students.
Fifty years of experience and success have attracted endeavor at the
national level, laid out the foundation for an academic area, and paved the
road for the future international dissemination of the Chinese language.
4 Future direction
The 21st century has been recording unprecedented enthusiasm in learning
Chinese throughout the world, with the development and the rise of China in
global affairs. To accommodate the global request, it is paramount that we
should do more than inviting foreign students to learn Chinese in China. A
strategic change following this direction was noted in the World Chinese Con-
ference held in July 2005 in China. It is resolved that we will continue welcom-
ing foreign learners to come, and that at the same time we will promote learning
Chinese in local schools in foreign regions. In other words, teaching and learn-
ing Chinese must thrive at home and abroad, which is beyond the traditional
understanding of CFL teaching and learning.
Practices in the past couple of years have shown that going abroad de-
mands significant changes to pedagogical concepts, management, assessment,
378 Chapter 24
and methodologies. It is the responsibility and obligation of the motherland of

Chinese to accommodate the global need in learning its language. It should also
be the mission of teachers and administrators and all people related that we
keep abreast with and adapt to the development of the international dissemina-
tion of Chinese.
Successful adaption to latest development requires more than a willingness
to embrace any changing situation. It necessitates a review of the past for the
benefit of future growth. What the previous sections have discussed is not only
a subject of historical reviews, but also issues of current significance. Good use
of these resources in history is an important topic in discussing the sustainabil-
ity of the international dissemination of Chinese, and it should be a subject for
in-depth research as well.
References
Cheng, Yuzhen. 2005. Xin Zhongguo Duiwai Hanyu Jiaoxue Fazhanshi (A History on the
Development of Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language in New China). Beijing: Beijing
University Press.
Guo, Xi. 2004. Shehui Yuyanxue (Sociolinguistics). Hangzhou: Zhejiang University Press.
Liu, Xun. 2000. Duiwai Hanyu Jiaoyuxue Yinlun (An Introduction on Teaching and Learning of
Chinese). Beijing: Beijing Language and Culture University Press.
Lu, Jianji. 1999. Duiwai Hanyu Jiaoxue Sikao Ji (Some Thoughts on Teaching Chinese as a
Foreign Language). Beijing: Beijing Language and Culture University Press.
Lu, Jianming. 2005. Guanyu Jianli “Da Huayu” Gainian de Jianyi (Proposal of the Term of “the
Greater Huayu”). Hanyu Jiaoxue Xuekan, 1. Beijing University Press.
Rokkaku Tsunehiro. 1992. A Study on the History of Chinese Education in Japan (Translated by
Wang Shunhong). Beijing: Beijing Language and Culture University Press.
The original Chinese version of this paper was first published in Journal of Yunnan Normal
University (Teaching and Research on Chinese as a Foreign Language), 2007, Vol. 5.

binli2@cityu.edu.hk
Chapter 25
Contemporary China: the core of interna-
tional education of the Chinese language1
Abstract: Learning Chinese as a foreign language is mainly to prepare for China-

related activities, and it requires good understanding of the contemporary
China. The government of China supports teaching and learning Chinese in the
world, aiming at promoting a more objective and all-around perspective to
today’s China and Chinese people. Therefore, the contemporary China should
be the fundamental and the most significant to the international education of
the Chinese language. As the concept of the contemporary China consists a
series of components that update consistently, an effective approach would rely
on systematic and strong support to both teaching and learning.
Keywords: Chinese, international education, contemporary China
0 Introduction
The subject content is the fundamental and the core to any pedagogy. For the
international education of the Chinese language (IEC), the Chinese language
seems its natural core, which is, however, not entirely correct for the following
reasons. First, a language is the essential element and medium of its culture.
Learning a language entails learning the culture and learning to use the lan-
guage to talk about the culture. Second, language education is through means
of text and discourse, which are rich in cultural elements. So, learning a lan-
guage is also to learn the culture depicted in texts. Following this line of think-
ing, the IEC should focus on both the Chinese language and the Chinese culture.
These two aspects are inseparable in pedagogical practices, but can be, or
necessarily, independently studied in research. The former has received exten-
sive attention in previous literature, so the paper will focus on the latter, the
cultural aspect of the IEC.
1 This paper is an extended version of the presentation at the International Symposium of inno-
vation in the teaching and learning of Chinese, held in Xiamen on Nov. 12–14, 2010.
380 Chapter 25
1 The contemporary China should be the

fundamental content of IEC
Language learning requires investment in time, effort, and money. Yet the out-
come may only manifest itself in a long term. A learner would, therefore, need
strong motivation to begin learning a new language and even stronger persis-
tence to carry on. It is particularly true for learning Chinese, which is linguisti-
cally very different from the major world languages (especially those that had
played an important role in the world history, such as Latin, Spanish, French,
German, English, Russian, Arabic, and so on). Chinese is distantly related and
has little contact with these languages; so is true for the Chinese culture. All
these would require greater effort and stronger motivation for learners who are
from a non-Chinese-related background.
Learners are all motivated in various ways, yet no comprehensive or in-depth
study has been carried out on motivation types of Chinese-as-a-foreign-language
(CFL) learners. No matter what motivates them to learn Chinese, CFL learners
should share one in common: to acquire information of China by learning its
language. Rich literature in language pedagogy has suggested a close correla-
tion between economy and enthusiasm in language learning. Before the WWII,
especially before the WWI, there was not a big population of learners of English,
which did not become a global language until after the WWII. The British
English was the standard variety for learners, but had been gradually replaced
by the American English in recent decades. The widespread of the English lan-
guage and the recent popularity of the American English were both triggered
and reinforced by a strong economy of the countries where these varieties of
English are spoken.
Currently, learning Chinese has become a trend in the world. The popularity
is not entirely because of the amazing Chinese characters or the fascinating
Chinese culture, as both have been in existence for thousands of years. The
Chinese language appears attractive today mainly because of China’s economic
boom and of the confidence in China’s future. Stronger economy in China means
more possibilities and opportunities for people who understand the country and
its language. Getting to know the contemporary China, thus, is the most impor-
tant for CFL learners nowadays.
The Chinese government endeavors to promote the Chinese language inter-
nationally, not aiming at the globalization of Chinese or the Chinese culture, but
at a faithful presentation of the contemporary China. Introducing China to the
world through the Chinese language contributes to reduce misconception and
Contemporary China: the core of international education of the Chinese language 381
to foster trust, which eventually helps the world understand China and befriend
China.
The contemporary China is the first and foremost topic that learners of
Chinese should know, and it is also what China aims at promoting globally. If
this is correct, then a good understanding of the contemporary China should be
the mutual motivation shared by learners and teachers of Chinese, which deter-
mines the contemporary China as the fundamental content of the IEC. In fact,
some universities overseas have already started offering China-related courses,
which were reported popular among students who are Chinese majors and also
those from other disciplines. Collection and analysis of such courses should be
carried out for enhancement and promotion of the IEC.
2 Systematic support to teaching and learning

The contemporary China is a wide and dynamic topic that entails subtopics of
various aspects that are developing rapidly, such as politics, economy, the law,
fine arts, education, technology, the medical system, news broadcast, publish-
ing, transportations, communication, trade, tourism, sports, the military, diplo-
macy, and so on.
2.1 Establishing a strong support system to teaching

It is a formidable task, and even mission impossible, for a teacher or a small-
sized team to work alone on a topic as comprehensive and dynamic as the con-
temporary China. So, it is only reasonable to achieve this goal by first establish-
ing a system to provide teaching support.
The first step would be to orchestra researchers into teams of expertise who
would write on basics and latest developments in each field. Their research
outputs must be translated into pedagogical materials to use in teaching and
learning. So, a team consisting educators must work hand-in-hand with the
researcher team, to transfer expertise materials into those suitable for education
purposes.
The pedagogical materials are for developing textbooks and learning-aid
books, and for providing support to classroom teaching and learning. The
“expertise” materials are authentic description and analysis of the contem-
porary China, including characteristics of its current state and predictions of its
developmental trends. The pedagogical materials are synthesized and selected
382 Chapter 25
“expertise” materials for applied purposes, featuring the use of the common lan-
guage and careful choice of vocabulary that are more accessible to teachers.
The pedagogical materials of the contemporary China can be published in a
variety of media formats. The basic content for compiling textbooks, teaching-
aid, and teacher’s books can be printed in the traditional means; whereas more
emphasis should be put on publication on the Internet considering the rapid
development of information dissemination. Internet release is more advanta-
geous in the following aspects:
1) Greater flexibility in the use and adoption of materials according to different

teaching and learning objectives;
2) Content update that keeps up with the latest development of China;
3) Discussion between teachers and textbook writers, as well as interaction
with providers of the pedagogical materials;
4) Greater application of the outcome by the general public, which may pro-
mote social benefit of the materials and may lead to interaction with a
bigger population.
2.2 Establishing a strong support system to learning

Successful language learning requires work inside the classroom as well as
beyond the wall. Extra-curricular learning can be even more important in a
certain sense, as LU You, a great poet of the Song Dynasty, once said that to
learn to compose a poem, one needs effort outside poems ( Jian Nan Poetry,
Vol. 78). Similar to poem writing, language learning also requires strong support
to help learners learn outside a classroom.
One of the important means to learning languages and acquire knowledge
is to read. So, I think it important to provide graded reading materials of the
contemporary China, to accommodate various needs of learners at different
proficiency levels. For example,
1) Audio materials,
2) Materials with Pinyin transcription
3) Materials with a 500-word vocabulary
4) Materials with a 800-word vocabulary
5) Materials with a vocabulary of more than 1000 words
Audio materials are for naïve learners of Chinese who want to learn and improve
their listening skills. Materials with Pinyin transcription are for those who do not
read Chinese scripts but Pinyin.
Materials with vocabularies of 500, 800, and 1000 words correspond with
three levels of the Chinese proficiency based on Zhongguo Yuyan Shenghuo
Zhuangkuang Baogao ‘Language Situation in China’ over the years:
A. A vocabulary size of less-than-600 words that covers 80% of the written

Chinese;
B. A vocabulary size of less-than-1000 words that covers 90% of the written
Chinese; the number of word combination is no more than 13000.
The materials of 500 words are roughly comparable to Case A, and those of 800
words to Case B. The latter can be supplemented with addition of types of word
combination. Thus, there could be three levels of graded reading considering the
vocabulary sizes: 500 words, 800 words and more-than-1000 words. Mr. Zhou
Youguang proposed that “Dictionary of Basic Chinese” and “Encyclopedia of
the Greater China Culture” be compiled using a vocabulary of 1000 words, for
overseas Chinese to learn Chinese and the Chinese culture. His proposal is of
scientific merit and also practical, with which my paper is in conformity in
nature.
Graded reading materials of the contemporary China should be suitable for
CFL learners of different proficiency levels, and be classified into volumes
according to the content. Binders with detachable pages or newsletters are
good ways to provide updates abreast with the rapid developments in China.
This echoes the newspaper reading method in the Chinese pedagogy as exempli-
fied in Wu Chengnian’s Baozhi Xue Zhongwen—Zhongji Hanyu Baokan Yuedu
(《报纸学中文—中级汉语报刊阅读（上、下）》 ‘To Learn Chinese from News-
paper: Intermediate Chinese Newspaper Reading (I, II)’) published by Peking
University Press. Wu’s work reports a teaching method that garners materials
from articles in Chinese newspapers, magazines, and Internets, and features
trendy topics that can also stand the test of time. Its vocabulary is explained
in Chinese and translated into English, Japanese, and Korean. Wu’s book
also comes with complementary teacher’s handbook and CD-ROMS containing
reading-out of the texts.
Learning-aid materials should enable learners to learn the language in read-
ing and at the same time acquire knowledge of the contemporary China. Their
experience in Chinese and in China is thus enriched simultaneously, which will
increase interest and efficiency in learning. Such materials in formats of binders
and newsletters should also be suitable for reading by foreign people to improve
their Chinese in a long run and to keep up with the latest development of China.
This learning mode is beneficial to self-initiated follow-up learning, which in
turn will attract more people to learn Chinese when they see their skills in
384 Chapter 25
Chinese guarantee a life-long access to knowledge of the culture and of the coun-
try. This is analogous to life-long growing interest out of an initial investment.
Of course, a newspaper of the contemporary China published in Pinyin or in
certain Chinese fonts is by itself of cultural merits. It is beneficial to learning
Chinese and is of great market potentials that worth intellectual and financial
investment.
3 The contemporary China: topics in pedagogical

discussion
Discussion between students and that between students and teachers are im-
portant components in teaching and learning: students practice their spoken
Chinese and exchange ideas of issues. As the contemporary China is the main
content of teaching and learning, it should also be the main topic of discussion.
In fact, it has always been a topic of discussion in classes among learners and
teachers, and among learners and other Chinese people.
CFL learners are from diversified cultural backgrounds and they vary in their
prior knowledge of China. It is only reasonable that they have different under-
standing or even misconception of the contemporary China when they start
learning Chinese. Learner’s discussion with their fellows and with teachers may
nurture an objective viewpoint to China, while allowing themselves an access to
different opinions from Chinese people towards certain issues.
Veteran teachers of Chinese and those who embarked the career in recent
years have all accumulated topics that CFL learners are most interested in.
Teachers of varying experience also have all had been in delicate situations
where learners are keen on questions on “sensitive” issues or questions that
they wish are not asked.
A country that is determined to embrace internationalization should not be
afraid of or in denial of questions by learners. A humble and positive attitude is
most desirable, which helps us welcome opinions from around the world on the
contemporary China and fosters exchange of ideas on related issues. It is more
desirable if we can identify questions that most learners find interest in and then
do research in order to develop relevant pedagogical materials. This will provide
guidance to teachers in helping learners in search of answers to their questions.
Comments and feedback by foreign learners, including their criticism, are
valuable information. Efforts should be put in collecting and classifying such
information for the benefit of China. We should encourage learners to write it
up for publication, or carry out in-depth investigation in thesis or dissertation.
Such effort would have significant social impact if we could transfer foreign
learners’ discussion into constructive opinions, for example, publication of a
series of Pieces of Advice to China from Foreign Students, which will be of some
positive influence on the development of China.
The significance of the international education of the Chinese language is of
wide range and of long term. One of its roles is in training China-related skills,
including cultivating the ability to study China issues. We need train students to
develop skills that enable them to work at Chinese companies or in China, and
also try to create and provide opportunities for them to practice these skills. This
will add value to learning Chinese, and will promote the internationalization of
the Chinese language.
Recent years have seen great development of internationalizing the Chinese
language, or the boom of teaching and learning Chinese around the world, with
lots of Chinese teachers being sent out abroad. Meanwhile, we need also invite
foreign learners to China, and to enroll and study in institutions of higher
education.
Institutes of Chinese in oversea regions are not only language schools, but
also a window through which foreign people get a glimpse of the contemporary
China. So, in addition to regular classes, these institutes should also hold
seminars on the contemporary China that are open to the public. As far as I
know, the Confucius Institute in Singapore has been a pioneer in this area, and
their efforts have been well received and recognized by the community.
Research provides the underlying framework to language pedagogy. There
is Sinology in world academia, and domestically we have a field of studies on
Chinese classics. Should we consider the possibility of a discipline of China or
of the contemporary China? It would be a sturdy foundation to the international
education of the Chinese language, and also to the scientific development of
China in the future.
References
386 Chapter 25
Lu, Jianming. 2004. Zengqiang Xueke Yishi, Fazhan Duiwai Hanyu Jiaoxue (To Enhance the
Scientific Understanding in the Development of Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language).
Chinese Teaching in the World, Vol. 1: 5–10.
Lu, Jianming. 2005. Hanyu Zouxiang Shijie de Yixie Sikao (Some Reflection on Letting the
Chinese Language Reach the World). Journal of Shanghai University of Finance and
Economics 7: 69–74.
Wu, Yingcheng. 2010. Hanyu Guoji Chuanbo: Xinjiapo Shijiao (The Internationalization of the
Chinese Language – from a Singapore Perspective). Beijing: The Commercial Press.
Wu, Yinghui. 2011. Guojia Yingshili Shi Yuyan Chuanbo de Juedingxing Yinsu: Lianheguo Wu
Zhong Gongzuo Yuyan de Guojihua Licheng dui Hanyu Guoji Chuanbo de Qishi (The
Essential Role of a Nation’s Hard Power in the Globalization of its Language: Inspiration
from the Globalization of Five UN’s Working Languages). Studies of Chinese Language
Globalization, Volume 1: 1–14. Beijing: The Commercial Press.
Zhang, Xiping. 2011. Zou Xiang Shijie de Hanyu suo Mianlin de Ruogan Zhanlue Wenti Sikao
(Some Thoughts on Promotional Strategies of Chinese Internationalization). Studies of
Chinese Language Globalization, Volume 1:26–34. Beijing: The Commercial Press.
(Outline of Language Promotion Policies in Major Countries Worldwide). Beijing: Foreign
Zhao, Jinming. 2007. Hanyu Zuowei Waiyu Jiaoxue Nengli Biaozhun Shishuo (A Commentary on
Capacity Standards for Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language). Language Teaching and
Linguistics Studies, 2:1–10.
The original Chinese version of this paper was first published in Proceedings of the 7th Interna-
tional Symponium of Chinese-as-a-foreign-language Teaching and Learning, 2011, Foreign

Department of Linguistics & Translation, City University of Hong Kong
binli2@cityu.edu.hk
Chapter 26
The intension and extension of qieyinzi
Abstract: The word qieyin has two meanings: “fanqie” and “pinyin ‘phone-
ticize’”. The “phoneticize” meaning occurred in early Qing Dynasty and became
popular along with the rise of the Qieyinzi Movement in late Qing, resulting
in the replacement of the “fanqie” meaning. The term qieyinzi occurred around
the late Qing Dynasty, referring to all kinds of phonetic alphabets worldwide (in-
cluding phonetic schemes not being used as writing systems). This is its general
meaning in an early stage. Later, owing to the narrowing down of the extension
of qieyinzi, qieyinzi referred particularly to various phonetic schemes for Chinese
(including writing systems designed for Chinese on phonetic basis, shorthand
symbols and phonetic alphabets for recording Chinese) proposed during the
late Qing period and early years of the Republic of China. This is the specific
meaning of qieyinzi, and this specific meaning eventually replaced the general
meaning. While there are different opinions among scholars on the time period
of the Qieyinzi Movement, in this paper the author regards the publication of
Qieyin Xinzi by Lu Ganzhang in 1892 as its starting point, and the fall of the
Qing Empire in 1911 the ending point. Therefore, the Qieyinzi Movement can be
defined as “a movement to promote phonetic alphabets happening between
1892 and 1911”.
Keywords: qieyin, phoneticize, fanqie, qieyinzi, Qieyinzi Movement
0 Introduction
The dramatic change of language life in China in the past century was benefited
from the language modernization promoted by the Qieyinzi Movement in the
late Qing Dynasty. “Qieyinzi” and “Qieyinzi Movement” are no doubt important
terms in the history of modern Chinese linguistics. However, these terms are
seldom included in dictionaries for general purposes. They may not be included,
nor explained, even in linguistics dictionaries. Even if explanations are given,
they are often too rough or inconsistent. This paper aims to define “qieyinzi”
in terms of two logical perspectives, namely, intension and extension. During
the discussion, questions such as the definition of “Qinyinzi Movement”, the
rationale behind the name “qieyinzi”, etc, will also be referred to.
388 Chapter 26
1 The general meaning of qieyinzi

Qieyinzi has general and specific meanings. As a term, qieyinzi occurred around
the late Qing Dynasty, referring to all kinds of phonetic alphabets worldwide (in-
cluding phonetic schemes not being used as writing systems). This is its general
meaning. Later, owing to the narrowing down of the extension of qieyinzi,
qieyinzi referred particularly to various phonetic schemes for Chinese (including
writing systems designed for Chinese on phonetic basis, shorthand symbols and
phonetic alphabets for recording Chinese) proposed during the late Qing period
and early years of the Republic of China. This is the specific meaning of qieyinzi.
In this section, I will first talk about its general meaning.
1.1 Qieyinzi referring to all kinds of phonetic alphabets

In the late Qing Dynasty, qieyinzi referred to all kinds of phonetic alphabets
worldwide. The extension of this general meaning of qieyinzi included: (i) exist-
ing phonetic writing systems, such as Western Romanized alphabets, kana in
Japan, hangul in Korea, Manchu alphabet of Qing, etc; (ii) various phonetic
schemes for Chinese proposed by that time. Here are some concrete examples
of this usage:
1) Lu Ganzhang, Zhongguo Diyikuai Qieyin Xinzi-Yuanxu ‘Original Preface of

The Quickest Phonic Script in China’: “Other than China, most of the coun-
tries around the world use qieyinzi composed of 20–30 alphabets. There
are 26 alphabets for Britain and America, 25 for Germany, France and Nether-
land, 36 for Xilu and Burma, and 22 for Italy and six to seven countries in
West Asia. . . . Japan used to use Chinese characters, but recently there were
men of insight using 47 alphabets made up of simple strokes as qieyinzi,
resulting in Japan’s prosperity in culture and education”1 (p. 2)
2) Shen Xue, Shengshi Yuanyin – Zixu ‘Author’s Preface, Pronunciation of a Pros-
perous Age’: “The prosperity of [European] countries is due to Romanized
qieyinzi. . . . [America] being able to compete with Europe is also benefitted
from qieyinzi. . . . The reason for the rising of the two countries [i.e. Russia
and Japan] was that they used qieyinzi of their own to translate Western
books on fortune and asked their people to study about them.” (p. 10)
1 The reference of “Xilu” is unknown. This example is from Language Reform Press (1958). For
other quotations below from the same book, only page numbers will be indicated.
3) Xuebu Zi Waiwubu Wen ‘Message to the Foreign Ministry from the Department
of Education’: “It is said that there are two major kinds of writing systems
in the present world: hieroglyph and qieyinzi. Other than China which uses
hieroglyph, other cases such as the National Script and alphabets of Western
countries are all qieyinzi. Although Japan and Korea use Chinese characters
as well, Japan has kana and Korea has hangul to complement the inadequacy
of Chinese characters, and both are qieyinzi indeed.”2 (p. 68)
of Education’: “It is common for qieyinzi in various countries for the initials
to come before finals.” (p. 71)
The above examples reveal that in the late Qing period, people from non-
governmental to governmental (as represented by the Ministry of Education)
levels used qieyinzi to refer to Western Romanized alphabets, Japanese kana,
Korean hangul, etc. By that time, there were dozens of Chinese phonetic
schemes designed by people based on the principle of Phonetic, being used as
formal writing systems, as shorthand symbols, or for indicating pronunciations
such as Zhang Binlin’s “Yinbiao” ‘Phonetic Table’, and these schemes were also
called qieyinzi. Lu Ganzhang and Zheng Donghu named their newly invented
phonetic schemes as “qieyin xinzi” ‘new qieyinzi’ and “qieyinzi”, while although
Shen Xue called his as “shengshi yuanyin” ‘pronunciation of a prosperous age’
or “tianxia gongzi” ‘universal characters’, people still regarded it as a kind of
qieyinzi. Here are some examples:
5) Zhu Wenxiong, Jiangsu Xin Zimu–Zixu ‘Author’s Preface to Jiangsu New

Alphabet’: “Reading qieyin xinzi by Mr. Shen from Shanghai and guanhua
zimu ‘Mandarin Alphabet’ by Mr. Wang from Zhili, I admired them very
much.” (p. 60)
The Ministry of Education in the late Qing Dynasty also called this kind of
new phonetic schemes as “qieyinzi” or “qieyin zimu ‘phonetic alphabet’”. The
following are some examples:
6) Xuebu Zi Waiwubu Wen ‘Message to the Foreign Ministry from the Depart-
ment of Education’: “There is no other alternative than to design a kind of
qieyinzi, following the instances of the National Script and Western writing
systems, to supplement the existing hieroglyphs. ” (p. 68)
of Education’: “Now if we would like to invert qieyin zimu for Chinese to
2 In Qing dynasty, the Manchu script was called “National Script”.

390 Chapter 26
complement the inadequacy of hieroglyphs, we should examine the original

sounds of the traditional 36 initials, take away those that are hard to dis-
tinguish, and turn the rest into to a number of standard initials. Second,
follow the principle of four medials and four codas in reference to rhyme
books in the past and in the present, then choose a number of standard
finals. Having confirmed the inventory of initials and finals, one may make
new characters by using radicals of the original characters, following the
example of Japanese katakana, or by borrowing Roman alphabets from
Western countries. Upon the establishment of the new characters, they will
be put side-by-side with the traditional fanqie taken from rhyme books such
as Yupian, Guangyun, etc. They will be announced as a national standard,
admitting no accommodation to and modification for dialectal accents.
The goal is to make them easy for both writing and recognizing as well
as suitable for both formal and informal usage, then they can be used to
unify dialects of different provinces and to promote universal education.”
(p. 69–70)
By that time, people used different names for various phonetic schemes
designed for Chinese on phonetic basis, e.g. Cai Xiyong’s “Chuanyin Kuaizi”
‘Shorthand symbols for transmitting sounds’, Li Jiesan’s “Minqiang Kuaizi”
‘Shorthand symbols for Min accent’, Wang Bingyao’s “Pinyin Zi” ‘Pinyin charac-
ters’, Wang Zhao’s “Guanhua Hesheng Zimu” ‘Mandarin phonetic alphabet’, Lao
Naixuan’s “Hesheng Jianzi” ‘phonetic simplified characters’ or “Jianzi” ‘Simpli-
fied character’, Liu Mengyang’s “Yinbiaozi” ‘Phonetic symbol’, Ma Tiqian’s
“Chuanyin Zibiao” ‘Symbols connecting sounds’, Liu Shi’en’s “Yinyun Jihao”
‘Phonological symbols’, etc. Despite the differences in names, they were called
qieyinzi in general.
The above examples are self-explanatory. In the late Qing period, qieyinzi
may refer generally to all kind of phonetic alphabets in China or in foreign
countries.
1.2 Qieyin and fanqie

“Qieyin” by that time is equivalent to “pinyin” in the modern use. Ji Xianlin,
et. al. (1988: 315) and Dai Zhaoming (1992: 12) had also pointed out this clearly.
In other words, the intension of qieyinzi is “pinyin alphabet”.
Etymologically speaking, “qie” in “qieyin” is indeed from “qie” in “fanqie”.
The original meaning of qieyin is fanqie. The explanation of “qieyin” given by
Hanyu Da Cidian ‘The Comprehensive Dictionary of Chinese’ has proven that
qieyin has the meaning of fanqie:
8) Luo Zhufeng (ed.) (1997: 975): “[Qie4yin] A traditional method of phonetic

transcription. ‘Fan’ was used in rhyme books before Tang dynasty. However,
when Yuan Du of Tang dynasty was writing Jiujing Ziyang, there were re-
bellions of the military governors, therefore the word ‘fan’ ‘to rebel’ was
avoided and ‘qie’ was used instead, and the practice was preserved in the
Song Dynasty. ‘Fanqie’ is a combination of the two names, which means
transcribing the pronunciation of a word with two other words. Zhang
Binlin’s Qiu Shu·Ding Wen·Fu Zhengming Zayi: ‘seven to eight out of ten
Chinese characters belong to the radical-phonetic category of the Six princi-
ples of Scripts. Beginning from Shuran and Hongsi, there is qieyin.’”
Theoretically speaking, the “phoneticize” meaning of qieyin was evolved from

its “fanqie” meaning. Even though the concrete evolution process from the
“fanqie” meaning to the “phoneticize” meaning is not yet clear, the conditions
triggered such a process are quite certain, and they can be explicated from three
aspects:
Firstly, in order to overcome the weaknesses of traditional fanqie, scholars
in the Ming and Qing dynasties such as Lü Kun ( Jiao Tai Yun), Pan Lei (Lei
Yin), Yang Xuanqi (Shengyun Tongran Ji), Li Guangdi (Yinyun Chanwei), Liu Xizai
(Si Sheng Ding Qie), etc., made effort to study and reform on the selection of
words used in fanqie so that they became more suitable for indicating pronun-
ciations. (Ji, et.al. 1988:73) These reformation works to a certain extent were very
close to the design of qieyinzi in the late Qing period.3
Secondly, the method of qieyin and the word “qieyin” had been used for
phonetic writing systems before. As pointed out by Ji Xianlin, et.al. (1988: 45),
Dahai, a Manchurian philologist in the Qing Dynasty, was instructed by the
Qing emperor Huang Taiji in the 6th year of Tiancong era (1632) to improve old
Manchu script and he created “qieyin method”, using two syllables to transcribe
loan sounds in Manchu4. Ji Xianlin, et.al. (1988: 412) further pointed out that
3 Example (7) can be regarded as the standard procedure to design qieyinzi. Comparing this
procedure with the ideal result of fanqie reformation, the difference between the two is at most
difference in the selection of symbols. Fanqie is to search for ideal fanqie upper words and
lower words, while qieyinzi for ideal symbols.
4 Qing Shigao (Draft History of Qing), vol. 228 has a record of this as well, and claims that the
Dahai method, which is called “duiyin” in the book, is more accurate than fanqie in Chinese:
“Da Hai conducted the study by the order, putting punctuations alongside words. He used the
National Script and Chinese characters for duiyin, supplementing what is inadequate. He said,
‘there used to be 12 alphabets in the orthography, and I supplemented new alphabets for loan-
words; when new alphabets are not enough, I use two alphabets to denote the pronunciation
of one word, which is more accurate than fanqie in Chinese.’ There must be another source
supporting Ji Xianlin, et. al. (1988: 45)’s notion that Da Hai invented ‘qieyin method’.”
392 Chapter 26
there was a book called Wuti Qingwen Jian written in about 1790, which was
a contrasting glossary of five scripts: Manchu, Tibetan, Mongolian, Uygur and
Chinese. Under the Mongolian column, there are two kinds of Manchu transcrip-
tion: “qieyin”, using Manchu alphabets to transliterate Mongolian ones, and
“duiyin”, using Manchu alphabets to show the pronunciations of words. If
Dahai’s “qieyin method” is deemed close to the traditional fanqie, the kind of
“qieyin” used in Wuti Qingwen Jian is different from fanqie, whose result is very
similar to phonetic scripts.
Thirdly, as philological theory by that time was yet to be developed, the
differences in nature between phonetic notations and writing systems and that
between traditional qieyin and phonetic scripts were not recognized. As a result,
people by that time often placed traditional fanqie, existing phonetic scripts,
newly designed pinyin for Chinese, etc. on a par. Here are some examples:
9) Lu Ganzhang, the “Original Preface” of Zhongguo Diyikuai Qieyin Xinzi ‘The

Quickest Phonic Script in China’: “there has been qieyinzi in China as well,
using merely a rhyme and an alphabet to denote the pronunciation of a
syllable, which is the simplest kind of qieyin in the world. . . . In other
words, the method of using two Chinese characters jointly to denote a pro-
nunciation is for the purpose of illustrating a word’s proper pronunciation,
which is different from using simple alphabets to make up qieyinzi.”5 (p. 2)
10) Lin Lucun, Shang Duchayuan Shu ‘Letter to the Censorate’: “Upon the rise
of the Empire from Liao-Shen (Liaoning and Shenyang), the Qing script
is used as well, and in the official Kangxi Dictionary, qieyin method is
adopted.” (p. 17)
11) Zizhengyuan Teren Guyuanhui GuyuanZhang Yan Fu Shencha Caiyong Yinbiao
Shiban Guoyu Jiaoyu An Baogao Shu ‘Report Submitted by Yan Fu, Chairman
of Special Committee of the Political Advisory Council, on the Review of the
Bill of the Use of Phonetic Symbols to Establish Pilot National Language Edu-
cation’: “Pinyin Jianzi has the same function as the fanqie method we have
been using since Wei-Jin Period, and the only difference is in the degree
of complexity. Fanqie is complicated and difficult, therefore not many
people can handle it. On the contrary, Jianzi is quick and easy, therefore it
is popular among lay people.” (p. 134)
12) Lao Naixuan, Jiangning Jianzi Banri Xuetang Shifanban Kaixue Yanshuo Wen
‘Term-commencement Speech for Teachers Training Class of Jiangning Simpli-
fied Characters Half-Day School’: “Jianzi is merely the simplification of 36
initials and fanqie…To understand fanqie, one has to be familiar with a
5 In this example, “rhyme” is usually called “initial” and “alphabet” called “final” in general.
number of rules, while Jianzi is ‘what you see is what you get’, being consis-
tent with the example of combined sounds in Yinyun Chanwei.” (p. 56)
13) Shen Fenglou, Jiangning Jianzi Banri Xuetang Shifanban Kaixue Yanshuo Wen
‘Term-commencement Speech for Teachers Training Class of Jiangning Simpli-
fied Characters Half-Day School’: “A traditional Chinese character often has
several pronunciations or several meanings, which are complicated and
difficult, even learned scholars cannot fully understand. Now using two
phonetic alphabets to compose a character is the simplest method, and it
is similar to the traditional fanqie, e.g. using ‘de’ and ‘hong’ to denote
‘dong’. By learning only 69 alphabets, one can compose 3000 words and
more. Even the most ignorant people can learn it without difficulty, showing
how easy it is.” (p. 53)
14) Tian Tingjun, Pinyin Dai Zi Jue – Zixu ‘Author’s preface, Rhymed Formula of
Phonetic Alphabet Substitutions of Chinese Characters’: “Writing systems
around the world are made of alphabets, while our country is the only
exception. Although every word has its fanqie, in reality word is one thing
and fanqie is another. People are reluctant to learn fanqie because of its dif-
ficulty, and for those who have learned, few of them have a comprehensive
understanding of it.” (p. 61)
Furthermore, when designing qieyinzi for Chinese, quite a number of people

indeed drew on the results of fanqie.6 For example:
15) Zhu Wenxiong, Jiangsu Xin Zimu–Zixu ‘Author’s Preface, Jiangsu New Alpha-
bet’: “This is a new alphabet based on dengyun, fanqie as well as Roman
and English spelling, which is for the vernacular language. Since it was first
tried in Jiangsu, it is called Jiangsu New Alphabet.” (p. 60)
16) Wang Rongbao, et. al., “Jianzi Yanjiu Hui” Qi Bing Zhangcheng ‘The Announce-
ment and Articles of The Jianzi Soceity’: “Jianzi is made up of initials, finals
and tones, and is an application of fanqie.” (p. 111)
6 And it should be noted that there are opinions that connect qieyinzi with traditional
“xiesheng”. For example:
(1) Tang Jinming, Chuanyin Kuaizi, Shuhou (Postscript, Shorthand Symbols for Transmitting
Sounds): “Xiesheng is one of the Six Principles of Scripts, and most of Chinese characters
are of this type. Furthermore, characters created in late ages are often of this type as well.
This is due to its easiness in recognition. . . This book is mainly about qieyin, fitting with
the modern pronunciations and not being confined by traditional phonology. It provides a
careful examination on the articulation of sounds, which is actually a promotion of the
essence of xiesheng.” (pp. 5–6)
(2) Lai Hongkui, Pinyin Zipu, Zaiban Xu (Preface of 2nd edition, Character Table with Pinyin):
“The Mongol script started from Yuan Shizu, which was based on the Xiesheng principle.
394 Chapter 26
Owing to the advancement of fanqie, the “qieyin” application in the phonetic

scripts, the ambiguity of the nature between the phonetic notations and the
phonetic scripts, as well as the borrowings of fanqie’s principles and achieve-
ments to qieyinzi, it is quite natural to denote “qieyinzi” as pinyinzi. As such,
the “qieyin” has acquired the “phonetic” meanings.
It is also worth to remark that, in the late Qing period, people noticed some
differences between fanqie and pinyin: (i) Fanqie uses two Chinese characters,
but not alphabets, to pronounce a syllable. The result is that “word is one thing
and fanqie is another thing”. Fanqie can only indicate the pronunciation of
a word but cannot become a writing system. In fact, fanqie and pinyin cannot
be compared on the same theoretical dimension. (ii) Fanqie is complicated and
difficult. Unless one is proficient in using fanqie, it would be difficult to derive
the pronunciation. Regarding “the simplest kind of qieyin in the world” by Lu
Ganzhang in example 9), this conclusion might be derived from the perspective
of using initials and finals for pinyin. Considering various pinyin methods
around the world, it seems fair to say that fanqie is a relatively inconvenient
method.
1.3 Other terms for expressing “phonetic” meanings

In the late Qing period, apart from “qieyin”, there were also terms to express
“phonetic” meanings, such as “hesheng” ‘combined sounds’, “pinyin”, etc.
Wang Zhao’s and Lao Naixuan’s qieyinzi were called “Guanhua Hesheng Zimu”
and “Hesheng Jianzi” respectively. The followings are some authentic examples
of “hesheng”:
17) Wang Zhao, Guanhua Hesheng Zimu-Yuanxu Er ‘Original Preface 2 of

Mandarin Phonetic Alphabet’: “The hesheng method for the National Script
is unprecedented and unknown to the antecedents.”7 (p. 23)
Now the new characters made by Mr. Wang Yuchu are based on the Xiesheng principle
as well. They cover all possible sounds, which would be of infinite benefits if they are
promoted by people of the country.” (p. 16)
Xiesheng is what normally called “xingsheng” method of character construction. The
phonetic radical of a xingsheng character functions to denote pronunciation, which is the
closest counterpart of phonetic scripts in comparison with xiangxing, zhishi and huiyi.
They are, nevertheless, different kinds of writing system. From the perspective of traditional
philology, it is fine to regard phonetic scripts like Mongolian, qieyinxinze, etc as being
“based on the Xiesheng principle”. However, from the perspectives of the evolution of the
meaning of “qieyin” as well as the developing processes of many qieyinzi, the relationship
between qieyinzi and fanqie is indeed closer than that between qieyinzi and xiesheng.
7 The “National Script” here refers to the Manchu script. The Manchu script is a phonetic script.
18) Qing Fu, et. al., Chenqing Zizhengyuan Banxing Guanghua Jianzi Shuotie
‘Lobby Paper Submitted to the Political Consultative Council concerning the
Promulgation of Mandarin Simplified Characters’: “In my humble opinion,
Guanhua Jianzi, previously named as Guansheng Zimu, is based on the
hesheng system for the National Script. It adopts Beijing dialect as standard
in pronunciation. It was composed in Tianjin and tested in different regions
in China. Since the pinyin of a Chinese word consists only of two alphabets,
it is easier to learn and remember than that of other countries. Since the
four divisions are not distinguished by the finals, this method is more
straightforward than the traditional one.” (p. 125)
The most attention should be paid on the usage of the term “pinyin”. Wang
Bingyao had written “Pinyin Zipu” ‘Character Table with Pinyin’ and Tian Tingjun
had written “Pinyin Dai Zi Jue” ‘Rhymed Formula of Phonetic Alphabet Sub-
stitutions of Chinese Characters’. There were also Pinyin Shubaoshe ‘The Press for
Pinyin Newspaper’ and the Education Association of Guanhua Pinyin at that
time. The followings are some authentic examples:
19) Wang Bingyao, Pinyin Zipu-Zixu ‘Author’s Preface of Character Table with
Pinyin’: “It is regrettable that people nowadays scorn the colloquial lan-
guage. Only focusing on writing pastoral essays, they do not engage in prac-
tical affairs. It is far more practical to build an invisible basis for a strong
China through adding pinyinzi besides the Chinese characters and using it
to transcribe the pronunciation of dialects so that everyone can easily learn
to read. . . Writing systems in western countries might begin with hieroglyphs
but they were eventually transformed into pinyin. Over three millenniums
ago, a Phoenician named Morse had originated a new pinyin method which
uses 26 alphabets to transcribe the pronunciation. Starting from Ancient
Greece, then to Roma, this new method has spread through Europe. Since
it has facilitated people to learn the pronunciation, everyone use it. This is
the reason of its rise.” (p. 12)
20) Wang Zhao, Guanhua Hesheng Zimu-Yuanxu Yi ‘Original Preface 1 of Manda-
rin Phonetic Alphabet’: “One day, when I sat down and began to work on the
pronunciation analysis, Mr. Yan Fansun came. He showed me a book and
said, “I have heard that you are creating pinyinzi. I am afraid that you will
be condemned. Why don’t you use this imperial approved Yinyun Chanwei
as reference for safety sake?” (p. 20)
21) Yan Yisheng, Shang Zhili Zongdu Yuan Shikai Shu ‘Official Letter Submitted to
the Viceroy of Zhili Yuan Shikai’: “I have bought and read publications of
guanhua pinyin. I am glad to know that it is easy for teaching. People can
learn to read pinyin books after receiving verbal instructions for about ten
396 Chapter 26
days. Just right, Li naigeng, the candidate of magistrate of county, is profi-

cient in pinyin and arithmetic. He is willing to voluntarily teach these skills
to the people. I am going to establish a school of guanhua pinyin in the
newspapers-reading office and it will provide teaching on simple arithmetic
too.” (p. 45)
22) Tian Tingjun, Pinyin Dai Zi Jue – Zixu ‘Author’s Preface to Rhymed Formula
of Phonetic Alphabet Substitutions of Chinese Characters’: “If teachers teach
about it, their students will be able to express all sounds and words in
pinyin alphabets freely in a month, without any restrictions and limitations.
If people still want to learn the Chinese characters, they can annotate the
pinyin beside the characters like what Japanese beginners do. Those who
have learnt pinyin alphabets will immediately recognize the meanings of
the words. Thus, how wouldn’t everyone in the country become literate in
the future by using this short cut?” (p. 61)
23) Zheng Donghu, “Qieyinzi” zhi Shuomingshu ‘Manual of Qieyinzi’: “All western
countries use phonetic scripts. Every child in the countries learns the scripts
enjoyably and uses them comfortably. The scripts are easy and they do not
encounter any difficulty. Besides, our pinyin method is easier than that
of the western countries (In those western countries, their pinyin methods
consists of three to more than ten alphabets. However, our pinyin method
consists only of two alphabets, no more and no less.) and Chinese is dis-
tinguished for their cleverness over the world. How can we lag behind only
because we can’t learn this trifling pinyin method?” (p. 137)
Besides, there are terms such as “qie, pin, pinqie, pinhe,” etc. They are variants
of “qieyin, pinyin and hesheng” and there are also variations on their parts of
speech. For examples:
24) Zhili Xuewuchu Fuwen ‘Official Reply from the Education Affairs Office of
Zhili’; “Tianlai Hen submitted by Liu Mengyang appears to be more com-
plete than this method. However, when examining Liu’s method carefully,
it is found that its transcription may cause confusion in fast speaking con-
text. After tests, it is confirmed that accusations in the report submitted by
Wang Jinshou, et.al. on this method are valid. Liu’s notion that the pronun-
ciation of western languages can be transcribed by his method is also spe-
cious. Since using one language to transcribe the other languages is never
precise, just like using Japanese scripts to transcribe English and English to
transcribe Chinese, the pronunciation is always strange!” (p. 44)
25) Lin Lucun, Shang Duchayuan Shu ‘Letter to the Censorate’: “Western coun-
tries having myriad of talented people is indeed due to the ease of becoming
literates. By examining their methods, it is known that the sound of a word

is formed by combining alphabets so there are no difficulties in teaching
and learning. With elementary knowledge in the alphabets, people can
rapidly learn the pronunciation on their own.” (p. 17)
26) Liu Mengyang, Zhongguo Yinbiao Zishu-Bianyan ‘Preface to Transcription
Alphabets of China’: “The writing systems in western countries are simple
and easy to understand. Their scripts only comprise around twenty alphabets.
Any word can be composed by these twenty or so alphabets. If someone is
familiar with their usages, it will not be difficult for him to learn every
word.” (p. 84)
It is often the case that several terms which express the same meaning will com-
pete with each other. This competition will lead to the standardization of
the technical terms. Considering the usages of these terms, the word “pinyin” is
predominant: Firstly, “pinyin” not only carries variants such as “pin, pinqie and
pinhe”, but also appears in other compound words, like “pinyinzi, pinyin wenzi
‘phonetic scripts’, Pinyin Jianzi, pinyin zimu ‘pinyin alphabets’, pinyinfa ‘pinyin
method’, Pinyin Xinfa ‘new pinyin method’, pinyin shu ‘books of pinyin’, pinyin
shubao ‘publications of pinyin’, pinyin xuetang ‘schools of pinyin’”, etc. That
makes the word family of “pinyin” prosperous. Secondly, “pinyin” and its word
family have been used increasingly and were employed by most advocators of
qieyinzi at that time. For example, Qing Mo Wenzi Gaige Wenji ‘A Collection
of Essays on Chinese Script Reform in Late Qing Dynasty’ collects 67 articles
(excluding appendix), 48 if counting articles from the same author as one.
Among them, “pinyin” or its word family had been employed in 34 articles,
which is about 70% of the total. The predominance of “pinyin” not only
vanquishes other terms to make it become the most basic term in expressing
“phoneticize” meaning, but also speeds up the formation of qieyinzi’s specific
meaning.
2 The specific meaning of qieyinzi

2.1 Some definitions related to qieyinzi
After the fall of the Qing Empire, people gradually stopped using the general
meaning of qieyinzi. Qieyinzi has no longer been used to call all sorts of pinyin
scripts. Qieyinzi was later referred specifically to phonetic schemes for Chinese
in a certain period. That means they only used the specific meaning of qieyinzi.
The followings are some major definitions of qieyinzi the author has found:
398 Chapter 26
27) Ji Xianlin, et.al. (1988: 315): “Qieyinzi ‘Phonetic Chinese Alphabet’ refers to
the various phonetic schemes for Chinese produced and promoted by the
public in the last twenty years of the late Qing period.”
28) Cai Fuyou and Guo Longsheng (2001: 215): “Qieyinzi ‘Phonetic Chinese
Alphabet’ refers to the various phonetic schemes for Chinese produced and
promoted by the public in the late Qing period.”
29) Dai Zhaoming (1992: 12): “Qieyinzi Movement is a movement initiated by
the reform-minded Chinese intellectuals in the late Qing period and early
years of the Republic of China for advocating phonetic Chinese. . . ‘Qieyinzi’
is a general term referred to all kinds of pinyin scripts proposed in this
movement.”
30) Yi Zhi (1995: 83): “Qieyinzi Movement is a movement initiated by the reform-
minded Chinese intellectuals from the late Qing period to the first 20 years
of the Republic of China, for advocating phoneticization of Chinese. . .
‘Qieyinzi’ is a general term referred to all kinds of phonetic scripts proposed
in this movement.”
The professional dictionary of Cai Fuyou and Guo Longsheng (2001) followed the
definition in the encyclopedia compiled by Ji Xianlin, et. al. (1988) while the
summary of Yi Zhi (1995) adopted the definition in Dai Zhaoming (1992). Hence,
the four definitions above can only be considered as two factions and they are
actually quite similar. The difference in intension is that one defines qieyinzi
as “phonetic schemes” and one defines them as “phonetic scripts”. Historically
speaking, most qieyinzi at that time were writing systems and people did not
specifically differentiate between writing systems and phonetic schemes. As a
result, there was not a large discrepancy between two factions in intension.8
From today’s perspective, it is certainly more suitable to define qieyinzi as
“phonetic schemes” since “phonetic schemes” include writing systems and
non-writing systems. The difference in extension of the two factions is that one
restricted qieyinzi to the schemes proposed in the “late Qing period” and the
other one restrict qieyinzi to the schemes in the “late Qing period and early
years of the Republic of China”. Nevertheless, both factions emphasized “the
twenty years”, showing that “early years of the Republic of China” in their defi-
nitions are merely one or two years. There were not many discrepancies on time.
8 Although Dai Zhaoming (1992: 12) defined qieyinzi as “phonetic scripts” there was another
expression on the same page: “During the twenty years after the announcement of Lu’s scheme,
totally 27 phonetic schemes had been proposed and these proposals had created the first
climax in Chinese pinyin research.” It is noticed that he did not specifically differentiate
between “phonetic scripts” and “phonetic schemes”.
Even though Ni Haishu (1948) did not explained qieyinzi directly, “Qieyin
xinzi” ‘new phonetic alphabets’ issued by Lu Ganzhang in 1892 was first intro-
duced in its chapter Qieyinzi Yundong ‘Qieyinzi Movement’. Under the topic Qing
Mo Min Chu de Qita Qieyinzi Fang’an ‘Other Qieyinzi Schemes in the Late Qing
Period and Early Years of the Republic of China’, the last qieyinzi scheme intro-
duced was Hainan(dao) Tuyin Zimu ‘The Dialectal Accents in Hainan’ by Rev.
Alfred E. Street in 1919. Moreover, Pingmin Guanghua Zimu ‘The Cantonese
Alphabet for Civilians’ and Pingmin Guanhua Zimu ‘The Mandarin Alphabet for
Civilians’ written by Rev. Alfred E. Street in 1921 were mentioned in the brackets.
“The early years of the Republic of China” in Ni Haishu (1948) was extended to
the 8th year of the Republic of China or even the 10th. Ji Xianlin, et.al. (1988:
315), Dai Zhaoming (1992) and other related researchers thought that there were
20 or more kinds of qieyinzi schemes9 but Ni Haishu (1948) unexpectedly in-
cluded up to 50 kinds of qieyinzi schemes. Regarding the understanding on the
extension of qieyinzi with its specific meaning, the discrepancy cannot be
granted as small.
This discrepancy mainly comes from the cognitions on the time period of
Qieyinzi Movement. The explanation of qieyinzi mostly attached to the explana-
tion of Qieyinzi Movement. They believed the extension was large if the Qieyinzi
Movement lasted for a long period. Otherwise, the extension was small. There-
fore, to solve the problem on qieyinzi extension, the time period of Qieyinzi
Movement and the relationship between qieyinzi and Qieyinzi Movement must
be discussed.
2.2 Qieyinzi and Qieyinzi Movement

Apart from (29) and (30), the followings are some description and definitions
related to Qieyinzi Movement:
31) Wang Jun, et.al. (1995: 5): “Qieyinzi Movement was a movement for pinyin
alphabets from 1892 to 1911.”
9 Zhou Youguang (1979: 27), Zhang Yuquan (1992: 26), Dai Zhaoming (1992: 12), Yi Zhi (1995:
83), Wang Jun, et. al. (1995: 6), Chen Yongshun (1995: 44), Cai Fuyou and Guo Longsheng
(2001: 215), etc. had remarked that there were 28 qieyinzi schemes. Many people considered
that this datum was derived from page 30 of Ni Haishu’s Qing Mo Hanyu Pinyin Yundong
Biannianshi (A Chronicle for Movement of Advocating Phoneticization of Chinese in the Late Qing
Period). Besides, Dai Zhaoming (1992: 12) claimed that some schemes had combined several
dialectal accents. Hence, if we count the qieyinzi schemes according to the pronunciations,
there should be around 30 kinds of qieyinzi schemes.
400 Chapter 26
32) Zhang Yuquan (1992: 26): “In 1892, the Fujian scholar Lu Ganzhang origi-
nated “qieyin xinzi” ‘new phonetic alphabets’ and published Yimu Liaoran
Chujie ‘Elementary Phonetic Characters in the Blink of an Eye’ . . . During the
following 20 years, a variety of pinyin schemes were continuously generated
up to 28 kinds in total . . . Designers of the schemes and some enthusiastic
people also suggested many views and opinions relevant to universal basic
education and languages reformation. This was the movement for phonetic
Chinese (also called “Qieyinzi Movement”) in the late Qing period.”
33) Gao Tianru (1992: 15): “In 1892, Lu Ganzhang’s Yimu Liaoran Chujie (Zhong-
guo Qieyinzi Xiaqiang) (Zhongguo Diyikuai Qieyin Xinzi) ‘Elementary Phonetic
Characters in the Blink of an Eye (The New Phonetic Alphabets in China with
Xiamen Accents) (The Quickest Phonic Script in China)’ was published . . .
Within nearly 20 years before Xinhai Revolution, these Phonetic schemes
for Chinese which were personally developed amounted to more than 20
kinds. They were mostly promoted by individuals and organizations to the
public. A new trend was given rise and hence was called ‘Qieyinzi Move-
ment’.”
34) Xu Chang’an (2000: 124): “Qieyinzi Movement in the late Qing period
referred to the language modernization movement happened in the last 21
years of the Qing Dynasty which was from 1891 to 1911.”
35) Zhou Youguang (1992: 34): “From the publication of Zhongguo Qieyin Xinzi
‘The New Phonetic Alphabets in China’ to the announcement of ‘zhuyin
alphabet’ (1918), the movement for phoneticization of Chinese in this stage
was called ‘Qieyinzi Movement’.”
Scholars hold the same views on the origin of Qieyinzi Movement, which was on
1892 when Lu Ganzhang’s Yimu Liaoran Chujie (Zhongguo Qieyin Xinzi Xiaqiang)
(Zhongguo Diyikuai Qieyin Xinzi) ‘Elementary Phonetic Characters in the Blink of
an Eye (The New Phonetic Alphabets in China in Xiamen Accents) (The Quickest
Phonic Script in China)’ was published. Qieyin xinzi by Lu Ganzhang was the first
Phonetic scheme designed for Chinese and it caused a magnificent impact upon
Qing government. The stands like “Ease of writing”, “alignment of written and
spoken language” and “languages unity” proposed in the “Original Preface” of
Zhongguo Diyikuai Qieyin Xinzi [The Quickest Phonic Script in China] (p. 2–3) were
actually the main stands for the whole Qieyinzi Movement. These stands have a
significant effect on the hundred-year language modernization movement in
China. In fact, a lot of scholars thought that naming of Qieyinzi Movement and
popularity of Qieyinzi Movement were related to Lu Ganzhang’s qieyin xinzi. For
examples:
36) Zhou Youguang (1979: 26): “He (Lu Ganzhang) named this pinyin design as
‘Zhongguo qieyin xinzi’ ‘The new phonetic alphabets in China’, therefore
people called the movement of reforming Chinese script as ‘Qieyinzi Move-
ment’.”
37) Ji Xianlin, et.al. (1988: 403): “In 1892, Lu Ganzhang from Xiamen published
‘qieyin xinzi’ (in Xiamen accents) which was a Phonetic scheme designed
by him . . . According to ‘qieyin xinzi’, the movement for phoneticization of
Chinese in the late Qing period was called ‘Qieyinzi Movement’.”
38) Cai Fuyou and Guo Longsheng (2001: 215): “After his (Lu Ganzhang’s) pro-
motion, many people started to follow him and drafted various kinds of
Phonetic schemes. These had led to the Qieyinzi Movement.”
Xu Chang’an (2000) regarded 1891 as the beginning of “Qieyinzi Movement in

the late Qing period” probably because Song Shu brought up the idea of
“creating qieyinzi” in Liuzhai Bei Yi this year. The ability of proposing this idea
by that time was really amazing. Nonetheless, Lu Ganzhang “abandoned all his
external affairs from day to night for over ten years” (p. 1) to invent qieyin xinzi.
Thus, the beginning of the theories and applications related to qieyinzi should
be earlier than 1891. In 1896, Cai Xiyong mentioned in the Author’s Preface
to Chuanyin Kuaizi, Zixu” ‘Shorthand Symbols for Transmitting Sounds’ that: “I
have imitated its method for a long time and merged it with the standardized
pronunciation to write a book for teaching. However, I am busy with my job so
I do not have leisure time. After procrastinating over ten years, the manuscript
was still not completed.” (p. 4–5) It seems that Cai Xiyong designed the Kuaizi
much earlier than 1891. In fact, the exact beginning date of a relatively large
movement is difficult to state. People just choose the events with huge effects for
representation. On the perspective of effects, the coming out of Lu Ganzhang’s
qieyin xinzi is definitely more influential than bringing up the idea of “creating
qieyinzi” by Song. As a result, it is more suitable to regard 1892 as the beginning
of Qieyinzi Movement. It may also be the reason why most people regard 1892 as
the start of Qieyinzi Movement.
Nevertheless, scholars have discrepancy on the ending point of Qieyinzi
Movement. The main opinions can be concluded into 4 types:
1) Wang Jun, et. al. (1995), Zhang Yuquan (1992), Gao Tianru (1992), Xu Chang’an
(2000), Cai Fuyou and Guo Longsheng (2001), etc. considered 1911, the last
year of the Qing Dynasty, as the ending point of Qieyinzi Movement.
2) Dai Zhaoming (1992), Yi Zhi (1995), etc. considered “the early years of the
Republic of China” as the ending point of Qieyinzi Movement.
402 Chapter 26
3) Zhou Youguang (1992) considered 1918 which “zhuyin alphabet” was an-
nounced as the ending point of Qieyinzi Movement.
4) The chapter “Qieyinzi Movement” in Ni Haishu (1948), as stated before,
stating all along to 1919 when Rev. Alfred E. Street published Hainan(dao)
Tuyin Zimu ‘The Dialectal Accents in Hainan’, he perhaps considered 1919
as the ending point of Qieyinzi Movement.
Ni Haishu (1948: 66–67) and Wang Jun, et.al. (1995: 15) pointed out: On 10th July
of the first year of the Republic of China (1912), “The Central Temporary Educa-
tional Conference” was convened and there was “Caiyong Zhuyin Zimu An” ‘A
Proposal on Adopting Zhuyin Alphabets’ in their 23 motions for resolution. In
December, the Ministry of Education set up “The constitutions for the Bureau of
Unified Pronunciation” and stipulated the missions for “The Bureau of Unified
Pronunciation” to convene conferences: “i) examines and approves the standar-
dized pronunciations of all Chinese characters; ii) analyses all the standardized
pronunciations and divides them into the simplest and purest phonemes for
determining the total number of phonemes; c) select the alphabets where each
alphabet represents one phoneme.” On 25th February of the second year of the
Republic of China (1913), “The Bureau of Unified Pronunciation” was convoked
in Beijing. It had produced zhuyin alphabets scheme and resolved the Guoyin
Tuixing Banfa ‘Methods for Promoting National Pronunciations’.
Although numerous new schemes were also proposed in this conference
and some schemes were gradually published afterwards, from the record of
Ni Haishu (1948), it is observed that many schemes in the earlier years of the
Republic of China had adopted zhuyin alphabets. “‘Qieyinzi’ in the late Qing
period had suddenly changed into ‘zhuyin alphabets’ in the Republic of China.”
These historical events reveal that, once entering the period of Republic of
China, zhuyin alphabets movement was initiated by the government and it had
replaced the position of Qieyinzi Movement. Although zhuyin alphabet is certainly
one of the direct products of Qieyinzi Movement, Qieyinzi Movement and zhuyin
alphabets movement are having great differences. Despite the facts that people
joining “The Bureau of Unified Pronunciation” were generally followers of
Qieyinzi Movement, some qieyinzi schemes were still published or promoted in
the early years of the Republic of China, as well as zhuyin alphabets was officially
announced until 1918, it is more appropriate to consider 1911 as the ending point
of Qieyinzi Movement from the perspective of historical tendency.
Li Jinxi (1933) has divided the National Language Movement into 4 phases:
The first phase is Qieyinzi Movement (from 1898 to 1907); the second phase is
jianzi movement (from 1908 to 1917); the third phase is the united movement
of zhuyin alphabets and new literature (from 1918 to 1927) and the fourth phase
is the united movement of Romanized Mandarin and zhuyin symbols (from 1928
to ? ). The phases were divided based on several official events: On 28th July,
1898, the Grand Minister of State who received official command obtained
publications from scholars like Lu Ganzhang and submitted them to the
Emperor. On 14th July, 1908, Lao Naixuan submitted Jianzi Pu Lu ‘A Table of
Simplified Characters’ to the Emperor and made a request for enforcement after
imperial compilation. The Imperial Educational Ministry was instructed by the
Emperor to confer on it. On 23rd November, 1918, the Ministry of Education
announced the zhuyin alphabets and on 26th September, 1928, the Council of
Universities of the Republic of China announced the Guoyu Luomazi ‘Romanized
Mandarin’. Despite the fact that it might not be suitable to divide the National
Language Movement according to these official events, what this paper cared
about is whether his “qieyin movement” is equal to the “Qieyinzi Movement”
people mentioned later. If they were the same, then the Qieyinzi Movement
would only last for 10 years where the Jianzi activities of Wang Zhao, Lao Naixuan,
etc. were excluded. Then, it has been too far from today’s views.
Although considering 1892 to 1911 as the period of Qieyinzi Movement is
more suitable, it does not mean that there were no qieyinzi beyond these 20
years. The influential qieyinzi schemes were mainly produced in Qieyinzi Move-
ment but the aftermath still existed after the movement. The qieyinzi schemes
produced in the early years of the Republic of China are the aftermath of
Qieyinzi Movement. There was also a peak in the aftermath. In the 2nd year of
the Republic of China, a batch of qieyinzi schemes were produced because of
the convocation of “The Bureau of Unified Pronunciation”. After that, there
were very few produced and they could be neglected.
2.3 Formation of the specific meaning of qieyinzi

The occurrence of the specific meaning of qieyinzi is a result from reduced
extension of the general meaning of qieyinzi. The general meaning of qieyinzi
denotes all pinyin characters and the specific meaning of qieyinzi only denotes
phonetic schemes for Chinese in the late Qing period and the early years of the
Republic of China. The extension is greatly reduced. The phonetic schemes for
Chinese are a small part in the worldwide phonetic scripts while the phonetic
schemes for Chinese in the late Qing period and the early years of the Republic
of China are a small part in abundant phonetic schemes for Chinese. Many
schemes, such as zhuyin alphabets, Romanized Mandarin, Latinized New
Scripts and those phonetic schemes for Chinese announced after 1958, were no
longer called qieyinzi by posterity.
404 Chapter 26
There are many factors for the reduction of extended qieyinzi. Firstly, as dis-
cussed above, the word “pinyin” is predominant in the vocabulary competition.
It gradually becomes the first choice for expressing the meaning of “pinyin”. For
example, phonetic scripts in western countries, kana and hangul in eastern
countries use “pinyin” instead of “qieyin”. Secondly, even though the usage of
expressing “pinyin” in “qieyin” is progressively replaced and discarded in the
end, phonetic schemes for Chinese in that period was used to be called as
“qieyinzi” by people in the late Qing period and the early years of the Republic
of China. This tendency of usual practices prevents those schemes to be renamed
easily. Thirdly, zhuyin alphabets movement became thriving along with the
beginning of the Republic of China. The objective of zhuyin alphabet movement
is quite different from that of the Qieyinzi Movement. Nobody would call zhuyin
alphabets as qieyinzi since it is only a zhuyin scheme. The schemes after that,
like Romanized Mandarin, Latinized New Scripts and phonetic schemes in new
China, were not named as qieyinzi either. The zhuyin alphabets movement has
hindered the extension of “qieyinzi” to all phonetic schemes for Chinese. It is
certainly the interaction of these three factors that has reduced the extension
of “qieyinzi” to the extent nowadays. The reduced extension brings about the
formation of specific meaning of qieyinzi and turns its general meaning to
become a “historical meaning”.
(a) Qieyinzi has general and specific meanings. The general meaning of qieyinzi
referred to all phonetic scripts in the world and this meaning is mainly used
in the late Qing period. The specific meaning of qieyinzi referred to various
phonetic schemes for Chinese produced in the late Qing period and the
early years of the Republic of China. This meaning is the meaning of
qieyinzi nowadays. The general meaning of qieyinzi is related to the acqui-
sition of “phonetic” meaning while the specific meaning is resulted from the
reduced extension. There are plenty of factors for qieyinzi to reduce its
extension, such as the defeat of “qieyin” by “pinyin” in the vocabulary com-
petition, as well as the rapid growth of zhuyin alphabets movement after the
end of Qieyinzi Movement in the late Qing period.
(b) Qieyin also has two meanings. The first one means “fanqie” and the second
one means “pinyin”. The “phonetic” meaning of qieyin germinated in the
early Qing period and matured in the late Qing period. Along with the dis-
appearance of general meaning of qieyinzi and formation of specific mean-
ing, the “phonetic” meaning of qieyin also become a “historical meaning”.
However, it still exists in the technical term “qieyinzi” as a word-building

component. The destiny of qieyinzi is confined with the rise and decline of
the word “qieyin”.
(c) The Qieyinzi Movement took place at the last 20 years of the late Qing
period. It rose at 1892 when Lu Ganzhang published qieyin xinzi and de-
clined at 1911 when the Qing Dynasty collapsed. After Qieyinzi Movement,
there was a repercussion where some more qieyinzi schemes were proposed.
(d) The meanings of qieyin and qieyinzi in modern dictionaries are incomplete
and the explanations of Qieyinzi Movement are not consistent. Myriad of
modern dictionaries have this kind of problems as the researches to the
vocabularies (including scientific and technological terms) produced since
the Qing Dynasty are inadequate. Modern Chinese was indeed formed and
developed during this period and the vocabulary system of modern science
and technology was also generated and improved continuously throughout
this period. The vocabularies in this period have a high research value.
Topics of this sort should be brought to the attention of the realms of
lexicology, lexicography, history of science and technology, history of termi-
nology, and the like.
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The original Chinese version of this paper was first published in Journal of Fujian Normal
University, 2005, Vol. 3.
Translated by CHENG Siu Kei, Ken (郑绍基)

ken.cheng@polyu.edu.hk
Chapter 27
The proposition of universal education in
the Qieyinzi Movement1
Abstract: Although the two-decade long Qieyinzi ‘phonetic characters’ Move-

ment in the late Qing Dynasty was a language modernization movement, its
aim was in fact to educate the people and strengthen the country. The rationale
behind the Qieyinzi Movement was: if a country wants to be rich and strong,
it needs technological advancement and intelligent people; if it needs techno-
logical advancement and intelligent people, the availability of elite education
is not sufficient. Universal education is essential to this aim and common people
should be educated to read and write; Chinese characters which are complicated
are only suitable for elite education; in order to popularize education, there
needs to have characters which are easy to learn, just like qieyin characters.
Hence, the creation and promotion of qieyin characters became the foremost
essentials of popularizing education and saving the country. The proposition
of universal education might perhaps be biased and imprecise, it nevertheless
shone with historical radiance. Even today, the theoretical essence of the pro-
position is still valid. Particularly, the discussion of such proposition and the
actual practice of the Qieyinzi Movement demonstrated an intense sense of
patriotism and enthusiasm which still holds a strong influence to motivate people
for progression nowadays.
Keywords: Qieyinzi Movement, universal education
0 Introduction
Various foreign language schools and industrial schools were set up during
the period of Westernization Movement, which was the rudimentary stage of
modern education in China. In 1904, the Qing government promulgated Zou
Ding Xuetang Zhangcheng ‘Imperial Order on School Regulations’. In 1905, impe-
1 This article was originally published in Hanyu Yanjiu yu Yingyong (Chinese Language Research
and Application (Volume 4), 2007, edited by School of Teaching Chinese as Foreign Language of
Renmin University of China and published by Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Press.
408 Chapter 27
rial examination system was abolished and the Imperial Educational Ministry
was established, which marked the preliminary formation of modern education
in China. During the last 50 years or so of the Qing Dynasty, due to frequent
intellectual contact and military incidents between China and western countries
as well as the emergence of Japan and Russia and their bullying behaviour
towards China, men of insight would like to seek the reasons of the decline of
this country which possessed an ancient civilization of several thousand years
and to search for effective remedies to save the country. Universal education
was one of the remedies that could save the country.
From 1892 to 1911, a group of patriots deeply believed that the largest obstacle
in implementing universal education in China was the difficulty of learning
Chinese characters which were deemed to be complicated. Therefore they pro-
posed that new type of Chinese phonetic characters should be created by imitat-
ing the practice of Western languages or the Japanese kana. Lu Ganzhang, Cai
Xiyong, Shen Xue, Wang Zhao, Lao Naixuan, Zhu Wenxiong and Wu Zhihui all
contributed their wisdom by designing up to 30 phonetic schemes. In addition,
a group of government officials, gentlemen and celebrities, such as Liang Qichao,
Yuan Shikai, Wu Rulun, Yan Xiu, Zhou Fu, Duan Fang, Zhao Erxun, Jiang Qian
and Lin Lucun, also participated in this proposal. Some of them wrote prefaces
and commentaries for the proposal, while others assisted in promoting the pro-
posal. Some of them wrote persuasion letters to the Imperial Court and some
submitted recommendations to the government. All these activities endowed
qieyin characters and their designers a higher social reputation. Other enthusiastic
advocates of the new characters used the new schemes to compile elementary
readers and popular literature, and established reading clubs and schools, which
created an atmosphere in the society. This was the Qieyinzi Movement which
initiated the modernization of the Chinese language.
The prime mover of the Qieyinzi Movement was universal education with
the objective of educating the people and strengthening the country. The opinion
and practice of universal education in the Qieyinzi Movement, to a certain
extent, had some effects on the transition of the feudal education system to a
new education system, which were regarded as an organic component of the
early stage of modern education in China. However, when studying the literature
related to education at this stage, little research has been undertaken concern-
ing the Qieyinzi Movement. This paper aims to organize the literature related to
the Qieyinzi Movement from the perspective of education and to investigate the
proposition of universal education in the Qieyinzi Movement. It is hoped that
this paper may benefit the research on the late Qing Dynasty education, and
even may offer some inspiration or reference for today’s education.
1 Universal education – educating the people and

strengthening the country
The modern concept of universal education was initiated in Europe. In 1619,
Prussia Weimar promulgated compulsory education law which marked the begin-
ning of the legislation of the concept of universal education. (Tian and Xiao
2000:4) After that, other countries in Europe and America followed this ex-
ample with the promulgation of related laws and the establishment of schools.
These practices developed a fervent atmosphere of universal education which
was described as “wúdìwúxué, wúshìfēixué, wúrénwúxué” ‘schools are built in
every place, everything can be learnt and everyone can attend schools’2. The
Meiji Reformation of Japan learnt from the practice of Western countries on the
promotion of education which led to the revitalization of its national power.
After the introduction and commentaries of the progress of universal education
in Europe, America and Japan as delivered by the following persons, universal
education was gradually known and valued by Chinese people: Wei Yuan (Haiguo
Tuzhi ‘Illustrated Treatise on Maritime Countries’ in 1842), Feng Guifen ( Jiaobinlu
Kangyi ‘The Protest of Jiaobinlu’ in 1861), Ernest Faber (Deguo Xuexiao Lunlue ‘A
Brief Study of German Schools’ in 1873), Zheng Guanying [Yi Yan ‘On Change’,
Shengshi Weiyan ‘Words of Warning to a Prosperous Age’, Shengshi Weiyan
Houbian ‘Words of Warning to a Prosperous Age II’], American missionary W. A.
P. Martin (Xixue Kaolue ‘A Brief Outline of Western Learning’ in 1882), Huang
Zunxian (Riben Guozhi ‘The Annals of Japan’ in 1890), Xue Fucheng (Chushi Ying
Fa Yi Bi Siguo Riji ‘A Journal of An Ambassador to Britain, France, Italy and
Belgium’ in 1891), British missionary T. Richard (Qiguo Xinxue Beiyao ‘A Summary
of New Learning in Seven Western Countries’ in 1892), American missionary Y. J.
Allen (Wenxue Xingguo Ce3 ‘A Strategy to Develop the Country through Literature’
in 1896). Compulsory education was included in both Qinding Xiaoxuetang
2 These words were cited from Li Shanlan’s Preface of Deguo Xuexiao Lunlue (A Brief Study of
German Schools), a book written by a German missionary Ernest Faber in 1873. See Qu and Tong
(1997: 38).
3 Wenxue Xingguo Ce (A Strategy to Develop the Country through Literature) was a translation of
Mori Arinori’s Education in Japan. In 1871, Mori Arinori took up the post of Japanese ambassa-
dor to the United States. He wrote letters to celebrities and scholars of various fields in the
United States to consult them about the experience of the United States in the establishment
of education. He compiled their feedback into a book and submitted to the Japanese govern-
ment, which had profound influence on education in Japan.
410 Chapter 27
Zhangcheng ‘Imperial Order on Primary School Regulations’ in 1903 and Zouding

Xuetang Zhangcheng ‘Imperial Order on School Regulations’ in 1904. This means
that the concept and system of universal education in Western countries finally
became the content of education system in China after 60 years of introduction
and recommendation, even though compulsory education is only part of uni-
versal education and it was too difficult for the two sets of regulations to be
implemented effectively when Qing Dynasty was on the verge of its fall.
With the outbreak of the Opium Wars and several military incidents after-
wards between China and Western countries, Chinese people had already deeply
realized the strength of Western powers and the frailty of China. They gradually
learnt that universal education was essential to the strengthening of the country.
Participants of the Qieyinzi Movement were proponents of universal education.
Their opinions were as follows:
1) Lu Ganzhang’s Zhongguo Diyi Kuaiqieyin Xinzi – Yuanxu ‘Original Preface

of The Quickest Phonic Script in China’ in 1892: “In my humble opinion,
whether a country is prosperous and powerful or not, it depends on its
development of natural sciences. The vigorous development of natural
sciences depends on whether everyone in the country is enthusiastic about
learning and knowledge. . . Hence, in civilized countries in Europe and
America, though in remote and backward places, children over the age of
ten all go to school. According to the figures published by a foreign news-
paper last year, out of 100 Germans, only one person is illiterate; in Switzer-
land, two out of 100 persons are illiterate; in Scotland, seven out of 100
persons are illiterate; in America, eight out of 100 persons are illiterate;
in Holland, ten out of 100 persons are illiterate; in England, 13 out of 100
persons are illiterate; in Belgium, 15 out of 100 persons are illiterate; in
Ireland, 21 out of 100 persons are illiterate; in Australia, 30 out of 100
persons are illiterate. . . According to the list provided by the Ministry of
Education of Japan, last year there were 10,862 private schools in Japan,
with 62,372 teachers and around 2.8 million students in total. In addition,
in the tenth year of Guangxu Dynasty there were around 3.19 million male
students and 2.96 million female students.” (Language Reform Press 1958:2)
2) Liang Qichao’s Shenshi Yinshu Xu ‘Preface, Shen’s Book of Pronunciation’ in
1896: “How could a country be strong? A strong country must have intelli-
gent people. How could people be intelligent? If everyone of the country
could be literate, the people would be intelligent. In Germany and the
United States, 96 to 97 out 100 persons are literate. This is the same in
Europe. In Japan, more than 80 out 100 persons are literate. China is
renowned for its civilization among the five continents, nevertheless, less
than 30 out of 100 persons are literate.”4
3) Cai Xiyong’s Chuanyin Kuaizi – Zixu ‘Author’s Preface, Shorthand Symbols
for Transmitting Sounds’: “(In the West) From country leaders to common
people, men and women, everything can be learnt and everyone can go to
school. I have never met a person who is illiterate.” (Cai 1896: 3)
4) Wang Bingyao’s Pinyin Zipu – Zixu ‘Author’s Preface, Character Table with
Pinyin’: “Now, if China wants to prosper by solely depending on the rail-
ways, machines, skills, mining, commerce, banking, postal service, military
equipment and warships of Europe and America, without learning the ways
of identifying falsehood, the methods of guiding people to be good and
the techniques of educating people, there would be no foundation for
prosperity. Instead, China would have even greater frailty. The lessons
drawn from previous mistakes have not yet been forgotten. The strength of
the West originates from the fact that all their people are sincere and edu-
cated, regardless of whether one is male or female. If China does not seek
this foundation, but only imitates external matters, it would be no different
from cutting a flower with its stem and placing it in a vase that only instant
beauty could be appreciated.” (Wang 1897: 12–13)
5) Shang Zhilizongdu Yuan Shikai Shu ‘Official Letter Submitted to the Viceroy
of Zhili Yuan Shikai)’ by Wang Yongzhou, He Fenghua et al: “In my humble
opinion, whether a country is strong or not depends on whether its people
are intelligent or not; whether the people are intelligent or not depends
on whether the country’s education is popularized or not. . . . Nowadays,
though the victory or defeat of a country is definitely judged by it military
strength, the survival of a country in fact depends on the education of its
people. . . . A country cannot be a country without soldiers, educated soldiers
are more powerful. Everyone knows that Germany’s ground force is renowned
as the most powerful army in the world who can surmount all sorts of diffi-
culties. But people seldom know that German soldiers are all literate, which
is why Germany is so prosperous today. This day eight to nine out of ten
soldiers of our country are illiterate. They are mostly timid and over-
cautious, and ignorant but self-important. Even though there are generals
4 See Shen (1896: 1–2). The Preface was also included in Language Reform Press (ed.) (1958: 7),
however, in “China is renowned for its civilization among the five continents, nevertheless, less
than 30 out of 100 persons are literate”, “30” was printed as “20”. It is strange to have different
figures for different versions of the same text published by the same publisher and it is unclear
that which figure is correct.
412 Chapter 27
who are intelligent, trustworthy, benevolent and brave, how could they
inspire those soldiers to ignite the patriotism to protect our country from
our enemies?” (Language Reform Press 1958:35–37)
6) Chen Qiu’s Xinzi Ouwen Xuetang Kaixue Yanshuo ‘Term-commencement Speech
for Xinzi Ouwen School’: “In foreign countries, such as Britain, the United
States, Germany, France and Japan, children who reach the age of eight
must go to school. For those who do not obey the law, their father and elder
brothers shall be punished. Hence, there are schools everywhere. In these
countries, more than 90 out of 100 persons are literate. In China, except in
large cities and towns, not one out of ten persons can read and write even
simple words. This is far more inferior to the foreign countries. There are
many literate people in foreign countries, and everyone can read books and
newspapers by themselves. No matter whether they are government officials
or mechanics, they all can read and write. Even most of the farmers, masons
and carpenters can publish newspapers and write books. This is why they can
produce so many things and the production is getting better every day. The
sales are getting larger every year and the profit is then increasing. It is thus
reasonable to say that there is no country which is not strong if it is rich.”
(Chen 1903: 9–10)
7) Shen Fenglou’s Jiangning Jianzi Banri Xuetang Shifanban Kaixue Yanshuo
Wen ‘Term-commencement Speech for Teachers Training Class of Jiangning
Simplified Characters Half-Day School’ in 1905: “Looking to the East, we
have Japan. Looking to the West, we have Europe. Their children starting
from the age of six have to learn reading and writing. For those who do not
go to schools, their parents shall be punished. This is called compulsory
education. Schools are built everywhere. Initially, these schools were spon-
sored by the government, hence it is easy for them to get funded. Com-
pulsory education is new in China where there are many poor people, it is
understandable that it is difficult to set up such schools. As it is difficult to
set up schools, there would not be many schools; as there are not many
schools, there would not be many literate people; as there are not many
literate people, would it be possible to have a prosperous and strong country?”
(Language Reform Press 1958:53)
8) Wang Rongbao, Zhao Bingling and Lao Naixuan’s Jianzi Yanjiuhui Qi bing
Zhangcheng ‘The Announcement and Articles of the Jianzi Soceity’ in 1910:
“Nowadays, it is a world of competition. Countries compete with each other
in military, commerce and even academic studies. The fittest will survive,
even though the losers will obviously have a bad mood. China’s military
strength is inferior to others, its commerce is inferior to others and even its
academic studies are inferior to others. What could China depend on if it has
to stand up confidently between heaven and earth? There is only one thing
that China has advantage over others that other countries are incapable of.
It is the population of China which accounts for the largest in the world.
A country is an aggregation of its people. According to common sense, a
country with a huge population should be better than a country with
a small population. However, nowadays this is not the case. Most of the
Chinese people are not educated. There are only one or two intelligent
people with hundreds and thousands of ignorant ones. Although ignorant
people are many, they are in fact just equivalent to few. This is why China’s
many are no match for a few of other countries. If ignorant people can be
turned into intelligent ones, even if one enlightened ignorant person cannot
be equivalent to one intelligent person, several enlightened persons can
be equivalent to one intelligent person. There are hundreds of millions of
people in China. By collecting their wisdoms, which countries can be a
match for China? This is why universal education for the Chinese people
is today’s foremost essentials of rescuing the country.” (Language Reform
Press 1958:111)
The opinions cited above represent the earliest “theory of revitalizing the coun-
try through science and education”. The logic behind their arguments is: the
prosperity of the country is built on the basis of technological advancement
and people’s intelligence. And technological advancement and intelligence
enhancement can only be achieved through universal education where everyone
can learn to read and write. The facts they listed were: “compulsory education”
was implemented in both the East and the West, schools were built everywhere
and eight to nine out of ten persons were literate; China, as renowned by its
long history of civilization among the five continents, did not have many schools
and more than 80 out 100 persons were illiterate. By contrast, the source of
strength and weakness was obvious. Hence, universal education to enlighten
the Chinese people naturally became “the foremost essentials” in the issue of
rescuing the country.
2 Educating “common people” is more important

than educating “elite people”
The politics in late Qing period were constantly changing with political reforms
and modernization as the vogue of the day. After the Reform Movement of 1898,
Qing government had promised to implement constitutional government and
even formulated the schedule for such implementation. The leading figures of
414 Chapter 27
the Qieyinzi Movement, such as Wang Zhao and Lao Naixuan, who had been in
significant official positions, were very concerned about and even personally
participated in the political reforms at the time. Their special experience also
led them to view universal education from a political perspective. For instance:
(9) Wang Zhao’s Guanhua Hesheng Zimu – Yuanxu (1) ‘Original Preface (1),
Mandarin Phonetic Alphabet’ in 1900: “Every language in the world is
known by its native people. This is because its spoken language is consis-
tent with its written one and their phonetic transcription is easy. Hence,
when children reach the age of speaking, they may not be smart though,
they can start to read. They can get to know the reasoning recorded in
written materials in their life and make progress gradually. Even though
there are different level of difficulty in these written materials, they can
learn difficult reasoning once they make progress in their study. Whether
they are smart or not, rich or poor, old or young and men or women, they
all can unravel problems by using certain principles. Drivers and hawkers
can read newspapers when they are taking a rest along the roads. With this
foundation, politics and education can be merged together in a natural
way. The court and the commons can work together easily. In our country
not even one out of a hundred persons is proficient in our language. . . As
from the point of view of an individual to a society, to a country or to the
world, it would be empty talk for politicians to promote education if there
is no teaching and learning of necessary knowledge of daily life.” (Lan-
guage Reform Press 1958:19)
(10) Wang Zhao’s Wan Wu Zhifu Xiansheng Lianyu bing Xu ‘A Eulogy and Preface
for Mr. Wu Zhifu’: “When the government of each country issues an order
in the morning, it will be read by women and children of the whole coun-
try in the evening. They know what the order means. This is the same for
the matters concerning academic studies, industries and commerce which
can be rapidly spread across the whole country. Today the proposals of the
people who called themselves New Party often appear in various printed
media and they claim that 400 million people are enthusiastic about this.
In fact, only one educated person in a thousand illiterate is talking about
this, and also only one educated person in a thousand illiterate under-
stands and knows what it is talking about. 400 million people indeed
do not know what is going on. Today, Chinese official documents often
mention about feeding people and educating people. The fact is that those
who issue these documents are government officials and those who receive
these documents are also government officials. Those who understand and
know these documents are all government officials, common people do not
understand a word. Hence, this is only paper politics. They are only talking
and explaining to themselves with other officials singing in the same tune.
In the documents, the government officials blame the people for their
misbehaviour, but the people indeed do not know what the document
means!. . . The people do not know politics and education is not related to
the people.” (Wang 1903: 37–39)
(11) Lao Naixuan’s Jincheng Jianzi Pulu Zhe ‘Official Document Presented to the
Emperor concerning A Table of Simplified Characters’ in 1908: “In constitu-
tional countries, only literate people are eligible to be its rightful citizens.
In the rural areas in China, there are cases where there is not even one
literate person in a whole village. Or there are just one or two literate
persons, but it happens that they are the villains of the village. No good
villagers are literate. In those cases, there is not even one person who is
qualified to be a citizen, how could we build a constitutional foundation?”
(Language Reform Press 1958: 79)
(12) Lao Naixuan’s Zouqing yu Jianyishizi Xueshu nei Fushe Jianzi Yi Ke bing
Biantong Difang Zizhi Xuanmin Zige Zhe ‘Official Document Presented to the
Emperor concerning the Setting up of the Subject of Simplified Characters in
Jianyishizi School and the Adjustment of the Qualification of Electors in Local
Autonomous Regions’ in 1909: “In my humble opinion, the responsibility of
the preparation of the establishment of the constitution is definitely on the
part of government officials. However, the basis for the implementation of
the constitution is, in fact, on the part of the people. The meaning of the
establishment of the constitution is to muster the wisdom of all people
to govern the country. If the people are not educated and they cannot self-
govern, what wisdom can we muster even though there exist appropriate
laws and good intentions? This is why universal education and local self-
government are the foremost essentials in the preparation of the establish-
ment of the constitution. . . . In the regulations concerning the qualifica-
tions of electors in local autonomous regions in cities, towns and villages
drafted and submitted by the Ministry of Civil Affairs and verified by the
Commission for Regulations Formulation for Constitutional Government,
it is stipulated that males at the age of 25 are qualified to be electors and
illiterate persons are not eligible to be electors. . . . In the year when local
self-government commences, eligible electors must be at the age of 25
or above and literate. At present there are few literate villagers in each
province. Very often, there is not even one person who is eligible to become
an elector in a whole village. How can local self-government be achieved?. . .
Local self-government is the foundation of constitutional government. If the
implementation of self-government is hindered because there are insuffi-
416 Chapter 27
cient literate people, there would be a lack of foundation for constitutional

government and the progress of the establishment of the constitution
would be hampered.” (Language Reform Press 1958: 103–105)
(13) Lao Naixuan’s Zhi Tang Shangshu Han ‘Letter to Minister Tang’ in 1910: “In
my humble opinion, it is heard that there are two functions of education:
one is to nurture talents and the other one is to enlighten people. To nur-
ture talents is to educate elite people and to enlighten people is to educate
common people. In our country, there are few elite people and many com-
mon people. Elite people are mostly educated and common people are
largely uneducated. There are few educated people and many uneducated
people. With hundreds of millions of uneducated people in a country, it
would be extremely difficult to govern such country. In addition, in the
current trend of the world countries compete with each other in terms of
intelligence, not physical strength. They compete in terms of gathering the
wisdom of common people, not the wisdom of elite ones. The extraordi-
nary wisdom of one or two persons is no match for the common sense of
tens of millions of common people. This is why the education of common
people is particularly more important than that of elite people.” (Language
Reform Press 1958: 113)
Wang Zhao thought that universal education could lead to the result of politics
and education being merged together in a natural way. The court and the com-
mons could work together easily. Hence, progress could be achieved gradually.
At that time, due to the fact that most of the people were illiterate, the so-called
politics was only “paper politics” in which officials were only talking and ex-
plaining to themselves with other officials singing in the same tune. He, in
turn, put forward a statement that “the people do not know politics and educa-
tion is not related to the people”, which brought tremendous enlightenment to
others. Lao Naixuan viewed universal education as “the foremost essentials” of
achieving citizenship and implementing constitutional government. He also
categorized education into “education of elite people” and “education of com-
mon people” and deeply recognized that education of common people was
more important than that of elite people. This can be regarded as the first signs
of “mass education”.
3 Easily recognized characters are essential to

universal education
In accordance with the Qieyinzi Movement, the success of the popularization of
education in the West and Japan was because they used phonetic characters
which were simple and easy to learn and their spoken language was consistent
with their written language; and the main reason for China not being capable of
popularizing education was due to the difficulty and complexity of Chinese
characters and the Chinese spoken language was not in agreement with its
written counterpart. In order to popularize education, enlighten people and
strengthen the country, it was crucial to be equipped with phonetic characters,
just like the cases in the Western countries and Japan. Hence, to achieve the
aim of universal education through the promotion of qieyin characters became
the center of public opinion of the time and was even regarded as “the foremost
essentials of rescuing the country”. For instance:
(14) Wang Bingkun’s Pinyin Zipu Xu ‘Preface, Character Table with Pinyin’: “For
China being China is because of its written language, and for China being
merely as China is also because of its written language. The difficulty and
complexity of Chinese written characters are the cause of China’s frailty.
Egypt is not prosperous for a long time. And in recent years China has
been encroached by foreign countries. What are the reasons behind all
these? The selection of government officials is based on the proficiency of
language and ancient classical works of scholars as tested in provincial-
level, metropolitan-level and imperial court-level examinations. However,
with only one missing dot stroke or a mistaken half stroke, it will be totally
regarded as an error. This shows how complicated it is in learning Chinese
characters. Scholars5 had to spend their whole life to study Chinese char-
acters, how can they have time to learn other things? When being asked
about current affairs, scholars of advance age in rural areas know nothing
about them besides the knowledge of eight-legged essays. They do not
know in which continent Britain or the United States is situated. Neither
do they know what treaties were signed between China and foreign coun-
tries. With such talents, how can a country be strengthened? Countries in
the West are flourishing every day. Those who do not know the truth would
think that this is because of the wealth and military power of these coun-
tries. In fact, their prosperity lies on the ease of learning of their written
languages. They use 26 letters to generate infinite number of words. Per-
sons in these countries with medium intelligence are able to read and write
after several school years. This is why illiterate people are rare in these
countries. When there are numerous schools, there will be many talents.
5 In the original text, the character 士 (“scholar”) is printed as 十 (the number “ten”). Now it
is corrected into 士 (“scholar”) in accordance with the edition of Language Reform Press (ed.)
(1958: 13).
418 Chapter 27
When there are many talents, a country can be prosperous. This is just an
irresistible trend.” (Wang 1897: 7–8)
(15) Tian Tingjun’s Shumu Dai Zi Jue – Xu ‘Preface, Rhymed Formula of Numeric
Substitutions of Chinese Characters’: “Talking about the difficulty and com-
plexity of various written languages, the written language of China must
be the most difficult one among all! Children studying at school for three
to four years can only draw Chinese characters by imitation. If you ask
them to try to write an essay, they do not know what to do and will sit all
day long in front of a blank paper. In accordance with the statistical figures
of 400 million population of China, only few persons out of 100 are literate;
for persons who are proficient in the Chinese language, there are less than
100 out of 1,000 persons. Therefore, it comes to no surprise to learn that
people are foolish and poor. When looking at foreign countries in Europe
and America, no matter whether they are children or women, they all
know how to read and write. Why? It is because their written languages
are easy to learn. Their written languages on books are consistent with
their spoken languages. This is why they are more civilized and prosperous
than our country. Nowadays, our government has just started reformation
regarding the nurturing of talents as the top priority and hoping that every-
one can be able to read and write and proficient in our language. However,
everyone is endowed with a different level of intelligence and the financial
status of each household is different too. If appropriate adjustments are
not made, intelligent people can be able to learn reading and writing,
while foolish people still cannot be able to do so; the rich can be able to
learn reading and writing, while the poor still cannot be able to do so. If
foolish people and the poor have to be educated, there is a need to devise
an easy way to achieve this aim.” (Tian 1901:1–4)
(16) Shang Zhilizongdu Yuan Shikai Shu ‘Official Letter Submitted to the Viceroy
of Zhili Yuan Shikai’ by Wang Yongzhou, He Fenghua et al in 1903: “Unless
our country does not want to be prosperous and our people do not want to
be educated, it is definitely essential for everyone to be able to read books
and newspapers, to write and to understand the meaning of imperial notices.
However, it is difficult to do so nowadays. The only way is to have a
simplified alphabet scheme to make the written language consistent with
the spoken one. Though the prosperity of the countries in Europe and
American is not due to one single factor, the consistency between their
written and spoken languages and the ease of use of their languages are
in fact the essence of such prosperity. Currently, the spoken Chinese lan-
guage is one thing and the written one is another. There is nothing that
can make these two consistent with each other. In addition, there are
more than 40,000 Chinese characters in total and they are extremely diffi-
cult to learn if there are no letters to be used to master those characters. In
that case, only very intelligent and rich people can learn how to read and
write the Chinese language. The result is that hundreds of millions of
women and the poor are dismissed from education and the country is
worsening.” (Language Reform Press 1958:35)
(17) Tian Zhen’s Pinyin Dai Zi Jue Xuyan ‘Preface, Rhymed Formula of Phonetic
Alphabet Substitutions of Chinese Characters’: “The forms and pronuncia-
tions of Chinese characters are particularly complex and difficult to under-
stand. . . . Even if a person studies the language very hard from his youth,
very often he still cannot access to the essence of it. There may only be one
or two persons who can be proficient in the language. With that in mind, it
would be extremely difficult to popularize education with the aim that
every household in a county as well as every child in a household is
literate. The written languages of the countries in Europe and America
are basically phonetic. Children attending primary schools for a few
months with the knowledge of just some basic phonetic rules would be
able to compose a piece of common writing. This is why no one is illiterate
and there are many well-educated people in these countries.” (Tian 1906:
19–20)
(18) Lao Naixuan’s Jincheng Jianzi Pulu Zhe ‘Official Document Presented to the
Emperor concerning A Table of Simplified Characters’ in 1908: “The Chinese
language is difficult to learn and the total number of characters reaches
several tens of thousands, even though professional scholars cannot know
them all. Even just for daily use, people need to know several thousands of
Chinese characters. Children have to study five to seven years at school in
order to have a basic knowledge of reading and writing. How can children
in poor families afford this? Hence, the hope of everyone to be able to read
and write and everyone to be educated is doomed to failure. . . . 26 letters
in languages of Europe and America and 50 kana characters in Japanese
kana can form all words in their languages. Learning these several tens of
characters and letters and their phonetic schemes are sufficient to write
what one pronounces and read books and newspapers so as to compre-
hend argumentation and understand current affairs. In Britain, more than
90 out of 100 persons are literate. This is why their people are enlightened
and their country is proud of their own prosperity. Japan is flourishing and
any knowledgeable person knows that this is due to the contribution of its
schools and the ease of learning of Japanese kana. Hence, nowadays if we
would like to save our country, the only way is to popularize education; if
we would like to popularize education, the only way is to have easily learnt
420 Chapter 27
characters; if we would like to have easily learnt characters, the only way
is to use phonetic schemes.” (Language Reform Press 1958: 79–80)
(19) Duan Fang’s Jiangning Jianzi Xuetang Gaodeng Xiaoxue Kaixue Yanshuo
Wen ‘Term-commencement Speech for Jiangning Simplified Characters Upper
Primary School’ in 1908: “Whether the people of a country are civilized or
not, it depends on the level of literacy of them. The language of our coun-
try is difficult to learn. In former times when Wu Rulun was in a trip to the
East, many Japanese education experts often said so. This is why there are
less literate people and the general mood of the country is not enlightened.
There are appropriate laws from the government but not easy to be imple-
mented, there are official messages from government officials but cannot
be promulgated, and there are teachers to teach but education is not popu-
larized. If the schemes of simplified characters are published, everyone
can be literate and there are no words that cannot be communicated.
Where Chinese characters cannot perform the task of communication, sim-
plified characters can do the job. In case there happens to be multiple
meanings for the same pronunciation, Chinese characters can be used as
complementation and the meaning can still be accurate. Some day when
everyone in our country is literate, do we still need to worry about not
having the foundation of universal education?” (Language Reform Press
1958: 83)
(20) Ma Tiqian’s Tan Wenzi ‘On Characters’ in 1908: “When talking about why
education in our country cannot be popularized, most people would blame
the inability of those who run schools. However, there are less people who
would mention that those who run schools in fact do not have the appro-
priate tools of teaching and learning. . . . Currently, six categories of Chinese
characters are hard to identify, memorize, understand and use; words are
difficult to comprehend, pronunciations (of various dialects) are rarely the
same, and characters are difficult to be pronounced and written. The differ-
ence is huge when contrasted with phonetic alphabet which is far easier to
be learnt and used.” (Language Reform Press 1958: 87–88)
(21) Lao Naixuan’s Shang Xuebu Shu ‘Letter to the Imperial Educational Ministry’
in 1910: “Everyone knows the dangerous situation of China and everyone
is thinking about ways to save the country. Are there really ways to save
the country? China’s military and financial strength are inferior to other
countries. Our only strength lies on the huge number of population which
outweighs the others. In accordance with common sense, a country with a
large population should be better than a country with a small population
as people are the foundation of a country. However, nowadays this is not
the case. Most of the Chinese people are not educated. There are only one
or two intelligent people with hundreds and thousands of ignorant ones.
Although ignorant people are many, they are in fact just equivalent to
few. This is why China’s many are no match for a few of other countries. If
ignorant people can be turned into educated ones, undoubtedly hundreds
of millions of educated China people must be invincible anywhere in the
world. This is why universal education is the foremost essentials of rescu-
ing the country. However, education is easily popularized in other coun-
tries, but not in China. Why? It is because the characters in other countries
are easier to learn and it is difficult to learn Chinese characters. This is why
the creation of easily learnt characters is the foremost essentials of both
popularizing education and rescuing the country. . . . Today, the way of
rescuing the country is to teach people how to read and write in order to
popularize education. There is no other option. This is indeed generally
agreed by the public already.” (Language Reform Press 1958: 109–110)
Proponents of qieyin characters said that Chinese characters were difficult and
complex, but seldom did they advocate the total abolition of Chinese characters.
The basic proposition of the Qieyinzi Movement was to teach “elite people” with
Chinese characters and “common people” with qieyin characters. If the common
people could manage qieyin characters well, then they could learn Chinese
characters through qieyin characters. For instance:
(22) Lu Ganzhang’s Zhongguo Diyi Kuaiqieyin Xinzi – Yuanxu ‘Original Preface,

The Quickest Phonic Script in China’ in 1892: “Textbooks can be compiled
by juxtaposing qieyin characters against Chinese characters according to
local dialectal pronunciation. If such kind of textbooks can be circulated
among the people in various villages, towns and cities in those 19 provinces,
not only qieyin characters can be learnt and even Chinese characters can
be acquired without being taught. People will be able to exchange corre-
spondence written in qieyin characters, record numbers, write books and
translate classical works of sages and Chinese and foreign publications.
In just a matter of few months, various people, including men and women,
elders and youngsters, will all be literate and China will become a great
civilized country since ancient times.” (Language Reform Press 1958:2–3)
(23) Shang Zhilizongdu Yuan Shikai Shu ‘Official Letter Submitted to the Viceroy
of Zhili Yuan Shikai’ by Wang Yongzhou, He Fenghua et al in 1903: “As far
as the nature is concerned, elite people should be taught with higher edu-
cation, while common people should be taught with general education.
Both of them are essential. Acclaimed scholars and prominent intellectuals
have been discussing the government issues at the royal court. There is no
need to worry about not having higher education for few elite people. The
worry is that there is a lack of general education for many common people!
What is higher education for few elite people? It is the teaching of Chinese
422 Chapter 27
language and foreign languages. What is general education for many com-
mon people? It is the use of spoken language to replace written language,
and the use of phonetic characters to transcribe language.” (Language
Reform Press 1958:35–36)
(24) Lu Ganzhang’s Banxing Er Yi ‘Two Merits of the Promulgation (of the Use of
Qieyin Characters)’: “The profundity and beauty of the Chinese language
are the most difficult thing to learn. Only rich and intelligent youngsters
can master it. Hundreds of millions of women and poor people are ex-
cluded from education. This is why the country is weak and bullied by
foreigners. If qieyin characters are used to translate Beijing dialect with
the upper part being listed as Chinese characters and the lower part being
qieyin characters, then people can learn Chinese characters through qieyin.
By using this scheme, not only everyone can read qieyin characters, they
can also learn Chinese characters without being taught. Everyone in the
country can learn to read and reason, there will be no further reason for it
to be weak and bullied by others anymore.” (Lu 1906: 2)
(25) Wang Zhao’s Zimu Shu – Xu ‘Preface, Book of Alphabet’ in 1903: “Book of
Alphabet is compiled for teaching poor women and children who are not
able to read Chinese characters. Several Chinese characters are listed
on the header of each chapter with phonetic characters, intelligent people
can then learn Chinese characters at the same time without being taught.”
(26) Wang Zhao’s Chu “Zimu Shu” de Yuangu ‘Origin of the Publication of Book of
Alphabet’ in 1903: “Books compiled by our free school are useful. Phonetic
characters are printed on the side of Chinese characters for all books, such
as Baijiaxing ‘Book of Family Names’, Sanzijing ‘Three-Character Scripture’,
Qianziwen ‘Thousand-Character Text’, Sishu ‘Four Books’ and Wujing ‘Five
Classics’. Chinese characters can then be recognized with the help of
phonetic characters. Gradually, more Chinese characters can be learnt
and students can even read books without phonetic transcription. In
future, Chinese people can read books, gain more knowledge and broaden
their horizon. This is the aim of publishing Zimu Shu.” (Language Reform
Press 1958:33)
All these opinions showed that proponents of the Qieyinzi Movement treated
qieyin characters as an assistant to Chinese characters, not as an opponent to
them. The difficulty and complexity of Chinese characters as an obstacle to
education was the viewpoint of the Qieyinzi Movement, while the ideas of total
abolition of Chinese characters and even the full romanization of the Chinese
language were just proposed by people of later generations.
Although 20 years of the Qieyinzi Movement in late Qing Dynasty was a lan-
guage modernization movement of the Chinese language, its noble aim was
in fact to educate the people and strengthen the country. In order to have a
prosperous country and a well-regulated government, there needed to have
educated and civilized people. In the course of educating the people and
strengthening the country, though education for elite people was essential, edu-
cation for common people was even more important. If the popularization of
education for common people was to be realized, it was necessary to have easily
recognized characters, just like qieyin characters. The implementation of the use
of qieyin characters was the basis of education for common people, and the
popularization of education for common people was the foundation of educat-
ing the people and strengthening the country. These were the basic rationale of
the Qieyinzi Movement.
Proponents of the Qieyinzi Movement did not only propose a theoretical
view of strengthening and rescuing the country, they also “enthusiastically” put
this view into practice. They did not only try to persuade “the upper hierarchy
of the society” by writing letters to the Qing government and the Emperor and
submitting official documents to the Advisory Council, they also emphasized on
the promotion of the view in the society with their time, efforts, money and even
their lives. Here are three illustrative examples:
In order to create “qieyin new characters”, Lu Ganzhang, the pioneer of the

Qieyinzi Movement, “declined all other external affairs and concentrated on the
creation of qieyin characters through night and day for more than ten years”6.
From the time he created qieyin characters till his death of illness in 1928, he
had been adhering to this cause for around 40 years. “Most of the books are
hand-written. Once the manuscripts have just sent to print, he would worry
about not having enough copies so as to limit the scope of promotion. Then he
would reprint and reprint. He spent all his hard-earned money in this cause.
Whenever there are people who come to ask about qieyin characters, he would
put a lot of effort to teach them.”7
6 See Lu Ganzhang’s Zhongguo Diyi Kuaiqieyin Xinzi – Yuanxu ‘Original Preface, The Quickest
Phonic Script in China’ in Lu (1892: 1).
7 See Lu Tiande’s Zhonghua Shouchang Yinzi zhi Yuanzu Lu Ganzhang Xiansheng (Mr. Lu
Ganzhang, the First Forerunner of the Creation of Phonetic Characters in China), cited from Xu
(2000: 79).
424 Chapter 27
19 year old Shen Xue, a medical student of St. John School at Fanwangdu
of Shanghai, spent five years to write Shengshi Yuanyin ‘Pronunciation of a
Prosperous Age’ in English. He went to Yilinchun Restaurant every Sunday to
teach phonetic characters. However, at last he was utterly destitute that he sank
to being a beggar and died of hunger and illness. (Li 1933: 12; Ni 1948: 40–41)
Wang Zhao was originally one of the members of the camp of the Reform
Movement of 1898 and a candidate for Grade Four senior officials. After the
failure of the Reform Movement, he fled to Japan and produced the scheme of
Guanhua Zimu ‘Mandarin Alphabet’ by imitating Japanese kana. In 1900, Wang
secretly returned China and risked his life by promoting his scheme in Tianjin,
Baoding and Beijing. He voluntarily surrendered himself and was jailed for
the first time in 1904. After he was released in 1905, he continued to promote
his scheme until old age. Wang’s mandarin alphabet exerted huge influence.
The implementation of the scheme lasted ten years and was spread across 13
provinces. More than 60,000 books were compiled and printed using the
scheme. Several tens of organizations were established for the promotion of the
scheme. (Li 1933: 15–18; Ni 1948: 42–47; Zhou and Liu 1996: 202, 206, 207)
The world has entered the 21st century and the social conditions of educa-
tion in China have changed drastically. By 2004, the basic universal education of
9-year compulsory education and the basic literacy of young adults had covered
93.6% of the population of China. The illiterate rate of young adults is around
4%. The literacy rate of adults is the highest among large developing countries.8
Particularly during the period of the “11th Five-Year Plan”, the State proposed
that there should be full popularization of 9-year compulsory education aiming
at covering 100% of the population.9 Today, revisiting the proposition of univer-
sal education in the Qieyinzi Movement 90 years ago can still illuminate us with
its theoretical insight and provide us with lessons to learn. The enthusiastic
spirit and practice of the proponents in patriotism and ideals in education can
still exert tremendous influence on the people engaging in the field of education
nowadays.
8 See Luoshi Kexue Fazhanguan Jiakuai Jiaoyu Shiye Fazhan – “Shiwu” Qijian Jiaoyu Shiye
Fazhan he Gaige de Zhuyao Chengjiu ‘Implementation of the View of Scientific Development,
Acceleration of Education Development – Main Achievements in the Development and Reform
of Education during the Period of the ‘11th Five-Year Plan’’ in Zhongguo Jiaoyu Bao (Chinese
Education News), front page, 12th October, 2005.
9 See the speech delivered by Zhou Ji, Minister of Education (PRC) in the press release con-
ference on 28th February, 2006.
References
Cai, Xiyong. 1956 [1896]. Chuanyin Kuaizi (Shorthand Symbols for Transmitting Sounds). Beijing:
Chen, Qiu. 1958 [1903]. Xinzi Ouwen Qiyinduo (Phonological Rules on Phonetic Characters for
Ou Dialect). Beijing: Language Reform Press.
Li, Jinxi. 1933. Guoyu Yundong (National Language Movement). Shanghai: The Commercial Press.
Lu, Ganzhang. 1956 [1892]. Yimuliaoran Chujie (Elementary Phonetic Characters in the Blink of
an Eye). Beijing: Language Reform Press.
Lu, Ganzhang. 1957 [1906]. Beijing Qieyin Jiaokeshu (Textbook on Beijing Phonetic Characters).
Beijing: Language Reform Press.
Ni, Haishu. 1948. Zhongguo Pinyin Wenzi Yundong Shi (Jianbian) [An Annal of the Phonetic
Script Movement of China (abridged)]. Shanghai: Shidai Shubao Publishing House.
Qu, Xingui and Tong, Fuyong. 1997. Zhongguo Jindai Jiaoyushi Ziliao Huibian – Jiaoyu Sixiang
(Chinese Education History Archive Collection – Ideology of Education). Shanghai: Shanghai
Education Publishing House.
Shen, Xue. 1956 [1896]. Shengshi Yuanyin (Pronunciation of a Prosperous Age). Beijing:
Tian, Tingjun. 1901. Shumu Dai Zi Jue (Rhymed Formula of Numeric Substitutions of Chinese
Characters). Beijing: Language Reform Press.
Tian, Tingjun. 1906. Pinyin Dai Zi Jue (Rhymed Formula of Phonetic Alphabet Substitutions of
Chinese Characters). Beijing: Language Reform Press.
Tian, Zhengping and Xiao, Lang. 2000. Shiji zhi Lixiang – Zhongguo Jindai Yiwu Jiaoyu Yanjiu
(Ideal of the Century – A Study of Compulsory Education in Modern China). Zhejiang:
Zhejiang Education Publishing House.
Wang, Bingyao. 1956 [1897]. Pinyin Zipu (Character Table with Pinyin). Beijing: Language
Reform Press.
Wang, Zhao. 1957 [1903]. Guanhua Hesheng Zimu (Chongkanban) [Mandarin Phonetic Alphabet
(Re-published Edition)]. Beijing: Language Reform Press.
Xiong, Xianjun. 1998. Qianqiujiye – Zhongguo Jindai Yiwu Jiaoyu Yanjiu (Foundation of
Thousand Years – Study of Compulsory Education in Modern China). Wuhan: Huazhong
Normal University Press.
Zhao, Erxun, et al. 1977 [1928]. Qing Shi Gao (Draft History of Qing). Beijing: Zhonghua Book
Company.
Zhou, Guangqing and Liu, Wei. 1996. Hanyu yu Zhongguo Xin Wenhua Qimeng (Chinese Lan-
guage and New Culture Enlightenment in China). Taipei: Dongda Publishing Company.

Chapter 28
Late Qing script reformers’ view of dialects
Abstract: This paper studies the understanding of dialects during the late Qing
period, making use of Qieyinzi Movement. 1) The concept of dialect was basi-
cally established but the boundary of dialect and language was not clear
yet since the nature of dialect was not grasped properly. 2) Mandarin was still
divided between the south and the north and the southern Mandarin enjoyed
rather high prestige. Late Qing period was a time when there occurred drastic
changes in the power relationship, and the status of northern Mandarin was
surpassing the southern Mandarin. 3) It was clearly recognized that dialectal
differences hindered communication, education and national unity so language
should be unified so as to eliminate dialectal differences. The Qieyinzi Move-
ment was a summit for the knowledge of dialects, since the study of dialects
by Yang Xiong. The Movement advocated the adoption and development of the
Beijing dialect, the representative of northern Mandarin, as the national standard
and the modern lingua franca of Han Chinese, the result of which is recorded in
history forever.
Keywords: Qieyinzi Movement, late Qing Dynasty, script reformers, view of

dialects
0 Introduction
During the late Qing Dynasty, China suffered from internal problems and external
oppression, Chinese with high ideals would like to seek ways to reform China and
make the country prosperous and people economically well-off. Among them
was a batch of script reformers who strongly recognized that a strong country
required general intellect, which required education, which in turn required an
easy to learn writing system and a unified national language. Therefore, starting
from 1892 with Lu Ganzhang’s publishing of Yimu Liaoran Chujie (Zhongguo
Qieyin Xinzi Xiaqiang) ‘Elementary Phonetic Characters in the Blink of an Eye
(The New Phonetic Alphabets in China in Xiamen Accents)’ up to 1911 when the
Central Education Meeting of the Education Ministry proclaimed the Tongyi
Guoyu Banfa An (Proposal for Establishing a Common National Language),
during the last 20 years of Qing Dynasty saw the wide-spread and influential
script reform, so-called the Qieyinzi Movement in the vast territory of China.
428 Chapter 28
Although this batch of script reformers took design and promotion of new
writing system as their major mission, doing so definitely involved directly or
indirectly the issues of dialect. In their writings and speeches, not only were
there macroscopic views towards dialects, thus forming a view of dialects for
a certain period, but also direct and indirect description of the contemporary
dialect situation. This view of dialect as well as the description of contemporary
dialect situation, were not just the succession and conclusion of traditional Chinese
dialectal studies, but also contained observation and contemplation of these
scholars. Although our modern dialectology was established under the direct
influence of western dialectology, it also absorbed its essence from the traditional
language studies in China. Although it is not yet clear whether the scholarly
activities and the results of these late Qing script reformers had any impact on
the conception of Chinese dialectology in the modern sense, the last twenty
years of the Qing Dynasty marked a transitional period from traditional philology
to modern linguistics. Consequently, studying the works about dialects of these
reformers should be very valuable in terms of history of linguistics.
This paper primarily studies the view of dialects of late Qing script reformers.
The literature review is mainly based on Qing Mo Wenzi Gaige Wenji ‘A Collection
of Essays on Chinese Script Reform in the Late Qing Dynasty’, supplemented by 26
volumes from Pinyin Wenzi Shiliao Congshu ‘A Collection of Historical Data
of Phonetic Writing’. Essays on Chinese Script Reform in the Late Qing Dynasty
collected around 60 essays, prefaces and postscripts, letters, speeches, memorials
to the throne, meeting proposals, official documents, thus including the major
viewpoints of contemporary reformers. For the sake of simplicity, only page
numbers will be noted for quotations from this book, whereas for those from A
Collection of Historical Data of Phonetic Writing, CHD will be noted.
1 The meaning of “dialect” and its relevant

concepts
Lu Guoyao (1991) pointed out, “The word ‘dialect’ was found first in Fengsu Tongyi
Xu ‘Preface, Principals of Customs’ by Ying Shao in Han Dynasty. Since then,
‘dialect’ was used in all dynasties but the frequency of use was not high. In
the Qing Dynasty, there was new development in dialectal studies. According to
literature, this concept of ‘dialect’ was used rather commonly by script reformers,
for example,
1) Wang Bingyao (1897: 12–13) in Pinyin Zipu – Zixu ‘Author’s Preface, Character
Table with Pinyin’ said, “It is a pity that people nowadays use slangy lan-
guage, play with words, play with scenery, with no substance in mind.
So why not add phonetic alphabets to regular characters, spell different
dialects, so as to make them easy to learn by people, and lay the form-less
yet solid foundation using phonetic alphabets. . . . Since most dialects have
no dialectal characters to represent them, and so people remain ignorant as
before. I worry about this situation and try to come up with a way to cope
with this by inventing a new writing system that can be used to spell dia-
lects. While the letters of the alphabet are modeled upon those of the west,
calligraphy is still based on our own tradition. For slow learners, 10 days
will suffice to master the system and it cannot be simpler.
2) Wen Hao (1956: 14) in Pinyin Zipu Xu ‘Preface, Character Table with Pinyin’
mentioned, “Now Mr. Wang Yuchu worked exhaustively to collect different
dialects and created the pinyin character list.”
3) Chen Qiu in Xinzi Ouwen Qiyinduo ‘Phonological Rules on Phonetic Characters
for Ou Dialect’ said, “This book was written for different dialects. We talk
about sounds, not rhymes, and those sounds which are close can be used
interchangeably.” (CHD: 58)
Some people even took ‘dialect’ as a discipline similar to arithmetic, and
science, for instance,
4) Sun Jinming (1957: 66) in Pinyin Dai Zi Jue Xu ‘Preface, Rhymed Formula of
Phonetic Alphabet Substitutions of Chinese Characters’ said, “Master Tian
Junting predicted that civil examination would cease, so he was absorbed
in current affairs. For disciplines like arithmetic, science and dialects, he
studied all very hard. . . Moreover, in Chinese dialects, there are a lot of
words that cannot be represented by characters. So it is extremely difficult
for even a knowledgeable person to use some folk adage to show those
people who have not had much learning how to understand better and
send messages effectively. This is really lamentable.
The word ‘dialects’ in these reformers’ opinion, is a complementary concept to

‘Mandarin’ and ‘guoyu’ proposed later. Besides ‘dialects’, other words used are
patois, certain talk, certain speech, such as:
5) Liu Shien (1957: 11) in Yinyun Jihao ‘Phonology Symbols’ said, “Any patois
you find contains light tones.”
6) Qing Fu, et al. (1958: 125–126) Chenqing Zizhengyuan Banxing Guanghua Jianzi
Shuotie ‘Lobby Paper Submitted to the Political Consultative Council concern-
430 Chapter 28
ing the Promulgation of Mandarin Simplified Characters’ said, “People con-

verge to where the capital is. So after tens of hundreds of years of conver-
gence, a kind of capital speech, is formed, because the capital is central and
not peripheral. And there are dialects similar to this capital speech, such as
the eleven provinces including Zhili (Hebei), Fengtian, Jilin, Heilongjiang,
Shandong, Henan, Gansu, Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan, Shaanxi, and one half
of each of the two provinces of Anhui and Jiangsu. Other than these, there is
not a dialect that is shared by two provinces, either because of mountains or
waters. So there is no reason to drop the capital speech and choose some
other artificial speech. The capital speech is not private property of Beijing
people. Instead, it belongs to the whole nation.
In terms of language structures, dialects should also include dialectal pronun-
ciation, dialectal lexicon and dialectal grammar. However, since the under-
standing of dialect structures was still quite limited, and also the awareness of
dialectal pronunciation differences was most conspicuous, since the design of
Romanized writing systems was more related to pronunciation, therefore the
concern towards dialects was mainly phonological, and rather less concerned
with lexicological and grammatical aspects.
The terms used at that time for dialectal pronunciation include “dialectal
pronunciation, vernacular pronunciation, vernacular accent, and intercalary pro-
nunciation etc.” sometimes, “place names, district names, (words of direction +
pronunciation) or certain accent” were adopted, such as “Guangdong pronun-
ciation, Ning (Nanjing) pronunciation, Min-Guang pronunciation, Southern
pronunciation, Amoy accent, etc. These concepts and representations were com-
plementary to “official pronunciation, orthodox pronunciation”, and “national
pronunciation”, which was proposed later.
7) Ma Tiqian (1908: 86–87) in Tan Wenzi ‘On Characters’ said, “I think we should
pick the pronunciation commonly used by the whole nation as national
pronunciation, and the specific pronunciation of different places as dialectal
pronunciation. This national pronunciation is similar to the previous
national pronunciation and the dialectal pronunciation is the so-called in-
tercalary pronunciation.”
8) Tang Jinming (1896: 6) in Chuanyin Kuaizi, Shuhou ‘Postscript, Shorthand
Symbols for Transmitting Sounds’ said, “And scholars could not understand
after a whole life of studying, because initials such as jian, xi, qun and yi
did not match whether they were pronounced in vernacular pronunciation
or official pronunciation, so they had doubt and could not understand. . .
Western pronunciation is different from Chinese. Various provinces made
use of characters that sound alike in vernacular pronunciation to represent

it, and so the characters used are all different.”
9) Lu Ganzhang (1957: 5) in Beijing Qieyin Jiaokeshu ‘Textbook on Beijing Phonetic
Characters’ said “There are many vernacular accents in China”. (CHD)
10) Wang Zhao (1903: 32) in Zimu Shu – Xu ‘Preface, Book of Alphabet’ said
“The letters for spelling followed the system of national script, but take the
Beijing pronunciation as standard.”
11) Lao Naixuan (1906: 57–28) in Zhi “Zhongwai Ribao” Guan Shu ‘A Letter to
Zhongwai Daily’ said, “the northern pronunciation has originally 50 letters,
12 rhymes, 4 tones, not just missing the entering tones. The letters and
rhymes are also different from those of southern pronunciations. Therefore,
we now add 6 letters, 3 rhymes, 1 entering tone for the Nanjing pronuncia-
tion. In that case, those dialects in various regions and districts in Jiangsu
and Anhui can make use of this system. Moreover, although in Nanjing pro-
nunciation, there is an entering tone, it is still different from rhymes found
in Jiangsu dialects, and there are no voiced consonants, so an additional 7
letters, 3 rhymes and 1 symbol for voicing are used for the Jiangsu spelling
system. In that case, various regions and districts in Jiangsu and Zhejiang
can make use of this system. . . Now the two systems newly designed, can
still not represent the dialects in Fujian, Guangdong and Guangxi.
12) Zheng Donghu (1910: 136) in “Qieyinzi” zhi Shuomingshu ‘Manual of Qieyinzi’
said, “Because there are differences between orthodox pronunciation and
Guangdong pronunciation, such as ‘xie’ and ‘zai’ belong to the same rhyme
in orthodox pronunciation, but not so in Cantonese. Other example such as
‘yan’ and ‘fan’ have the same rhyme, but not so in orthodox pronunciation.”
13) Lu Ganzhang (1856) in Yimu Liaoran Chujie – Zhongguo Qieyin Xinzi Zong
Zimu Xiefa zhi Cidi ‘Elementary Phonetic Characters in the Blink of an Eye –
the Order of Writing All Letters of Chinese Qieyin New Characters’ said, “One
can use this alphabet throughout China. There are vernacular accents every-
where and a subset of the alphabet can be used. This book makes use of the
Amoy accent, and Zhangzhou and Quanzhou, are close enough to use the
same subset of letters. For other vernacular accents, another book will be
written to represent them. (CHD)
It is because at that time the view towards dialects is tilted to pronunciation, so
the term dialect was used to indicate dialectal pronunciation, for example,
14) Lao Naixuan (1905: 55) Jiangning Jianzi Banri Xuetang Shifanban Kaixue
Yanshuo Wen ‘Term-commencement Speech for Teachers Training Class of
Jiangning Simplified Characters Half-Day School’ said, “In China we used
432 Chapter 28
traditional characters and dialects for several thousand years and now if we
want to change dialects used for several thousand years as official pronun-
ciation, everyone would find it difficult.”
Lu Guoyao (1991) pointed out that ‘Dialect’ in ancient time not only meant
regional dialects as in today, it also meant minority languages in China and
foreign languages. Yuenren Chao (1980:98) and Zhang Qingchang (1990:39)
also held that view before. Gao Shiliang (1992) collected information of Guang-
fangyan Guan ‘Dialect Institute’ in Shanghai during the Reform Movement. The
main mission of Guangfangyan Guan was to nourish foreign language experts,
so it is understandable that at that time ‘dialects’ also meant foreign languages.
The script reformers of late Qing Dynasty did not distinguish between
‘language’ and ‘dialects’ and usually called different languages ‘dialects’ or called
the pronunciations of different languages ‘dialectal pronunciations,’ for example,
15) Liang Qichao (1903: 8) Shenshi Yinshu Xu ‘Preface, Shen’s Book of Pronun-
ciation’ said, “Westerners already got the letters of Greeks and Romans,
so they could trace the past, to train the gifted people; they also got the
‘dialectal pronunciations’ of various countries, such as Britain, France,
Germany, so they could reach the present and train the ordinary people.
If they only use the Greek writing system and not supplement it with the
present ‘dialectal pronunciations’, then the discrepancies between the
classical languages and the present day languages, will be as serious as
those of ours.”
16) Liu Mengyang (1957: 85) Zhongguo Yinbiao Zishu-Bianyan ‘Preface, Transcrip-
tion Alphabets of China’ said, “For others such as patois of women and chil-
dren and of vulgarity, as well as ‘dialects’ of the provinces and different coun-
tries, the character system cannot convey the meanings, but this spelling
system can. So this spelling system is to supplement the character system.”
17) Wang Bingyao (1897: 12) in Pinyin Zipu – Zixu ‘Author’s Preface, Character
Table with Pinyin’ said, “Japan respects our Chinese characters and also
uses their characters for local dialects. They also learn from the west exten-
sively. As a result, the Japanese people are wise and their country strong.
This has been well documented.”
18) Shen Xu (1897: 11–12) in Shengshi Yuanyin – Zixu ’Author’s Preface, Pronun-
ciation of a Prosperous Age’ said, “In my study, I found the Chinese dialectal
pronunciations are most numerous and messy. The European dialects are
not so different, yet they cannot be unified and form various spelling
systems. English is not suitable for the French pronunciation; and French
is not suitable for Russian, German and Danish pronunciations, and their
letters are not unified. Europeans did try to integrate the various pronuncia-
tions and represent them in one united spelling system, and up to now they
could not do it.”
Moreover, in Mashi Wentong ‘Ma’s Grammar’, similar sayings could be found,

meaning that this was the consensus of that time.
19) Ma Jianzhong (1898: 323) Ma Shi Wentong ‘Ma’s Grammar’ said, “Western
languages started with spelling, so meaning is reflected in sounds. For all
verbs, the endings will change according to the mood. In ancient Greek
and Latin, the verbs may have sixty to seventy conjugations with different
sounds. Now their dialects all have different conjugations and English is
the simplest. Since the verbs have conjugations, so there is no such category
as particle. Particles are unique in Chinese and they help verbs to keep
unchanged.”
Putting “dialects”, “dialectal pronunciations” in contrast with “Mandarin”,

“official pronunciation”, “national language”, “national pronunciation”, “orthodox
pronunciation” shows that during the late Qing Dynasty, the concept of “dialect”
was basically established. However, in general, the understanding of “dialect”
was still relatively shallow, because:
– Firstly, the boundary between dialect and language was not clear, thus
showing that the nature of “dialect” was not grasped properly;
– Secondly, the major concern was about pronunciation and “dialect” could
be used to mean “dialectal pronunciation” narrowly, showing that the under-
standing of linguistic structures of dialects was not comprehensive;
– Thirdly, using “place names”, “district names”, “words of direction +
pronunciation” to refer to different dialects or dialectal pronunciations,
showing that the division of dialect boundaries in China was perceptual,
not scientifically determined and there was a lack of rational understanding
of the hierarchy of dialects;
– Fourthly, besides “dialect” and “dialectal pronunciations”, there were other
vulgar terms such as “patois”, “vernacular pronunciation” and “vernacular
accent”, showing that the status of “dialect” as a scientific term was not
consolidated.
2 The formation of dialects and dialect power

In Ancient China, the formation of dialects was usually explained by the Natural
Environment Theory, such as:
434 Chapter 28
20) Yan Zhitui in Chapter 18, Yan Shi Jiaxun ‘Annotations on Admonitions of the
Yan’s Family – Sounds and Expressions’ said, “That people in China, speak
differently is a natural scene since the very beginning. . . The land and water
in the south are soft and gentle and the people there say things with a soft
tone and stick to the meaning, but it is kind of shallow and the expressions
are vulgar. The mountains and rivers in the north are deep and thick, and
the people there say things with a low and blunt tone but they get the
straight quality. The expressions are usually archaic.”
However, other scholar did believe that the formation of dialects was due to
the fact that the writing system could not change according to the changes in
language, the discrepancies between writing and speaking caused the accents
to change, for example:
21) Yang Qiong (1957: 46) in Author’s Preface to Xingshengtong also made use of
Guanzi’s view to explain why different language came into existence. He
said, “Even for people in neighboring villages or in the same country, they
cannot communicate with each other. So how can people in the whole world
understand each other. . . Different countries have different languages.”
Theoretically speaking, a lingua franca is a dialect of a higher form.
22) Wang Zhao (1901: 20) in Guanhua Hesheng Zimu-Yuanxu Yi ‘Original Preface
1, Mandarin Phonetic Alphabet’ said, “If the writing system does not follow
the language, the two will be gradually different. If the writing system
cannot represent the language, then accents will develop more rapidly. As
a result, people living a hundred li away will not be able to communicate
in a year, and people living a thousand li away will not be able to com-
municate in thirty years. Differences will not be undone, and people living
in the same country may look as if they lived in different territories.”
23) Wang Yongzhou, He Fenghua, et al. (1903: 35) in Shang Zhili Zongdu Yuan
Shikai Shu (Official Letter Submitted to the Viceroy of Zhili Yuan Shikai) said,
“Since the split of the literary language from the colloquial language,
accents became more and more diverse and there have been less and less
learned people. This phenomenon must be remedied today.”
The theory of natural environment cannot explain the formation of dialects, nor
is the discrepancy between the literary language and colloquial language
closely related to the formation and development of dialects. Even for languages
that employ a phonemic writing system, there still exist dialectal differences.
Apparently, there was no scientific understanding of how dialects were formed.
But people were aware of the existence of dialectal power, which means that
due to cultural, political and economic reasons, the status of dialects (including
the lingua franca) may be different in people’s mind.
Mandarin has a higher status than dialects. People referred to Mandarin and
its pronunciation as “national language, national pronunciation, official pronun-
ciation, orthodox pronunciation”, and referred to dialects or dialectal pronun-
ciations as “patois, vernacular pronunciation, and vernacular accents”. The
connotative meanings of orthodox versus vulgar attached in these terms reflects
the status of Mandarin. At that time, some writing schemes were designed
specifically for certain dialects. This does not mean that these dialects enjoyed
a higher status but simply means that the purpose of such designs should
serve general education of the masses or as a means to promote the learning of
Mandarin subsequently, for example:
24) Lao Naixuan (1910: 114) in Zhi Tang Shangshu Han ‘Letter to Minister Tang’
said, “Using dialectal pronunciation as ladder to reach the destination of
Mandarin.”
At that time, there was still a distinction between Southern Mandarin vs.
Northern Mandarin. In 1910, Jiang Qian indicated clearly in Zhiwen Xuebu Fen
Nian Chouban Guoyu Jiaoyu Shuotie ‘Lobby Paper Submitted to the Imperial Edu-
cational Ministry concerning the Setting up of National Language Education in
Phases’ that there was such a dichotomy (see example 39). From the dialog
of Lu Ganzhang and Changbai Laomin in example 25 and example 26, it can
be seen that Southern Mandarin took Nanjing dialect as representative; and
Northern Mandarin took Beijing dialect as representative. Moreover, Southern
Mandarin enjoyed an even higher status than Northern Mandarin, for example,
25) Lu Ganzhang (1892: 3) in Zhongguo Diyikuai Qieyin Xinzi – Yuanxu ‘Original

Preface, The Quickest Phonic Script in China’ said, “How can we not set up
qieyin characters and be different from all other countries? It should be
based on one accent. Among 19 provinces, except for Guangdong, Fujian
and Taiwan, the remaining 16 provinces are mostly Mandarin regions, and
in Mandarin, the most widespread accent is the southern one. If we base
on Nanjing dialect as the standard spelling system, then the language and
writing of 19 provinces will all be united, and there is no more barrier
between the literary language and colloquial language.” (CHD)
26) Changbai Laomin (1903: 34) Tuiguang Jinghua Zhi Wei Gongyi Lun ‘On
the Justification of the Promotion of Beijing Dialect’ said, “Now we try to
use the alphabet to spell Beijing dialect to supplement Chinese characters.
However, high officials and famous scholars are usually opposed to the
436 Chapter 28
idea. It is not because they are unkind in heart, but they are unclear in
several issues. For northerners, they have feared that the southerners would
laugh at their plainness, so they have tried to sound elegant and would
not dare to promote the Beijing dialect lest they would be mocked at. In
fact, the difference between literariness and vulgarity is based on knowledge,
behavior and capability, and not on playing with words. For the southerners,
they are restrained by the view that they represented the orthodox culture
for thousands of years and believe that the southern pronunciation is ortho-
dox. Moreover, they also find that it is difficult for their compatriots to speak
the northern dialect. If the spelling system based on Beijing dialect is used
to spell and translate books from China and the west, it will not be several
times easier for southerners to understand than they read in Chinese charac-
ters. So they think rather than going through this trouble, why not let differ-
ent provinces keep their dialects and so we could use Chinese text or even
foreign languages to translate. Then, disadvantages or advantages will be
equally shared by all dialects. Alas, they just do not know that without a
unified language, the magnitude of hidden losses can be so huge. It will be
unsurmountable to resolve this aggravated problem in the future.”
Lu Ganzhang had lived in the south for a long time and he thought that the
most widespread Mandarin is the southern Mandarin. Changbai Laomin was a
northerner, a Manchu indeed. From his thesis, one could see that for more than
200 years, the southern Mandarin enjoyed a higher status than the Beijing
dialect. In people’s mind, the south was elegant and the north vulgar; the south
was literary and the north rustic.
Lu Guoyao (1985) discovered after studying the Chinese Reading Notes of
Matteo Ricci that Nanjing dialect was the basis of the Ming Official language,
but many scholars believe that the official language for Jin, Yuan, Ming and
Qing Dynasties was based on Beijing dialect.
These two different views could mean a situation such that there was more
power in the official language based on Nanjing dialect during the Ming
Dynasty, but the status of Beijing dialect was elevated after the capital had
been moved to Beijing. During the Qing Dynasty, although Nanjing-based
Mandarin still enjoyed a high prestige, the status of Beijing dialect, as represen-
tative of northern Mandarin rose drastically. During the late Qing period, the
power relationship between the southern and northern Mandarin was changing,
and the northern variety was surpassing the southern variety progressively. In
the Qieyinzi Movement and the later National Language Movement, there were
more and more advocates of Beijing dialect as national standard, for example,
27) Wu Rulun (1902: 29) Shang Zhang Guanxue Shu ‘Letter to Intendant Zhang’
said, “Lately in Tianjin, there is a writing system that saves strokes, and it
is used to spell Beijing dialect. This can unify the pronunciation of the
whole nation especially.”
28) Lu Ganzhang (1906: 73) in Banxing Qieyinzi Shi Tiao Banfa ‘Ten Methods in
Promoting the Book with Phonetic Characters’ said, “To decree Beijing pro-
nunciation and the official language, so as to unify the language in China.”
In 1911, the resolution of the Central Education Meeting, Tongyi Guoyu Banfa An
‘Proposal for Establishing a Common National Language’, confirmed the status of
the Beijing dialect. In the article Shending Yinshenghua zhi Biaozhun ‘Examine
and Approve the Standard of Pronunciation’ (1911:143), it says:
29) The pronunciation varies in different places and so it should be based on

Beijjing pronunciation. . . Speech should be elegant and proper and conform
to nomenclature, and therefore Mandarin should be the basis.
Of course, the final confirmation of the prestigious status of northern Mandarin

did not come till 1924 after a five year debate between Beijing dialect and National
language when Zhang Yilin, the chairman of National Language Unification Prep-
aration Meeting, confirmed Beijing pronunciation as the national standard.
3 The problems with dialectal differences

An industrialized nation needs to form a united market, which requires the lan-
guage to be unified. It was so in Europe and Japan. Wu Rulun was ordered by
the Ministry of Education in 1902 to survey the education situation in Japan.
Izawa Shuji, A Japanese educator told him once that to unify language was of
utmost importance to China.
30) Wu Rulun (1902: 27) Dong You Cong Lu – Yu Yize Xiu’er Tanhua ‘Notes on
Travel to the East – Dialog with Isawa Shuji’ said, “Isawa Shuji also said,
in order for nationals to become patriotic, they have to be united first. So
language is the tool to unite the people. If there exist many languages, there
are countless inconvenient and problematic issues. After examining today’s
situation, the unification of language is of utmost importance to China.”
After returning to China, Wu Rulun wrote Notes on Travel to the East to introduce
the educational situation in Japan, including the issue of unifying language. He
also wrote to the Minister of Education saying:
438 Chapter 28
31) Wu Rulun (1958: 29) Shang Zhang Guanxue Shu ‘Letter to Intendant Zhang’
said, “Famous educators all say that for the nationals of a country, it will
not do without a unified language, which is the most important matter for
a national body.”
To unify language, so as to eliminate dialectal variations, had become a societal

consensus gradually arrived at during the late Qing period, for example,
32) Changbai Laomin (1903: 34) Tuiguang Jinghua Zhi Wei Gongyi Lun ‘On the
Justification of the Promotion of Beijing Dialect’ said, “The powers of the
world all take a unified language as the most important issue. So in recent
years, Chinese who know about governance, all understand this. The gentle-
men in southern provinces also want to promote Beijing dialect. . . . South-
erners already understand that the whole nation should be unified.”
Wang Zhao, a major advocate of Qieyinzi movement, designed Mandan Phonetic

Alphabet based on Beijing pronunciation. In order to promote Wang Zhao’s
letters in the south, Lao Naixuan, on top of the existing letters, added some to
represent the south-eastern dialects, the aim of which is “not to force the south
to follow the north, and so the south will be led to reunite with the north. . .
to make use of vernacular pronunciation as a simple ladder that leads to the
destination of a unified official pronunciation.” (p. 58) However, this view still
received criticism from Zhongwai Daily.
33) Zhongwai Daily’s Comment on Lao Naixuan’s Hesheng Jianzi said, “People
have for long worried about the fact that Chinese dialects were not unified.
Now if spelling systems are adopted and new letters can be added for differ-
ent places, it is like worrying that writing and speaking is not split and you
try hard to make that happen.” (p. 59)
At that time, from the perspective of language unification, people pointed out
the many problems related to dialectal differences, first, dialectal variations
interfere with communication. Example 22 also implied that. Moreover,
34) Liu Zhaoli, et al. (1910: 132) in Chenqing Zizhengyuan Banxing Guanghua
Jianzi Shuotie ‘Lobby Paper Submitted to the Political Consultative Council
concerning the Promulgation of Mandarin Simplified Characters’ stated, “As
China is so vast, and has so many dialects, and the writing system is so
difficult that it is not easy to understand fully. Now it is the time of prepara-
tion for decreeing the constitution, for those high up in the Preparatory Con-
gress, councils of the provinces, their writings are difficult to understand,
but their accents also vary much and therefore cause much trouble in lan-
guage communication. For ordinary people such as farmers, workers, mer-

chants, they all speak with different accents and are mostly illiterate, . . .”
35) Lu Ganzhang (1892: 3) in Zhongguo Diyikuai Qieyin Xinzi – Yuanxu ‘Author’s
Preface, The Quickest Phonic Script in China’ said, “Then the language and
writing of 19 provinces will be the same, and both the written and spoken
communication will be smooth. China, though vast in territory, is like one
family. It would not be like the past that different places were separated by
borders and people who spoke different dialects would become speechless
facing each other.”
Dialectal divergence impedes civil servants’ administration, blocking the flow

from top to bottom and vice versa, thus affecting the exchanges among farmers,
workers and merchants, illustrated by “each restrained by his border” and
“speechless face to face”. These shortcomings were not only known to the con-
temporary script reformers, and even the official institution such as Zhili Educa-
tion Division knew about it, for example,
36) In Zhili Xuewuchu Fuwen ‘Official Reply from the Education Affairs Office of
Zhili’, it was stated, “In China, people speak different patois, the result of
which is that people from the same province cannot talk to each other, and
it is troublesome in managing official affairs. It is therefore proposed that
dialects of China should be united according to the official pronunciation.”
(p. 43–44)
Second, dialectal divergence affects education. At that time, many celebrities

thought that to design an easy writing system (Qieyinzi) to unify language is
the most important thing in popularize education, raise the intelligence of the
masses and to make China prosperous and her people strong. Dialectal diver-
gence caused the pronunciation of Chinese characters to vary in different places,
thus affecting the design of Qieyinzi which would be pronounced in a unified
way, for example,
37) Li Wenyuan (p. 51) in the Epilog of Xingshengtong said, “out of the four
hundred million Chinese, two-thirds are illiterate. This is due to the fact
that education is not popularized, but it is also due to the difficulty imposed
by Chinese writing and the existence of so many diverse dialects.”
38) Shen Xue in Author’s Preface Shengshi Yuanyin ‘Pronunciation of a Prosperous
Age’ (1897: 11) said, “In Chinese text, a character is pronounced differently
depending on which dialect is used. How can one expect this writing system
to benefit the future students.”
440 Chapter 28
39) Jiang Qian (1910: 116) in Zhiwen Xuebu Fen Nian Chouban Guoyu Jiaoyu
Shuotie ‘Lobby Paper Submitted to the Imperial Educational Ministry con-
cerning the Setting up of National Language Education in Phases’ said, “That
dialects exist for different countries in the west and the east is no different
from China. The standard dialect should be used for education to make the
whole nation unified in language. In British elementary schools, London
pronunciation is used; in French elementary schools, Parisian pronuncia-
tion is used; in Japanese elementary textbooks, Tokyo pronunciation is used.
Chinese Mandarin has the southern variety vs. the northern variety and
between the south and north, there are yet differences. Since the Ministry
of Education aims to unify the national language, when textbooks are
compiled, should the Beijing pronunciation be based as the standard?”
So even the Ministry of Education shared this view. Though in reality, it did not
really support the Qieyinzi Movement.
40) In Xuebu Zi Waiwubu Wen ‘Message to the Foreign Ministry from the Depart-
ment of Education’, it is said, “Now we want to create spelling letters to
supplement the pictographic characters, then we should examine the original
sounds of the thirty-six initials, and get rid of the subtle ones that are hard
to identify, to select a certain number of letters as standard initials, and to
select a number of letters as standard rhymes, according to the principle of
four medials and four codas, and also with reference to the rhyme books.
Once the initials and rhymes are set, then we may imitate the Japanese
kanas and take the radicals of characters to form new characters. Or we
simply make use of the Roman script as in the west. Once the new characters
are set, then the transcriptions of characters in Yupian and Guangyun will be
checked one by one, to form the standard pronunciation and to be used
throughout the nation, without tilting towards dialects. It will be made sure
that writing and reading are easy by this system and that it is suitable for
both the elegant and the vulgar. This system will be good enough to unify
the dialects of all provinces and then we can plan for the popularization of
education.” (p. 69–70)
Dialectal divergence did in fact affect education. However, there were many fac-
tors that resulted in this situation, not just a matter of dialectal divergence.
Third, dialectal divergence affected emotion and interfered with national
unity, for example:
41) Wang Yongzhou, He Fenghua, et al. (1903: 36–37) in Shang Zhili Zongdu Yuan
Shikai Shu (Official Letter Submitted to the Viceroy of Zhili Yuan Shikai) said,
“Unifying language aims at uniting the people. In our country, people speak
different accents, so people from different provinces may not even be able to
exchange their names. Language is used to communicate among nationals.
If they speak differently, they will have doubt and this is not good for unity.
In the west, the writing system and spoken language are the same and so
the people are united. As for Japan, Tokyo dialect is used for popular edu-
cation. This is the key plan. Our country learns everything from the west
and Japan except for this matter. It is really a pity. . . . Different provinces
use different dialects and no wonder there is antagonistic provincialism.”
42) Lu Ganzhang (1906: 72) in Banxing Qieyinzi zhi Yi ‘Merits of Compiling Books
with Phonetic Characters’ said, “Our Qing Dynasty is united. How can we
allow different provinces to use different dialects and ignore each other
with no connection. So language must be united to unify the people.”
43) Qing Fu, et al. (1958: 125–126) Chenqing Zizhengyuan Banxing Guanghua Jianzi
Shuotie ‘Lobby Paper Submitted to the Political Consultative Council con-
cerning the Promulgation of Mandarin Simplified Characters’ said, “The most
important thing is not having good feelings and therefore not forming and
organization. For Shandong and Shanxi, they are equally close to the
capital. However, the Shangdong people and Beijing people run business
together. Farmers, workers and merchants mix very well together as if there
is no provincial border. However, for Shanxi people and Beijing people, only
the wealthy merchants deal with the high officials, other people suspect
each other and take each other as strangers. Why so? It is a matter of big
and small dialectal divergence. Suzhou, Changzhou, Huaiyin, Xuzhou are all
in the same province. But Huai-Xu people seem to be closer to the northerners
than to Su-Chang people, which is also because of dialect affinity. This is the
same for all provinces. Very well! Jiang Yiyuan put it that how is it possible
for people who do not share the same language, same feelings to become
compatriots? We have to adopt the Beijing pronunciation altogether.”
Language sentiment is a projection of language onto people’s psychology. In

general, people have affection and sense of belonging towards their father and
mother’s language. To unite the nation, to consolidate an organization, to
defend one’s nation against enemies, the elimination of dialectal divergence
and therefore psychological barrier has a certain effect. But was the effect as
big as people at that time held? Further investigation is needed. Of course, the
existence of dialects may not always be negative. So it is not comprehensive if
they only discussed the disadvantages of dialects.
442 Chapter 28
During the last two decades of the Qing Dynasty, script reformers were very con-
cerned with dialect issues. They started to conceive dialect concepts similar to
the present ones, discussing the power problem of southern Mandarin and
northern Mandarin. They discussed the impact of dialectal differences on com-
munication, education and national unity, which involved emotional problems
towards dialects. Since their goal was not to study dialects, and there were
limitations due to time difference, academic and technical developments, in
general, their understanding of dialects was not self-conscious, not comprehen-
sive, not systematic and some views were even radical and unscientific.
Nevertheless, it should be fair to conclude that the results reflected by their
opinions have reached a peak unparalleled by other dialectal studies since Yang
Xiong, and some viewpoints could still invoke our serious consideration when
revisited today when we still see considerable dialectal differences that hinder
the efforts of promoting the national standard language and writing system. To
build a prosperous nation state therefore enable people to enjoy a high living
standard and good education are still hot issues in society. Meanwhile, they
were also social practitioners, lobbying the government, enlightening the masses,
by their writings and speeches. Consequently, there were significant changes in
the power relationship of southern and northern Mandarins and the representa-
tive dialect of northern Mandarins, namely Beijing dialect eventually became the
national standard. Their efforts contributed to the selection and development of
the lingua franca of the Han Chinese, which would certainly be noted in history
forever.
Besides, in the writings and various schemes proposed about the script
reform during the late Qing Dynasty, we saw narrations and descriptions of con-
temporary dialects. These include three areas: the description of sound system
and lexicon of certain dialects, differences that exist among dialects, and classi-
fication of dialect regions. The three areas were either directly recounted, or
implicitly stated in the writing system schemes designed for particular dialects.
At that time, dialectology was not yet established as a discipline and dialect
survey methodology was not developed so it was not possible to conduct scien-
tific field work on dialects. As a result, the dialect situations reflected in those
writings and proposed schemes could not be highly valued in terms of scienti-
ficity, though they do have certain reference value. It is only in this perspective
that through in-depth study of these resources that could we evaluate fairly the
contribution of these late Qing script reformers towards the view of dialects and
Chinese dialectology.
References
Chao, Yuen-ren. 1980. Yuyan Wenti (Language Issues). Beijing: The Commercial Press.
Chen, Qiu. 1958 [1903]. Xinzi Ouwen Qiyinduo (Phonological Rules on Phonetic Characters for
Ou Dialect). Beijing: Language Reform Press.
Chen, Yongshun. 1995. Hanzi Gaige Shi Gang [A History of Chinese Script Reform (Revised
Edition)]. Changchun: Jilin University Press.
Gao, Shiliang. 1992. Zhongguo Jindai Jiaoyushi Ziliao Huibian – Yangwu Yundong Shiqi Jiaoyu
(Chinese Education History Archive Collection – Education during the Period of Western-
ization Movement). Shanghai: Shanghai Education Press.
Language Reform Press (ed.). 1956. Pinyin Wenzi Shiliao Congshu (A Collection of Historical
Data of Phonetic Writing). Beijing: Language Reform Press.
Liu, Shien. 1957 [1909]. Yinyun Jihao (Phonology Symbols). In Language Reform Press (ed.).
1956. Pinyin Wenzi Shiliao Congshu (A Collection of Historical Data of Phonetic Writing).
Beijing: Language Reform Press.
Lu, Ganzhang. 1956 [1892]. Yimuliaoran Chujie (Elementary Phonetic Characters in the Blink of
an Eye). In Language Reform Press (ed.). 1956. Pinyin Wenzi Shiliao Congshu (A Collection
of Historical Data of Phonetic Writing). Beijing: Language Reform Press.
Lu, Ganzhang. 1957 [1906]. Beijing Qieyin Jiaokeshu (Textbook on Beijing Phonetic Characters).
In Language Reform Press (ed.). 1956. Pinyin Wenzi Shiliao Congshu (A Collection of His-
torical Data of Phonetic Writing). Beijing: Language Reform Press.
Lu, Guoyao. 1994 [1985]. Ming Dai Guanhua jiqi Jichu Fangyan Wenti (Mandarin in the Ming
Dynasty and Issues Concerning its Base Dialect). In Lu Guoyao Zi Xuan Ji (Collection of
Self-selected Papers of Lu Guoyao). Zhengzhou: Henan Education Press.
Lu, Guoyao. 1994 [1991]. Fangyan yu ‘Fangyan’. In Lu Guoyao Zi Xuan Ji (Collection of Self-
selected Papers of Lu Guoyao). Zhengzhou: Henan Education Press.
Ma, Jianzhong. 1983 [1898]. Mashi Wentong (Ma’s Grammar). Beijing: The Commercial Press.
Wang, Liqi. 1980. Yan Shi Jiaxun Jijie (Annotations on Admonitions of the Yan’s Family). Shang-
hai: Shanghai Classics Publishing House.
Yu, Genyuan. 1996. Ershi Shiji de Zhongguo Yuyan Yingyong Yanjiu (Studies on Chinese Lan-
guage and Applications in the 20th Century). Taiyuan: Shuhai Press.
Zhang, Qingchang. 1990. Hutong ji Qita – Shehui Yuyanxue de Tansuo (Hutong and Others – A
Sociolinguistic Investigation). Beijing: Beijing Language Institute Press.
The original Chinese version of this paper was first published in Applied Linguistics, Vol. 3, 2002.
Translated by LUN Suen, Caesar (蔺荪)
ctslun@cityu.edu.hk
Chapter 29
Late Qing script reformers’ views on
language unification1
Abstract: The materials used in this article are based on Qing Mo Wenzi Gaige
Wenji ‘A Collection of Essays on Language Reform in Late Qing Dynasty’ which
discussed the issue of language unification by late Qing script reformers. The
exposition in Qing Mo Wenzi Gaige Wenji is related to three aspects: elimination
of dialectal discrepancies and unification of language in order to achieve the
aim of rallying the Chinese people; establishment of Beijing dialect, instead of
Southern Mandarin, as the pronunciation standards of the lingua franca of
China; promotion of the national language by using qieyin characters. Lessons
can be drawn from the exposition of these three aspects so as to realize the
strategic target of thorough popularization of Putonghua in China by 2050.
Keywords: unification of language, lingua franca, late Qing period, Chinese

script reform
0 Introduction
During the 20 years’ time between 1892 and 1911 of late Qing period, there oc-
curred a Chinese script reform movement which exerted far-reaching influence.
The movement was called the “Qieyinzi Movement” by later generations. The
proposition of the Qieyinzi Movement can be summarized into three points: 1)
ease of written forms; 2) consistency between the Chinese written language and
spoken language; 3) unification of language.2 “Ease of written forms” means
1 This article was written to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of Zhongguo Yuwen (Studies
of the Chinese Language) (June 2002 in Nanchang). When this article was included in this
collection, the first section (Tongyi Yuyan yi Jie Tuanti ye) in the original version was greatly
shortened and its heading was deleted. Accordingly, the second, third and fourth section in
the original version were revised as the first, second and third section in this version. The
numbering of example sentences was also amended correspondingly. This article was originally
published in Yuyan Jiaoxue yu Yanjiu (Language Teaching and Linguistics Studies) issue no. 2,
2003 (Beijing: The Institute of Linguistics, Beijing Language and Culture University).
2 This view had been proposed in Lu Ganzhang’s Zhongguo Diyikuai Qieyin Xinzi – Yuanxu
(Original Preface, The Quickest Phonic Script in China) (Language Reform Press 1958:2–3). Lu
Ganzhang was renowned as the one who inaugurated the beginning of the modernization of
the Chinese language.
446 Chapter 29
that the characters should be easily written. The view brought into the existence
of various qieyin characters schemes, which smoothed the path for the theory
and practice of national phonetic alphabet (zhuyin zimu), Chinese phonetic
scheme (Hanyu Pinyin) and Chinese characters simplification afterwards. “Con-
sistency between the Chinese written language and spoken language” means
that the written forms and the spoken language should be consistent, which
heralded the Vernacular Movement (Baihuawen Yundong) later. From the point
of view of public opinion and in theory, “unification of language” provided an
early stage preparation for the National Language Movement (Guoyu Yundong)
afterwards as well as the promotion task of Putonghua until now. The study of
the theory and practice of the Qieyinzi Movement is meaningful for us to fully
understand the modernization of the Chinese spoken and written language for
the recent hundred years and to better perform our tasks related to the Chinese
language today. The materials used in this article are based on Qing Mo Wenzi
Gaige Wenji ‘A Collection of Essays on Language Reform in Late Qing Dynasty’.
This article will study the exposition of language unification as put forward by
late Qing script reformers.
In the history of China, there were yayan ‘literary language’, tongyu ‘uni-
versal expression’ and guanhua, i.e. Mandarin ‘official language’; served as the
function of a lingua franca in various ages. However, these “quasi lingua franca”
influenced mainly government officials and the cultural circles. In actual daily
life, the discrepancies among various dialects were enormous, which were still
valid in late Qing period. Facing with the discrepancies among various dialects,
one after another, people started to propose the notion of language unification.
As early as 1892, in Zhongguo Diyikuai Qieyin Xinzi-Yuanxu ’Original preface, The
Quickest Phonic Script in China’, Lu Ganzhang had already put forward the view
that “one accent should be adopted as the core (pronunciation)” and Nanjing
dialect should be used to unify the Chinese language of the whole country.
(Language Reform Press 1958:3) In 1898, Lu Ganzhang was a government official
in Beijing, his fellow countryman Lin Lucun proposed “having the same pronun-
ciation for the whole country” in Shang Duchayuan Shu ‘Letter to the Censorate’.
(Language Reform Press 1958:17) In 1902, Wu Rulun’s Dong You Cong Lu ‘Notes
on Travel to the East’ was published. It described the achievements of Japan
in promoting its national language and language unification and introduced
the view of a Japanese named Izawa Shuji [“judging from the current status of
your (honourable) country, it is particularly urgent to unify your language”).
(Language Reform Press 1958:27–28) In the same year, Wu Rulun submitted a
letter to Zhang Baixi who was the Officer for Overseeing the Management of
Schools, appealing for “unifying the pronunciation of the Chinese language for
the whole country” and “forbidding the language to be inconsistent and in-
comprehensible”. (Language Reform Press 1958:29) Since then, there had been
constant calls for language unification which became the consensus of a group
of people of high ideals.
Elimination of dialectal discrepancies and unification of the Chinese lan-
guage were the right remedy propounded by the Qieyinzi Movement for saving
the country at that time. A hundred years have passed and yet the great under-
taking of unifying the Chinese language has not been accomplished, though the
right remedy is still valid in setting things right nowadays.
1 Selection of a lingua franca and the

establishment of selection criteria
As language unification was the right remedy propounded by the Qieyinzi Move-
ment, it was logical to proceed with the selection of a language to be the unified
lingua franca of the country.
1.1 Selection of a lingua franca

At that time, Mandarin as the most authentic provisional lingua franca was
regarded as having the status of being the lingua franca. The study in Li (2002)
shows that Mandarin in late Qing period was not unified in the sense that it was
divided into Northern Mandarin and Southern Mandarin. Southern Mandarin
was based on Nanjing dialect, while Northern Mandarin was represented by
Beijing dialect. Southern Mandarin of the time enjoyed considerably high status
as compared to that of the Northern Mandarin.
Nevertheless, using Beijing dialect to unify the Chinese language of the
country was the mainstream view of the time.3 In 1898, Lin Lucun had already
proposed to “stipulate Mandarin pronunciation of the capital as the national
pronunciation for use in China and overseas countries” by adopting the scheme
created by Lu Ganzhang in his new book on Min dialect phonetic characters:
3 There were some other views put forward by other people, for instance, Zhang Binglin’s Bo
Zhongguo Yong Wanguo Xinyu Shuo (A Refutation of the Proposal of Using Esperanto in China)
(Language Reform Press 1958:91) regarded the pronunciation of the regions in Changjiang River
and Han River as standard pronunciation; Ma Tiqian’s Tan Wenzi (On Characters) (Language
Reform Press 1958:87) says, “My humble opinion is that a commonly shared pronunciation
across the country should be selected as national pronunciation with local pronunciation of
448 Chapter 29
(1) Lin Lucun’s Shang Douchayuan Shu ‘Letter to the Censorate’: “If Mandarin
pronunciation of the capital is stipulated as the national pronunciation for
use in China and overseas countries by adopting the scheme created by Lu
Ganzhang in his new book on Min dialect phonetic characters, then Chinese
people scattered everywhere, no matter whether they are in Mongolia, Tibet,
Qinghai, Yili or any islands of the Malay Archipelago, the Malay Peninsula
and Indonesia, can speak with the same pronunciation. The written lan-
guage can be consistent with the spoken one, and women and children
can be able to read and write in several years’ time. As a result, people will
be enthusiastic about learning. Chinese people in China and overseas coun-
tries will be of one mind and work as one self. Wouldn’t this be excellent?”
In 1900, Wang Zhao created the Mandarin phonetic alphabet to transcribe

Beijing dialect. In 1902, Wu Rulun recommended this proposal to Zhang Baixi,
stating that “this pronunciation is all based on the accent of the capital, which
can particularly unify the pronunciation throughout the country”.4 In Wang Pu’s
Cheng Xuebu Dachen Zhang Baixi wei Tuiguang Guanhua Zimu Wen ‘Official
Document Submitted to Officer Zhang Baixi concerning the Promotion of Mandarin
Alphabet’, Wang appealed for the implementation of Wang Zhao’s Mandarin
phonetic alphabet. In 1903, both Tuiguang jinghua zhiwei gongyi lun ‘On the
justification of the promotion of Beijing dialect’ written by Changbai Laomin and
Shang Zhili Zongdu Yuan Shikai Shu ‘Official Letter Submitted to the Viceroy of
Zhili Yuan Shikai’ written by Wang Yongzhou, He Fenghua et al also advocated
the promotion of Beijing dialect. With the broad implementation of Wang Zhao’s
phonetic alphabet (including the phonetic simplified characters created by Lao
Naixuan on the basis of Wang Zhao’s scheme by incorporating dialectal pronun-
ciation) throughout the country, Northern Mandarin as represented by Beijing
dialect achieved a decisive victory. Even Lu Ganzhang who originally supported
the view of using Nanjing dialect as standard pronunciation also propounded
the promotion of Beijing dialect pronunciation in 1906:
each place being treated as dialectal pronunciation. The so-called national pronunciation is the
one close to Mandarin pronunciation, while dialectal pronunciation is the one that is currently
called run yin (run pronunciation, in which some of its vowels and consonants do not appear in
national phonetic alphabet).” Although Ma considered national pronunciation as “the one close
to Mandarin pronunciation”, the criteria of selecting national pronunciation were different from
the mainstream.
4 For details, see Wu Rulun’s Shang Zhang Guanxue Shu [Letter submitted to Intendent Zhang
(the Officer for Overseeing the Management of Schools)]. (Language Reform Press 1958:29)
(2) Lu Ganzhang’s Banxing Qieyin Zishu Shi Tiao Banfa ‘Ten Methods in Pro-
moting the Book with Phonetic Characters’: “It is stipulated that Mandarin
should use Beijing dialectal pronunciation as the national language so as
to unify the languages of the country. . . . Mandarin using Beijing dialect pro-
nunciation shall be used in all official documents, legal documents, general
documents and correspondence throughout the country as the national lan-
guage so as to unify the languages of the country.” (Language Reform Press
1958:73)
At that time, various reasons were raised to support the promotion of Mandarin
using Beijing dialectal pronunciation. For instance:
(3) Jiang Qian’s Zhiwen Xuebu Fen Nian Chouban Guoyu Jiaoyu Shuotie ‘Lobby
Paper Submitted to the Imperial Educational Ministry concerning the Setting
up National Language Education in Phases’: “In British elementary schools,
London pronunciation is used; in French elementary schools, Parisian pro-
nunciation is used; in Japanese elementary textbooks, Tokyo pronunciation
is used. Chinese Mandarin has the southern variety vs. the northern variety
and between the south and north, there are yet differences. Since the
Ministry of Education aims to unify the national language, when textbooks
are compiled, would the Beijing pronunciation be based as the standard?”
(4) Liu Zhaoli and Tao Nan’s Chenqing Zizhengyuan Tuixing Guanhua Jianzi
Shuotie ’Lobby Paper Submitted to the Political Consultative Council concern-
ing the Promulgation of Mandarin Simplified Characters’: “It is essential to
implement Mandarin simplified characters if the aim of language unification
and universal education is to be achieved. Mandarin is based on the dialect
of the capital, Beijing dialect, which is the convention of other countries in
this matter.” (Language Reform Press 1958:132)
(5) Chenqing Zizhengyuan Banxing Guanhua Jianzi Shuotie ‘Lobby Paper Submitted
to the Political Advisory Council concerning the Promulgation of Mandarin
Simplified Characters’ by Qing Fu et al: “Some time ago there is an assembly-
man stating that the pronunciation of dialects in peripheral areas should not
be used as the official language. This is not correct. It is because pronuncia-
tion is something to do with people, not areas. There are peripheral areas, but
there are no “peripheral” people. People tend to gather together in the capital
of a country. With thousands of years of history of development by incorporat-
ing the essence throughout the time, a kind of capital speech is formed,
showing that the capital is central and not peripheral. Furthermore, there
already exist dialects similar to this capital speech, such as dialects of the
450 Chapter 29
following eleven provinces: Zhili (Huebi), Fengtian, Jilin, Heilongjiang, Shan-

dong, He’nan, Gansu, Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan, Shaanxi, and one half of
each of the two provinces of Anhui and Jiangsu. Other than these, there is
not a dialect that is shared by two provinces. When we are at high altitudes,
we should follow mountains. When we are at lowland, we should follow lakes
and marshes. We should act in response to the situation. Would it be illogical
not to use Beijing dialect and seek for other alternatives? Beijing dialect is not
privately owned by Beijing people, it is shared by all Chinese people. I pro-
pound the promotion of Beijing dialect purely out of a selfless heart without
the need of caring for other people’s criticism.” (Language Reform Press
1958:126)
The reasons for such recommendation are: 1) Using the language of the capital
is an international convention; 2) Beijing dialect has “thousands of years of
history of development by incorporating the essence throughout the time”;
3) As it is similar to the dialects of 11 provinces and half of 2 provinces, Beijing
dialect can be regarded as the lingua franca of the country; 4) There is no other
dialect that is spoken in any two provinces. Today, when expounding the promo-
tion of Beijing dialect pronunciation as the standard pronunciation of Putong-
hua, the main reasons are basically as those mentioned above. Judging from
these reasons, the comprehension of the people in late Qing period on this issue
had already reached considerably high scientific standards.
1.2 The establishment of the name for the national language

What name should be given to the language that unifies the country? In
1902, Wu Rulun’s Dong You Cong Lu mentioned that Japanese used the term
“putongyu” ‘common language’:
(6) In the spring this year, your humble servant visited Satsuma of Japan. I
saw that students set up Putongyu Study Society everywhere. The so-called
Putongyu is indeed Tokyo dialect! (Language Reform Press 1958:28)
In 1906, Zhu Wenxiong had used the term “putonghua” ‘common spoken
language’:
(7) Zhu Wenxiong’s Jiangsu Xin Zimu – Zixu ‘Author’s preface to Jiangsu New
Alphabet’: “I learnt Putonghua (a spoken language that is used in all prov-
inces), though not very proficient. However, the alphabet can transcribe all
the pronunciations I utter as well as all the pronunciations I heard from the
speakers of each province, and both pronunciations resemble each other.”
On the whole, using the terms similar to “Mandarin” “guanhua”, “official lan-
guage” or “jinghua” “Beijing dialect” still accounted for the majority. Wu
Rulun’s Dong You Cong Lu introduced the concept of “guoyu” “national language”
and used it in Shang Zhang Guanxue Shu [Letter to Intendent Zhang (the Officer
for Overseeing the Management of Schools)]:
(8) Schools in Japan all are equipped with Guoyu readers. If we follow their
practice, it would be inevitable that we also need to follow the practice of
simplified stroke characters. (Language Reform Press 1958:29)
Since then, the use of the term “guoyu” became more popular and the term
was even used in those Lobby papers. In 1910, Jiang Qian even thought that an
official term should be confirmed by changing “Mandarin” into “guoyu”:
up National Language Education in Phases’: “In any case, the rectification
of names is of top priority for literary creation. The term “Mandarin” is not
appropriate. Although it is called “Mandarin”, it is not only spoken by
government officials. Farmers, workers, merchants and soldiers all have
to learn. Without being learnt by these people, it cannot be popularized.
In order to standardize the name of such language, it would be better to
determine whether the name of the readers of such language should be
changed into “guoyu duben” “national language readers” when requesting
the promulgation of the textbooks.” (Language Reform Press 1958:117)
However, the selection of a lingua franca could not be accomplished at one go.
Although Beijing dialect was basically confirmed to be the national language, in
practice “Mandarin” still exerted great influence. In 1911, Xuebu Zhongyang
Jiaoyu Huiyi Yijue Tongyi Guoyu Banfa An ‘Resolutions of Central Education Con-
ference of the Imperial Educational Ministry on the Proposal for Establishing a
Common National Language’ stipulated that:
(10) To establish the standards for the pronunciations, tones and vocabulary of
the national language. There are discrepancies among various dialects. The
pronunciation of the national language should be mainly based on Beijing
dialect. Among the four tones of Pekinese, the entering tone has not yet
been clearly defined and a resolution is urgently needed. It would be better
not to discard the entering tone. The vocabulary should be appropriate and
correct, which should be conformed to logic and mainly based on Mandarin.
452 Chapter 29
Although Xuebu Zhongyang Jiaoyu Huiyi Yijue Tongyi Guoyu Banfa An ‘Resolu-
tions of Central Education Conference of the Imperial Educational Ministry on the
Proposal for Establishing a Common National Language’ stipulated that the
pronunciation of the national language “should be mainly based on Beijing
dialect”, its attitude of treatment of the entering tone was a continuation of the
tradition of Mandarin as it stated that “it would be better not to discard the
entering tone”. During more than ten years of the early Republican China, as to
how to establish the standards of the pronunciation of the national language,
there had been debates between using laoguoyin ‘old national pronunciation’
and using Beijing dialect pronunciation. It was not until the actual practice
proved that it was not workable to keep the entering tone that the final decision
of adopting Beijing dialect phonetic scheme as the standards of the national
language was made. Based on such experience, some important regularities on
language planning can be discovered.
1.3 Issues concerning the establishment of the standards for

the national language
In its implementation, there needed to establish various standards for the
national language. It was not until the final stage of the Qieyinzi Movement in
1910 that people were gradually aware of this issue. Jiang Qian viewed this issue
from the perspective of education and suggested compiling grammar books and
dictionaries for the national language. For instance:
up of National Language Education in Phases’: “There is grammar for each
national language to fully express what needs to be conveyed. Although
the existence of grammar is a matter of habits, the rules concerning its
arrangement and sequence are exhibited through textbooks. There is a
need to consider whether the Imperial Educational Ministry should also
be responsible for stipulating grammatical rules as well when it compiles
the textbooks. There are also dictionaries for each national language for
the users to check any common mistaken pronunciations, differentiate vari-
ous senses of words and learn new vocabulary. Just like cars need their
wheels and musicians need their musical instruments. When the Ministry
is preparing the task list for various dictionaries to be compiled in the
second year of Xuantong era [title of the reign (1909–1911) of Aisin-Gioro
Puyi, last emperor of the Qing Dynasty], there is also a need to consider
whether dictionaries concerning the national language should be compiled
as well.” (Language Reform Press 1958:117)
In the bill concerning the measures of establishing the national language the
Central Education Conference of the Imperial Educational Ministry not only pro-
posed to establish the standards for pronunciation, it also recommended the
standards for lexical items and syntax and raised the issue of the standards for
phonetic symbols. For instance:
(12) Xuebu Zhongyang Jiaoyu Huiyi Yijue Tongyi Guoyu Banfa An ‘Resolutions
of Central Education Conference of the Imperial Educational Ministry on the
Proposal for Establishing a Common National Language’: “Selection and
compilation. After the investigation conducted by the branch office of
each province, relevant language materials will be sent to the head office
in which its editorial department will review them accordingly. The lexical
items, grammar and pronunciations that are conformed to the principle of
appropriateness and correctness with wide currency will be adopted as the
standards and used in compiling national language textbooks and com-
parison tables of grammar and dialects. Those materials that are vulgar
and erroneous will not be adopted as the standards and will be incorpo-
rated into comparison tables of dialects as reference for checking. . . . The
standards of establishing the pronunciations, tones and vocabulary of the
national language. . . . The establishment of phonetic symbols. There are
five criteria for phonetic symbols: 1) The symbols should be accurate and
comprehensive; 2) it should be compatible with international practices;
3) the symbols should be graphically simple; 4) the symbols should be
aesthetically acceptable; 5) the symbols should be easy to write. Whether
re-using old symbols or devising new ones, these principles have to be
observed as a precondition. The symbols should have a handwritten style
and a print style. After its initial devising, the system will have a trial run
in all administrative units nation-wide from provinces to counties for a
period of time. If and when hurdles are encountered, they should be
reported to the General Commission any time with a view to effecting
amendments. The version after such amendments will be promulgated as
the definitive version.” (Language Reform Press 1958:143–144)
Various aspects related to the standards for establishing the national language
as mentioned above were already quite thorough and comprehensive. However,
the national language as the lingua franca for modern Chinese nationality
had not reached the stage of maturity, further investigation and research
needed to be conducted. Jiang Qian suggested that following the practice of
Japan, a National Language Compilation and Investigation Committee could be
created. He proposed that the first thing for Xuebu Zhongyang Jiaoyu Huiyi Yijue
454 Chapter 29
Tongyi Guoyu Banfa An to resolve was to set up a National Language Research

Society:
up of National Language Education in Phases’: “Compilation work of national
language textbooks. It is understood that the compilation work would be
difficult at the beginning, and detailed and careful research and study are
needed. In Japan, there is a National Language Research Committee which
is subordinate to the Ministry of Education of Japan. The role of the Com-
mittee is to have a thorough planning of the teaching materials and to pro-
vide a suitable grading of the materials for various level of proficiency in
order that the public will not be wrongly informed when the promotion
of the national language is implemented. When the Imperial Educational
Ministry is working on the promotion of the national language of China, it
would be appropriate to consider whether the practice of Japan should
be followed by setting up a National Language Compilation and Investiga-
tion Committee to be fully responsible for the work related to textbook
compilation and subsidization of research organizations. Preparation work
needs to be proceeded if it is decided that this Committee should be estab-
lished.” (Language Reform Press 1958:117)
of Central Education Conference of the Imperial Educational Ministry on
the Proposal for Establishing a Common National Language’: “Survey. First,
the Ministry of Education is to set up a General Commission for National
Language Survey. Second, the Head of Education in each province is to be
entrusted to set up a Provincial Commission for Language Survey, looking
after all matters related to language survey. The subjects of language sur-
vey are the three components of language, namely lexicon, syntax and
phonology. Other things relevant to language will also be surveyed. The
head office will formulate the procedures of establishing lexical items and
grammar, and hypothetical phonetic symbols. Branch offices will proceed
with the research in accordance with the procedures and symbols. Those
matters that have not been covered by the procedures and symbols will
be supplemented by branch offices and submitted to the head office. Regu-
lations concerning the establishment of the head office and branch offices
will be fully formulated and promulgated by the Imperial Educational
Ministry for implementation.” (Language Reform Press 1958:143)
2 Promotion of the national language with the

assistance of Qieyin characters
While it is important to determine whether Northern Mandarin or Beijing dialect
should be adopted as the national language, it is more crucial to work out how
to implement the decision throughout the country. The basic view of the Qieyinzi
Movement was to implement the lingua franca through the use of qieyinzi or
qieyin characters.
2.1 Simplified characters were just gramophones for the

national language
Qieyinzi were phonetic characters that recorded the sounds of the national lan-
guage like what a gramophone did. Hence, Chinese characters could be trans-
cribed and the vernacular could be spelled by using qieyin characters in order
to spread the national language by using alphabet. For instance:
(15) Chenqing Zizhengyuan Tiyi Biantong Xuebu Choubei Qingdan Guanhua

Chuanxisuo Banfa Yong Jianzi Jiaoshou Guanhua Shuotie ‘Lobby Paper Sub-
mitted to the Political Advisory Council concerning the Adjustment of the
Preparation List by the Imperial Educational Ministry on the Use of Simpli-
fied Characters to Teach the Official Language in Official Language Learning
Schools’ by Cheng Xianjia et al: “The simplified characters used to teach the
national language is based on Beijing dialect pronunciation. There are no
other short-cuts for this. . . . The national language is indeed the sound. And
simplified characters are indeed working like the gramophones for the
national language. If there are no simplified characters, there will be noth-
ing that the national language can be attached to. Simplified characters are
the only thing that the national language can be depended on.” (Language
Reform Press 1958:131)
(16) Wang Zhao’s Wan Wu Rulun ‘A Eulogy for Mr. Wu Rulun’: “Mr Wu was pure
and sincere from his heart. He saw the source of prosperity of Japan in that
all Japanese people use Japanese katakana to learn their national lan-
guage. Then he realized that the most important cause of the success of
universal education in those countries was the fact that all of them used
phonetic alphabet to learn their own national language.” (Language Reform
Press 1958:32)
456 Chapter 29
(17) Liu Mengyang’s Zhongguo Yinbiao Zishu – Bianyan ‘Preface, Transcription

Alphabets of China’: “The phonetic characters that I created. . . can be used
to solve three problems: In a nutshell, the tradition method of signifying
pronunciations by using fanqie (by taking two other characters, one with
the same initial and the other with the same final as the character in ques-
tion) is defective. Very often, there are cases where users do not know how
to pronounce the two other characters used in fanqie to signify the character
in question. In addition, people in different places have different accents.
That is why the pronunciation is different, even with the same two charac-
ters used in fanqie. If the above-mentioned phonetic characters are used
to transcribe Beijing dialect pronunciation, on the one hand it would be
easier for people to learn reading and writing, on the other different pro-
nunciations of various places can be unified and this can serve as a con-
duit to unify language throughout the country. In one way or the other,
this can solve our language problems.” (Language Reform Press 1958:84)
(18) Zhili Xuewuchu Fuwen ‘Official Reply from the Education Affairs Office of
Zhili’: “There are two main advantages of using alphabet: one is to provide
a foundation for popularizing education, another is to assist in unifying
language.” (Language Reform Press 1958:43)
(19) Liu Zhaoli and Tao Nan’s Chenqing Zizhengyuan Tuixing Guanhua Jianzi
Shuotie ’Lobby Paper Submitted to the Political Consultative Council concerning
the Promulgation of Mandarin Simplified Characters’: “Simplified characters
were created by former Grade Four senior official Wang Zhao. There are
52 letters and 12 glottals. The combinations of these letters not only cover
Chinese and western languages, they also include Beijing dialect pronun-
ciation. By learning the simplified characters for a month, illiterate persons
can be able to read and write. Those who learnt these characters can teach
others. One person teaches ten and ten persons teach a hundred. On the
analogy of this, countless numbers of people can become literate. This is
a good way of unifying language and popularizing education.” (Language
(20) Zizhengyuan Teren Guyuanhui Guyuanzhang Yan Fu Shencha Caiyong Yinbiao
of Special Committee of the Political Advisory Council, on the Review of the Bill
of the Use of Phonetic Symbols to Establish Pilot National Language Educa-
tion’: “Phonetic characters should be used on the teaching of Mandarin.”5
5 Yan Fu used the term yinbiao ‘phonetic symbols’ which in fact meant qieyin characters.
2.2 “One step forward” or “two steps forward”

How to unify language with the assistance of qieyin characters? The most impor-
tant dispute was the issue of “one step forward” or “two steps forward”. “One
step forward” meant that qieyin characters for Beijing dialect pronunciation
should be taught directly, while “two steps forward” referred to the teaching
of qieyin characters of dialectal pronunciation prior to the teaching of qieyin
characters for Beijing dialect pronunciation. Pronunciations in Northern dialec-
tal regions were closer to Beijing dialect pronunciation that the former approach
was mostly adopted. Many southerners supported the latter approach with Lao
Naixuan as a representative figure. One of the reasons for the people upholding
this view was that it was difficult for people who accustomed to using their own
dialects to change into using Mandarin pronunciation. For instance:
(21) Lao Naixuan’s Jiangning Jianzi Banri Xuetang Shifanban Kaixue Yanshuo
Simplified Characters Half-Day School’: “China has been using its characters
for several thousand years and dialects have also been spoken for several
thousand years as well. Now if dialectal pronunciation is changed into
Mandarin pronunciation, people must feel very difficult and flinch away
from learning.” (Language Reform Press 1958:55)
The second reason was that the approach of “two steps forward” was comple-
mentary to the promotion of the national language, though on the surface they
are opposite to each other. For example:
(22) Lao Naixuan’s Jiangning Jianzi Banri Xuetang Shifanban Kaixue Yanshuo
Simplified Characters Half-Day School’: “The doctrines of education are a
matter of subtle guidance and good use of fear. . . . This is why accommo-
dating people’s dialectal pronunciation would be a better approach. Once
people come to know that simplified characters are easy to learn and these
characters can replace spoken dialects, then people would have the
thought of changing their own dialectal pronunciations. When people
have the thought of changing their own dialectal pronunciations, they can
then be guided into using the national language just like streams flowing
along the mainstream of a river. This is why the doctrines of education are
related to subtle guidance that can assist people to improve their perfor-
mance. . . . Moreover, learning Southern pronunciations does not imply
opposition to learning Northern pronunciations, they are complementary
458 Chapter 29
to each other. What does this mean? Southern dialects can be transcribed
using simplified characters. Once people learnt simplified characters, they
can also read books and newspapers of Northern regions with the transcrip-
tion of simplified characters. They would suddenly see the light and say,
‘This character’s pronunciation is so-and-so in my dialect and it is pro-
nounced as so-and-so in the Northern regions; but another pronunciation
only appears in my dialect and no such pronunciation in the Northern re-
gions.’ By just a single shift of pronunciation, people would understand
the Northern dialect. With the understanding of the Northern dialect,
people would come to know the national language. This is why it seems
to be opposing each other, but in fact they are complementary to each
other.” (Language Reform Press 1958:55–56)
(23) Lao Naixuan’s Zhi ‘Zhongwai Ribao’ Guan Shu ‘A letter to Zhongwai Daily’:
“Once simplified characters for people’s own dialect pronunciations are
learnt, they can proceed to learn Mandarin pronunciation which would be
much easier to be learnt than those people who do not use this approach.
The reason is that people of this dialect who learn to imitate that dialect
will certainly seek to resemble the pronunciation of that dialect. If people
of this dialect already know the characters of that dialect, they will have
something to depend on. Differences among dialects can be categorized
into aspects of initial consonants, finals and tones. The initial consonants,
finals and tones of one dialect must have some regularities. If there is a
character that resembles one initial consonant, then other characters of
the same initial consonant can be deduced; if there is a character that
resembles one final, then other characters of the same final can be de-
duced; and if there is a character that resembles one tone, then other char-
acters of the same tone can be deduced. By comprehending the regularities
in initial consonants, finals and tones, people will come to know the rela-
tionship between their own dialect and Mandarin, and be familiar with the
latter. Now, first, learning simplified characters by using their own dialec-
tal pronunciation, then they would be familiar with the method of tran-
scription and the logic related to initial consonants, finals and tones. The
structure of initial consonants, finals and tones between Mandarin and
the people’s own dialects is basically the same, the difference only lies in
pronunciation. People can then use the learnt characters and transcription
method and just change the pronunciation. Are there any other ways that
are easier than this?. . . When people finish learning their own dialect pro-
nunciations through simplified characters, Mandarin can be taught and it
will be learnt with ease. . . . This is why there is no need to force the Southern
dialects to accommodate the Northern one, the Southern ones would be
guided naturally to follow the Northern dialect. . . . Local dialectal pronun-

ciations will be used as easy steps to reach the aim of language unification
through Mandarin pronunciation.” (Language Reform Press 1958:57–58)
However, for the “two steps forward approach”, some people raised severe
criticism. For instance:
(24) Ping Lao Naixuan ‘Hesheng Jianzi’ ‘A Commentary on Lao Naixuan’s Pho-
netic Simplified Characters’ published in Zhongwai Ribao ‘Foreign Daily’:
“The Simplified Characters Half-Day School teaches common people to
learn reading and writing by using phonetic alphabet. The scheme is
modelled from the practice in Beiyang (the coastal provinces of Liaoning,
Hebei and Shandong). However, the people who uphold this scheme added
several letters for the entering tone when it is used in the Southern regions
as there is no entering tone in Northern dialects. The scheme is now pro-
moted in the north of Changjiang River and Yangzhou. It is also planned
to add another several letters based on the accents in the north of Chang-
jiang River. It would also be necessary to add yet more letters when the
scheme is implemented in Suzhou and Changzhou. . . . In order to use the
phonetic scheme, letters have to be added according to the pronunciation
of each dialect. The reason behind is to avoid the inconsistency between
the spoken language and the written one. However, the further addition of
letters according to local situation, the further away is the practice from
the aim of aligning the spoken language with the written one. The people
who uphold this scheme seem to be confused. There are only 26 letters in
English and 50 kana in Japanese, we have not heard of the practice of add-
ing letters according to local situation. Now, no matter we are talking
about following the proposal of Wang Zhao, or about the priority of affairs,
the only way is to force the Southern dialects to conform with the Northern
one without the need to change the scheme so frequently.” (Language
Some other revised plans were propounded, such as local dialect characters
would be annulled once Mandarin simplified characters were implemented to
a certain degree, or restricting the use of local dialect characters to a specific
scope. For instance:
(25) Chenqing Zizhengyuan Banxing Guanhua Jianzi Shuotie ‘Lobby Paper Sub-
mitted to the Political Advisory Council concerning the Promulgation of
Mandarin Simplified Characters’ by Qing Fu et al: “Temporary additions of
pronunciations for local dialects in each remote province are just a ladder
to learn Mandarin pronunciation as people in these areas have not heard of
460 Chapter 29
Mandarin pronunciation before. Hence, the first step is to transcribe the pro-
nunciation of local dialects using simplified characters as a guidance, which
are the troubles and pains taken for a good cause by those who implement
the scheme. When the implementation of Mandarin simplified characters of
each place reaches 20% of its population, by then people at least have the
chance to hear Mandarin pronunciation even though they have not yet
started to learn it. At that stage, it would be better to follow the suggestions
made in the Appendix of the preliminary proposal on the reform of primary
education submitted by the Honourable Jiang that local dialect characters
should be annulled.” (Language Reform Press 1958:126–127)
(26) Chenqing Zizhengyuan Banxing Guanhua Jianzi Shuotie ‘Lobby Paper Sub-
mitted to the Political Advisory Council concerning the Promulgation of
Mandarin Simplified Characters’ by Han Deming, et al.: “Mandarin simplified
characters are indeed Mandarin phonetic alphabet which should be made to
be promulgated by imperial order. The proposal submitted by the Viceroy
Zhou of the Two Jiangs (Jiangnan and Jiangxi) should be complied with in
the sense that the additions of pronunciations for local dialects should only
be regarded as a ladder to learn Mandarin and that the learning of sim-
plified characters for local dialects should not be viewed as the final aim.
All books and newspapers transcribed with simplified characters should
be limited to using Mandarin pronunciation.” (Language Reform Press
1958:120)
(27) Lu Ganzhang’s Banxing Qieyin Zishu Shi Tiao Banfa ‘Ten Methods in Promot-
ing the Book with Phonetic Characters’: “The promulgation of Beijing dia-
lect Mandarin is aimed to unify language throughout the country. If the
speeches in a certain local area are in common with those in cities and
towns, it should be stipulated that people living in that local area, regard-
less of whether they are men, women or primary school students, should
learn to read books transcribed with qieyin characters of their local dialect
as well as those in cities and towns (however, qieyin characters books
compiled for dialect pronunciations of very remote and poor areas should
not be included). Once the qieyin characters for local dialects are learnt,
then people can start to learn Beijing dialect pronunciation using qieyin
characters. Students in all kinds of education institutions throughout the
country, starting from higher primary schools, including secondary schools,
universities, teachers’ training schools, translation schools, science schools,
schools of commerce, schools of railways and mines and police academies,
as well as schools for civil and military government officials, soldiers and
yamen runners, and all other official workers, shall study books of qieyin
characters for Beijing dialect pronunciation. Mandarin using Beijing dialect
pronunciation shall be used in all official documents, legal documents,

general documents and correspondence throughout the country as the
national language so as to unify the languages of the country.” (Language
The debate between “forcing the Southern dialects to accommodate the North-
ern one” and “guiding the Southern ones to follow the Northern dialect” and
the theory of “using local dialect pronunciations as easy steps to reach the aim
of language unification through Mandarin pronunciation” have become history
now. There is no need to engage in such debates any more nowadays and it
would not be meaningful to practice such theories again. However, as far as
the theory of language acquisition is concerned, the proposition of “two steps
forward” and its brief practice, to a certain extent, are still worthy of study.
2.3 Promulgation of qieyin characters after the review and

examination by the Imperial Court
Since qieyin characters were used to assist the implementation of the lingua
franca, it would be necessary to have an in-depth consideration of the issues
related to qieyin characters. First, people realized that qieyin characters should
be organized and reviewed with certain criteria so that “the alphabet can be
standardized”. The implementation of standardized qieyin characters should be
promulgated by the Imperial Court so as to endow the characters with an
authoritative status. For example:
(28) Lu Ganzhang’s Banxing Qieyin Zishu Shi Tiao Banfa ‘Ten Methods in Pro-
moting the Book with Phonetic Characters’: “The alphabet should be stan-
dardized in order to avoid ambiguity. All letters, pronunciations, level and
oblique tones, transcription methods and textbooks should be standar-
dized throughout the country. Otherwise, confusion and ambiguity would
arise, which would cause serious problems.” (Language Reform Press
1958:74)
(29) Lin Lucun’s Shang Duchayuan Shu ‘Letter to the Censorate’: “In addition to
the Qieyinzi scheme created by Fujian’s Lu Ganzhang, there are also Fujian
juren (a successful candidate in the imperial examinations at the provincial
level in the Qing dynasty) Li Jiesan; Shen Xue of Shanghai, Jiangsu; Wang
Bingyao of Xianggang, Guangdong and the late former Customs Intendant
Cai Xiyong who produced and published their own simplified character
schemes. . . . Now your humble servant would like to propose to Your
Majesty that government officials responsible for education affairs in each
462 Chapter 29
province should be ordered to request Lu Ganzhang and others to come

to the Imperial Court to present their schemes to the Beijing government.
The Minister in charge of education affairs then should select and assign
several expert officials in language together with the Compilation and
Translation Bureau to question the scheme authors and to conduct a thor-
ough investigation into their schemes so as to understand the strengths
and weaknesses of each scheme. Then appropriate qieyin characters will
be confirmed and presented to Your Majesty for inspection and to see if
they are acceptable to be promulgated for implementation.” (Language
Reform Press 1958:17–18)
of Special Committee of the Political Advisory Council, on the Review of the Bill
of the Use of Phonetic Symbols to Establish Pilot National Language Educa-
tion’: “In accordance with investigation, there are several phonetic charac-
ter schemes published in the society. It is obvious that they do have their
own merits and demerits. If there are no standards to assess these
schemes, problems may easily occur. The Imperial Educational Ministry
should assess these schemes and select one among them to be presented
to the Emperor for promulgation and implementation. As a result, common
people will not be confused by the various different schemes and the usage
of phonetic characters can then be consistent.” (Language Reform Press
1958:134)
(31) Lao Naixuan’s Jincheng “Jianzi Pulu” Zhe ‘The Official Document Presented
to the Emperor concerning A Table of Simplified Characters’ in 1908: “In my
humble opinion, a unified scheme should be requested by imperial order
throughout the country. The scheme will be used to compile lower-level
textbooks which will be promulgated in the country. Before entering into
primary five, two school terms (equivalent to one school year) should be
added for students to focus on learning simplified characters. Local dialect
pronunciation will be taught first in order to facilitate comprehension and
then later on lessons concerning Beijing dialect pronunciation will be
given to all so as to standardize the use of language throughout the country.
The next stage is to teach common ethic and knowledge by using various
simplified characters textbooks.” (Language Reform Press 1958: 80)
Chenqing Zizhengyuan Banxing Guanhua Jianzi Shuotie ‘Lobby Paper Submitted to

the Political Advisory Council concerning the Promulgation of Mandarin Simplified
Characters’ written by Han Deming et al proposed that Mandarin simplified
characters “should be made to be promulgated by imperial order”. (Language
2.4 Specific functions of qieyin characters in the promotion

of guoyu
The nature of qieyin characters was studied from the perspective of promoting the
national language. People viewed qieyin characters as phonetic symbols which
served as “standardizing the pronunciation of the Chinese language” on the one
hand, and “merging with the national language” on the other. For instance:

of Special Committee of the Political Advisory Council, on the Review of
the Bill of the Use of Phonetic Symbols to Establish Pilot National Language
Education’: “Qieyin characters should be renamed as phonetic symbols. . . .
One reason is to illustrate its function in assisting the correct pronunciation
of the Chinese characters, another reason is to demonstrate its nature of
phonetic transcription which is different from the nature of six principles of
Chinese script. . . . There are two functions: one is to standardize the pronun-
ciation of the Chinese language and another is to merge with the national
language. The pronunciation of the Chinese language is different in different
dialects. The way to standardize the pronunciation is to transcribe the
vocabulary in each chapter of junior primary textbooks with phonetic sym-
bols. Once children learnt the symbols, then they would naturally know the
correct pronunciation. By doing so, children throughout the country will
tend to have the same pronunciation and it is expected that the aim of lan-
guage unification can be achieved.” (Language Reform Press 1958:134–135)
In accordance with Article 18 of Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo Guojia Tongyong

Yuyan Wenzi Fa ‘Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Standard Spoken
and Written Chinese Language’: “The Scheme for the Chinese Phonetic Alphabet
shall be used as the tool of transliteration and phonetic notation for the
standard spoken and written Chinese language of the State.” This stipulation is
similar to the quotation in (32) which discusses the functions of phonetic
symbols. This illustrates that in 1910 as the Chairman of Special Committee of
the Political Advisory Council, Yan Fu’s understanding of phonetic symbols was
already quite close to that of today’s level.
2.5 Specific measures in the implementation of qieyin

characters
Exploring and executing specific implementation measures of qieyin characters
were an important task at the time. At the time the measures proposed were
mainly:
464 Chapter 29
1. Set up the subject of the national language or qieyin characters in

schools. Issues such as rotational training for teachers and using the national
language as a medium of instruction were also raised. For example:
of Central Education Conference of the Imperial Educational Ministry on the
Proposal for Establishing a Common National Language’: “All teaching and
non-teaching staff members who cannot speak Mandarin should receive
such training by rotation until they graduate. In addition to the sessions
specifically set up for teaching the subject of the national language, the
medium of instruction for teaching all other subjects in various types of
schools should be gradually changed into Mandarin as well.” (Language
2. Set up learning institutions. “Alphabet Normal School”, “Normal Learn-

ing School” and “Mandarin Phonetic Characters School” were created in the
capital and provincial capitals. People who spoke with pure Mandarin accent
were employed, trained and assigned to various provinces, states and counties
to teach phonetic characters. More detailed teaching regulations and various
systems of reward and penalty were established. Dedicated officials were dis-
patched from each governmental level to supervise and monitor the execution
of these measures.
3. Those who mastered qieyin characters became teachers of the characters.
In Shang Zhilizongdu Yuan Shikai Shu ‘Official Letter Submitted to the Viceroy of
Zhili Yuan Shikai’, Wang Yongzhou, He Fenghua et al proposed that “fathers can
teach their sons, elder brothers can teach their younger brothers, husbands can
teach their wives, and sisters and sisters-in-law can teach each other.” (Lan-
guage Reform Press 1958:37)6 Ancestry temples, monasteries, township offices
and unoccupied non-governmental houses can be used to set up “free schools
6 Lao Naixuan’s Jincheng Jianzi Pulu Zhe ‘Official Document Presented to the Emperor concern-
ing A Table of Simplified Characters’ also propounded: “As there are easily learnt characters,
imperial orders should be promulgated to all people throughout the country that children
reaching a certain age should go to school to learn these characters for one year. The parents
of those who do not go to school as stipulated shall be punished. . . . These characters are easy
to learn. With just a matter of few months, people can master these characters. It is calculated
that one teacher can teach 50 persons. Judging on this basis, one can teach 50 in the first
group, then these 50 persons can teach 2,500 in the second group, 2,500 persons can teach
125,000 in the third group, 125,000 persons can teach 6.25 million in the fourth group and
6.25 million persons can teach 312.5 million in the fifth group. With 400 million people in
China, five to six rounds would be sufficient to teach all people in China.” (Language Reform
Press 1958: 80–81)
for teaching phonetic alphabet”, elementary schools, night schools, half-day

schools and day schools for the convenience of children, women, soldiers and
police officers and other learners.
4. Publish relevant teaching materials. Textbooks “should be compiled and
printed by an official organization established by the government. Individuals or
non-government organizations who would like to compile and print such text-
books should be put under the guidance of the official organization.”7
5. Publish newspapers and books in the vernacular. Speech events should
be organized to provide opportunities for learning qieyin characters and practice
the national language, which also served to facilitate its promotion.
6. Official recognition and use of qieyin characters. For instance:
(34) Lao Naixuan’s Jincheng ‘Jianzi Pulu’ Zhe ‘The Official Document Presented
to the Emperor concerning A Table of Simplified Characters’: “Simplified
characters should be used in official notices issued by the government in
order for all people to be familiar with.” (Language Reform Press 1958:80)
(35) Chenqing Zizhengyuan Banxing Guanhua Jianzi Shuotie ‘Lobby Paper Submitted
to the Political Advisory Council concerning the Promulgation of Mandarin
Simplified Characters’ written by Han Yinfu et al: “Simplified characters
should be used in official notices issued by the government and in remarks
on appeal documents. People who do not know Chinese characters can sub-
mit documents in Mandarin simplified characters.” (Language Reform Press
1958:129)
7. Set up research institutions, such as “Alphabet Society” and “Simplified

Characters Research Society”.
8. Implementation on trial. Through pilot implementation, experience could
be gained for further promotion. For example:

of Special Committee of the Political Advisory Council, on the Review of the
Bill of the Use of Phonetic Symbols to Establish Pilot National Language
Education’: “If this is to be implemented, pilot implementation should be
conducted. If there is no problem in the pilot implementation, the official
implementation would be much easier.” (Language Reform Press 1958:135)
7 For details, please see Zizhengyuan Teren Guyuanhui Guyuanzhang Yan Fu Shencha Caiyong
Yinbiao Shiban Guoyu Jiaoyu An Baogao Shu (Report Submitted by Yan Fu, Chairman of Special
Committee of the Political Advisory Council, on the Review of the Bill of the Use of Phonetic
Symbols to Establish Pilot National Language Education). (Language Reform Press 1958:134)
466 Chapter 29
Those measures were not only measures for the implementation of qieyin
characters, they were also measures for the introduction of the national lan-
guage. Some of those measures had already been executed at that time and
some were put into practice for several times afterwards. Practice proved that
many measures proposed at that time were effective and workable. Today, many
measures in the promotion of Putonghua, such as focusing on school promo-
tion, teacher qualification accreditation, various Putonghua training classes
and observing and emulating meetings, etc., are originated from the era of the
Qieyinzi Movement.
The Qieyinzi Movement was first initiated by the people in the society, it then
influenced the government and the Imperial Court, even Empress Dowager Cixi
had shown solicitude for this matter. The Imperial Educational Ministry had
formulated the implementation plan for national language education on a yearly
basis as follows:
up of National Language Education in Phases’: “The Imperial Education
Ministry had officially submitted the task list of various items in the prepa-
ration of national language education on a yearly basis as follows: In the
second year of Xuantong era, Mandarin textbooks and various dictionaries
will be compiled and all normal schools, secondary schools and primary
schools in provincial capitals under the governance of Provincial Educa-
tional Officer of each province will be ordered to teach Mandarin as well;
in the third year of Xuantong era, Mandarin textbooks will be promul-
gated, Mandarin learning schools will be established in the capital and
various provinces; in the fourth year of Xuantong era, the promotion of
Mandarin learning schools; in the fifth year of Xuantong era, all junior
normal schools, secondary schools and primary schools in prefectures
and states directly under the governance of Provincial Educational Officer
of each province will be ordered to teach Mandarin as well; in the eighth
year of Xuantong era, all secondary schools and primary schools in states
and counties directly under the governance of Provincial Educational Officer
of each province will be ordered to teach Mandarin as well, and regulations
concerning teaching staff will be reviewed and examined with the addition
of a question for testing the proficiency of Mandarin. Mandarin as a subject
shall be added in all examinations of junior normal schools, secondary
schools and higher primary schools.” (Language Reform Press 1958:116)
This influence was caused by: 1) the drive of the major trend of the thought
of rescuing the country and promoting reforms at the time; 2) the existence of
several tens of qieyin character schemes which were promoted and implemented
by Wang Zhao, Lao Naixuan and their students with the influence spread nearly
across the whole country; 3) the opportunity of encouraging the free airing of
views by the Qing government to submit enormous amount of proposal documents
and Lobby papers; 4) the enthusiastic support of a group of senior government
officials and authoritative figures, such as Yuan Shikai, Liang Qichao, Lin
Lucun, Jiang Qian, Zhou Fu, Qing Fu, Yan Fu, Wu Rulun and Lao Naixuan. How-
ever, the Qing Dynasty, after all, had reached the time of its fall and failed to
fulfill that huge historical task of language unification.
Language unification is an inevitable historical development, but is not easy
to be realized. Historically, timetables for popularizing the national language or
Putonghua had been proposed for several times, but none of them succeeded.
Today, China again propounded that Putonghua needed to be popularized for a
preliminary extent by 2010 and fully by 2050. In order to achieve this strategic
goal, lessons should be drawn from the fruits of the Qieyinzi Movement and the
experience of the hundred years of language reform efforts. By inheriting the
past and ushering the future can we succeed in this great cause.
References
Chen, Yongshun. 1995. Hanzi Gaige Shigang (A History of Chinese Script Reform) (Revised
Edition). Changchun: Jilin University Press.
Gao, Shiliang. 1992. Zhongguo Jindai Jiaoyushi Ziliao Huibian – Yangwu Yundong Shiqi Jiaoyu
(Chinese Education History Archive Collection – Education During the Period of the West-
ernization Movement). Shanghai: Shanghai Education Publishing House.
Language Reform in Late Qing Dynasty). Beijing: Language Reform Press.
Li, Yuming. 2002. Qing Mo Wenzi Gaigejia de Fangyan Guan (Opinions of the Late Qing Script
Reformers on Dialects). Fangyan, 3.
Wang, Jun (ed.). 1995. Dangdai Zhongguo de Wenzi Gaige (Script Reforms in Contemporary
China). Beijing: Contemporary China Publishing House.
Wang, Lijia. 2002. Hanyu Pinyin Yundong de Huigu Jianji Tongyong Pinyin Wenti (A Review of
Chinese Language Phonetic Transcription Movement and Issues of Universal Phonetic
Transcription). In Zhongguo Yuwen (Studies of the Chinese Language), Issue no. 2. Beijing:
Institute of Linguistics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
468 Chapter 29
Yu, Genyuan. 1996. Ershi Shiji de Zhongguo Yuyan Yingyong Yanjiu (Studies on Chinese
Language and Applications in the 20th Century). Shanxi: Shuhai Publishing House.
Zhou, Youguang. 1979. Hanzi Gaige Gailun (Di san ban) [An Introduction to the Reform of
Chinese Characters (Third edition)]. Beijing: Language Reform Press.

Chapter 30
Centenary of the promulgation of the state
resolution Proposal for Establishing a
Common National Language
Abstract: In 1911, the Ministry of Education of the Qing Dynasty passed the
resolution of the Proposal for Establishing a Common National Language, which
is the first ever language planning document instituted by the government in the
history of modern China, signaling the shift of China’s language policies from
implicit practice to explicit stipulation. The Proposal took up the fruitful results
of the Qieyinzi Movement. The Proposal was the first move to establishing the
position of the Beijing dialect (or Pekinese) in the National Language; it was
well aware of the tripartite composition of the National Language, namely pro-
nunciation, lexicon and syntax; it spelt out the requirements “elegant, correct,
and in common use” for National Language elements; it valued highly the
importance of phonetic symbols in the promotion of the National Language
and laid down relatively scientific principles for devising such symbols; it drew
up plans for National Language Promotion which included such measures as
compiling National Language textbooks and dictionaries, establishing National
Language Institutes, adding National Language elements (including the National
Language subject) in the curriculum, adopting the National Language as the
medium of instruction. The Proposal had far-reaching influences on the nation
from then on.
Keywords: language planning, Proposal for Establishing a Common National

Language, centenary
0 Introduction
In 1911, the very last year of the Qing Dynasty, the then Ministry of Education
passed the resolution of Proposal for Establishing a Common National Language
(the “Proposal” hereinafter) in the Central Meeting on Education. That was an
important fruit borne by the Qieyinzi (literally “phonetic script”) Movement
then in its 20th year. The resolution was also the first ever language planning
document instituted by the Chinese government in modern history. For historical
reasons, the Qing government was not in a position to execute this document.
470 Chapter 30
However, we should not regard it as just a void document. Rather it is an impor-

tant legacy with academic significance and historical influence at the same time.
It therefore deserves our remembrance and earnest study at its centenary.
1 The main issues addressed by the Proposal

There were 196 members on the Central Commission of the Ministry of Education
of the Qing Dynasty. Zhang Jian was the Chief Commissioner with Zhang Yuanji
and Fu Zengxiang as Deputy Chief Commissioners. In the Sixth Moon of the 3rd
year of Xuantong era (1911) the Commission met to make decisions on the
motions submitted by the Minister of Education. The motion Proposal for Estab-
lishing a Common National Language was passed in the 16th meeting held on the
16th day of the Leap Sixth Moon of the same year (10 August). The Proposal1 had
five clauses, of which the following four were highly relevant to the issue of
National Language:
1.1 Establishing the pronunciation norm

Clause 3 of the resolution says, “Establishing the standards for pronunciation,
tone (sheng) and wording (hua)2. Pronunciation varies a great deal; it is appro-
priate to treat the Beijing (Peking) pronunciation as the norm. As for the tones of
Pekinese, its entering tone (rushing) is controversial and earnestly needs clarifi-
cation; it would be appropriate to have the entering tone retained. Wording must
be correct, appropriate, elegant, meaningful and logical. It would be apt to use
Mandarin (Guanhua) as the norm.” This clause can be summarized as “Beijing
pronunciation as norm, with the entering tone retained”.
Taking Beijing pronunciation as the norm was epoch making. In the Ming-
Qing period, Nanjing Mandarin enjoyed higher prestige than other varieties.
The “Original Preface” of Zhongguo Diyikuai Qieyin Xinzi ‘The Quickest Phonic
Script in China’ by Lu Ganzhang has the following words:
1 Refer to Language Reform Press (1958:143–144).

2 Here “wording/hua” probably refers to words, sentences, etc. Strictly speaking, “tone/sheng”
is a component of “pronunciation” and is thus already included in the latter, while “pronun-
ciation” and “wording” are concepts on different planes. As such, listing “pronunciation, tone/
sheng, wording/hua” together as parallel concepts is obviously inappropriate. The appearance
of this phenomenon is understandable if we consider the fact that modern linguistics had not
yet established itself in China towards the end of the Qing Dynasty.
Centenary of the promulgation of the state resolution 471
“Of the 19 provinces, all except Guangdong, Fujian and Taiwan have Mandarin varieties as
their speech. Of the Mandarin varieties, none can compare with the Southern variety in
currency. If the Nanjing variety is taken as the basis for the common written language
and its pronunciation as the norm for all provinces, then all 19 provinces will be unified
in both the written language and speech. Huge as China is, we are like one family, unlike
the situation hitherto, when different communities hold on to their own turf with their own
speech, failing to communicate with each other even face to face.” (Language Reform
Press 1958:3)
Lu published his Zhongguo Diyikuai Qieyin Xinzi in 1892 and started the Qieyinzi
Movement. For this he has been praised as the pioneer of Chinese language
modernization.3 As a citizen of Xiaman, Lu held the view that the Nanjing
variety had the greatest currency within Mandarin. At that time holders of
similar views were not confined to Southerners. Changbai Laomin wrote the
following words in 1903 on the topic On the Justification of the Promotion of
Beijing Dialect:
“All the strong nations in the world attach great importance, for internal governance, to
the nation having a unified language. Therefore, in recent years those compatriots who
have a vision on national administration are deeply convicted in this idea without excep-
tion. Even many of the righteous persons in southern provinces subscribe to the promotion
of Pekinese. Today there is the proposal to use phonetic transcriptions of Pekinese to
supplement our written language. However, quite a few prominent government officials
and famous scholars object to the move fiercely. Not that they do not have a good heart,
but they do not have the right vision, for a number of reasons. For the northerners, in the
past 200 years or so they have been tacitly slighted by southerners as lacking sophistica-
tion, so much so that they tend to overly lean towards the elegance orientation at the
crossroad and dare not talk about promoting Pekinese lest they be ridiculed by southerners.
In fact, the fine-crude distinction consists ultimately in knowledge, behavior and ability,
not in the superficial coating of elegant-looking language. For the southerners, they tend
to be sticklers for the old belief that they alone have been representing the civilization of
China for the past thousand years or so, and consider the south of Changjiang River to be
the home of correct pronunciation, . . .” (Language Reform Press)
Changbai Laomin is a Manchurian. According to him, the southerners are self-

proclaimed to be more civilized for over a thousand years and “consider the
south of Changjiang River to be the home of correct pronunciation”, while the
northerners dare not publicly speak for the promotion of Pekinese “lest they be
ridiculed by southerners.”
It is evident from the last two paragraphs that the Nanjing variety enjoyed
higher prestige even as late as towards the end of the Qing Dynasty. The status
of different language varieties often has to do with where the political center
3 See Xu (2000) for a thorough understanding of Lu.

472 Chapter 30
is. Emperor Chengzu (Zhu Di) moved the capital to Beijing in 1421, when the
political center of gravity also moved northward. Although the Ming Dynasty
instituted a dual-capital system, with Nanjing preserving the entire structure of
central political organizations (with the 6 ministries, the Censorate, the Office
of Transmission, the Court of Judicial Review, etc.), these organizations had
gradually become political cosmetics. The Qing Dynasty was established in
Beijing. The status of the speech of Beijing as the political center was further ele-
vated from its Ming foundation. On the basis of the content of Thomas Francis
Wade’s Yuyan Zi Er Ji and text materials indicting Chinese Language Teaching in
Japan shifted the language variety towards Pekinese, Mr. Wang Lijia judged that
“Pekinese, following its status development throughout the Ming and Qing
dynasties, acquired the status of standard accent within Mandarin” in actual
language use by 1850 the latest. (Wang 2003:7)
The conclusion drawn by Mr. Wang Lijia is a description of the actual lan-
guage use but not of collective language awareness nor of language planning
target. What we quoted above from Lu and Changbai were written 40 or 50 years
after 1850. The shift from an unwitting practice in language use to a stipulation
in language planning is a development from tacit practice to explicit reasoning.
For the development to complete its course, certain language-planning activities
are often required. In the Qieyinzi Movement there were a series of discussions
on language unification.(Li 2003) The Guanhua Hesheng Zimu ‘Mandarin Phonetic
Alphabet’ devised by Wang Zhao for transcribing Pekinese stormed the govern-
ment and the ordinary people alike, and northerners and southerners alike. The
part on “Outline of educational tasks” within the Presented School Regulations
submitted by Zhang Baixi, Rong Qing, Zhang Zhidong, etc. in 1904 already
requested that Guanhua should enter education:
“Mandarin pronunciation is to be taught in all schools. . . . It is proposed that Mandarin

pronunciation be used to unite the language of the entire country. Therefore, teacher train-
ing institutions and higher primary schools are to incorporate Mandarin into the Chinese
Language subject. For the learning of Mandarin, all schools should use the book Shengyu
Guangxun Zhijie ‘Amplified Instructions of the Sacred Edict Explained in Mandarin’ as the
norm. In the future all school teachers in all provinces should explain in Mandarin when
they teach a subject. . . .” (Qu and Tang 1991:499)
To sum up, towards the end of Qing, in both actual language use and lan-
guage planning work, Pekinese was already in a position to challenge Nanjing
Mandarin to a duel. In 1906, even Lu Ganzhang, who earlier proposed to unite
all language varieties of the country with Nanjing Mandarin, now changed his
stance and asked that “Beijing Mandarin be proclaimed the norm to unite all
languages in the country”.4 That the Proposal made Beijing pronunciation the
standard accent is an endorsement of this trend of development at a historical
moment. Although there was some fickleness in later developments, the lan-
guage practice in the past 100 years has shown that making Beijing pronun-
ciation the standard accent of the common language of Han people has well
captured the development trend of our language scene.
We should also see that the Proposal’s adoption of the pronunciation of a
particular geographical location as the standard accent for the National Lan-
guage is in accord with the usual practice in language planning and is generally
feasible. This is much more scientific than the approach adopted by the Commis-
sion on the Unification of Pronunciation in 1913, when representatives of various
provinces voted to determine the pronunciation of lexical items. There is no
entering tone in Pekinese. History has proven that the decision to retain the
entering tone in the Proposal did not work. It will not work because the entering
tone has very different phonetic realization in different language varieties and
there is no way in which we can agree on how the entering tone should be
realized. That the Proposal wanted the entering tone to be retained is because it
was still subject to the influence of the traditional southern variety of Mandarin.
People were still not aware, in an academic perspective, that the pronunciation
standard for the National Language must be based on the phonology of a variety
actually spoken by a speech community even though that was already the prac-
tice in actual language use. It was not until the rise of the Pekinese vs National
controversy, which began in 1920, did the entering tone eventually got purged
from the National Accent such that the National Accent really abides by Pekinese
phonology. Li Jinxi said in 1923 in his “Preface” to Jingyin Rushenzi Pu ‘The
Pekinese pronunciation of the traditional entering-tone characters’, “Of late
among National Language workers, there is no longer the Pekinese vs National
controversy . . . Now we have come to the happy ending by our purely abiding by
the living accent of the living speakers in Beijing.” (Wang 2003:26) It was not
until 1924, when the Preparatory Committee for Standardizing National Lan-
guage wrote down “decided that the beautiful Pekinese accent be regarded as
the standard” (Wang 2003:27) in the course of discussing the expansion of
Guoyin Zidian ‘Dictionary of the National Pronunciation’ that the Pekinese accent
was formally established as the National accent.
4 Banxing Qieyinzi-shu Shitiao Banfa ‘Ten Methods in Promoting the Book with Phonetic
Characters written by Lu Ganzhang. (Language Reform Press 1958: 73)
474 Chapter 30
1.2 Specifying the principles and approaches in devising

Pinyin
Clause 4 of the Proposal reads, “Devising a system of phonetic symbols. There
are five principles: 1) it should be accurate and comprehensive; 2) it should be
compatible with international practices; 3) the symbols should be graphically
simple; 4) the symbols should be aesthetically acceptable; 5) the symbols
should be easy to write. Whether re-using old symbols or devising new ones,
these principles have to be observed as a precondition. The symbols should
have a handwritten style and a print style. After its initial devising, the system
will have a trial run in all administrative units nation-wide from provinces to
counties for a period of time. If and when hurdles are encountered, they should
be reported to the General Commission any time with a view to effecting amend-
ments. The version after such amendments will be promulgated as the definitive
version.”
What the Proposal referred to as “phonetic symbols” are in fact the “Bopo-
mofo” and “Hanyu Pinyin” we subsequently use. The term “phonetic symbol”
defines their function as phonetic transcription rather than script. As such, it
set itself clearly apart from the various script-oriented “Qieyin Characters”
‘phonic script’ schemes. That the Proposal devoted a particular clause to pho-
netic symbols indicates that the proposers were already well aware of the signif-
icant position the phonetic symbols assume in transcribing the National Accent
and in promoting the National Language.
The Proposal was quite scientific in spelling out its blueprint for the system
of phonetic symbols. First, it required phonetic accuracy. Second, it required
leaving no sound of the National Language not covered. Third, it required the
method of transcription to be compatible with international practices. Fourth, it
required the shape of the symbols to be simple, good-looking, and easy to write.
Fifth, it required of parallel styles of the symbol (handwritten vs print, and
perhaps higher vs lower case). Sixth, it allowed for using existing symbols as
well as devising new ones. Seventh, in carrying out the project, there was the
provision for a process with the stages of draft scheme, trial-run, review, amend-
ment and definitive scheme.
1.3 Stipulating the standards for and the components of the

National Language
The Proposal stopped short of directly defining the standards and components
of the National Language. However, by looking at the analyses contained in the
first three clauses in the Proposal, we can see what the Proposal understood
about the standards of the National Language and about what the National
Language should include as its components.
Clause 1 brought up the need for nation-wide language survey: “First, the
Ministry of Education is to set up a General Commission for National Language
Survey. Second, the Head of Education in each province is to be entrusted to set
up a Provincial Commission for Language Survey, looking after all matters
related to language survey. The subjects of language survey are the three compo-
nents of language, namely lexicon, syntax and phonology. Other things relevant
to language will also be surveyed.”
Clause 2 was on how to do “selection and editing” on the raw materials
collected: “After the surveys are done on the provincial level, the materials are
to be copied for submission to the General Commission, who will further examine
the materials and will select those aspects of the lexicon, syntax and phonology
that are elegant, correct and in common use and establish them as norms. These
selected items and established norms will be utilized in the future compilation
of textbooks for the National Language, dictionaries and comparative tables for
dialects.”
The quote above indicates clearly that the National Language should
include phonology, lexicon and syntax: language survey must include “the
three components of language, namely lexicon, syntax and phonology”. After-
wards the General Commission is to “select those aspects of the lexicon, syntax
and phonology” and “establish them as norms.” It warrants our special mention
that explicitly listing syntax as a component of the National Language was
an act with academic vision. The first ever syntax written by a Chinese Mashi
Wentong ‘Ma’s Grammar’ was not published until 1898, just 12 years before the
Proposal was passed. Before Mashi Wentong, Chinese syntax was written pre-
dominantly by missionaries and Chinese nationals knew little about the works
on syntax written by missionaries. The Political Advisory Councilor Jiang Qian
was the first to make the point that the National Language should include the
syntax element in the course of discussing National Language when he sub-
mitted the opinion paper Zhiwen Xuebu Fen Nian Chouban Guoyu Jiaoyu Shuotie
‘Lobby Paper Submitted to the Imperial Educational Ministry concerning the
Setting up of National Language Education in Phases’:
“Every language in the world has its syntax, on which our expression of ideas depends.
While syntax exists implicitly in the practice of language use, its explicit formulation
depends on written texts. Now that the Ministry of Education is compiling a textbook in
this connection, I would like to know if syntax is going to be prescribed.” (Language
476 Chapter 30
By reviewing the history of National Language (Putonghua) promotion we get to

know that the National Language (Putonghua) did not have an explicit standard
of syntax until 1956, when it was stipulated, “using exemplary Modern Vernacu-
lar writings as syntactic norms.”5
Not only did the Proposal put forth the idea that the National Language
should have the components phonology, lexicon and syntax, but it also offered
the standard for the National Language. Clause 2 stipulated that when the Com-
pilation Group under the General Commission examines the materials submitted
from various locations, it “will select those aspects of the lexicon, syntax and
phonology that are elegant, correct and in common use and establish them as
norms” and have them incorporated into National Language textbooks. Clause
3 stipulated, “Wording must be correct, appropriate, elegant, meaningful and
logical. It would be apt to use Mandarin (Guanhua) as the norm.” The expres-
sions “correct, appropriate, elegant, meaningful” as applied to the standard for
the National Language are fairly appropriate, albeit not the clearest.
1.4 Spelling out the measures for National Language

promotion
The Proposal spelt out a number of major measures for the promotion of the
National Language:
– First, “compilation of textbooks for the National Language, dictionaries and

comparative tables for dialects,” which are preparatory materials for National
Language promotion.
– Second, devising phonetic symbols, being a tool for National Language pro-
motion.
– Third, establishment of the National Language Institute. Clause 5 of the
Proposal was devoted to “teaching and learning”: “Initially, the National
Language Institute will be established by the Ministry of Education. Every
province will select those who are well-versed in local dialects within the
province and send them to the Institute to learn what they are taught. On
graduation they will be sent back to their respective provinces. Then a
provincial level National Language Institute will be set up in the seat of
every province with the above-mentioned graduates serving as teachers,
and so on and so forth, down the administrative hierarchy until the county
5 On 6 February 1956, the State Council promulgated the “Guidelines for the Promotion of
Putonghua”. (Fei 1997:221)
level is reached. All teachers and other staff who cannot speak Mandarin
will take turns to enter the Institute to learn it until they graduate.” So, the
establishment of National Language Institutes at various levels is to pave
the way for the institutionalization of National Language Promotion by way
of organization, teacher education and teacher qualification, and a system
of rotational placement to the Institutes.
– Fourth, devising National Language curriculum for schools and requiring
teachers to use the National Language as the medium of instruction. Clause
5 of the Proposal stipulates, “In all schools, in addition to devoting certain
teaching hours for the teaching of the National Language per se, the
medium of instruction for all other subjects should also gradually shift to
Mandarin.”6 Thus, National Language promotion is made concrete by its
implementation by way of tangible curricula and medium of instruction.
2 The Proposal for Establishing a Common

National Language and the Qieyinzi Movement
The passing of the Proposal and the achievements it attained in the realm of
language planning was by no means unconnected with the Qieyinzi Movement.
In a sense, the Proposal is the crystallization of the fruits borne by the latter.
2.1 The Qieyinzi Movement served to prompt the Proposal

The last 20 years of the Qing Dynasty, from 1892 when Lu Ganzhang published
his Zhongguo Diyikuai Qieyin Xinzi to 1911, saw a script reform movement with
far-reaching influence, namely the Qieyinzi Movement. The Movement was
initiated by ordinary folks but gradually more and more government officials
and other VIPs got involved in it, including Li Lucun, Yan Xiu, Wang Zhao, Wu
Rulun, Lao Naixuan, Duan Fang, Zhou Fu, Yuan Shikai, etc., who were all active
champions of the movement. The conspicuous events of this movement include
submitting papers to the Viceroy of Zhili, to the Censorate, to Ministry of Educa-
tion, etc., with Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Office of Military and Political
Affairs involved. At times even the sovereign officials attended to the movement
in person.
6 This has obviously taken on some of the stipulations set out in the Presented School Regula-
tions submitted by Zhang Baixi, Rong Qing, Zhang Zhidong, etc. in 1904.
478 Chapter 30
From 1901 to 1911, the Qing Dynasty waged a series of social reforms,
referred to as the “Terminal New Deal”. Of the New Deal, the solemnest move
was the preparation for the setting up of constitution after the Russo-Japanese
War. In July 1907, Emperor Guangxu promulgated a decree on the setting up of
the Political Advisory Council; in October he requested that provincial level Con-
sultative Councils be set up. In August 1908, the Qinding Xianfa Dagang ‘Outline
of Imperial Constitution’ was promulgated and the timetable for implementing
constitutional governance announced.7 In September 1910, the Ceremony for
the Inauguration of the National Political Advisory Council was held. Earlier
on, the social concerns of the Qieyinzi Movement had mainly centered around
how Qieyin Characters can benefit the popularization of education and the
strengthening of the nation. Following the political reform in preparing for the
setting up of constitution and parliamentary systems, the concerns of the
Qieyinzi Movement began to touch on Qieyin Characters’ relationship with
constitutional governance, especially its relationship with voter qualification.
Expression of views in support of Qieyin Characters gradually developed from
calling by government officials to opinion representatives submitting papers to
the government.
The Political Advisory Councilor Jiang Qian’s Zhiwen Xuebu Fen Nian
Chouban Guoyu Jiaoyu Shuotie ‘Lobby Paper Submitted to the Imperial Educa-
tional Ministry concerning the Setting up of National Language Education in
Phases’ had 32 signatories. The Chenqing Zizhengyuan Banxing Guanghua Jianzi
Shuotie ‘Lobby Paper Submitted to the Political Consultative Council concerning
the Promulgation of Mandarin Simplified Characters’ co-signed by Qing Fu and
other Manchurians had over a hundred signatories. The Chenqing Zizhengyuan
Banxing Guanghua Jianzi Shuotie led by Han Deming and others had a signatory
list as long as 189 persons. Yan Fu, Chairman of a special committee under the
Political Advisory Council, examined a total of six lobby papers with similar
appeals for the promotion of books written in simple Mandarin script. These
six lobby papers were led by a number of opinion representatives including the
following: Cheng Xianjia of Jiangning (belonging to the Mandarin Phonic Educa-
tion Society of the Zhili Province), Liu Zhaoli of Sichuan Province, Han Deming
of Tianjin Province, Han Yinfu, a government official, and Qing Fu, again a
government official. The resultant document was the Shencha Caiyong Yinbiao
Shiban Guoyu Jiaoyu An Baogao Shu ’Review of the Bill of the Use of Phonetic
7 Preparatory work for the establishment of constitution was to be completed within 9 years. It
was planned that provincial conferences on the establishment of constitution would be con-
vened in 1909 and the state-level conference in 1910, while the Congress would be convened
in 1917.
Symbols to Establish Pilot National Language Education’ written by Yan Fu.

Nanjing in the south and Baoding, Tianjin and Beijing in the north were the
cities actively pushing forth Qieyin Characters. They ran schools, organized the
“Society for the Study of Simple Script”, and printed books and newspapers.
Just the Mandarin Phonic Printing House alone published over 60,000 units of
print materials.
By way of government-civilian interaction and the interaction between those
within the meeting room and those without, the Qieyinzi Movement developed
into a very influential cultural trend. The practice of Qieyin Characters in great
volume and echoing opinions and lobby papers in great numbers acted together
to push through this very Proposal of the Qing government.
2.2 The Proposal was an integration of the fruitful results of

the Qieyinzi Movement
Although the main concern of the Qieyinzi Movement was devising and pro-
moting the Qieyin Characters, its underlying theory and its activities went far
beyond the realm of script. The paper Late Qing Script Reformers’ Views on
Language Unification by Li Yuming (2003) summarized the Qieyin Characters
reformers’ stance as follows: 1) simple character shapes; 2) vernacular-based
written language; 3) unified language. These opinions had their clues in the
“Original Preface” of Zhongguo Diyikuai Qieyin Xinzi by Lu Ganzhang:
“In my view, the strength of a nation has science as its basis. The rise of science has as
its basis its nationals’ (irrespective of gender and age) love for learning and acquiring
knowledge. Their love for learning and acquiring knowledge, in turn, has as its basis a
phonetic script. After learning the letters and the phonic principles, every written word
can be pronounced by the reader without recourse to a teacher. Then, as the written lan-
guage is vernacular-based, to pronounce a text is to understand a text at the same time.
And then, as the characters are graphically simple, thus easy to recognize and easy to
write, a dozen years are saved in one’s life. The time thus saved can be used for studying
mathematics, physics, chemistry and other concrete knowledge. There should be no reason
why a country does not become strong! . . . One accent should take charge, . . . Huge as
China is, we are like one family.” (Language Reform Press 1958:2–3)
The design feature that “the characters are graphically simple” brought about
the devising of various Qieyin Characters schemes and provided an under-
pinning for the theory and practice of Bopomofo, Hanyu Pinyin and Chinese
character simplification. A logical extension of the feature “the written language
is vernacular-based” is to require that the written language and the spoken lan-
guage be consistent with each other, in actual fact a herald of the “Vernacular
480 Chapter 30
Movement” to come. The feature “one accent should take charge” entails using
Mandarin to unite the language varieties nation-wide, the first sign of the
ensuing National Language Movement. The gist of the Proposal was National
Language unification. The Proposal took up the fruitful results of the Qieyinzi
Movement, e.g. with regard to the name “National Language”, the standard
accent for the National Language, the measures and steps for National Language
promotion, etc. In this sense, the Proposal is an integration of various results of
the Qieyinzi Movement.
2.3 The Proposal abandoned the idea of phonetic script

advocated in the Qieyinzi Movement
The Proposal did not adopt the idea of phonetic script advocated in the Qieyinzi
Movement. The main advocates of Qieyin Characters earlier on had hoped that
Qieyin Characters take the place of Chinese characters, but this proposal was
subject to the criticism and resistance of those who were determined to maintain
the orthodox status of Chinese characters, especially the Ministry of Education.
Later, advocates of Qieyin Characters changed their strategy by way of position-
ing the function of Qieyin Characters as to supplement Chinese characters rather
than replace them. They even praised Chinese characters a lot, with tongue in
cheek. The proposition of using Qieyin Characters to supplement Chinese char-
acters can be summarized as follows: 1) The culturally sophisticated persons use
Chinese characters while the others learn Qieyin Characters; in other words,
teach Chinese characters to the promising ones to produce talents and teach
simple script to the masses for general enlightenment. 2) In so far as Qieyin
Characters can be used as phonetic transcription for Chinese characters, the
masses can learn Chinese characters with the help of Qieyin Characters. An
example is the Zhi Tang Shangshu Han ‘Letter to Minister Tang’ written by Lao
Naixuan in 1910:
“I understand that education has two functions, to produce talents and to enlighten the
masses. To produce talents we teach promising ones; for general enlightenment we teach
masses. In our country the promising ones are few while the masses are many. The prom-
ising ones receive education at the expense of the masses. . . . Talking about our Chinese
characters, each has its shape, pronunciation and meaning. New characters may be gen-
erated in analogy to existing ones. There are tens of thousands of characters in all. The
repertoire is all inclusive, bridging the spiritual and the secular realms. As such our
Chinese script is singular among the scripts in the world. Yet, of the same coin, its sophis-
tication and comprehensiveness are on one side and its complexity and difficulty are on
the other. For this reason it is good for teaching the promising but clumsy for teaching
the masses. . . . among them the system of letters for the Mandarin as spoken in the capital
is the best, by virtue of its completeness and handiness. I got hold of this scheme in
Nanjing in 1905 and appreciated it very much. However, it is a pity that it transcribes just
the capital’s accent, with the accents in other provinces left unattended to. I therefore used
that scheme as a basis and added to it more symbols (including those for initial, rhyme
and tone), resulting in one scheme for the Nanjing accent and another scheme for the Wu
dialect. With these two schemes in place I proposed to the government to set up schools in
the capital of Jiangning Province to teach these simple symbols for phonetic transcription.
The local accent is the ladder to help reach the target of the official accent. The proposal
was accepted by the government and put to practice for a few years. Quite a number of
persons have graduated from those schools and the results are obvious. This is concrete
evidence that Qieyin Characters is an efficient instrument to educate the masses.”
(Language Reform Press 1958:113–114)
Another example comes from Pan Jifu’s paper Tuixing Jianzi Fei Fei Hanwen
Shuo ‘The Simple Script Practice is no Abandonment of Chinese Characters’ of
1907:
“It is difficult for the masses to be conversant with traditional Chinese writing but easy for
them to practice the simple script. The military, scholars, businessmen, and the govern-
ment are all related to the masses. They consider implementing the simple script because
they want our people to be enlightened and education popularized so that there be no
barrier between the high and the low causing estrangement and misunderstanding. For
those already in the circles of the military, scholars, businessmen, and the government,
the only change is for them to get to know the simple script. . . . The North-coast simple
script has been in use for over a year. All decrees, all useful words in such areas as
astronomy, geography, humanities and history, and all personal names have Chinese
characters juxtaposed. The intention is for the reader to come to grips with some Chinese
characters via the simple script. So, in connection with my Simple Script proposition, I
argue that Chinese characters and the Simple Script can both be practiced without con-
tradiction. We can use them in such a way as for them to enhance each other, not harm
each other. We are by no means requiring everybody to learn the Simple Script with a
view to abandoning Chinese characters.” (Language Reform Press 1958:76)
A third example comes from Lao Naixuan’s Zouqing yu Jianyishizi Xueshu

nei Fushe Jianzi Yi Ke bing Biantong Difang Zizhi Xuanmin Zige Zhe ‘Official
Document Presented to the Emperor concerning the Setting up of the Subject of
Simplified Characters in Jianyishizi School and the Adjustment of the Qualification
of Electors in Local Autonomous Regions’ of 1909:
“Some may worry that prevalence of the new script might hinder the study of our classics.
They overlooked that our traditional script had a divine origin. Each character has its
shape, pronunciation and meaning. The script carries our causes and passes them down
from heart to heart. It is ever renewing. As such it is not susceptible to depreciation at all.
In comparison, the Simple Script carries with it pronunciation but not meaning. All it does
is just to represent the spoken language. As for Chinese philosophy, with its high level
of sophistication and Chinese canon and Chinese history, with their depth and elegance,
cannot but rely on Chinese characters. In no way can the Simple Script take their place.
482 Chapter 30
As a piece of evidence, Kanas have been used in Japan for over a thousand years and
Japanese Kanji, kept intact, still prevails today. I am here to request that Simple Script be
made an auxiliary subject in schools. The official subjects will still use the textbooks of the
Ministry of Education where Chinese characters are taught. The Simple Script is just an
auxiliary subject, meant for those who fail to grasp Chinese characters anyway. As such
it will not affect the official subjects in Chinese characters, nor vice versa. Those whose
caliber cannot afford them to come to grips with over a thousand Chinese characters are
doomed to be illiterate. Now we get them to know the dozens of simple symbols in lieu of
acquiring literacy in the traditional sense. We are not adding to the number of those who
know Chinese characters; we are just adding to the number of Simple Script users among
the traditional illiterates. The official school subjects using Chinese characters might be
able to turn at most 5% of our people literate. This auxiliary subject, on the other hand,
can enable the other 95%, who are illiterates, to know the Simple Script. In this way, the
entire population knows one script or the other. Is it not a great help to the popularization
of education? If the Simple Script users could pick up dozens or hundreds of Chinese
characters, then they can become even more useful persons. We can teach them a measure
of Chinese characters commensurate with their ability. Moreover, Chinese characters are
logographical, thus large in quantity and difficult to grasp, whereas the Simple Script
symbols represent sounds in language, thus small in number and easy to grasp. Once the
Simple Script is grasped it can be used to represent the pronunciation of Chinese characters,
thus making the latter easier to grasp. Therefore, the Simple Script will not hinder Chinese
character use. On the contrary it offers help to the latter, being a gateway towards literacy
in Chinese characters.” (Language Reform Press 1958:106–107)
Despite all this, not just a few people were worried Qieyin Characters would
covet the throne of Chinese characters, and were mindful of stripping it of the
expression “zi” ‘script’ in related nomenclature. In 1910, in the Shencha Caiyong
Yinbiao Shiban Guoyu Jiaoyu An Baogao Shu ‘Report on the Review of the Bill
of the Use of Phonetic Symbols to Establish Pilot National Language Education’
submitted by Yan Fu, as Chairman of Special Committee of the Political Advisory
Council, cautiously adopted “yinbiao” ‘phonetic symbols’ as the official name in
lieu of “jianzi” ‘simple script’:
“The name ‘jianzi’ should be replaced by ‘yinbiao’. Calling it ‘jianzi’ gives one the impres-
sion of being directed towards the complex shape of ideographic characters; the expres-
sion ‘promoting jianzi’ gives one the impression of abandoning the ideographic characters
which have been developed in accordance with the ‘six principles of script’. Now that the
name is changed to ‘yinbiao’, on the one hand it shows that it serves the ideographic char-
acters by way of its function in orthoepy, and on the other it indicates that its ontological
nature is in the realm of phonetic transcription, thus quite different from the ‘six principles
of script’.” (Language Reform Press 1958:134)
Clause 4 of the Proposal, entitled “Devising Phonetic Symbols”, has on the one
hand assimilated the studies on the functions of simple scripts in the Qieyinzi
Movement and on the other inherited the official stand (e.g. as shown in Yan
Fu’s report just mentioned) by referring to the thing as “phonetic symbols” rather
than “simple script”.
As for the methods of setting up the General Commission and Provincial
Commissions for nation-wide language survey, the pronouncement of those
elements that are elegant, correct and in common use as norms for the National
Language and the proposition to compile comparative tables for dialects all
exceeded the ken of the proponents for Qieyin Characters.
3 The historical influences of the Proposal

The various decisions passed as a package in the Proposal has reached high lin-
guistic levels, harboured very systematic considerations of language planning,
and got strong operability, even seen in the light of the academic understanding
of today. Its significance in the realm of language planning has a direct impact
facet and a long-term influence facet.
3.1 Its direct impacts on language planning work in the early

years of the Republic of China
The Proposal, passed in the last year of the Qing Dynasty 1911, left the Qing
Government with no time to implement it. However, the Provisional Central
Education Conference was convened on as early as 10 July 1912, where the 23
motions included the motion “Adopting a system of phonetic symbols”. Ni
Haishu opined, “This resolution can be considered as a graft of the Proposal.”
(Ni 1948:66) Though Ni was then criticizing the new resolution as stopping short
of adopting script reform, his words did reflect the link between the two resolu-
tions before and after the change of government.
In December 1912, in accordance with the resolution “Adopting a system of
phonetic symbols”, the Ministry of Education laid down the Duyin Tongyihui
Zhangcheng ‘Articles for the Commission on the Unification of Pronunciation’,
where Article 5 stipulated:
1) To determine the official accent and the pronunciation of individual lexical

items;
2) To break a syllable into basic units of sound; and
3) To adopt a system of letters such that each sound is mapped onto a par-
ticular letter. (Ni 1948:66)
484 Chapter 30
It is obvious that these stipulations were executing the two tasks of determining
the National Accent and deciding on a system of phonetic symbols embedded in
the Proposal.
On 25 Feb 1913 a meeting of the Commission on the Unification of Pronuncia-
tion was convened in Beijing, where the pronunciations of over 7,100 characters
were determined8, the Bopomofo scheme was devised and the Measures for Pro-
moting the National Accent was passed. The Measures for Promoting the National
Accent include 7 points:
1) The Ministry of Education is to convey to every province chief that the pro-
vincial Bureau of Education be required to quickly set up the “Schools for
the Teaching and Learning of the Letters for the National Accent” and to
require the component counties to send people there to learn the letters.
Similar schools will then be set up, manned by the returning graduates and
admitting learners, whereby promoting the letters.
2) The Ministry of Education is to decide shortly on the system of letters and
announce it.
3) The Ministry of Education is to acquire “Gramophones with National Accent
Materials Recorded” for dissemination to the various provinces to avoid
errors.
4) The Ministry of Education is to change the subject “Guowen” (National
Language Writings) to “Guoyu” (National Language) or to add the “Guoyu”
subject.
5) Teachers in secondary schools and teacher trainers must use the National
Accent in teaching.
6) In textbooks for primary education every Chinese character should be anno-
tated with its pronunciation in the National Accent in accordance with
Guoyin Huibian ‘A List of Characters with Pronunciation in the National
Accent’ after announcement of the latter.
7) In official announcements every Chinese character must be annotated with
its pronunciation in the National Accent in accordance with Guoyin Huibian
‘A List of Characters with Pronunciation in the National Accent’ after an-
nouncement of the latter.9
8 The some 6500 characters contained in the book Yinyun Chanwei (Pronunciations Elaborated)
by Li Guangdi of the Qing Dynasty were the first to have their National Language pronunciation
determined. Later the pronunciation of more than 600 additional characters comprising collo-
quialisms and new characters used in academic terms introduced from abroad was determined.
9 As quoted in Li (1933:70), with isolated technical errors rectified.
These 7 points can be considered as an elaboration of the Proposal with respect

to “teaching and learning”.
Most of the members of the Commission on the Unification of Pronunciation
had been active participants in the Qieyinzi Movement, including Wang Zhao,
Wang Pu, Lu Ganzhang and Ma Tiqian. The subjects of discussion are basically
those in the Proposal. Therefore, in some sense, the meetings of the Commission
on the Unification of Pronunciation of the Republic were a continuation of the
Central Meeting on Education of the Qing Ministry of Education in its discussion
of the Proposal. As Wang Jun remarked in the book Dangdai Zhongguo de Wenzi
Gaige ‘Script Reforms in Contemporary China’ he edited:
“Yes, the Proposal was passed. However, it was just a void piece of document, which could
not be implemented. After the 1911 Revolution, the Ministry of Education of the Republic
decided to set up the Commission on the Unification of Pronunciation. Not until then
were the original personnel of Qieyinzi Movement gathered together, whereby materializ-
ing the resolutions of the former Political Advisory Council and devising a scheme of
phonetic symbols.” (Wang 1995:15)
The Ministry of Education of the Republic promulgated the Phonetic Letters on

23 November 1918. Order No. 75 of the Ministry of Education signed by the then
Minister of Education Fu Zengxiang, began as follows:
“The matters of National Language unification have been resolved in central meetings of
the former Ministry of Education in the Qing Dynasty. After the establishment of the
Republic, with the recognition that unification of accent is a pre-condition for National
Language unification, the Commission on the Unification of Pronunciation was established
and meetings convened as early as the first year of the Republican to discuss matters con-
cerned. The Commission resolved that 39 symbols be used for pronunciation representa-
tion in place of the traditional practice of Fanqie. In addition, a number of commonly
used characters have their pronunciations decided upon by vote of majority and repre-
sented by way of those symbols. The system of phonetic symbols and the choice of
pronunciations for those characters have been presented to our Ministry for official imple-
mentation.” (Li 1933:38)
These words quoted above also showed clearly the direct impact of the Proposal
on these activities in the early years of the Republic.
3.2 Its long-term influence

The influence of the Proposal is at once extensive, far-reaching and deep. Before
the Proposal, the language policy of the nation, if any, was basically implicit,
realized only in terms of language awareness and language practice. The Pro-
486 Chapter 30
posal, on the other hand, was the explicit pronouncement of national language
policies by means of a state-level document. In this vein, national language
policies in the following 100 years, both before and after 1949, have taken the
form of explicit pronouncement clearly stated in state-level documents. That
language policies develop from implicit practice to explicit stipulation is the
progression route taken by most countries of the world.
Many of the provisions in the Proposal have far-reaching influences, for
example:
1) The requirement for a linguistic element to be “in common use, elegant and
correct”, and the clear statement that the National Language has pronun-
ciation, lexicon and syntax as its three components.
2) It established the status of Pekinese with respect to the National Language.
3) It valued highly phonetic symbols in the promotion of the National Language
and scientifically described the design features of such symbols.
4) It valued highly education in the promotion of the National Language, with
measures including compiling National Language textbooks, training National
Language teachers and setting up National Language curriculums. It
also proposed that the National Language be adopted as the medium of
instruction.
5) It valued highly lexicography and proposed that comparison be made
between words of the National Language and the words of other language
varieties.
6) It valued highly linguistic institutions in the formulation of standards and
promotion of the National Language, e.g. in order to facilitate language
survey, the General Commission for National Language Survey and the Pro-
vincial Commissions for National Language Survey were to be established;
and in order to train National Language teachers, schools at various levels
for the teaching and learning of the National Language be established.
7) It proposed that the phonetic symbols, after their initial devising, should
undergo a trial period and will only be officially promulgated after proper
amendment. Although that was meant for the devising of phonetic symbols,
the principle is in fact generalizable to the establishment of any norm of a
language. Thus, in all the ensuing promulgations of linguistic norms, the
provision for trial-run was taken very seriously.
8) The proposition to determine the standards of the National Language after
field study of language was in fact a predecessor to nation-wide survey of
language information.
Some of the propositions and methods have been practiced accordingly ever
since, thus attesting to their effectiveness, e.g. the importance of education,
lexicography, phonetic symbols, and special linguistic institutions in National
Language promotion. Other propositions and methods were elaborated on or

optimized in later language planning works, e.g. Pekinese was later adopted as
the standard accent of the National Language, whereby dropping the inappro-
priate provision of the retention of the “entering tone”; the requirements of “in
common use, elegant and correct” were later subject to more explicit formula-
tion; and the pronunciation, lexicon and syntax of the National Language were
later more clearly described. There were still other propositions or methods that
were put onto the agenda only a long time afterwards, while some were even
uncompleted as of today. For example, language survey was done only sporadi-
cally before the 1950s. After the 1950s, more extensive surveys began to be done
nation-wide, but nation-wide survey of language information is not yet complete
as of today. There are regions for which the language profile is still obscure; in
the area of compilation of nation-wide dialect comparison tables there is still a
lot of work to be done; as for the requirement that all teachers for all subjects in
schools adopt the National Language as medium of instruction, there are a
certain unbridged gaps in the western part of the country and in rural areas.
To sum up, the plans and measures of national language unification did not
come to an end as the Qing Dynasty did. The Proposal had adequately taken
up the fruitful results of the Qieyinzi Movement towards the end of the Qing
Dynasty, established the first example of government-led language planning,
whereby kicking off a tradition which has lasted at least a century. The bulk of
our language planning works in the past century were efforts to complete the
tasks the Proposal set out to do. Quite a number of measures adopted in the
past century were inspired by it. Some tasks it proposed, e.g. nation-wide lan-
guage survey and adopting the National Language as the medium of instruction,
have not been completed as of today.
Mr. Qu Shaobing (2011) pointed out, “In a sense it opened up the main gate
of language planning in language modernization of our country.” He also
expressed “his respect, in a historical sense, to this Proposal for Establishing a
Common National Language, which was a resolution of the Central Meeting on
Education of the then Ministry of Education.” I agree to his reasoning. Of course,
when we are commemorating the Proposal today, apart from scientifically eval-
uating its historical contributions and expressing respect to the personnel in a
historical sense, more importantly we should strive to do well the language
planning works of today, to propel the scientific advancement of language busi-
nesses and strive to promote harmony in society via language planning, in turn
to promote linguistic communication and mutual cultural-trust of mankind.
488 Chapter 30
References
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Press.
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on Language Unification). Yuyan Jiaoxue yu Yanjiu (Language Teaching and Research),
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Yanbian (Chinese Education History Archive Collection – Changes in Education System).
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Qu, Shaobing. 2011. “Tongyi Guoyu Banfa An” suo She Wenti San Lun (Three Treatises on the
Issues Related to “Proposal for Establishing a Common National Language”). Journal of
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Su, Peicheng (ed.). 2010. Dangdai Zhongguo de Yuwen Gaige and Yuwen Guifan (Language
Reforms and Language Standardization in Contemporary China). Commercial Press.
Wang, Jun. 1995. Dangdai Zhongguo de Wenzi Gaige (Script Reform in Contemporary China).
Wang Lijia. 2003. Hanyu Pinyin Yundong yu Han Minzu Biaozhunyu (The Hanyu Pinyin Movement
and the Standard Language of the Han People). Beijing: Language and Culture Press.
Wang, Lijia. 2011. Guoyu Yundong yu Yuyan Guifanhua Yundong (The National Language
Movement and the Han-language Standardization Movement). Journal of Yunnan Normal
University, 6.
Wade, Thomas Francis. 1867. Yuyan Zier Ji – Shijiu Shiji Zhongqi de Beijinghua (Yü-yen Tzŭ-erh
Chi – Pekinese in Mid-19th Century). Zhang, Weidong (trans.). 2002. Beijing: Peking
University Press.
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The original Chinese version of this paper was published in the Macao Journal of Linguistics,
2012, Issue No. 1.
Translated by CHEUNG Kwan Hin (张群显)

kwan.hin.cheung@polyu.edu.hk
Index
annotation 346–348 international dissemination of Chinese 376,
authoritative dialect 377, 378
– regional dialect 161, 162, 163–166 – history of 373–375, 375–376, 376–377
– social dialect 161, 162, 168, 169, 170, 171 international education 379, 381–384, 385
– in language standardization international language communications
regional dialect 176–179 strategy planning 60–62, 62–63
social dialect 179–182
language capability 73, 74, 75, 76, 82
bidialecticalism 189, 190, 191, 195 language communication 188
bilingualism 189, 190, 191, 194, 195 language data 267, 270, 271, 273, 274, 276
language economics 77, 79–80, 82, 83
centenary 483–487 language function 40–43
China Character Set 331, 332, 333, 334, 335, language function planning 46–49
337 language issues in the information
Chinese script reform 455–456, 457–461, age 284–287, 296
461–462 language life 53, 54, 57, 64, 65, 66–67, 87–
contemporary China 380–381, 384 98, 123–142
corpus 341, 342–346, 351–352 – characteristics of the times 124, 129, 133,
136
dictionary compilation 248, 249, 250, 252, – macro-level 87
256 – mesco-level 93
digital gap 282–284 – micro-level 98
language maintenance 186–188
electronic dictionary(-ies) 252, 253, 254, language phenomenon 43–46
255, 256, 257, 258 language planning 1, 2, 87–103, 105–120,
123, 125, 126, 128, 131, 134–135, 136,
fanqie 390–394
137, 140, 141, 470–477
field language life 106, 110, 111, 117, 118, – field 106, 107, 110, 111, 113, 115, 117, 118,
119, 120 119
first language 19, 30, 32, 33
– macro-level 87, 90, 92
foreign language 145, 146 – mesco-level 93, 95, 96, 97, 98
– planning 61, 145–154 – micro-level 98, 100, 101, 102
issues of 149–154 language policies in the information
major factors affecting 146–149
age 288, 291–296, 297
language problems 1–6
green paper (Lüpishu) 263, 264, 268, 269,
language resources 73–76, 77, 80, 83
270, 271, 275
language rights 11–12
language shift 30–31
information age 281, 282, 296, 297, 299,
Language Situation in China 271–277
300, 304, 306, 309, 313, 314, 327
language standardization 164, 165, 166,
– language and writing standardization in
168, 169, 170, 171
the 314–317, 318–322, 326
language tasks in the information age 300–
– perspective of normalization 322–326,
306, 309
327
490 Index
late Qing Dynasty 427, 432, 433, 442 script reformers 427, 428, 432
late Qing period 445–447 Sinology 373, 374, 375, 385
levels of Chinese proficiency 361–363 soft norms 264, 268, 270
lexical items 215 speech community 19, 20, 25, 30, 31
lingua franca 447–450, 450–452, 452–454 spoken and written language 226
linguistic knowledge 348–350 standardization of lexical items 216, 218,
linguistic resources 7–11 220, 222, 223
loss of mother tongue 29–30
teaching Chinese to foreigners 357–359
modern language technology 59, 64 term 229, 230, 241, 242, 243
modernization of lexicography 248, 257 – localization 230–234
mother tongue 17, 18, 19, 24, 25, 26 – standardization 234–238
– internationalization 238–241
national language capability 53, 54, 60, 62, the project of Chinese Language Resource
63, 64, 66, 68 Audio Database (CLRAD) 199, 200
needs of foreigners for learning – basis status of CLRAD 200–203
Chinese 359–361, 364–367, 369 – features of CLRAD 203–207
– functions of CLRAD 207–213
phoneticize 391, 394–397
Proposal of Establishing a Common National unification of language 445, 446
Language 477–483 universal education 409–413, 416–422
qieyin 390–394, 404, 405 view of dialects 428, 428–433, 433–437,

qieyinzi 387, 388, 390–394, 397–399, 404, 442
405
Qieyinzi Movement 387, 398, 399, 399–403,
405, 408, 410, 414, 416, 421, 422,
423, 427, 436, 438, 440

Language Planning in China

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Language Planning in China

The Commercial Press

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Bibliographic information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek

Commercial Press. My colleagues at the Department of Language Information

Translated by CHAN Shui Duen (陈瑞端)

“It is language life, instead of language per se,

In a footnote in a recent paper on language management in the People’s Re-

Another major inﬂuence on changes in the linguistic ecology of China has

Foreword by Bernard Spolsky vii

Keywords: language planning, language problems, linguistic resources, language

1.1 Language communication

1) Deﬁning and popularizing the Han nationality’s common language

a) Active promotion of Putonghua;

2) Enhance foreign language education

Education in foreign languages is another means of facilitating linguistic com-

1.2 Language pressures

Harmony in sociolinguistic life would be impossible if these relationships are

1.3 Language endangerment

languages). The speakers of 96 percent of these languages account for only 4

a) the death of speakers of the language(s);

2.1 Languages are linguistic resources

2.2 Languages are cultural resources

2.3 Languages are economic resources

2.4 General survey of languages in China

6 For more on this survey, see Li, 2008b:5–7.

(including scripts). Clearly, it is virtually impossible to talk about the diversity of

4 Building a harmonious language life

a) To ensure a smooth information ﬂow from linguistic perspective, and to sup-

the interest of the country in all the information domains. Of course, a

paying dual attention to linguistic communication needs as well as language

Keywords: mother tongue, ﬁrst language, speech community, language shift,

Mother tongue plays an essential role in the life development of an individual as

2) Traditional explanations of “mother tongue”

is acquired by an individual in early age, and is normally used as the natural

i. Mother tongue is viewed from the perspective of an individual; in other

When investigating the above meanings of the traditional explanations, we have

This paper attempts to arrive at a more appropriate deﬁnition of “mother

1 Language problems of mono-language speech

children. In order to investigate how children acquire their native language in a

Type Dialect Common Language

Type I: lack of dialectal variation, only a common language exists

An example of this type is the Dongxiang language ‘东乡语’, which comprises

reported by The Institute of Ethnology of the Chinese Academy of Social

have a common language. When speakers of diﬀerent dialects communicate

1.2 Two situations in the acquisition of language

1) The common language of the nationality is acquired. For Type I language, if

2) A dialect is acquired. For Type II language, owing to the lack of a common

Following the traditional explanations, in the former situation, what a child

1.3 Mother tongue and mother dialect

Reason 1: when a certain language variety is considered as a dialect of a

The high developmental stage of a common language is manifested by the

2 Mother tongue problems of bilingual societies

2.1 Bilingual societies

1) Average bilingualism – more than half of the population are bilinguals.

In a bilingual society, especially in an average bilingual society and a contract-

2.2 Bilingual families and bi-mother-tongue

3 Loss of mother tongue

3.1 Individual loss of mother tongue

3.2 Language shift

Language shift refers to a situation where a speech community abandons its

3.3 Language death

1) A language shift takes place for the entire nation;

3) Expelling of subjects of a nation out of their own territories, making the

3.4 Linguistic identity

bilingual families. It is also possible to have a loss of mother tongue in situa-

Two outstanding issues