Is Chinese a group of distinct languages or is it a single language with many dialects? The Chinese language is known to have 200 varieties with 13 dialect groups (varying based on counting method). The 7 major dialect groups include: Mandarin, Yue, Xiang, Min, Gan, Wu, and Hakka. These dialects are all mutually intelligible tonal languages that share the same written characters. When considering the difference between simplified and traditional writing forms, most Chinese speakers can recognize both versions of the characters (despite their preferred character form). It can be argued that because Chinese can be read by everyone using the same written characters, there is only one language with many dialects. However, if you were to speak Shanghainese to a Cantonese speaker, they would not be able to converse with or understand each other. There are differences in phonetic pronunciations as well as varying grammatical structures that allow some to argue that Chinese is a group of many distinct languages, not just dialects.

Within China, hundreds of dialects are spoken amongst Chinese citizens daily, from communicating with family members to asking about their day (based on whether they have eaten or not). From just the southern skew of China, there are over 25 different dialects ranging from Hubei Province dialect to Beijing dialect to Gongsheng County dialect, showcasing the difference in dialects in provinces, cities, and counties. What is especially fascinating about the multitude of Chinese dialects is that even areas that are close in distance with each other have completely different forms of dialect. For example, Yipu and Yangshuo are only 600 km apart from each other but have disparate dialects. Applying this scale to the entire country of China, the vastness and endless amount of different dialects within the country reflects the wide dialect diversity, language variation, and social norms that have been cultivated over time.

Note: Todd made this video as a response to Cyrus Jannsen's video (Is the Mandarin Language eroding Chinese ethnic groups?) so watch the video to the right first.

From Todd's experience studying at a Chinese university and living in Inner Mongolia, he shares his perspective about the separation of language and culture of Mandarin teaching and Mongolian teaching at a Mongolian University. He draws comparisons with the way China handle's their minority ethnic groups and the way the United States handles Native Americans. Chinese history shows a lot of intermingling with Han chinese culture and ethnic groups like the Manchurian, Mongols, etc. and throughout these many years he notes that Mandarin is the primary language of communication through all of this. While the central government of China gives ethnic groups the opportunity to learn in their own language, the parents are the ones who choose to not let their kids learn the language. Parents want their children to be strong in Mandarin in order to be successful and some of them think that learning another language, such as Mongolian, will inhibit their child's ability to get into a good university, etc.

Compared to the over 300 different dialects and variations within China (due to the 56 ethnic groups), the U.S shares one unified language that can be understood by all American citizens. As of recent government policies, China has begun integrating the requirement to learn standard Mandarin within school systems, especially ethnic minorities such as Tibet, Mongolia, and Uyghur, in order to unify China as one country. An example of this implementation would be local Tibetan schools teaching Mandarin Chinese language during their daily curriculum. This recent push for language unification has caused controversy within China (e.g. Mongolian protests) as many believe this development to be a destruction of ethnic heritage or a commodification of ethnicities/languages. However, Cyrus Janssen argues that this change is crucial for the future prospects of these ethnic minority groups. Connecting with the country through language is especially important for the future generation of Chinese nationals, whether they are finding jobs, learning higher education, or simply communicating with others from different regions of China.

In this video, Li Can discusses each of the main regions of China and the many interactions involving dialects within each region and across cities. He uses clips from famous singers, actors, and politicians to explain his descriptive statements to the viewer. For example, when describing "soft dialects" he used some clips of people who speak those dialects singing songs from that region. He explains that since Chengdu is known as the "Land of Abundance" the people there have more "soft and refined" personalities. They did not have to struggle with harsh environmental conditions in order to live in their region. This translates to the people being more soft and therefore have a more soft sounding dialect. Overall, the analysis of Chinese dialects through a geographical perspective was a comedic and new way for people to understand how many dialects there are, why certain people sound a certain way, and how people from different places can understand each other.

With a name synonymous with world trade, Shanghai is the largest and busiest modern metropolis, with a grand business district to follow it. However, despite being China’s biggest city, “Shanghainese” is slowly beginning to die out. Many people, including local Shanghainese residents, do not believe Shanghainese to be important for the next generation because they think using Mandarin or English would be more useful, especially in an international city like Shanghai. Moreover, China’s officials heavily promote Mandarin as the country’s official language, which leaves little room for local languages to flourish. But one of the major reasons for the downfall of the local language may be the wealthy city itself. Shanghai is a hugely popular destination for people from other parts of China, and the world, who come seeking a new life. This high proportion means that locals feel obliged to use Mandarin in everyday interactions so that no one feels excluded.