Li Pengyong, an artist living in Xi'an, likens his work to
protecting a rare species, just on the verge of extinction.
Although the 34-year-old pursues this worthy cause near the Big
Wild Goose Pagoda (built in 652) in Xi'an's southern suburbs, his
efforts are not on behalf of any animal.
Li is a member of a group that meets every weekend in Shaanxi Province's capital city to teach the
local dialect at their "Shaanxi Dialect Corner."
"My students are mostly tourists from other parts of China and
some overseas college students who are studying in Xi'an. I teach
them in order to protect and promote the dialect, but not at
all?for profit," Li told China Daily.
At present, few people speak Shaanxi dialect, which was formerly
widely used throughout China, the artist said.
Bai Qitong, who sponsors the group, sees a strong historical
value in teaching this dialect.
"We plan to teach people not only how to speak the Shaanxi
dialect, but also how to recite poetry that was written during the
Han (206 BC-AD 220) and Tang (618-907) dynasties in this once
common dialect. These most prosperous of China's dynasties both
made Xi'an their capital," he said.
With China on the globalization fast track, much of its
linguistic heritage, such as regional dialects, is facing
extinction as standardized mandarin spreads.
The Shaanxi dialect, noted for its passionate and high-pitched
pronunciation, has long been considered a vivid reflection of the
unconstrained nature of Shaanxi natives.
Shaanxi is one of the cradles of Chinese culture. Cang Jie, the
legendary inventor of Chinese characters, was a Shaanxi native,
noted Li Pengyong.
According to Bai Qitong, the Shaanxi dialect was first spoken
throughout China since as far back as the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC),
the first Chinese feudal dynasty, which spread out from
Shaanxi.
Because 13 dynasties had their capitals in Xi'an, many emperors,
empresses, officials, ordinary people, and foreign envoys once
spoke the Shaanxi dialect. In addition, many ancient historical
documents and records, poetry, dramas and novels were also composed
in the dialect.
"I did not know that so much ancient poetry was originally
recited in Shaanxi dialect, which is so elegant," said Wu Yunmin, a
64-year-old tourist from Zhejiang Province in east China, who recently
participated in the Shaanxi Dialect Corner.
Liu Ningle, a professor at Columbia University in the US,
described the dialect as an expression of the local people's
cultural values. Liu was taking part in an international seminar in
Xi'an titled "Xi'an City: Historical Memory and Urban Culture" that
ended on Friday.
"Language is an important carrier of culture. If we want to
revitalize and rebuild the past glory of Shaanxi, we must protect
Shaanxi dialect because it is a treasure of our ancient culture,"
Liu said.
(China Daily November 14, 2006)