Did the ancients speak in vernacular or classical Chinese?

1. detailed and logical reasoning
2. I want to have some information on books (authoritative scholars)

Answer 1

Whether the ancient people spoke in the vernacular or in the classical language needed to be analyzed from the historical evolution of the language.

Wenyan was a type of written language in ancient China, which was featured by the use of specific vocabulary and grammar structures, as well as strict expressions and sentence patterns. This language had existed in Chinese history until the Qing Dynasty, when it gradually declined and became the representative of modern written language.

Baihua refers to a form of modern Chinese language, which is characteristic of the use of simple and clear vocabulary and grammar structure, as well as more oral expressions. This form of language did not exist in Chinese history until the beginning of the 20th century, with the rise of the New Culture Movement, the vernacular movement became popular as the main form of modern written language.

Therefore, whether the language spoken by the ancient people was classical or vernacular mainly depended on the era and cultural background. If it was in ancient China, then their language would be classical Chinese, but if it was in modern China, then their language would be vernacular.