The relationship between the Chinese spoken and written languages is complex. This complexity is compounded by the fact that the numerous variations of spoken Chinese have gone through centuries of evolution since at least the late Hàn Dynasty. However, written Chinese has changed much less than the spoken language.
Until the 20th century, most formal Chinese writing was done in wényán, translated as Classical Chinese or Literary Chinese, which was very different from any of the spoken varieties of Chinese in much the same way that Classical Latin is different from modern Romance languages. Chinese characters that are closer to the spoken language were used to write informal works such as colloquial novels.
In the May Fourth Movement of 1919, the formal standard for written Chinese was changed to báihuà , or Vernacular Chinese, which, while not completely identical to the grammar and vocabulary of Standard Mandarin, was based mostly on the dialects of modern spoken Mandarin. The term standard written Chinese now refers to Vernacular Chinese. Although few new works are now written in classical Chinese, it is still taught in middle and high school and forms part of college entrance examinations. Classical Chinese forms are also sometimes included in written works to give them a highly formal or archaic flavor.
The Chinese script also was the base for some other East Asian scripts like the scripts of Khitan and Jurchen, Kanji in Japan, Ch?-nho in Vietnam and Nushu, a script since the 15th century exclusively for Chinese women in Hunan.
Transcending intelligibility of speech
Chinese characters are understood as logosyllabic morphemes that are independent of phonetic change. Thus for example, although the number one is "yī" in Mandarin, "yat" in Cantonese and "tsit" in Hokkien, they derive from a common ancient Chinese word and are written with the same character: 一. Nevertheless, the orthographies of Chinese dialects are not identical. The vocabularies used in the different dialects have also diverged. In addition, while literary vocabulary is often shared among all dialects (at least in orthography), colloquial vocabularies vary widely. Colloquially written Chinese usually involves the use of "dialectal characters" which may not be understood in other dialects or characters that are considered archaic in báihuà.
The complex interaction between the Chinese written and spoken languages can be illustrated with Cantonese. In Hong Kong, Cantonese speakers are all taught standard written Chinese in school even though its grammar and vocabulary are based on Mandarin, which is not generally spoken in Hong Kong. As every character in standard written Chinese has a Cantonese pronunciation, standard written Chinese can be read aloud using Cantonese pronunciation but the result is very different from normal spoken Cantonese. For Cantonese speakers in Guangdong Province where nearly everyone can also speak Mandarin, this difference between the written and spoken language is much less pronounced as standard written Chinese can be read aloud in its standard pronunciation, which is Mandarin.
In most written communication, Cantonese speakers, whether they also speak Mandarin or not, will write in standard written Chinese. A literate Chinese typically can read such communication without much difficulty. However, colloquially spoken Cantonese features different grammar and vocabulary, which, if written down, can be largely unreadable by an untrained non-Cantonese speaker. Standard written Chinese essentially functions as a different register for Cantonese speakers who don't speak Mandarin, because they do not write in the way they usually speak. In Hong Kong, standard written Chinese spoken aloud using Cantonese pronunciation (usually with some colloquial words substituted in) serves as an acrolect used in newscasts and other formal contexts.
Written colloquial Cantonese does exist however, and Cantonese is unique among non-Mandarin regional languages in having a widely used written colloquial standard. This is due in part to the fact that Hong Kong, a large Cantonese speaking territory, was outside of Chinese control for over a hundred years before the British returned it to the People's Republic of China in 1997. In contrast, the other regional languages do not have such widely used alternative written standards. Written colloquial Cantonese has become quite popular in certain tabloids, online chat rooms, and instant messaging. Even so, Cantonese speakers will use standard written Chinese in most formal written communications.
As with other aspects of the Chinese language, the contrast between different written standards is not sharp and there can be a socially accepted continuum between the written standards. For example, in writing an informal love letter, one may use informal báihuà . In writing a newspaper article, the language used is different and begins to include aspects of wényán. In writing a ceremonial document, one would use even more wényán. The language used in the ceremonial document may be completely different from that of the love letter, but there is a socially accepted continuum existing between the two. Pure wényán, however, is rarely used in modern times.
