A THOUSAND EMER ALD LAKES
PUBLIC HOLIDAYS
IN H U BE I 2 016m o n d a y
Chinese New Year
Also known as the Spring
Festival, the date of this
holiday is determined by the
Chinese lunar calendar. It
is usually a busy period as
families go around visiting
their relativesFEB
8m o n d a y
Qing Ming Festival
On this opportunity to
remember and honour their
ancestors, families visit
burial sites to clean tombs
and pay respectsAPR
4t h u r s d a y
Dragon Boat Festival
This day commemorates the
death of Qu Yuan, an ancient
Chinese poet and minister.
People gather to participate
in dragon boat races and eat
sticky rice dumplingsJUN
9t h u r s d a y
Mid-Autumn Festival
On the 15th day of the eighth
lunar month, offerings are
made to the Moon Goddess,
Chang’e, while mooncakes
are shared and eaten among
friends and familySEP
15s a t u r d a y
National Day
During this week-long holiday,
families usually spend time
together or travel. Public areas
are also decorated according to
the festivitiesOCT
1We know Chinese as the most widely
spoken language on the planet, but in
actuality this macro language can be
split into many regional sub-groups. In
Hubei, Southwestern Mandarin, Jianghuai
Mandarin and the Gan languages are most
commonly used. Of these, Southwestern
Mandarin dialects are the most common –
such as the Wuhan and Shishou dialects.
But the tongue which left the greatest mark
in history is probably Jianghuai Mandarin,
which influenced the official language of
China today.
Also known as Lower Yangtze Mandarin,
Jianghuai Mandarin is part of the Sino-
Tibetan family of languages and is spoken in
parts of Hubei, Anhui and Jiangsu, all north
of the river. This group of Mandarin dialects
is distinguished from its counterparts
by the retention of features in Middle
Chinese that have now been dropped in
modern Putonghua (Standard Chinese). For
example, while Putonghua has four tones,
many Jianghuai dialects have five tones.
While this characteristic may make the
language seem rather archaic, Jianghuai
has had more than once paved paths for the
future. Peking Opera had its beginnings in
parts of Hubei and Anhui where Jianghuai
was spoken. Going even further back
into the past, it seems that Ming Dynasty
JIANGHUAI MANDARIN
THE ORIGINS OF PUTONGHUA
Sources: Journal of Asian Pacific
communication, Volume 16, Issues 1-2, Peking
Mandarin; Ming studies, Issue 56.Mandarin – used between 1368 and 1644 –
was based largely on the Jianghuai dialect
as well.
The importance of Jianghuai even extends
to it being the standard of Baihua, which
was the written form of Chinese used
by the common people (as opposed to
Guanhua, the official language used in
formal settings). This was the language
used for novels throughout the Ming and
Qing dynasties, before Baihua was replaced
by the Beijing dialect in late Qing. Even so,
Jianghuai could be said to have retained
at least a smatter of relevance, for it
influenced the Beijing dialect as well.
Today, the Beijing dialect has gradually
morphed into Putonghua, which is not
just the official language of China but
also Taiwan, and one of the four official
languages of Singapore. In its own form,
Jianghuai has also been experiencing a
revival in Jiangsu, overtaking the once-
dominant Wu language.