1. Classical Chinese is a written form based on the elegant spoken language of ancient Chinese. In ancient times, there was little difference between classical Chinese and ordinary spoken English.
Today's classical Chinese is an article composed of an ancient written language in China, mainly including the written language based on spoken language in the pre-Qin period. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, there were no articles for writing, but bamboo slips, silk books and other things were used to write. With the change of history and the evolution of spoken language, the difference between classical Chinese and spoken language has gradually expanded, and "classical Chinese" has become the exclusive language of scholars.
2. The vernacular refers to a kind of "China written language". It was formed on the basis of spoken language since the Tang and Song Dynasties. At first, it was only used in popular literary works, such as Bianwen in Tang Dynasty, scripts and novels in Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, and some academic works and official documents after Song and Yuan Dynasties. It was not until the May 4th New Culture Movement that it was widely used in the whole society.
Second, the characteristics are different.
1, the characteristics of classical Chinese are: separation of writing and concise writing. Compared with vernacular Chinese (including spoken and written language), the characteristics of classical Chinese are mainly manifested in grammar and vocabulary.
2, vernacular, simple and popular, in language, vivid, pungent, rough, full of life, expressive. Throughout the May 4th vernacular movement, we can see that it absorbed the western vocabulary resources and grammatical structure extensively, and developed in many aspects such as language, writing and thought.
This movement is not only a "self-sufficient change within the language", but also closely related to the innovation of the whole thinking concept and the national modernization movement. The contest between "vernacular Chinese" and "classical Chinese" is also a collision of two different value systems and social ideologies to a great extent.
Third, the historical origins are different.
1. Mr. Wang Li, a famous linguist and educator, pointed out in Ancient Chinese: "Classical Chinese refers to the written language of ancient Chinese based on the spoken language in the pre-Qin period and the language in the later works of ancient writers."
Classical Chinese, that is, articles written in classical Chinese, that is, ancient classical Chinese works and works imitating it in past dynasties. Classical Chinese, as a written stereotyped writing language, has been used for two or three thousand years, from pre-Qin philosophers and poems in Han Dynasty to ancient Chinese prose in Tang and Song Dynasties and stereotyped writing in Ming and Qing Dynasties. In other words, classical Chinese is the ancient written language of China and the source of modern Chinese.
2. The style reform since the late Qing Dynasty can be divided into three stages: new style, vernacular and popular language. The "new style" in the late Qing Dynasty is colloquial "popular classical Chinese". The "vernacular Chinese" in the May 4th period is like a "record" with a little amplification. In 1930s, "popular language" advocated thorough colloquialism, and the style reform was mature.
As early as the Tang and Song Dynasties, some people came out to oppose sentence breaking and format constraints. In the Tang Dynasty, Han Yu (768-824) advocated prose and opposed parallel prose, which was called "the decline of eight generations of literature". Eight Dynasties: Eastern Han Dynasty, Wei and Jin Dynasty, Song Dynasty, Qi Dynasty, Liang Dynasty, Chen Dynasty and Sui Dynasty. Parallel prose originated in the Han and Wei Dynasties and matured in the Southern and Northern Dynasties. It pays attention to antithesis and temperament, and the four characters and six characters alternate, which is called "Si Liu Wen".
Han Yu opposed this style which attached importance to form and bound thoughts, and advocated classical Chinese which was close to spoken language and free expression, so that the style was restored to the era before it was bound by parallel prose, so it was called the "ancient prose movement". The names "ancient prose" and "innovation" are actually.
Temples in the Tang Dynasty promoted Buddhism and attracted people by telling stories. Show pictures and rap stories at the same time The picture is called "disguised form" and the rap script is called "variant". Prose and poetry appear alternately, all prose. Later generations developed into drums and tanci. This is early vernacular literature.
Baidu encyclopedia-classical Chinese
Baidu encyclopedia-vernacular Chinese