清末“国语”的概念转换与国家通用语的最初构建

The Conceptual Change of“National Language”and the Earliest Creation of a National Lingua Franca during the Late Qing Dynasty

清末时,传统的“国语”概念发生了现代意义的转变,开始用来指称民族国家的通用语。这一概念变化受到日本有关思想实践的双重刺激。清末国家通用语的构建,以癸卯学制的颁布和实施为正式起点,以预备立宪的开启为加速机制,通过制定《蒙藏回地方兴学章程》和《学部中央教育会议议决统一国语办法案》开始其早期实践。这一构建始终由朝廷主导,得到朝野人士和满蒙汉等族趋新官员的共同推动,可谓被人忽略的清末新政、立宪运动的重要内容之一,也是清廷长期推行官话与汉语在国家内政外交中实际作用不断加大的结果,它对现代中华民族意识的萌生及相关建设具有重要历史意义。

During the late Qing Dynasty,the traditional concept of“national language”underwent a modern shift,starting to refer to the lingua franca of a nation state.Such a shift was galvanized by relevant thoughts and practices in neighboring Japan.The promulgation and implementation of Guimao Educational System heralded the start of creating a national lingua franca during the late Qing Dynasty.It grew apace after the start of Preparatory Constitutionalism.The promulgation ofTheR egulations of the Setting up of Schools in Mongolian,Tibetan and Uyghur RegionandThe Resolution of the Unification ofN ational Language Passed by the Central Education Conference of the Board of Educationmarked the earliest concrete efforts to create a national lingua franca in China.These efforts were under the direction of the Qing court from the very beginning and were supported by the political elites and progressive Manchu,Mongolian and Han officials.As important reforms in the New Deal and the Constitutional Movement in the late Qing Dynasty,these efforts have been largely neglected in the past,however.Thanks to the persistent efforts of the Qing government in promoting the use of mandarin in both domestic and foreign affairs,the efforts to create a national lingua franca in China have played an significant role in developing a collective identity for the modern Chinese nation.