Introduction to Shumianyu

The word 'shumianyu' means 'written style Chinese.' It is often more formal and used in literary Chinese. This written style of Chinese did not come into being until the beginning of the 20th century. Before that, Chinese used a different set of vocabulary and sentence structures in literary Chinese. Many vocabulary such as pronouns, particles, and grammatical words are from literary Chinese. In short, shumianyu is different from the everyday conversational or colloquial style you have studied at beginner and intermediate level Chinese. In order to gain literacy, you need to learn shumianyu because it is the style used to write works in Chinese.

Learning shumianyu is learning more formal Chinese. Students will learn common words and their spoken-language equivalents, contradictions, antonyms and synonyms, as well as relevant chengyu. Exercises are also included.

Chapter 1 introduces students to shumianyu and also answers frequently asked questions about it. It is also compared with kouyu. In Chapter 2, common words from several word categories are given in both kouyu and shumianyu so students can easily see the differences. Usage rules and tips are also given. In Chapter 3, charts are given of words shortened in shumianyu writing, as well as other types of abbreviations. In Chapter 4, synonym and antonym pairs are detailed based on category. In Chapter 5, chengyu are discussed, along with many examples.