Did people in ancient China all speak classical Chinese? What do ordinary people say? What did the court say? Do you have any dialects?

First, the ancients spoke classical Chinese in the pre-Qin period. Later, classical Chinese and spoken Chinese gradually diverged, and what the ancients said became spoken Chinese, which was gradually out of touch with classical Chinese. Ordinary people talk like this.

Second, the ancient mandarin and dialect:

1. The official languages of China have different names, such as elegant pronunciation, correct pronunciation, Mandarin and Mandarin, which are also the definitions of "Mandarin" in different periods. Mandarin can be subdivided into eight sub-dialects: Beijing Mandarin, northeastern mandarin Mandarin, Jilu Mandarin, Jiaoliao Mandarin, Jianghuai Mandarin, Zhongyuan Mandarin, Lanyin Mandarin and Southwest Mandarin.

2. Chinese dialects, commonly known as local dialects, are only used in specific areas. It is not another language independent of the national language, but only the language used in some areas.

3. Every dynasty has Mandarin as a "magpie bridge" to communicate with various dialect areas, which is generally based on the pronunciation of Wang Du.

Third, during the Shang Dynasty, ancient officials generally spoke Mandarin, which was the language of Wang Du.

Extended data:

1, history of differentiation between spoken and classical Chinese:

Around the pre-Qin period, classical Chinese and spoken Chinese were the same, and both written and spoken Chinese were classical Chinese. However, due to the conservatism of written language itself, the establishment of the classic status of Confucian works with classical Chinese as the carrier, and the great influence of Chinese characters on Chinese, classical Chinese and spoken Chinese soon entered a long period of dual-track development.

About the Han Dynasty, there was a certain distance between spoken and classical Chinese. Although both classical Chinese and spoken Chinese are developing, the former lags far behind the latter and the distance is getting bigger and bigger. In the Song Dynasty, classical Chinese and spoken English were completely out of touch. Scholars at that time may not be able to express the meaning of ordinary spoken language in classical Chinese.

2. The significance of protecting local dialects:

The local characteristics embodied in dialects are unmatched by Mandarin, such as Northeast dialect, which is concise, vivid, vivid and full of rhythm, which is quite consistent with the generous, straightforward and humorous character of Northeast people. The biggest feature of Shanxi dialect is its continuous entering tone and extremely complicated tone changes. Language and cultural heritage has particularly important protection value.

China is a multi-ethnic country with 56 nationalities and a vast territory. Respecting all ethnic groups and local people is a necessary condition to ensure the reunification of the motherland. To respect the people, we must first respect their culture. Dialect, as a kind of culture and art, contains strong national characteristics and should be protected. The two are not contradictory. To some extent, dialect can better represent regional cultural characteristics, and dialect is a social phenomenon.

Baidu Encyclopedia-Mandarin (official language or Chinese)

Baidu encyclopedia-classical Chinese