History of Mandarin

Hi folks. I thought I would share the history of the Chinese language which I have become so fascinated and engaged in which is none other than Mandarin. Did you know that Mandarin is also referred to as putonghua or guoyu. There are two main forms of Chinese language which are Cantonese and Mandarin. At present, Mandarin is the official language in both China and Taiwan. However, there are some parts of southern China as well as Singapore that still speak other forms of Chinese language such as Cantonese.

Various earlier forms of the Mandarin language can be traced as far back as the Yuan period which began in the year 1260. The standardization of Mandarin in China became official when the Republic of China was established on January 1st, 1912. 

The Double Ten Symbol

I would also like to share an interesting fact about how the National Day of the Republic of China also known worldwide as Double Ten Day began. There was an event which happened in China on called the Wuchang Uprising which began on October 10th,1911 led to the fall of the Qing Dynasty. Thereafter, China was officially known as the Republic of China. This was one of the most significant days in the whole of the country's history.  

If it's one thing I've learned in life is that it is really crucial to understand the history/background of anything you want to do whether its a special project or country you choose to visit. As the saying goes or at least my version of it is, in order to know where you're going, you first need to find out from where you came.