We discussed in Learning Chinese that Chinese symbols cannot be spelled or memorized like the English alphabets. But you have to remember every stroke
and the order of each stroke so as the meaning of each character.
When it comes to the meaning, old Chinese and
modern/new Chinese is very different.
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The old Chinese was not user-friendly, from the point of view of the Chinese people nowadays.
One word could mean so many different things. If you were not highly educated, there was no way to understand it.
Even nowdays, when the Chinese people read any books written before the early 1900s, it is very complicated to understand.
In order to learn or understand it, Chinese people rely on the translation from the old to modern Chinese by the scholars.
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Does that mean modern Chinese way easier?
Yes, modern Chinese is definitely
simpler, especially since Hu Shih (1891-1962), whom was a key contributor to Chinese language reform in his advocacy for
the use of vernacular Chinese (which is very close to the spoken Mandarin). Even though, this is still very complicated
to the westerns.
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It is because not only that it cannot be spelled or created by alphabets, but also one
stroke difference can completely change the meaning of the symbol drastically.
The following is an example of the
translation from old to modern Chinese of a famous poem written by Li Bai during the Tang dynasty:
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| Differences between Old and Modern Chinese |
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From the first half of the poem on the left, there were only 20 Chinese symbols
to represent the meaning of the feeling of the author by using old Chinese.
The bottom part is the new Chinese
translation. It took 33 Chinese characters to make it understandable.
The following is the English translation
of this well-known poem:
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Thoughts on Still Night by Li Bai
Saw the moon in the sky
in front of the bed
Thought that it was the frost on the ground
Looking at the moon
And make me think of home
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