The BIG Language Debate

Throughout China’s long history, language has been used by emperors and policy makers alike to unite China. On the record, China’s official language is Mandarin but less only about half of the 1.3 billion people speak it.

In Guongdong is where the Cantonese language originated and much of the population speaks it fluently. This is where Beijing has recently issued a banishment of Cantonese, Shanghainese, and Tibetan in the classroom and over the airwaves, which has sparked a revolt within Guangzhou. Many Cantonese who took to the street to protest said “I am willing to speak Mandarin but don’t force me to speak Mandarin!” as well as ‘Cantonese for Cantonese people’.

Protestors in Guangzhou

The requirement of Mandarin in schools and to succeed professionally in China has forced many young Chinese to prioritize Mandarin over their mother tongues. Beijing sees as Mandarin as a national-unity tool and it dominates in schools and is the only language heard on national television and radio stations.

This worries people because language is central to their culture and they believe once they have taken away their language, their culture will become assimilated into an overall Chinese culture.

            Many believe that this is the government’s way of cultural intimidation and making sure that everyone follows the government’s policies.

            This is very interesting because protests are so far and few within China because they crack down so heavily on dissidents. I think that this is interesting too because language is usually not so contested in countries which have been established for some time. Beijing has to find a balance between the various different ethnic tongues in the region and the state chosen language.