phantomtomato

Posted by Victor Mair

https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=72740&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-unchanging-gene-of-the-fine-chinese-language

https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=72740

New guideline issued to promote Chinese language:
7 main tasks set to highlight ‘never-changing gene’
By Li Yuche, Global Times (1/19/2026)

If you're wondering what brought this on, I think it's AI and LLMs, which are featured in the rest of the article, especially as they relate to oracle bones and traditional Chinese writing.

It will also help to understand the aim of the article if you know something about the nature of the journal in which it appears, for which see below.

Here are the first three paragraphs:

A new multi-agency policy has been jointly issued by seven national-level departments, including the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, to promote the inheritance of the Chinese language and traditional culture and enhance public literacy in these fields.  

The newly released guideline highlights its goal to promote the "creative transformation and innovative development" of fine traditional Chinese language and culture, and to "continuously enhance the language and cultural literacy of all citizens, particularly the youth."

Zhang Yiwu, a professor of Chinese language and literature at Peking University, told the Global Times that "fine Chinese language" is like the "never-changing gene" of Chinese culture. "Even in this AI era, the Chinese language remains the fundamental driver of all narratives, something that physical technological models cannot create on their own," said Zhang. 

Background on Global Times

The Global Times is a daily tabloid under the auspices of the Chinese Communist Party's flagship newspaper, the People's Daily, commenting on international issues from a nationalistic perspective.

Established as a publication in 1993, its English version was launched in 2009. The editor-in-chief of Global Times was Hu Xijin until December 2021, who has been described as an early adopter of the "wolf warrior" communication strategy of loudly denouncing perceived criticism of the Chinese government and its policies. The newspaper has been the source of various incidents, including fabrications, conspiracy theories, and disinformation. It is part of a broader set of Chinese state media outlets that constitute the Chinese government's propaganda apparatus.

(WP)

GT is well-known as a feisty, combative journal, especially when it was under the editorship of Hu Xijin.  In recent years, it also has some decent, not-too-polemical, not-too-propagandistic articles on archeology, art history, and so forth.

Selected readings

• "Dung Times" (3/14/18)
•  "The Great Translation Movement" (4/19/22) — GT takes on TGTM
• "Vicious smears" (9/10/20)
• "Vicious smears, part 2" (3/26/22)

https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=72740&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-unchanging-gene-of-the-fine-chinese-language

https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=72740