Classical Chinese

E133174

Classical Chinese is the traditional written form of the Chinese language that served for centuries as the literary and scholarly standard across East Asia.

All labels observed (6)

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (51)

Predicate Object
instanceOf historical language variety
literary language
standard language
written language
basedOn spoken language of late Zhou period elites
distinctFrom Baihua (vernacular written Chinese)
Standard Chinese
surface form: Modern Standard Chinese
feature concise syntax
extensive use of classical allusions
lack of explicit grammatical markers
follows Old Chinese vernaculars
hasAncestor Old Chinese
hasDescendant Classical Chinese self-linksurface differs
surface form: Literary Chinese

Modern written Chinese
influenced Confucianism
surface form: Confucian scholarship

East Asian legal codes
East Asian literary traditions
Sino-Japanese vocabulary
Sino-Korean vocabulary
Sino-Vietnamese vocabulary
majorWorkInLanguage Analects
surface form: Analects of Confucius

Mencius
Records of the Grand Historian
Tao Te Ching
Zhuangzi
script logographic script
subclassOf Chinese language
Old Chinese
Chinese language
surface form: Sinitic languages
timePeriod Han dynasty
Imperial China
Qin dynasty
Warring States period
late Spring and Autumn period
usedAs language of government documents
language of historiography
language of official correspondence
language of philosophy
language of poetry
scholarly lingua franca of East Asia
usedBy Chinese literati
Japanese scholars
Joseon court scholars
surface form: Korean yangban

Vietnamese mandarins
usedIn China
East Asia
Japan
Korea
Ryukyu Islands
Viet Nam
surface form: Vietnam
writingSystem Chinese characters

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (106)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Bai Qi language Classical Chinese
Ouyang Xiu language Classical Chinese
Mozi nativeLanguage Classical Chinese
Mozi languageOfWork Classical Chinese
Emperor Ling of Han language Classical Chinese
Zhang Yi languageOfWorkOrName Classical Chinese
Chữ Nôm developedFrom Classical Chinese
this entity surface form: Classical Chinese script
Chữ Nôm usedAlongside Classical Chinese
this entity surface form: Classical Chinese (chữ Hán)
Viet historicalWritingSystem Classical Chinese
Old Vietnamese influencedBy Classical Chinese
Haojing languageOfName Classical Chinese
Mandate of Heaven language Classical Chinese
Mandarin Chinese influencedBy Classical Chinese
Qin law code language Classical Chinese
Ly dynasty officialLanguage Classical Chinese
subject surface form: Lý dynasty
Tran dynasty languageUsed Classical Chinese
subject surface form: Trần dynasty
Emperor Gaozong of Tang language Classical Chinese
Junzi language Classical Chinese
Yōrō Code language Classical Chinese
Taika Reforms language Classical Chinese
Sengcan languageOfExpression Classical Chinese
Dongshan Liangjie language Classical Chinese
Hongzhou school language Classical Chinese
Guiyang school languageOfInstruction Classical Chinese
Fayan school languageOfInstruction Classical Chinese
Āgamas language Classical Chinese
Emperor of China languageOfName Classical Chinese
Kemmu era languageOfEraName Classical Chinese
Shenxiu language Classical Chinese
Zongmi language Classical Chinese
Chu–Han Contention languageOfRecord Classical Chinese
Hōnen languageOfWritings Classical Chinese
Daochuo languageOfWork Classical Chinese
Genshin languageOfWork Classical Chinese
Zhang Taiyan languageOfWorkOrName Classical Chinese
Lotus Sūtra language Classical Chinese
Ningbonese hasLexiconSource Classical Chinese
Establishing Civil language Classical Chinese
Chinese Jews historicalLanguage Classical Chinese
subject surface form: Kaifeng Jews
Qing emperors languageUsedAtCourt Classical Chinese
Great Yuan chanceryLanguage Classical Chinese
Da Yuan officialLanguage Classical Chinese
Emperor Su languageOfCourt Classical Chinese
Ningxia rebellion languageOfPrimarySources Classical Chinese
Shun dynasty language Classical Chinese
Longcheng hasLanguageOfSources Classical Chinese
Sugawara clan languageOfScholarship Classical Chinese
Zen koans languageOrigin Classical Chinese