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The History of Mandarin

Spoken Mandarin is based on the regional pronunciation of the Peking dialect. Mandarin is historically rooted in the language of the Han Dynasty, the source of all Chinese dialects. The languages of China’s various regional capitals, however, were spoken beyond their respective regions.

Use of the term ‘Mandarin’ to describe the standard language of civil servants first appeared during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The imperial capital was relocated to Peking in this period, which explains why the Peking dialect spoken there – Mandarin – was elevated to become the standard language of the empire.

After the Opium Wars and China’s military defeat at the hands of neighboring Japan, people were in favor of a common national language that could unify and strengthen the country.

After the fall of the Chinese emperor, a body of linguists sought to establish Mandarin as the universal Chinese standard. With the overthrow of the imperial court, these efforts intensified. Although language diversity in China continued to be supported, oral and written mastery of the Mandarin standard language was made compulsory throughout the country.

Characteristics of Mandarin

Standard Chinese, or Mandarin, is a tonal language like all Chinese dialects. Syllables may have as many as four tones or none at all, pronounced atonally. With fewer than 500 syllables, standard Chinese is a relatively understandable dialect. It borrows from many other languages, however, especially Japanese, as well as Latin, Italian, Mongolian, English, and regional dialects.

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