Zhōngwén

• In Pinyin (using our alphabet): • In Chinese characters:

Chinese or the Sinitic language(s)

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Identified Chinese as a primary, administrative or native languageCountries with > 5 million speakers (recognized language or not)Countries with > 1 million speakers (recognized language or not)Countries with > 500 thousand speakers (recognized language or not)Countries with > 100 thousand speakers (recognized language or not)Major Chinese-speaking settlements

The non-grey places speak Chinese

United NationsPeople's Republic of China

Macau

Hong Kong Republic of China

Singapore (official, but not main language)Mauritius (Recognized as a regional language)

 United States (minority and auxiliary)

Where is Chinese the ‘Official’ Language?

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People's Republic of China (commonly known as Mainland China), Republic of China (ROC, commonly known as Taiwan), Hong Kong, *Singapore, *Malaysia, Macau, *the Philippines, *the United States of America, *Australia, *Indonesia, *Mauritius, *Peru, *Canada, *and other regions with Chinese communities

Where is Chinese Spoken?

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845 million native speakers +500 million non-native speakers1345 million total speakers of Chinese

Rank in the world of languages: 1Chinese, all: 1 Mandarin: 1Wu: 12Cantonese: 18Min: 22Hakka: 33Gan: 42

Number of Chinese Speaking People

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Sino-Tibetan *Sinitic **Chinese

Language Tree Branch???

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Simplified Partial Tree of Sino-Tibetan Languages

Red = Extinct LanguageWhite = categories/un-attested proto-languagesGreen= Living Languages

Another Way of Looking at the Sino-Tibetan Branch

Until the mid-20th century, most southern Chinese only spoke their native local variety of Chinese. As Nanjing was the capital during the early Ming Dynasty, Nanjing Mandarin became most used at least until the later years of the Qing Dynasty. Since the 17th century, the Qing Dynasty had set up speech academies to make pronunciation the same as that of the capital Beijing. For the general population, however, this did little good. The non-Mandarin speakers in southern China also continued to use their various languages for all areas of life. The Beijing Mandarin court standard was used only by officials and civil servants and was therefore fairly limited. This situation did not change until the mid-20th century with the creation (in both the PRC and the ROC, but not in Hong Kong) of a forced educational system committed to teaching Standard Mandarin. As a result, Mandarin is now spoken by virtually all young and middle-aged citizens of mainland China and on Taiwan. Standard Cantonese, not Mandarin, was used in Hong Kong during the time of its British colonial period (owing to its large Cantonese native and migrant populace) and remains today its official language of education, formal speech, and daily life, but Mandarin is becoming increasingly influential after the 1997 handover.Classical Chinese was once the lingua franca in neighboring East Asian countries such as Japan, Korea and Vietnam for centuries, before the rise of European influences in 19th century.

Chinese characters

So, how is Chinese written?zhuyin fuhao(Taiwan script)

pinyin

Xiao'erjing (Islam in China)

(Love)

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http://www.standardmandarin.com/chinesephrases/Hello http://www.standardmandarin.com/chinesephrases/Please

http://www.standardmandarin.com/chinesephrases/Thank_you http://www.standardmandarin.com/chinesephrases/Good_Bye

Translation Time!Hello "nǐhǎo"

喂 Good-bye "zàijiàn"

再见

Please "qǐng nǐ"请

Thank you "xièxiè"

谢谢您 ? 11

Does MainlandChina have

“other”Languages?

In a word, Yes!? 12

China’s History

The written history of China begins with the Shang Dynasty (ca. 1550 BCE – ca. 1046 BCE).

Turtle shells with ancient Chinese writing from the Shang Dynasty have been carbon dated to as early as 1500 BCE.

The origins of Chinese culture, literature and philosophy, developed during the Zhou Dynasty (1045 BCE to 256 BCE) that followed the Shang. It was the longest lasting dynasty and spans the period in which the written script evolved from ancient oracle script to the beginnings of modern Chinese writing.

Pre-history and the “Ancient Era”:

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The “Ancient Era, ” continued:

Spring and Autumn Period (722-481 BCE) The Hundred Schools of Thought of Chinese philosophy blossomed during this period, and such influential intellectual movements as Confucianism, Taoism, Legalism and Mohism were founded, partly in response to the changing political world.

Warring States Period (476-221 BCE) The final expansion in this period began during the reign of Ying Zheng , the king of Qin. His unification of the other six powers, and further annexations in the modern regions of Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong and Guangxi in 214 BCE enabled him to proclaim himself the First Emperor (Qin Shi Huangdi).

Chinese pu vessel with interlaced dragon design, Spring and Autumn Period.

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Qin Dynasty, 221-206 BC China unified for first timeHan Dynasty, 206 BC-220 AD 49-44 BC Julius Caesar Invention of paper 150 BC 47-30 BC Reign of Cleopatra Silk Road opened 139 BC 79 AD Vesuvius buries Pompeii Great Wall completed 241AD 476 AD Fall of the Roman Empire *Invention of compass 271 AD 560 AD Peak of Mayan civilization Tang Dynasty, 618-907 AD Tea cultivation, porcelain developed Song Dynasty, 960-1279 AD Gunpowder invented 1096-1099AD First Crusade Genghis Khan 1206-1264 AD 1275-1292AD Marco Polo's journey to China Yuan Dynasty, 1279-1368 AD Ming Dynasty, 1368-1544 AD 1492 AD Columbus discovers New World Qing Dynasty 1644-1911 AD 1776 AD U.S. Declaration of Independence

Dynasty Name Dates Elsewhere in the World . . .

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Frustrated by the Qing court's resistance to reform and by China's weakness, young officials, military officers, and students—inspired by the revolutionary ideas of Sun Yat-sen—began to advocate the overthrow of the Qing Dynasty and the creation of a republic.

Modern China:

1949–1976: Socialist transformation under Mao Zedong

In the 1920s, Sun Yat-Sen established a revolutionary base in south China, and set out to unite the fragmented nation. With Soviet assistance, he entered into an alliance with the fledgling Communist Party of China. In 1925, one of his protégés, Chiang Kai-shek, seized control and succeeded in bringing most of south and central China under its rule in a military campaign known as the Northern Expedition.

1976–1989: Rise of Deng Xiaoping and economic reforms In 1979, the Chinese government instituted a one child policy to try to control its rapidly increasing population. The controversial policy resulted in a dramatic decrease in child poverty. The law currently applies to about a third of mainland Chinese.The 1990s saw two foreign colonies returned to China, Hong Kong from Britain in 1997, and Macau from Portugal in 1999. Hong Kong and Macau mostly continued their own governance, retaining independence in their economic, social, and judicial systems.

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2002–present The first major crisis faced by China in the 21st century as a new generation of leaders led by Hu Jintao after assuming power was the public health crisis involving SARS, an illness that seemed to have originated out of Guangdong province.

The continued economic growth of the country as well as its sporting power status gained China the right to host the 2008 Summer Olympics. However, this had also put Hu's administration under intense spotlight.

In May 2008, a massive earthquake registering 8.0 on the Richter scale hit Sichuan province of China, exacting a death toll officially estimated at approximately 70,000. The government responded more quickly than in it did with previous events, and allowed foreign media access to the regions that were hit the hardest. The adequacy of the government response was generally praised, and the relief efforts extended to every corner of Chinese life. In May and June 2008, heavy rains in southern China caused severe flooding in the provinces of Anhui, Hunan, Jiangxi, Fujian and Guangdong, with dozens of fatalities and over a million people forced to evacuate.

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A Glimpse

of China’s Culture

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Chinese IdentityToday there are 56 distinct ethnic groups in China. In terms of numbers, however, the pre-eminent ethnic group is the Han Chinese. Throughout history, many groups have been assimilated into neighboring ethnicities or disappeared without a trace. At the same time, many within the Han identity have maintained distinct linguistic and regional cultural traditions. The term Zhonghua Minzu has been used to describe the notion of Chinese nationalism in general. Much of the traditional cultural identity within the community has to do with distinguishing the family name.

Han dynasty: stone rubbing

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Chinese architecture

Chinese architecture, examples of which can be found from over 2,000 years ago, has long been a hallmark of the culture. There are certain features common to Chinese architecture, regardless of specific region or use. The most important is its emphasis on width, as the wide halls of the Forbidden City serve as an example. In contrast, Another important feature is symmetry, which connotes a sense of grandeur as it applies to everything from palaces to farmhouses.

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The Chinese Dragon, Fu dog and incense are another three symbols within traditional Chinese culture.

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A koi pond is a signature Chinese scenery depicted in countless art work.

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Chinese cuisineThe overwhelmingly large variety mainly comes from the emperors hosting a banquet of 100 dishes each meal. Over time, many dishes became part of the everyday-citizen culture. Some of the highest quality restaurants with recipes close to the dynastic periods include Fangshan restaurant in Beihai Park Beijing and the Oriole Pavilion. Arguably all branches of Hong Kong eastern style or even American Chinese food are in some ways rooted from the original dynastic cuisines.

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Famous People from China

Ok, so she’s not famous yet! She IS from China, though. ? 15

In Chinese names, the family name is typically placed first (for example, the family name of "Xu Feng" is "Xu"). For westernized names, the family name is placed last (for example, the family name of "Maggie Cheung" is "Cheung").

Before we begin our list, please note:

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Yao Ming

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Guo Yue

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7215848919348540891&ei=-uBLS7ytNoSSrALupoH9AQ&q=ping+pong+balls&hl=en#

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Yang Yun, left, and Dong Fangxiao won team bronze medals during the 2000 Olympic Games.

Members of China’s 2008 Women’s Gymnastic team celebrate after winning the team gold Wednesday during Day 5 of the Beijing Olympics.

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Chinese Words We Use in English

Chop chop from Cantonese chuk chuk 速速 , lit. hurry, urgent

Chop suey from Cantonese 雜碎 (tzapseui), lit. mixed pieces

Ketchup possibly from Cantonese or Amoy 茄汁 , lit. tomato sauce/juice Shar Pei from Cantonese 沙皮 , lit. sand skin. Shih Tzu from Mandarin 獅子狗 , lit. Chinese lion dog

Tofu, lit. bean curd from Chinese 豆腐 (Mandarin dòufu).

Tycoon, lit. high official; or 大君 , lit. great nobleman

Yin Yang, 陰陽 from Mandarin 'Yin' meaning feminine, dark and 'Yang' meaning masculine and bright

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