Introduction
The roots of Mandarin language were brought to China in the Mongol invasion that created the Yuan dynasty (1279-1368). It evolved into one of the Chinese languages and became the lingua franca of the subsequent Ming dynasty (1368-1644) and Qing dynasty (1644-1911).The word Mandarin comes from the Portugese word Mandarim meaning 'imperial officials'. An overview of the development of Mandarin language can be seen from the chart below.
Old Mandarin
The Mongols conquered northern China by 1234 AD after conquering another non-Chinese Tungusic Jin empire (1115-1234 AD). In 1267 AD, Kublai Khan moved the Mongolian capital from Karakorum in Mongolia to a newly built city called Dadu (ancient name for Beijing). The Yuan dynasty was officially proclaimed a few years later in 1271 AD. |
| Mongols on horseback |
After moving the capital to Beijing, a creole Mongol-Chinese language called Han-Er (漢兒) was formed over time which was based on the Henan Chinese dialect spoken during the Song dynasty but with several Mongolic grammar influences and sound changes.
This language originated in Beijing and eventually spread to become the standard Chinese language in northern China.
The sounds of Old Mandarin was compiled in a rhyme dictionary called 'Rimes in Mongol Script' (蒙古字韻) created in 1308 AD. This dictionary used the alphabetic-based script called Phags-pa which was created by a Tibetan monk in 1269 AD.
Another rhyme dictionary called 'Rhymes of Central Plain' (中原音韻) was written without the Phags-pa script and was published in 1324 AD.
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| Dictionary during Yuan dynasty |
Middle Mandarin
Zhu Yuan Zhang (朱元璋) drove the Mongols out of China and formed the Ming dynasty with its capital in Nanjing in 1368 AD. |
| Victory parade after chasing out the Mongols |
The Ming imperial family moved its capital to Beijing in 1420 AD along with many Nanjing residents to form the majority in that city.
Over time, a new Beijing dialect was formed which replaced the Han-Er language by this influx of newly arrived Nanjing speakers which intermixed with the previous Beijing speakers.
In the meantime, the previous Nanjing dialect spoken in Nanjing city developed separately from the Beijing dialect and eventually became a dialect of the modern-day Jiang-Huai (江淮) Mandarin.
Several foreigners recorded the sounds of either the Beijing or Nanjing dialect when they learned the language. These books recorded the explicit exact phonetic sounds in their foreign language in contrast to the implicit sounds typical of ancient Chinese dictionaries.
Sin Suk-Ju (신숙주), a Korean recorded the sounds of Ming Mandarin in Hangul alphabet in 1455 AD.
An Italian named Matteo Ricci recorded the sounds of Nanjing dialect when he visited China during 1582-1610 AD.
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Matteo Ricci's Mandarin book
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Late Mandarin
When the Manchu conquered China in 1644 AD, the court language inside the imperial forbidden city and within a radius of 10 Chinese mile was Manchu language. |
| Manchu invading China |
The Han banner of the Qing army also brought the Liao-Dong (遼東) dialect into Beijing. The Liao-Dong dialect, Nanjing dialect and the Yuan dynasty Beijing dialect intermixed to become the new Beijing dialect.
Therefore, two different languages ie. Manchu language and Beijing Mandarin dialect were spoken in Beijing city during the early Qing dynasty.
In 1728 AD, emperor Yongzheng (雍正) declared Beijing Mandarin dialect to be the standard Chinese dialect and promoted its use for official purposes for Han Chinese coming from other provinces who spoke other Chinese languages such as Cantonese or Min. This new Beijing dialect was a mixture of the Yuan dynasty Beijing dialect and Ming dynasty Nanjing dialect.
During emperor Qianlong's (乾隆) rule (1735-1796 AD), the Manchu started to abandon their own spoken and written language and slowly adopt this new Beijing dialect after discovering that the Manchu language wasn’t adequate to describe the more advanced terminology found in the Chinese language due to the more advanced civilization of the Han Chinese. The emperor even wrote many Chinese poems to highlight his fascination for Chinese literature.
Due to the different phonologies of Manchu and Chinese languages, the Manchu people had difficulty pronouncing Chinese sounds accurately which resulted in a newer Beijing dialect. This newly formed dialect lost some traditional Chinese sounds and gained some Manchu sounds.
This Manchu-nised Beijing dialect increased importance saw it being used more widely outside Beijing after the middle of 19th century.
Not only was the Ming dynasty Chinese language significantly changed to adapt to Manchu speakers but the hairstyle and clothing were also forced upon the Han Chinese.
In 1913 AD, a standardized Mandarin dialect was based on the combination of both Beijing and Nanjing dialect which was called the ‘old national standard’.
In 1924 AD, a competing group chose the standard Mandarin dialect purely based on Beijing dialect which is called the ‘new national standard’. Note that this standard isn't exactly the same as Beijing dialect.
Mandarin is a product of the non-Chinese rulers who tried to speak Chinese language using their mother tongue phonology instead of the original Chinese phonology. This is due to the difficulty of the Mongol and Manchu people in pronouncing the original Chinese phonology which posed a challenge to them.
However, this language became prevalent even among the northern Han Chinese themselves because the northern Han Chinese had to communicate with the foreign rulers over many centuries in northern China.
The video below gives a summary of the origin of Mandarin language.
The southern Han Chinese who escaped in large migration waves into southern China managed to preserve the traditional sounds of ancient Chinese languages. Each subgroup of Han Chinese preserve these traditional Chinese sounds in varying degrees and features.
Part 2 of this article will list the details of which traditional Chinese sounds were lost and which non-Chinese sounds were gained.
Therefore, two different languages ie. Manchu language and Beijing Mandarin dialect were spoken in Beijing city during the early Qing dynasty.
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| Manchu writing |
During emperor Qianlong's (乾隆) rule (1735-1796 AD), the Manchu started to abandon their own spoken and written language and slowly adopt this new Beijing dialect after discovering that the Manchu language wasn’t adequate to describe the more advanced terminology found in the Chinese language due to the more advanced civilization of the Han Chinese. The emperor even wrote many Chinese poems to highlight his fascination for Chinese literature.
Due to the different phonologies of Manchu and Chinese languages, the Manchu people had difficulty pronouncing Chinese sounds accurately which resulted in a newer Beijing dialect. This newly formed dialect lost some traditional Chinese sounds and gained some Manchu sounds.
This Manchu-nised Beijing dialect increased importance saw it being used more widely outside Beijing after the middle of 19th century.
Not only was the Ming dynasty Chinese language significantly changed to adapt to Manchu speakers but the hairstyle and clothing were also forced upon the Han Chinese.
Standard Mandarin
In 1909 AD, Mandarin was declared the national language a few years before the Manchu government was overthrown in 1912 AD by the Han Chinese. However, there were still many dialects of Mandarin.In 1913 AD, a standardized Mandarin dialect was based on the combination of both Beijing and Nanjing dialect which was called the ‘old national standard’.
In 1924 AD, a competing group chose the standard Mandarin dialect purely based on Beijing dialect which is called the ‘new national standard’. Note that this standard isn't exactly the same as Beijing dialect.
Conclusion
Mandarin is the youngest language among all the Chinese languages which was initially formed during the Mongol invasion and was significantly changed during the Manchu invasion.Mandarin is a product of the non-Chinese rulers who tried to speak Chinese language using their mother tongue phonology instead of the original Chinese phonology. This is due to the difficulty of the Mongol and Manchu people in pronouncing the original Chinese phonology which posed a challenge to them.
However, this language became prevalent even among the northern Han Chinese themselves because the northern Han Chinese had to communicate with the foreign rulers over many centuries in northern China.
The video below gives a summary of the origin of Mandarin language.
Part 2 of this article will list the details of which traditional Chinese sounds were lost and which non-Chinese sounds were gained.
Related links
Ethnic origin of Han Chinese
http://eastasiaorigin.blogspot.com/2017/06/ethnic-origin-of-han-chinese.html
Origin of Mandarin language Part 2
http://eastasiaorigin.blogspot.com/2018/07/origin-of-mandarin-language-part-2.html
http://eastasiaorigin.blogspot.com/2017/06/ethnic-origin-of-han-chinese.html
http://eastasiaorigin.blogspot.com/2018/07/origin-of-mandarin-language-part-2.html
Origin of Mandarin language Part 3
Sources
- A brief history of Mandarin. By W. South Coblin. Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol 120, No.4 (Oct - Dec 2000)
- Hashimoto, M. J. (1986) The Altaicization of Northern Chinese. In J. McCoy & T. Light (eds.), Contributions to Sino-Tibetan Studies. Leiden: Brill, pp. 76–97.
- http://culture.dwnews.com/history/news/2016-09-21/59770212.html
- http://wap.cnki.net/lunwen-2009173460.html
- https://kknews.cc/history/386x8o.html
- https://kknews.cc/news/y2p5xn.html
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