By Liu Dairong and Zong Wei

The spoken and written language is one of the important characteristics of the formation of an ethnic group as well as an important means to deal well with national work. The Communist Party of China always implements the principle of language equality proposed by Lenin and respects the language rights of ethnic minorities. The Constitution of the People’s Republic of China stipulates, the people of all nationalities have the freedom to use and develop their own spoken and written languages. China's Law on Ethnic Regional Autonomy stipulates that in performing their functions, the organs of self-government of every ethnic autonomous area, in accordance with the regulations on the exercise of autonomy in those areas, employ the spoken and written languages or languages in common use in the locality. In order to help ethnic minorities use and develop their own spoken and written languages, except for the use of ethnic minority spoken and written languages in government affairs by various autonomous agencies, the party and the state have also established the National Publishing House, which publishes books and periodicals in a variety of minority languages. In addition, Central People’s Broadcasting Station broadcast in multiple minority languages at the same time.

All ethnic autonomous areas also have their own publishing houses and radio stations, which publish newspapers and periodicals and broadcast in their own languages. For nationalities who only have their own spoken languages, the party and the state help them enrich and improve their written languages. For example, it helped the Dai, Jingpo, and Lahu peoples improve their written scripts, and helped more than ten nationalities including the Zhuang, Buyi, Miao, Li, Naxi, Lisu, Hani, Wa, Dong, Bai, and Tu create their written scripts. While respecting and developing the spoken and written languages of ethnic minorities, the party and the government also encourage all ethnic groups to learn from each other. Cadres of Han nationality should learn the spoken and written languages of the local ethnic nationalities. While learning and using the spoken and written languages of their own nationalities, cadres of ethnic nationalities should also learn Putonghua and the standard Chinese written language commonly used throughout the country.

Many primary and secondary schools in ethnic minority areas offer bilingual classes and teach mandarin Chinese and ethnic minority languages at the same time. Chinese (Han) language has gradually become a common communication tool to people across the country and the most important tool to promote science and culture communication in China. Therefore, it is of great significance to learn Putonghua and the standard Chinese written language by ethnic minorities, which can prosper the culture of minorities, promote the unity of nationalities and accelerate the economic and scientific development of ethnic minority areas. This is a conscious and voluntary action taken by the people of all ethnic nationalities for their own progress and development. It is fundamentally different from the old China’s mandatory action of regarding Chinese as the national language and the non-recognition of the equal status of minority languages.

With the development of economic globalization, the increasing reform of the market economy system, and the development of modern information technology and communication technology, our country’s ethnic minority language work is also facing a new situation, that is, more and more ethnic minority citizens take the initiative to learn and master the standard Chinese spoken and written language, which is a progressive phenomenon that is conducive to the development of ethnic minorities. At the same time, the population of people using some ethnic minority languages is becoming less and less. Some languages are even becoming endangered. In addition, “bilingual” (ethnic language and Chinese (Han) language) education in ethnic regions needs to be strengthened urgently. In the new situation, the infiltration and anti-separation, splitting and anti-separatist struggles in the field of ethnic minority languages and writing scripts must also be highly regarded.

​It is an important issue that must be faced and properly resolved in the practice of spoken and written language in our country to correctly understand and handle the relationship between the publicity and promotion of the national common spoken and written language and the development of minority spoken and written languages. Facts and experiences of our country make it clear that the promotion of the national common language is not inconsistent with the use and development of ethnic minority languages. Fundamentally speaking, the state promotes the national standard language from the policy and practice level to promote economic and cultural exchanges among all ethnic groups and regions. It is necessary to realize that promoting the national standard spoken and written language is not to restrict the use and development of the spoken and written languages of ethnic minorities, let alone eliminate the spoken and written languages of ethnic minorities, but to use the standard national language on the basis of being able to speak the ethnic minority languages.

The promotion of the Chinese standard spoken and written language is carried out in a focused and step-by-step manner. We must have a comprehensive and correct understanding of the point that the above promotion activity is not a one-size-fits-all approach. At the same time, it is an important national policy of our country to protect the rights of all ethnic groups to use and develop their own spoken and written languages, that is, citizens of all ethnic groups have the right and freedom to choose a certain language. Therefore, while persisting in promoting the national common language, we must firmly support the thought of equality of all ethnic languages and fully respect the rights of ethnic minorities to use and develop their own languages. Through positive propaganda and guidance, the majority of ethnic minorities should realize that it will be a positive impact on the development of ethnic nationalities themselves and the entire nation through learning their own spoken and written languages while mastering the standard spoken and written languages of the country. At the same time, it is necessary to encourage all ethnic groups to learn from each other’s languages, strive to promote the harmonious coexistence of all ethnic languages, and promote ethnic unity and social harmony.

(Liu is an associate professor at the School of International Languages and Cultures and Zong is a distinguished research fellow at the School of International Languages and Cultures, Yunnan University of Finance and Economics)