中国通俗文学发展介绍【英文】 Vernacular Literature in China.pptVIP

“Vernacular Literature in China” 1650-1800 Reference Vol. D What is Vernacular Chinese? Written Chinese is divided roughly into “literary” or classical” Chinese and “vernacular Chinese. Many assume that “classical”Chinese represents something like the spoken language of the first three centuries BC. However, as time went on and spoken Chinese evolved, “classical” Chinese remained the standard of writing—and in most cases was probably aurally comprehensible (as the King James Bible is to us). Very Different Qualities From the 13th century on, stories could be written in either classical or ver