Hu Shi was one of the pioneers of the vernacular movement. In 1913, he published the "Manifest of the Vernacular Literature Movement" and proposed the concept of "literary revolution", advocating the replacement of classical Chinese with vernacular Chinese, laying the foundation for the modern Chinese literature.
The vernacular was created by Lin Shu, a literary researcher and translator in the late Qing Dynasty. In the late 19th century, he reformed classical Chinese and old vernacular Chinese, creating a new form of writing. The characteristics of vernacular Chinese were concise, clear, and easy to understand, which could better adapt to the needs of society at that time. Lin Shu believed that classical Chinese was too cumbersome to express modern thoughts, while old vernacular Chinese was too oral to read and study. Therefore, he created a new form of writing that not only maintained the charm of classical Chinese but also met the reading needs of modern readers. This was the vernacular. The rise of the vernacular was closely related to the social background at that time. At the end of the Qing Dynasty, China was faced with the invasion of foreign powers, the corruption of the feudal system, social unrest, and many other problems. The people's living standards declined, and the cultural and educational industries stagnated. In this case, vernacular could better express the needs of the people, better transmit social information and promote social progress. In addition, the creation and promotion of vernacular by Lin Shu and others also laid the foundation for the development of vernacular.
The first vernacular novel created by Lu Xun was The Madman's Diary.
The vernacular was proposed at the end of the Qing Dynasty with the rise of the New Culture Movement. At that time, many scholars believed that the traditional classical Chinese was outdated and could not adapt to the needs of modern communication, so they advocated the use of vernacular Chinese. The characteristics of vernacular writing were concise, clear, easy to understand, and better able to express thoughts and emotions.
The first person to write vernacular Chinese was Sherlock, the inventor of movable type printing during the Song Dynasty.
It is difficult to determine who was the first person to write vernacular Chinese because the definition of vernacular Chinese refers to people who use modern Chinese vocabulary and grammar to express old cultural ideas or stories. During the Qing Dynasty, a man named Qian Xuantong wrote a book called Collection of Fictions, which contained a large number of vernacular novels and was regarded as the pioneer of modern vernacular novels. However, because the definition of vernacular was not widely accepted at that time, Qian Xuantong could not be considered the first person to write vernacular.
The first person to initiate the vernacular in China was Lang Maoshan of the Ming Dynasty. He created the first vernacular writing, The Madman's Diary, around 1600. This article, which described the story of a crazy man, was regarded as the pioneer of vernacular writing.
Vernacular Chinese refers to words that are easy to understand and express simple and clear expressions. Its appearance can be traced back to ancient Chinese literary works such as Dream of the Red Chamber. But the first person to clearly define the vernacular may be difficult to determine.
The one who advocated vernacular writing was Song Yingxing, a writer from the Ming Dynasty. In the early 16th century, he advocated the use of vernacular writing to oppose the traditional classical Chinese writing. This vernacular writing was also known as the "Da Bai Hua". It was an easy to understand language form that laid the foundation for later literary works.
The first vernacular novel was Journey to the West.
Hello, respected user! Your question is very interesting. I'm glad to be able to help you. The first vernacular novels were usually based on the Ming Dynasty's Dream of the Red Chamber. They replaced the plot and characters of the Dream of the Red Chamber with vernacular to better suit the tastes of modern readers. The main feature of this novel is that the language is easy to understand, the plot is complicated, the characters are vivid, and the literary value is extremely high. If you want to read this novel, I can provide you with some resources. You can search for the vernacular version of 'Dream of the Red Chamber' online or buy a new vernacular novel. I hope you like this novel!