Today, Lao Feng continued to refute the rumors for everyone:
"Cantonese lost Mandarin by one vote in the early years of the Republic of China" is an old rumor. The truth is this:
The truth is: After the founding of the Republic of China, no "voting election national language conference" was held, and no one listed Cantonese as a voting option. The so-called "voting selection Mandarin" and "cantonese voting defeat by one vote" are all historical rumors.
Truth 2: The only relevant historical event was in 1913. At that time, the Ministry of Education of the Beiyang Government of established a "pronunciation unification meeting". There are two things to decide on: First, which pronunciation pronunciation should be used as the standard pronunciation of the textbooks of universities, middle schools and primary schools in the Republic of China. Second, the Ministry of Education should compile a "National Pronunciation Dictionary" to promote which standard Mandarin to the whole country.
"National Pronunciation Dictionary" compiled by the Beiyang government
Truth 3: At that time, there were 80 members of the "pronunciation unification meeting". Among the 80 members, only 4 were Guangdong, and no voting was held. However, after consultation, the 80 members quickly reached a consensus: they should follow the historical habits and use Beijing Mandarin as the standard pronunciation of the national university, middle and primary school textbooks, and as the standard pronunciation for the promotion of the "National Pronunciation Dictionary". In this process, there was no "voting for national language", and there was no so-called "referring to Cantonese" incident.
Truth 4: We all know Occam's law of razor: "If necessary, do not add entities." Senior officials of the Ministry of Education of the Republic of China are not stupider than us. They also know: If there is no need to change things, try not to change them. In the early years of the Republic of China, Beijing Mandarin was a ruling official language in China. It had been popular in the upper class for three to four hundred years and was widely recognized in China. Therefore, there was no need to abolish Beijing Mandarin and switch to Cantonese as Mandarin.
Truth 5: There are 274 members of the Senate of the First Congress of the Republic of China, of which there are only 10 Guangdong people. There are 596 members of Congress, of which there are only 30 Guangdong people. Later, Guangdong people accounted for the minority of the Congress. Regardless of whether there was no "election of national language" in the Senate and House of Representatives in the Republic of China, even if there is a small proportion of Guangdong members, it is not the turn of Cantonese to be elected.
The truth 6: In the history of the Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China, not many people in China admire Cantonese. On the contrary, in history, Guangdong people who have some money, some status, and some culture basically admire Beijing Mandarin. For example, there was a scholar named Gao Jingting in Nanhai, Guangdong in the Qing Dynasty. He wrote a book called "Zhengyin Suoyao" to teach Guangdong people learn to speak Beijing Mandarin. He said: "Therefore, all the families and officials who are often outstanding will look up to Beijing, and Beijing is the way of official language." After the fall of the Qing Dynasty, the habit of the upper class in Guangdong's society admires Beijing Mandarin has not changed. On the contrary, there was no trend of admiring Cantonese in North China, East China, Central China and other places.
The truth 7: On the contrary, in the entire modern and modern history, Cantonese, as a difficult dialect, has been in a disrespectful and unpopular position in China for a long time. Why did Cantonese become higher in the status of later? The answer is two things. The first thing is: . In the 40 years since the reform and opening up, Guangdong's economy has risen. The second thing is: . Hong Kong Cantonese songs are popular. These two things led to the improvement of the status of Cantonese later.
Reference:
Li Jinxi "Outline of the History of Mandarin Movement"
Gao Jingting "Zhengyin Suyao"
