November 4, 2009

Literary Chinese (or Classical Chinese) is a traditional style of written Chinese based on the grammar and vocabulary of ancient Chinese, making it different from any modern spoken form of Chinese. However, the distinction between Literary Classical and Literary Vernacular Chinese is far from clear.

While the terms Literary Chinese and Classical Chinese are often used interchangeably, Sinologists generally agree that they are in fact different. Classical Chinese refers to the written language of China from the Zhou Dynasty, and especially the Spring and Autumn Period, through to the end of the Han Dynasty (220 AD). It is therefore the language used in many of China's most influential books, such as the Analects of Confucius, the Mencius and the Tao Te Ching. The language of even older texts, such as the Classic of Poetry, is sometimes called Old Chinese, or pre-Classical.

Literary Chinese is the form of written Chinese used from the end of the Han Dynasty to the early 20th century when it was replaced by vernacular written Chinese. Literary Chinese diverged more and more from Classical Chinese as the dialects of China became more and more disparate and as the Classical written language became less and less representative of the spoken language. At the same time, Literary Chinese was based largely upon the Classical language, and writers frequently borrowed Classical language into their Literary writings. Literary Chinese therefore shows a great deal of similarity to Classical Chinese, even though the similarity decreased over the centuries.

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