Development of Cantonese in Cantonese

Language develops with the development of the times and changes with the changes of the times. At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, feudal forces split, and Cao Cao, Liu Biao and Sun Quan all attempted to control Lingnan. Bu Zhi continued to advance eastward along the Yangtze River and captured Panyu (now Guangzhou). In order to avoid the influence of stone evil and consolidate the rear of Sun Wu's regime, in the 22nd year of Jian 'an (2 17), the state administration of Jiaozhou was moved from Guangxin to Panyu. Since then, Guangxin's 300-year history as the capital of Lingnan has come to an end. Panyu is located in the east, so it is difficult to control the vast area to the west of Jiaozhou. In order to facilitate governance, Wu Dong divided Lingnan into Jiaozhou and Guangzhou in the seventh year of Yong 'an (264). Jiaozhou governs Jiaozhi, Jiuzhen, Rinan, Bor and Zhu Ya, and the state governs Long Bian (now Hanoi); Guangzhou governs Nanhai, Cangwu, Yulin, Hepu and Panyu. After Panyu became a state, the influence of Han people extended to the lower reaches of Xijiang River and the Pearl River Delta. However, it was not until the Jin Dynasty that "Guangzhou Nanya traveled more than 6,000 miles, with more than 50,000 households refusing to serve, and only 5,000 households obeying official uniforms". (Biography of the Book of Jin and Tao) Since then, during Yongjia period, the "Eight Kings Rebellion" occurred in the Jin Dynasty in the Central Plains, followed by the "Five Rebellions", which led to a large-scale southward migration of Han people in the Central Plains and a sharp increase in the number of Han immigrants in Lingnan. From the Eastern Jin Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty, the imperial court has always implemented the policy of "ruling slang with slang", and appointed a large number of local Cantonese as public officials, officials and officials. Under such favorable conditions, the culture and language of the Han nationality spread eastward from the middle reaches of the Xijiang River. Cantonese has gradually become a common language from Liucheng in Xijiang River to the Pearl River Delta. It must be emphasized here that since the beginning of "Five Wild Flowers", the Central Plains has been ruled by nomadic people in the north for more than 270 years, and great changes have taken place in Chinese. In contrast, Cantonese used by Han people in Lingnan retains the characteristics of Chinese in the Central Plains in Wei and Jin Dynasties. Zhang Ji, a poet in the Tang Dynasty, wrote in Yuan Jia Xing: "Southerners can speak Jin dialect so far." It is mainly caused by the change of Chinese itself in the Central Plains. Of course, Cantonese is also influenced by the ancient Baiyue language in some ways, but this is secondary after all. It is precisely because Cantonese has retained the characteristics of Central Plains Chinese before the Northern and Southern Dynasties since its formation that it refused to accept the further assimilation of Northern Chinese after the establishment of the Xijiang River Basin and the Pearl River Delta. This situation is highlighted in its attitude towards Hakka dialect. As we know, Hakkas' entry into Lingnan began with the completion of the "Hengpu Road" in the Tang Dynasty, and reached its climax when they crossed to the south of Song Gaozong. At that time, the original Han immigrants in Lingnan were already very strong, and they controlled the economically developed areas such as the Pearl River Delta and the plains on both sides of the Xijiang River. Therefore, the Hakkas who moved in from the Central Plains had to settle in Lingnan Mountain area. Moreover, some Hakka areas were later infiltrated by Cantonese and became "bilingual areas" or even Cantonese areas. It can be seen that in the Tang and Song Dynasties, Cantonese has developed into a distinctive Chinese dialect and formed a common language with Panyu (Guangzhou) as the center and Xijiang River Basin and Pearl River Delta as the foundation.