Vernacular Chinese
URL: https://knowledge.ivjn.us/en/concepts/vernacular-chinese.html

A written form grounded in spoken language, related to but distinct from classical Chinese.

## Scope

Vernacular writing has a longer history than the twentieth century. Modern literary reform gave it new prominence.

## Examples

[A Madman's Diary](https://knowledge.ivjn.us/en/works/a-madmans-diary.html) and [Changshi Ji](https://knowledge.ivjn.us/en/works/changshi-ji.html) illustrate different genres.

Updated: 2026-10-24

Tags:
- 文学 https://knowledge.ivjn.us/en/tags/literature.html
- 教育 https://knowledge.ivjn.us/en/tags/education.html

Relations:
- Discusses this topic: 新文化运动 https://knowledge.ivjn.us/en/events/new-culture-movement.html
- Examples: A Madman's Diary https://knowledge.ivjn.us/en/works/a-madmans-diary.html (主要指白话正文；小序为文言。)
- Examples: 尝试集 https://knowledge.ivjn.us/en/works/changshi-ji.html (白话诗的实践。)
- Related concepts: 新文学 https://knowledge.ivjn.us/en/concepts/new-literature.html (相关但不等同。)

Mentioned in:
- 新文学 https://knowledge.ivjn.us/en/concepts/new-literature.html
- 新文化运动 https://knowledge.ivjn.us/en/events/new-culture-movement.html
- 胡适 https://knowledge.ivjn.us/en/people/hu-shi.html
- 尝试集 https://knowledge.ivjn.us/en/works/changshi-ji.html
- 狂人日记 https://knowledge.ivjn.us/en/works/a-madmans-diary.html
- 新青年 https://knowledge.ivjn.us/en/works/new-youth.html

Sources:
- Written vernacular Chinese (Wikipedia, sample reference) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Written_vernacular_Chinese