Ancient Imperial Language of China – 2,000 Years Ago

February 2nd, 2009 in Rants by 7 Comments

How Did it Sound Like? (Mind you, it’s no way similar to Mandarin)
Has this Ancient Language Survived?
Who Speaks it Today?

You’ll be Surprised. You have heard it. You, your parents, or grandparents may still be speaking this ancient, archaic language!

Yes, it’s HOKKIEN (Fujian/Minnan Hua)

This is ever more true for Penangites, whereby the majority speaks Hokkien.

Hokkien is:

  1. The surviving language of the Tang Dynasty (618-907AD), China ‘s Golden Age of Culture.
    Note: The Hokkien we hear today may have “evolved” from its original form 2,000 years ago, but it still retains the main elements of the Tang Dynasty Language.
  2. Hokkiens are the surviving descendants of the Tang Dynasty — When the Tang Dynasty collapsed, the people of the Tang Dynasty fled South and sought refuge in the Hokkien ( Fujian ) province. Hence, Hokkien called themselves
    Tng-lang (Tang Ren or People of the Tang Dynasty) instead of Hua Lang (Hua Ren).
  3. Hokkien has 8 tones instead of Mandarin’s 4. Linguists claim that ancient languages tend to have more complex tones.
  4. Hokkien retains the ancient Chinese pronunciation of “K-sounding” endings (for instance, Hak Seng (student),
    Tua Ok (university), Thak Chek (read a book/study) — the “k” sounding ending is not found in Mandarin.
  5. The collection of the famous “Three Hundred Tang Dynasty Poems” sound better when recited in Hokkien/Teochew if compared to Mandarin.
  6. Consider this for a moment: Today, the Hokkien Nam Yim ochestral performance still has its roots in ancient Tang dynasty music. Here’s the proof: The formation of today Nam Yim ensemble is typically seen in ancient Tang dynasty paintings of musicians.

Even more interesting to note are the similarities of Hokkien with Korean and Japanese.

Although not genetically-related, Hokkiens, Koreans and Japanese share many similar words (which are different from Mandarin).

That’s because Hokkien was the official language of the powerful Tang Dynasty whose influence and language spread to Japan and Korea (just like Latin – where many words were borrowed by the English, French, Italian, etc). Here are just a few words in Hokkien, Japanese & Korean for your comparison:

Hokkien Korean Japanese
Sin Boon (news) Sin Mun Shinbun – newspaper
Cheng Hu (government) Chong Bu
Pang (room) Pang
Chhia (car/vehicle) Ch’a
Mui/M’ng (door) Mun
P’hio (ticket) P’yo
Eng Wan (eternal) Yong Won
Chaek (book) Ch’ae
Ki (flag) Ki Ki
Kang river) Gang/kang
Poh Hiam (insurance) Poh Ham
Sio Sim (caution) Cho sim
Mo Kui (demon) Ma gui
Cham (attend/join/mix) Ch’am sok
Kantan (simple) Gan Dan
Sin Sei Kai (new world) Shin Sae Gae
Kok Ka (nation) Kuk Kka
Hya (elder brother) Hyaeng
Choon Pi (prepare) Jun Bi
Si Kan (time) Si Kan
Kam tong (emotion, feeling) Kam Jong Kanjoo
Kamsia (gratitude, thanks) Kam Sa Kansha
Keat Hoon (marriage) Kyol Hon Kekkon
Oon Tong (exercise) Un Dong Undoo
Tua Ok (university) Tae Hak Daigaku
Aun Chuan (safety) An Jon An Zen
Mua Chiok(satisfaction) Man Jok Manzoku
Ai Lang (lover) Ae In Aijin
Seng Kong (success) Song Kong Seikoo
Chhiu Sat (suicide) Cha sal Jisatsu
Pu Do (grapes) P’o d’o Budoo
Chin Por (progress) Chin bo Shinpo

To all 49 Million Hokkien Speakers:

Be Proud of Your Ancient Hokkien Heritage & Language! Speak it Loud and Clear. Teach Your Future Generation this Imperial Language, Less it Fades Away.

Be Proud Children of the Tang Emperors.

To all Mandarin-speaking friends out there — do not look down on your other Chinese friends who do not speak Mandarin – whom you guys fondly refer to as “Bananas”. In fact, they are speaking a language which is much more ancient & linguistically complicated than Mandarin.

Keep in mind that Mandarin is just:

  1. A Northern Chinese dialect (heavily influenced by non Han Chinese) that was elevated to the status of National Language by Sun Yat Sen for the sake of China’s national unity.
  2. Mandarin was never spoken by your proud, imperial Tang Dynasty ancestors. It was probably spoken by the Northern (Non-Han) Jurchen, Mongols and Manchu minority. Start speaking the language of your ancestors today.

So fellow Penangites, after reading this article do you not feel proud of our Hokkien dialect? Don’t be ashamed to use it, schools may promote Mandarin but we should not let this dialect just fade away either!

Author: seraph

Web Designer by profession with over 6 years of experience in various industries such as education, corporate and creative. I also love photography and currently a part-time wedding and portrait photographer with over 4 years experience. I have a passion for art, design, video games and anything visually attractive. Visit www.aperture.my for my photography portfolio.

7 Comments

I m not 100% agree with u. Yeap, Hokkian has evolved from Tang and even qin, so does cantonese, Teochew and all the southern langauges.Neither one is the pure sound of the past. However one thing for sure, mandarin today is the mixture language of the northern invader.

Tony

2/3/2009

Hi Tony, it’s true all the other dialects are languages of the past as well, but the point here is that Hokkien was more widespread than the other dialects that it was even adopted into Korean and Japanese.

Seraph

2/3/2009

hi Seraph, this all sounds very interesting, however I’m curious to know if there are academic linguistics publications about and supports the points you’ve raised? Would like to learn about them if there are.

June

2/25/2009

Hey June,
Linguistic publications to support the points eh, I will need to find out on that, will publish it here if possible when I find out about it. Do let me know too if you find anything, thanks :D

Seraph

2/28/2009

Hi,
Any idea where is Chok Ko Na, 13 Kuh in Hokkien?
Thanks alot.

siah boon peng

12/30/2010

You missed out Sekai (japanese = sekkai) and Empit (japanese = Empitsu)

Eve

3/11/2011

That’s a good suggestion Eve. Should be added to the list.

seraph

4/1/2011

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