a friend once asked me this question, and I was unprepared at the moment, and I didn't know how to answer it. Because Chang 'an in the Tang Dynasty was the center of the world, and all nations came to Korea, Chang 'an dialect was undoubtedly the official language. If there was a News Network in the Tang Dynasty, the host there must have spoken Chang 'an Mandarin. When Tang Minghuang, Wu Meiniang, Changsun Wuji, Di Renjie, Li Bai, Zhang Jiuling and Bai Juyi were dignitaries and celebrities all spoke Chang 'an dialect, the language spoken by the upper class was the most fashionable "Mandarin". Because there is no recording equipment, no film and television works handed down, and no various apps, I can't listen to the voices of people at that time.
With these questions, I read ancient books, visited experts all over the world, and after several years of painstaking research, I came to the conclusion that Mandarin in the Tang Dynasty is today's Xi 'an dialect.
argument 1: Bai Juyi's Pipa Trip
This article was selected as a high school Chinese text. Anyone who is familiar with the article knows the author and writing background, and tells the scene that the author himself was demoted to Xunyang (now Jiujiang, Jiangxi) and gave a toast to his friends in the dark. Suddenly, he heard the sound of orchestral music on a boat not far away. After listening carefully, it was obviously different from the music played by local people. This chord rhythm was only in Beijing. It would be very interesting to meet an old friend in Beijing thousands of miles away. With this idea, the author moved the boat and heard the sound, so the pipa girl appeared, and the exchange really had a history of living in Beijing.
When asked where Pipa girl was in Beijing and what she did. The poem reads: "told us how she had spent her girlhood at the capital, living in her parents' house under the Mount of Toads. And had mastered the guitar at the age of thirteen, with her name recorded first in the class-roll of musicians. "
A place name in Beijing-Toad Mausoleum was mentioned here. Where is this place? In fact, it is the "Dismounting Mausoleum". This place is located in Nancheng, in memory of Dong Zhongshu, a Han Chinese (that is, the man who suggested to the emperor that Confucianism should be the only one, and hundreds of schools should be ousted). After his death, he was buried here, which was highly praised by the officials of past dynasties. When he came here, the civil servants got off the sedan chair and the military attache dismounted, also known as Dismounting Mausoleum. It took seven or eight hundred years from the Han Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty.
But why was Xiama Mausoleum written by Bai Juyi as Toad Mausoleum? This has something to do with Chang 'an dialect.
anyone who can speak Xi' an dialect knows that in the pronunciation of Xi' an dialect, dismount will be pronounced as "ha (four tones) horse". After the rise and fall of Dong Zhongshu's mausoleum for hundreds of years, it is normal for dismount mausoleum to be pronounced as "ha Ma Ling" by local people, and it can be understood by Bai Juyi as "toad mausoleum".
A poem by Bai Juyi restores the voice of Chang 'an dialect in Tang Dynasty.
argument 2: there are more than 5 Japanese words rooted in Xi' an dialect.
for example, Japanese pronounces "yes or no" as "dei si ga", while Xi 'an pronounces "dei si" or "dei si dei". Besides, there are many such evidences in Japanese.
why is there the phenomenon of side planting? This will refer to the Sino-Japanese exchanges in the Tang Dynasty.
Friends who know Japan know that Japanese people especially respect and admire countries that are stronger than them, and despise countries that are inferior to them. This is just like they treat the United States and China in the present era. Even though atomic bombs have been thrown at them, Japanese people still respect Americans today. Although Japan invaded China, China won, but when they were not rich and strong, he still looked down on you in his bones. China in the Tang Dynasty was like the United States in today's world, and Chang 'an was like new york today. The Japanese sent many "envoys to Tang Dynasty" to Chang 'an to learn various experiences, including political system, economic construction, cultural classics and even written language. This is proved by the fact that Katakana in Japanese retains a large number of Chinese characters and radicals.
Today, South Korea, Viet Nam, etc. have gone to China and eliminated Chinese characters. As a result, young people can't even understand their own historical classics, and it's ridiculous to think about it. It is said that in the era of park chung-hee, the government passed the "Legislation to Eliminate Chinese Characters", but the dignitaries who signed the agreement were all Chinese characters, and they were all drunk [laughing]. That's beside the point. Let's get back to this topic.
The Japanese not only brought the most advanced Chinese characters back to China, but also brought back the most fashionable Chang 'an dialect in the world at that time, which became a strong evidence to verify the pronunciation of "Mandarin" in the Tang Dynasty.
(unfinished, due to time, I'll talk to you about arguments three and four another day ...)