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Why did baihua increasingly replace wenyan after 1917?
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Chinese languages
Oracle bone inscriptions from the village of Xiaotun, Henan province, China; Shang dynasty, 14th or 12th century bce.
After 1917, baihua (vernacular Chinese) increasingly replaced wenyan (Classical Chinese) as the standard written language due to a deliberate literary revolution aimed at modernizing Chinese culture and increasing literacy.12
The shift was driven by several key factors:
- Accessibility: Wenyan was far removed from the spoken language, making it a significant barrier to education and literacy for the common people. By advocating for a written language that mirrored the living, spoken tongue, reformers sought to make literature and public documents accessible to a broader population.231
- Intellectual Reform: Led by figures like Hu Shi, the movement was part of the broader New Culture Movement. Intellectuals rejected traditional, stilted forms in favor of a pragmatic, modern approach to language that could better express contemporary ideas and individual liberty.24
- Cultural Impact: The adoption of baihua allowed for greater creative freedom, enabling the development of a new literature attuned to the realities of modern life. Following its promotion in journals like New Youth, the vernacular style was rapidly adopted in textbooks, newspapers, and periodicals, effectively displacing the classical medium.2145