|
Chinese writing, culture and institutions were imported as a whole by Vietnam, Korea, Japan and the Ryukyus over an extended period. Chinese Buddhism spread over East Asia between the 2nd and 5th centuries AD, followed by Confucianism as these countries developed strong central governments modelled on Chinese institutions. In Vietnam and Korea, and for a shorter time in Japan and the Ryukyus, scholar-officials were selected using examinations on the Confucian classics modelled on the Chinese civil service examinations. Shared familiarity with the Chinese classics and Confucian values provided a common framework for intellectuals and ruling elites across the region. All of this was based on the use of Literary Chinese, which became the medium of scholarship and government across the region. Although each of these countries developed vernacular writing systems and used them for popular literature, they continued to use Chinese for all formal writing until it was swept away by rising nationalism around the end of the 19th century. During the 20th century, several Japanese historians grouped these three countries with China as an East Asian cultural realm. According to Sadao Nishijima (西嶋定生, 1919–1998), it was characterized by Chinese writing, Mahayana Buddhism in Chinese translation, Confucianism and Chinese legal codes. The concept of an "East Asian world" has seen little interest from scholars in the other countries following its appropriation by Japanese militarists in terms such as the "Greater East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere". Nishijima is also credited with coining the expressions ''Kanji bunka-ken'' (漢字文化圏, "Chinese-character culture sphere") and ''Chūka bunka-ken'' (中華文化圏, "Chinese culture sphere"), which were later borrowed into Chinese. The four countries are also referred to as the "Sinic World" by some authors. == Literary Chinese == (詳細はChinese script was the only writing system available in East Asia. Classical works of the Warring States period and Han dynasty such as the ''Mencius'', the ''Commentary of Zuo'' and Sima Qian's ''Historical Records'' were admired as models of prose style though the ages. Later writers sought to emulate the classical style, writing in a form known as Literary Chinese. Thus the written style, based on the Old Chinese of the classical period, remained largely static as the various varieties of Chinese developed and diverged to become mutually unintelligible, and all distinct from the written form. Moreover, in response to phonetic attrition the spoken varieties developed compound words and new syntactic forms. In comparison, the literary language was admired for its terseness and economy of expression, but it was difficult to understand if read aloud, even in the local pronunciation. This divergence is a classic example of diglossia. All formal writing in China was done in Literary Chinese until the May Fourth Movement in 1919, after which it was replaced by Written Vernacular Chinese. This new form was based on the vocabulary and grammar of modern Mandarin dialects, particularly the Beijing dialect, and is the written form of Modern Standard Chinese. Literary Chinese persisted for a time in journalism and government, but was replaced there too in the late 1940s. Buddhism reached China from central Asia in the first century AD, and over the following centuries the Buddhist scriptures were translated into Literary Chinese. Buddhist missionaries then spread these texts throughout East Asia, and students of the new religion learned the language of these sacred texts. Throughout East Asia, Literary Chinese was the language of administration and scholarship. Although Vietnam, Korea and Japan each developed writing systems for their own languages, these were limited to popular literature. Chinese remained the medium of formal writing until it was displaced by vernacular writing in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Though they did not use Chinese for spoken communication, each country had its own tradition of reading texts aloud, the so-called Sino-Xenic pronunciations, which provide clues to the pronunciation of Middle Chinese. Chinese words with these pronunciations were also borrowed extensively into the local vernaculars, and today comprise over half their vocabularies. Thus Literary Chinese became the international language of scholarship in East Asia. Like Latin in Europe it allowed scholars from different lands to communicate, and provided a stock of roots from which compound technical terms could be created. Unlike Latin, Literary Chinese was not used for spoken communication, and lacked the neutrality of Latin, being the language of an extant (and powerful) neighbouring state. Books in Literary Chinese were widely distributed. By the 7th century and possibly earlier, woodblock printing had been developed in China. At first, it was used only to copy the Buddhist scriptures, but later secular works were also printed. By the 13th century, metal movable type used by government printers in Korea, but seems not to have been extensively used in China, Vietnam or Japan. At the same time manuscript reproduction remained important until the late 19th century. In contrast, China's western and northern neighbours, including the Tibetans, Sogdians, Tocharians, Uighurs and Mongols, wrote in their own languages using alphabetic writing systems. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Adoption of Chinese literary culture」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|