pai-hua

[bahyhwah]

pai-hua

[bahyhwah]
noun
a colloquial form of written Chinese based on the spoken language, in use especially since 1917.
Compare wen-yen.


Origin:
< Chinese báihuà, equivalent to bái plain, pure, white + huà word, talk
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Pai-hua is always a great word to know.
So is gobo. Does it mean:
a screen or mat covered with a dark material for shielding a camera lens from excess light or glare.
a children's mummer's parade, as on the Fourth of July, with prizes for the best costumes.
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia

pai-hua

vernacular style of Chinese that was adopted as a written language in a movement to revitalize the Classical Chinese literary language and make it more accessible to the common people. Started in 1917 by the philosopher and historian Hu Shi, the baihua literary movement succeeded in making baihua the language of textbooks, periodicals, newspapers, and public documents, thus causing a definite change in Chinese cultural life.

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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