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WONG FEI HONG
I have question. In ancient times, how could Chineses from other parts of China speak one to each other, having so much dialects and languages? I mean, did exist some lingua franca what was used by all Chineses when they was speaking to each other? For example, what form of speech was used in conversation between Chinese from Peking and Chinese from Fat San?
I think the official ancient Chinese spoken language was in circulation only within pockets of territories where the ancient Imperial Highway crossed with XianYang (ChangAn/XiAn) at the heart of governance. Everywhere else in China should have had ancient local indigenous languages being spoken. Forensically, clues to ancient Chinese should hypothetically be found at the end of the road of the Imperial Highway especially in the languages around NanHai (GuangZhou) and KuaiJi (SuZhou) since both refugee destinations became sanctuary to the gatekeepers of Chinese High Culture everytime a Chinese Dynasty collapsed/transitioned.
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