In 1728, Emperor Yongzheng complained that he couldn't understand officials hailing from the provinces of Guangdong and Fujian, where they spoke, respectively, Cantonese and Hokkien.

Three hundred years later, we continue to struggle with the question of how dominant the lingua franca of Mandarin should be over more local languages. In the PRC, the current conflict is between Mandarin and Cantonese, and in Taiwan, Mandarin and Taiwanese Hokkien are spoken side by side.

So what is Mandarin? How did it come about? How much does it actually resemble the language of ancient China? To what extent was the modern standardization process artificial? Would it matter if it was?

And, finally, can the southern dialects actually claim greater antiquity and prestige?

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