Chapter 8 Section 1 Language and writing, just like Middle Earth

Language is the most convenient and effective tool for human to communicate thoughts and feelings. It has infinite charm and is one of the most basic elements and prerequisites for maintaining, disseminating and developing national culture.In Taiwan, the most popular language is "Mandarin", and the most popular dialect is "Hokkien", followed by "Hakka".According to incomplete statistics, among Taiwan's total population of 21 million, Hokkien speakers account for more than 12 million people, and Hakka speakers account for about 4.5 million people. Together, they account for about 83% of Taiwan's population.About 15% speak other Chinese dialects, and aboriginals account for 2%.

The so-called "Guoyu" refers to the "Mandarin" of the mainland.Calling Putonghua "national language" reflects the national identity of Taiwan compatriots to the mainland of the motherland and their strong "Chinese heart".During the Japanese occupation period, the so-called "Imperial Civilization Movement" was enforced, and only Taiwan compatriots were allowed to use Japanese. However, the majority of Taiwan compatriots ignored the ban and still secretly learned "Mandarin".After Taiwan's recovery, Taiwan compatriots were even more proud of being able to speak "Mandarin". Today, even many aboriginal compatriots can speak "Mandarin" fluently.In recent years, various exchange activities across the Taiwan Strait have become increasingly frequent, and compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Strait have no language barriers in contact and exchanges. The popularity of "Mandarin" in Taiwan is unique among the southern provinces of our country.

"Hokkien dialect" is commonly known as "Fuklo dialect", and "Fuklo" means "Fujian people".However, the birthplace of "Hoklo Dialect" is not in southern Fujian, but in the Central Plains of the Yellow River and Luo River Basin, so it is also called "Heluo Dialect".So, why do Fujianese speak "Heluo dialect"?How did it spread to Taiwan? According to legend, during the Yongjia Rebellion in the Western Jin Dynasty, families with the eight major surnames Lin, Huang, Chen, Zheng, Zhan, Qiu, He, and Hu moved south from Henan to settle down by an unnamed river in the Central Plains. Tiaojiang was named "Jinjiang" (in today's Fujian Province) to show that he did not forget that he was from the Jin Dynasty.At the end of the Tang Dynasty, wars broke out again in the Central Plains, and there were two brothers named Wang Chao and Wang Shenzhi, who led tens of thousands of people to move south from Gushi County, Henan Province, and established the "Min Kingdom" in today's Fujian Province, which lasted for half a century. Long.They opened up mountains and built fields, which promoted the development of Fujian, and at the same time spread the Heluo dialect to Fujian, and gradually formed three different dialects of northern Fujian, eastern Fujian and southern Fujian.Since most of the early immigrants from Taiwan came from southern Fujian, this "Southern Hokkien dialect" with the Heluo dialect in the ancient Central Plains has become the main dialect of Taiwan with the continuous multiplication of immigrants from southern Fujian, while the Yellow River and Luoshui After a long period of historical evolution, the dialects along the river basin were gradually replaced by Mandarin.

The popular "Hakka dialect" in Taiwan mainly comes from Jiayingzhou (now Meizhou City), Chaozhou (now Chaozhou City) and Huizhou (now Huizhou City) in Guangdong. "Ke" as opposed to "soil", "Hakka" means "outsider". Like the Fujian people, the "Hakka people" were originally from the northern Central Plains. They also moved south with their families to escape the war. After hundreds of years of vicissitudes, they did not settle in the southern provinces until the early Ming Dynasty. The settlements of "Hakka people" are generally in the mountainous or semi-mountainous areas where the land is relatively barren and narrow. Life is hard, making a living is not easy, and there is not much arable land. Once the population multiplies, they have to seek outward development again. It was under such circumstances that the "Hakkas" in Huizhou and Huizhou were forced to leave their hometown and travel east to Taiwan.Since the Cantonese "Hakkas" crossed Taiwan relatively late (after Qingkang and Qianlong), most of the coastal plains in the west of Taiwan had been occupied by the Hokkien who went to Taiwan earlier. Therefore, after crossing Taiwan, they generally stayed in the mid-mountain area of ​​the inland area close to the mountain people. Open up grassland and settle down to make a living.Naturally, a kind of "Hakka dialect" brought from their hometown in Guangdong became popular in the reclamation areas where these "Hakka people" live together.

Since both Hokkien dialect and Hakka dialect originated from the ancient Yellow River basin, they still retain a large number of "Chinese sounds" and "Tang sounds".According to research by linguists, the pronunciation of many characters and words in these two dialects is even older than the "Han and Tang Yin", which is a kind of "Central Plains ancient pronunciation" that has long been lost in the north.Therefore, it is no exaggeration to say that Taiwanese dialect, like Minnan and Cantonese dialects, is a "living fossil" of ancient Chinese languages. It still exudes a strong "Han and Tang flavor" and contains the charm and fragrance of ancient Central Plains civilization. Xin.

Text is the representative of language, the symbol and record of language.Since Taiwanese culture originated from the mainland and is a natural extension and development of the traditional culture of mainland China, the characters used by Taiwan compatriots are also the same as those in China. With the changes of the times, it continues to develop from ancient Chinese to vernacular.During the Japanese occupation era, Taiwan compatriots were strictly prohibited from using Chinese language in an attempt to exterminate Chinese culture in Taiwan, but the Japanese colonists did not and could not achieve their goal.

After 1949, due to well-known reasons, the two sides of the strait were artificially isolated for more than 40 years, which caused some differences in the few daily expressions of the compatriots on both sides of the strait; moreover, after the reform of the language in the mainland, simplified Chinese characters were promoted, while in Taiwan, there were some differences. Traditional traditional Chinese characters are still used today.Since the late 1980s, with the thawing of cross-strait relations and the increasing frequency of various exchanges, these differences and inconveniences are gradually shrinking and will eventually disappear completely.The common language and script have become the most important foundation and guarantee for the realization of the great cause of the reunification of the motherland on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.