Mandarin Chinese
Thursday, October 25th, 2007After the Ch’ing dynasty fell in the early 17th century, it was necessary to come to agreement of a national language for China for proper dialects and pronunciations. It was until around 1913 however, until the Ministry of Education actually established the national language. The requirements were for the language to go beyond local dialects and include prominent properties used universally in the Asian world. Mandarin Chinese dominated and successfully became the superior and dominant Chinese usage. Starting in 1956, it is now the mandated language taught in Asia countries. Throughout the country it is still referred to as ‘guanya’ or ‘national speech’, but in the west we call it Mandarin.