Chinese: The Triumph of Fertility Although its political history is wrought with dynastic feuds and foreign invasions, the history of the Chinese language is rather peaceful and strong compared to many others. The Chinese language's history epitomizes the Farmer's Strategy, as nearly all of Chinese influence (at least for most of its history) is centered around a massive population base within the Yellow River Valley and its surrounding territory. The spread of Chinese can not be attributed to conquest, but rather to a slow build up in economic might and influence through the growth of the population of the language.
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The History of Chinese
The Chinese language is seen as part of the Sino-Tibetan language family, although often as a distinct branch due to its differences. Its first writing was pictographic in nature, found on things such as tortoise shells, meant to visually represent the things they described, much like early cuneiform ancestors. Chinese initially spread southwards from the Yellow River in an effort to find more fertile soil to increase the population, into the Yue peoples of the south, where it did rather well enforcing its language upon the area. Chinese was first standardized under the First Emperor, who united all Chinese states for 11 years after initially being the king of Qin, which is how China (Qin - a) gets its name. Chinese was standardized under the far western and conservative dialect of the Qin, which was affected by the Turkish speakers in the Xiongnu tribes in what is modern day Mongolia, leading to the early introduction of Turkish words into the Chinese language.
The history of China is interesting due to it having three long periods of stability and unity, interspersed with periods of civil war and alien occupation, with the three periods of stability being the Shang and Zhou, then first Empires of the Qin and Han, followed by the Second Empires of the Sui, Tang, and Song. While the Chinese were successful at repelling the Xiongnu through the use of their own cavalry, the Great Wall, as well as control of key trade cities along with the constant garrison of their borders, all this was costly, meaning that once the strong central government of the Han fell, the Xiongnu were able to penetrate China once more. This led to a bloody period during which Turks and Mongols fought over the northern regions of China, leading to the center of Chinese power and culture to move south, to the city of Nanjing, where the Wei rulers, who were Turkish speaking, adopted Chinese and outlawed Turkish in favor of the more common Chinese. All this also led the Chinese language to extend even farther south through refugees and immigrants moving and having their Chinese language adopted. When China was reunited in 589, Chinese still continued to spread south. Through traders the religions of Zoroastrianism, Manicheanism, Islam, Buddhism, and Nestorian Christianity, along with the languages of Aramaic and Arabic, spread to the Chinese but had little effect on the overall language of the area, and by the end of the Tang dynasty, all but Buddhism and Islam had been completely eliminated. The Chinese would eventually take back the north, however they would continue a back and forth between the control of the north as it would switch between Chinese and Turkic speakers. This cycle would end with the Manchurian Qing dynasty in the 17th century, who would conquer China and although their language would officially be Turkic in origin until the 1900's, in reality it was overtaken even in Manchuria during the late 18th century by Chinese. Their language would survive, called Xibo, through a detachment of troops dispatched to the Xinjiang province of China. Many theories behind why northern Chinese is still so similar to its southern brethren despite being ruled by Altaic speakers include that Altaic and Chinese languages are simply too different for any hybrid to be established, leading to each dynasty picking one or the other.
Chinese did not fair so well in other parts of Asia, and despite controlling Vietnam for centuries, the Chinese were never able to truly spread their language to the region. The only area remotely affected is the island of Java, whose eastern dialects were created as exiles from southern China fled to the region and merged their language with the natives. One reason for the Chinese lack of success was the fact that the Chinese governments often did not back its overseas populations and traders, placing bans on them and even declaring many outlaws. With the rise of the Qing dynasty, overseas populations of Chinese were literally massacred due to some supporting the old Ming, leading to all being declared enemies of China. Overtime, and in no small part due to the rise of European trade in the region, the Chinese opened up to trade and spread their population across South East Asia, to the islands of Malaysia and the lands such as Vietnam. Despite historical failures, Chinese does have three 'disciples'. They are Korea, Japan, and Vietnam, each of which speak a different language than Chinese, had to resist Chinese invasions, but adopted Chinese writing instead of forming their own.
Languages such as Chinese survived for several reasons over such a long period of time. They were united as a culture under a single ruler and empire very early on, such as the Chinese Shi Huang Di. They used their culture and religion to reinforce loyalty in the concept of a single ruler, meaning that there would be a reason to unite under one ruler, such as the Chinese Mandate of Heaven. Finally they simply had many speakers, so that they were immune from being swamped by foreigners as they could simply out populate their enemies, even if they could not keep them out. Chinese writing survived foreign invasions and dialect creation, mainly due to the fact that while dialects may string them together differently, Chinese symbols are still the same across all dialects, tying them all together through writing even when not mutually intelligible when spoken. Chinese also spread literacy to much of its population, especially when Confucian values and bureaucracy was introduced, leading to higher levels of education across many social castes. This led to higher literacy, making it easier for Chinese writing to withstand time and invasions with its strong central base.
The Chinese foreign policy was rather reclusive, in that they typically made no active effort to interact with foreigners on their own initiative. China spent most of its history on the defensive in regards to culture, with interactions mostly occurring due to foreign initiative, which is how things such as Buddhism and Islam spread to China. This continued up to the 16th century. The Chinese strategy was to allow foreigners to come to them, for the most part. In modern day, there are major Chinese communities in almost every large city in Southeast Asia, which are a principal source of investment capital in the regions. In the Philippines they make about 1% of the total population, but own about half of the stock market, and in Indonesia it is 4% and 75%, respectively. According to one estimate, 51 million overseas Chinese control an economy worth $700 billion, the same size as the 1.2 billion mainland Chinese.
Chinese was able to last as long as it did as an unified entity for two main reasons. The first was the sense of unity the Chinese people maintained as they believed themselves the center of the world, surrounded by barbarians. The constant threat of these barbarians tied the Chinese together against a common enemy. The second was the introduction of the meritocratic examination bureaucracy that allowed for Chinese speaking institutions to always remain, as well as it leading to the standardization of the Chinese language under the Qing Dynasty and the spread of literacy. This standardization and active use of the Chinese language, as well as its recording, meant that Chinese was also less influenced by foreign languages, as the Chinese often made an effort to eradicate their influence, and this was made easy by the ability to track language change over time and the common enforcement of a standard system.
Throughout its long history, Chinese has remained a major power player in Asia, and it only continues to grow, even today, in a globalizing world. It is a monument to the strength in both numbers and patience, not insisting on forcing itself upon others, but rather on strengthening itself at home. Despite foreign conquerors, civil war, and the creation of dialects, Chinese has remained strong in its home and now even spreads around the world, showing the strength in peace and growth.
The history of China is interesting due to it having three long periods of stability and unity, interspersed with periods of civil war and alien occupation, with the three periods of stability being the Shang and Zhou, then first Empires of the Qin and Han, followed by the Second Empires of the Sui, Tang, and Song. While the Chinese were successful at repelling the Xiongnu through the use of their own cavalry, the Great Wall, as well as control of key trade cities along with the constant garrison of their borders, all this was costly, meaning that once the strong central government of the Han fell, the Xiongnu were able to penetrate China once more. This led to a bloody period during which Turks and Mongols fought over the northern regions of China, leading to the center of Chinese power and culture to move south, to the city of Nanjing, where the Wei rulers, who were Turkish speaking, adopted Chinese and outlawed Turkish in favor of the more common Chinese. All this also led the Chinese language to extend even farther south through refugees and immigrants moving and having their Chinese language adopted. When China was reunited in 589, Chinese still continued to spread south. Through traders the religions of Zoroastrianism, Manicheanism, Islam, Buddhism, and Nestorian Christianity, along with the languages of Aramaic and Arabic, spread to the Chinese but had little effect on the overall language of the area, and by the end of the Tang dynasty, all but Buddhism and Islam had been completely eliminated. The Chinese would eventually take back the north, however they would continue a back and forth between the control of the north as it would switch between Chinese and Turkic speakers. This cycle would end with the Manchurian Qing dynasty in the 17th century, who would conquer China and although their language would officially be Turkic in origin until the 1900's, in reality it was overtaken even in Manchuria during the late 18th century by Chinese. Their language would survive, called Xibo, through a detachment of troops dispatched to the Xinjiang province of China. Many theories behind why northern Chinese is still so similar to its southern brethren despite being ruled by Altaic speakers include that Altaic and Chinese languages are simply too different for any hybrid to be established, leading to each dynasty picking one or the other.
Chinese did not fair so well in other parts of Asia, and despite controlling Vietnam for centuries, the Chinese were never able to truly spread their language to the region. The only area remotely affected is the island of Java, whose eastern dialects were created as exiles from southern China fled to the region and merged their language with the natives. One reason for the Chinese lack of success was the fact that the Chinese governments often did not back its overseas populations and traders, placing bans on them and even declaring many outlaws. With the rise of the Qing dynasty, overseas populations of Chinese were literally massacred due to some supporting the old Ming, leading to all being declared enemies of China. Overtime, and in no small part due to the rise of European trade in the region, the Chinese opened up to trade and spread their population across South East Asia, to the islands of Malaysia and the lands such as Vietnam. Despite historical failures, Chinese does have three 'disciples'. They are Korea, Japan, and Vietnam, each of which speak a different language than Chinese, had to resist Chinese invasions, but adopted Chinese writing instead of forming their own.
Languages such as Chinese survived for several reasons over such a long period of time. They were united as a culture under a single ruler and empire very early on, such as the Chinese Shi Huang Di. They used their culture and religion to reinforce loyalty in the concept of a single ruler, meaning that there would be a reason to unite under one ruler, such as the Chinese Mandate of Heaven. Finally they simply had many speakers, so that they were immune from being swamped by foreigners as they could simply out populate their enemies, even if they could not keep them out. Chinese writing survived foreign invasions and dialect creation, mainly due to the fact that while dialects may string them together differently, Chinese symbols are still the same across all dialects, tying them all together through writing even when not mutually intelligible when spoken. Chinese also spread literacy to much of its population, especially when Confucian values and bureaucracy was introduced, leading to higher levels of education across many social castes. This led to higher literacy, making it easier for Chinese writing to withstand time and invasions with its strong central base.
The Chinese foreign policy was rather reclusive, in that they typically made no active effort to interact with foreigners on their own initiative. China spent most of its history on the defensive in regards to culture, with interactions mostly occurring due to foreign initiative, which is how things such as Buddhism and Islam spread to China. This continued up to the 16th century. The Chinese strategy was to allow foreigners to come to them, for the most part. In modern day, there are major Chinese communities in almost every large city in Southeast Asia, which are a principal source of investment capital in the regions. In the Philippines they make about 1% of the total population, but own about half of the stock market, and in Indonesia it is 4% and 75%, respectively. According to one estimate, 51 million overseas Chinese control an economy worth $700 billion, the same size as the 1.2 billion mainland Chinese.
Chinese was able to last as long as it did as an unified entity for two main reasons. The first was the sense of unity the Chinese people maintained as they believed themselves the center of the world, surrounded by barbarians. The constant threat of these barbarians tied the Chinese together against a common enemy. The second was the introduction of the meritocratic examination bureaucracy that allowed for Chinese speaking institutions to always remain, as well as it leading to the standardization of the Chinese language under the Qing Dynasty and the spread of literacy. This standardization and active use of the Chinese language, as well as its recording, meant that Chinese was also less influenced by foreign languages, as the Chinese often made an effort to eradicate their influence, and this was made easy by the ability to track language change over time and the common enforcement of a standard system.
Throughout its long history, Chinese has remained a major power player in Asia, and it only continues to grow, even today, in a globalizing world. It is a monument to the strength in both numbers and patience, not insisting on forcing itself upon others, but rather on strengthening itself at home. Despite foreign conquerors, civil war, and the creation of dialects, Chinese has remained strong in its home and now even spreads around the world, showing the strength in peace and growth.