{{Short description|Language preservation efforts}} {{Expand Chinese|中國漢語方言保護|date=May 2026}} [[File:Standard Chinese promotion school.jpg|thumb|A school in Guangdong with writing "Please speak [[Standard Chinese]]. Please write [[Simplified Chinese|standard characters]]" on the wall.]] '''Protection of the varieties of Chinese''' ({{zh|s=方言保护|t=方言保護}}) refers to efforts to protect the continued existence of the [[varieties of Chinese]] in mainland China and other Chinese-speaking regions, amid pressure to abandon their use, usually in favor of [[Standard Chinese|Standard Mandarin]].<ref name="chinadaily">{{Cite web |last=Wang |first=Keju |date=2019-02-22 |title=Language diversity protection highlighted in UNESCO proclamation |url=https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/201902/22/WS5c6f333da3106c65c34eab20.html |access-date=23 July 2019 |website=China Daily |quote=According to the Ministry of Education, China－as a country with more than 130 ethnic minority languages and 10 major Chinese dialects, has been taking active measures for the protection of languages resources.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2014 |script-title=zh:中国语言资源保护工程汉语方言用字规范 |trans-title=Guidelines of Dialect-Specific Character in the Chinese Language |url=http://www.moe.gov.cn/s78/A19/A19_gggs/A19_sjhj/201704/W020170405307025943395.pdf |access-date=22 July 2019 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=25 September 2015 |script-title=zh:芒果台主持人 推方言保護行動 |trans-title=Hunan Presenters Launches Local Language Protection Project |url=https://www.chinatimes.com/newspapers/20150925000993-260301 |access-date=22 July 2019 |website=[[The China Times]] |language=zh-tw )}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=5 October 2018 |title=Race against time to save endangered languages and dialects |url=https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/201810/05/WS5bb6f82fa310eff303280c5b.html |access-date=22 July 2019}}</ref>

== Background == Education and media programming in varieties of Chinese other than Mandarin have been discouraged by the governments of China, Singapore, and Taiwan.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-08-24 |title=The Worrying Cross-Strait and Linguistic Messages of 'Crazy Rich Asians' |url=https://international.thenewslens.com/article/102551 |access-date=22 July 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Presse |first=Agence France |title=China Is Forcing Its Biggest Cantonese-Speaking Region To Speak Mandarin |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/china-is-forcing-its-biggest-cantonese-speaking-region-to-speak-mandarin-2014-8 |access-date=2019-07-21 |website=Business Insider}}</ref> Following the [[Retrocession of Taiwan|arrival of the Republic of China]] in Taiwan, the government suppressed [[Taiwanese Hokkien|Hokkien]], [[Taiwanese Hakka|Hakka]] and [[Formosan languages|Taiwanese indigenous]] languages in favor of [[Taiwanese Mandarin|Mandarin]] until the mid-1990s.<ref>{{Cite web |title=LOCAL DIALECTS REGAIN RECOGNITION AFTER LONG SUPPRESSION IN TAIWAN |url=https://www.ucanews.com/story-archive/?post_name=/1995/07/25/local-dialects-regain-recognition-after-long-suppression-in-taiwan&post_id=47695 |quote=Dialects including Taiwanese and Hakka are regaining status in Taiwan after 40 years of suppression by the government in favor of Mandarin Chinese.{...}"Taiwan should follow the multilingual Swiss model and declare Mandarin, Taiwanese, Hakka and Ami aboriginal languages as national languages," he said.}}</ref>

=== China === The [[Constitution of China]] calls on the government to [[Promotion of Standard Chinese|promote Standard Chinese]] as the common tongue of the nation,<ref>{{Cite web |title=CONSTITUTION OF THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA |url=http://en.people.cn/constitution/constitution.html |access-date=22 July 2019 |quote=The state promotes the nationwide use of Putonghua (common speech based on Beijing pronunciation).}}</ref> and as a result, the majority of Chinese citizens speak Standard Chinese.<ref name="by">{{Cite web |last=Bai |first=Yun |year=2017 |title=THE STUDY ON LANGUAGE ATTITUDES TOWARDS THE PROTECTION OF DIALECTS |url=http://dpi-proceedings.com/index.php/dtssehs/article/view/9284/8850 |access-date=22 July 2019}}</ref> [[Chinese as a foreign language|Teaching]] non-Mandarin [[varieties of Chinese]] to non-native speakers is discouraged by Chinese law.<ref name="phxnm">{{Cite web |date=18 December 2011 |title=《广东省国家通用语言文字规定》全文 |trans-title=Full Text of Guangdong National Language Regulations |url=http://news.ifeng.com/mainland/detail_2011_12/18/11402971_0.shtml |access-date=6 January 2012 |publisher=Phoenix New Media |quote=对外汉语教学应当教授普通话和规范汉字。 (Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language shall be in Putonghua and Simplified Chinese.)}}</ref> The [[Guangdong National Language Regulations]] were passed by the [[Politics of Guangdong|Guangdong provincial government]] in 2012 to promote the use of Standard Chinese in broadcast and print media at the expense of the standard [[Cantonese]] and other local dialects. It has been labelled "promoting Mandarin; abandoning Cantonese" ({{Zh|s=推普废粤|t=推普廢粵}}) legislation.<ref>{{Cite web |date=24 December 2011 |script-title=zh:廣東出臺通用語言文字規定 無任何條款限制方言播出 |trans-title=Guangdong's New Language Law "Will Not Limit Local Languages" |url=http://big5.xinhuanet.com/gate/big5/news.xinhuanet.com/fortune/2011-12/24/c_111293618.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140221224035/http://big5.xinhuanet.com/gate/big5/news.xinhuanet.com/fortune/2011-12/24/c_111293618.htm |archive-date=February 21, 2014 |access-date=24 July 2019 |language=zh-hans |quote=最近個別媒體又在炒作所謂的“推普廢粵”之類的報道。記者從今天（12月24日）下午召開的省政府新聞發布會獲悉，我省將于明年3月起實施《廣東省國家通用語言文字規定》，沒有任何限制使用方言的條款。(Recent media reports claim the Guangdong National Language Regulations is a "Law that oppresses the Cantonse Language". This claim was debunked in a press conference by the Province of Guangdong in 24 December, where the province's spokesperson claim that the new legislation would not ban or limit the use of local languages.)}}</ref>

== By country ==

=== China === The [[Ministry of Education (China)|Ministry of Education]] has claimed to be taking active measures to protect ten varieties of Chinese.<ref name="chinadaily" /> In 2026, [[Guangzhou]] pledged to take measures to protect Cantonese in the 15th Five Year Plan period.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Dummer |first1=Joshua |title=Guangzhou Talks the Talk on Protecting Cantonese, But Can It Walk the Walk? |url=https://thediplomat.com/2026/01/guangzhou-talks-the-talk-on-protecting-cantonese-but-can-it-walk-the-walk/ |website=The Diplomat |access-date=6 February 2026}}</ref>

==== Southern Fujian ==== In June 2007, China created a zone for the protection of [[Minnan region|Southern Fujian]] culture, the first of its kind in mainland China. In March 2010, eighteen elementary schools and ten kindergartens in [[Xiamen]] became [[Hokkien]] study centers, complete with Hokkien educational materials, including training in pronunciation, colloquialisms and history. On March 5, 2011, the Xiamen Experimental Elementary School implemented the "Hokkien Day" activity, encouraging students to study Southern Fujian culture and language.<ref>{{Cite web |date=8 March 2010 |script-title=zh:我省18所小学10所幼儿园试点闽南语教学 |trans-title=18 Primary Schools and 10 Nurseries Starts Teaching Hokkien in Fujian Province |url=http://www.fjedu.gov.cn/html/2010/03/388_71751.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140831032751/http://www.fjedu.gov.cn/html/2010/03/388_71751.html |archive-date=31 August 2014 |access-date=21 July 2019 |website=xmnn.cn |language=zh-cn}}</ref><ref>[http://www.xmnn.cn/dzbk/xmsb/epaper/html/2011-03/04/content_289191.htm 廈門實驗小學開設“閩南語日”活動 (Hokkien Day Opens in Xiamen/Amoy's Schools)]</ref>

=== Taiwan === The native language of many inhabitants of the [[Matsu Islands]] of Taiwan is the [[Matsu dialect]], which is one of the statutory languages for public transport announcements in the county.{{cn|date=March 2024}} It has been compulsory in primary schools in the area since 2017.

In an amendment to Article 14 of the Enforcement Rules of the Passport Act ({{lang|zh-tw|護照條例施行細則}}) passed on August 9, 2019, the Taiwanese [[Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Taiwan)|Ministry of Foreign Affairs]] announced that Taiwanese can use the romanized spellings of their names in [[Hoklo]], [[Hakka]] and [[Formosan languages|aboriginal languages]] for their passports. Previously, names could only be romanized according to its pronunciation in Mandarin.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Jason Pan |date=16 August 2019 |title=NTU professors' language rule draws groups' ire |url=https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2019/08/16/2003720563 |access-date=17 August 2019 |publisher=[[Taipei Times]]}}</ref> Since 2017, Taiwanese language classes have been compulsory in all primary schools except those in predominantly Hakka or Aboriginal areas and the Matsu Islands.

==See also== * [[Speak Hokkien Campaign]] * [[Taiwanese literature movement]] * [[Universal Declaration of Linguistic Rights]]

==References== {{reflist}}

[[Category:Language revival]] [[Category:Varieties of Chinese]]