China's Vernacular Cultures

Professor Dudbridge tells us that as an object of study China is both complex and organic. From a top-down' perspective, the twentieth century has bonded the people together by establishing a common speech used throughout the Chinese world. Yet, as Professor Dudbridge points out, a bottom up' view betrays a rich distribution of regional languages with a marked North/South division. Genetically the Chinese are two distinct populations, northern and southern, but that division differs...
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Professor Dudbridge tells us that as an object of study China is both complex and organic. From a top-down' perspective, the twentieth century has bonded the people together by establishing a common speech used throughout the Chinese world. Yet, as Professor Dudbridge points out, a bottom up' view betrays a rich distribution of regional languages with a marked North/South division. Genetically the Chinese are two distinct populations, northern and southern, but that division differs from the linguistic one and appears to be more ancient. Professor Dudbridge concludes that such empirical criteria have descriptive value and that more are needed in order to build up a rounded and nuanced picture of Chinese society and history.