The Origin of Jiaxing Dialect

Language: Wu language (Taihu Lake Su Hujia sketch

Jiaxing, located in Taihu Lake Basin, is a water town and a country where the Yue people lived in ancient times. During the Spring and Autumn Period, the land spanned wuyue, which was called "Wu Tou Yue Wei" in history. Therefore, it has both the legacy of Taibo's resignation and the legacy of Yue's After Diligence. After the merger of Chu and Yue, it was influenced by Chu culture for more than a hundred years. From the Qin Dynasty (222 BC) to the Five Dynasties (907-960 BC), Jiaxing has always belonged to Wu County in Huiji, and its language belongs to Wu dialect area. Therefore, the folk customs are mainly Wu customs, and the water towns in the south of the Yangtze River are distinctive, which is different from the mountainous areas in the province. At the end of the Western Jin Dynasty and the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, the country was in turmoil for the second time, and many people wearing clothes in the north crossed the river to the south, bringing complementary advantages to the Central Plains culture, which made Jiaxing folk customs blend with the Central Plains customs elements, and uniqueness and diversity coexisted.

Wu, English Wu or Wu-Chinese. Also known as Wu dialect, Jiangdong dialect, Jiangnan dialect and Jiangsu and Zhejiang dialect. It belongs to the Sino-Tibetan Chinese family. Wu dialect is mainly used by Wu immigrants in China, southern Jiangsu, Shanghai, most parts of Zhejiang, southern Anhui, northeastern Jiangxi, northwestern Fujian, Hong Kong, Taiwan Province and San Francisco. The user population is about 80 million, ranking second in China and tenth in the world. Suzhou dialect, in particular, has the reputation of "soft language of Wu Nong" because of its euphemistic voice. Suzhou dialect is the representative of Wu dialect and has a high position in history. Since modern times, due to the destruction of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom War, with the decline of Suzhou and the rise of Shanghai, some people have gradually taken Shanghai dialect as a representative. There are four dialects in modern China: Bai Jing, Bai Yun, Bai Su and Bai Yue. Su Bai is undoubtedly the most popular language in Jiangnan. Biography of Flowers on the Sea (People's Literature Publishing House 1982.02)

Gusu City is listed as one of the five largest cities in the world that Ming gentry and celebrities must visit. It is proud of wearing Su-style clothes, learning Su Bai and singing, ranging from empresses, courtiers, wives and daughters to folk women and even Jianghu artists. Especially for all kinds of prostitutes, clothes must be made up and words must be plain. Being good at Wu Ge has become an essential skill, which is not enough to improve their social status. The pronunciation of Wu dialect is very different from that of Putonghua, which retains more archaic factors in some aspects. There are also many unique features in vocabulary and grammar, but the Biography of Flowers on the Sea, written purely in written Wu language, is incomprehensible to non-Wu speakers. Biography of Flowers on the Sea is the most famous novel in Wu language, written by Han Bangqing, a native of Songjiang Prefecture, Jiangsu Province. The book is written in classical Chinese and Su Bai, and the dialogue in Suzhou dialect is the distinctive feature of the book. The use of Su Bai is also the same feature of Wu's novels that appeared in19th century. Later, Zhang Ailing translated it into Mandarin, but its charm was lost. When Song Xin Qi Ji (a poet of Jia Xuan) lived in Shangrao, Qianshan and Guangfeng. I once wrote "Good accent when drunk, good reputation when white hair", describing the soft language of Wunong in Shangrao, Qianshan and Guangfeng (the language of Jiaxuan Township and Ehu Lake).