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Arts & Communication Esthetics in wényán and modern báihuà poetry

brush touched the paper for the first time. In this state, traditions. Therefore, a comparison between the written
their art exhibits both the skillfulness of their experience classical and modern Chinese, wényán and modern báihuà
as well as the delightful freshness of discovery and wonder in effect, potentially maximizes the contrast between the
of the novice. Compared to the profundity and intricacy classical and modern Chinese culture.
of classical Chinese poetry, the beauty of contemporary Finally, it is possible that some people are inherently
poetry is therefore a return to the natural and pure, where, drawn to classical poems while others consistently prefer
through a language that is plain and vernacular, emotions modern poems. Only about a third of the participants
and ideas are expressed directly and evidently, in a way were indifferent about the classical and modern poems
conducive to understanding and resonance.
presented, which implies a willingness and ability to
5. Limitations appreciate the esthetics of classical and contemporary
poems equally and for what they are. However,
The present study did not consider the phonological interpretation is limited by the small number of poems and
differences between classical and modern Chinese because the sample size in the present study for any generalizing
the phonology of classical literary Chinese underwent much conclusions. Future research could sample a larger number
change over the millennia and it is now hard to determine, of classical and contemporary poems with a bigger sample
basing on archeological evidence, how wényán produced size to investigate people’s esthetic preference in reading
in different historical periods should be pronounced. Chinese poems.
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Although historical attempts of standardization were
made, regional dialects continued to significantly influence 6. Conclusion
how materials in wényán were read out loud during their
composition and appreciation. While literary materials in Following an overview of the transition from classical
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wényán are taught in classrooms as part of the mandatory written Chinese wényán to modern báihuà, and from
education in Chinese schools, they are pronounced classical to contemporary Chinese poetry, this paper
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in pǔtōnghuà which is the official national standard of presents an empirical investigation of the differential
spoken Chinese based on the Beijing dialect. An average characteristics of the classical and modern Chinese esthetics
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Chinese person nowadays has little to no knowledge of through the appreciation of classical and contemporary
the phonology of classical literary Chinese. In addition, Chinese poetry, as mediated by the written languages:
as classical Chinese evolved to modern Chinese, a large wényán and modern báihuà. While classical poems,
number of characters used in classical texts now have the compared to their contemporary counterparts, were
same pronunciation due to phonetic attrition, making it perceived as more beautiful, imaginative, precise, complex,
difficult to determine which character is being referred to and profound, and more effective in eliciting emotions and
when listening to classical texts, which further impairs resonance, reasons for poem type preference suggested
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comprehension. that people possess a more nuanced understanding of
the classical and modern Chinese esthetics reflecting two
The present study also did not discuss vernacular different interpretations of the highest Chinese esthetic
Chinese per se or examine the differences across regional standard – the White Bì. While the modern esthetics,
dialects. The vernacular Chinese used in post-Qin and represented by contemporary poems, used unadorned
Han dynasties, and during the Tang and Song dynasties plain language to embody purity, the classical esthetics
(by Ming and Qing dynasties, at least) may not be as emphasize a harmonic tension between effortless precision
different from modern vernacular Chinese as observed and elusiveness. The empirical method is an effective tool
between written classical and modern Chinese. A study of for elucidating laypeople’s implicit understandings of the
the development of vernacular Chinese might be a better nuances in Chinese esthetic.
approach to elucidate cultural and social change and the
corresponding psychological implications, but records of Acknowledgments
vernacular Chinese before Ming and Qing dynasties are few
and far between. And since classical literary Chinese has The authors would like to acknowledge the contribution
always been kept as the official language for government of Yuxiu Sun who is a doctoral student at the School of
and clerical functions, and reverenced and preserved by the International Studies at Zhejiang University, Zhejiang,
literary elite class, it might be fair to say that while social China, for providing insight into the linguistic
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demands pushed vernacular Chinese to change, classical characteristics of the Chinese language.
literary Chinese preserved the philosophical and cultural Funding
heritage that can be dated back to pre-Han periods, thus
serving as a reminder, carrier, and keeper of the classical None.

Volume 2 Issue 1 (2024) 10 https://doi.org/10.36922/ac.1825