Could the characters of the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period be different?

Was it just a different accent, or was it like the languages of different countries now, completely different?

Answer 1

Although the characters of the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period were somewhat different, the language at that time was the same. At that time, Chinese and some other dialect had begun to appear, but they all belonged to the same language system. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, language communication was very frequent, so people at that time could use the common written language to record and communicate.

For example, in the history books such as the Spring and Autumn Annals and the Warring States Period, we can see many words written in the local dialect. Although these characters were different from modern Chinese, they were all common characters used to record and communicate. In addition, poetry, prose and other literary works were also based on the local dialect, so it can be said that the language at that time was interlinked.