What is Fangyan?
Chinese language is not monolithic- there are various fangyan within Han Chinese language. Seven major fangyan groups are conventionally recognized. Each group can be further divided into various sub-varieties.
7 Major Fangyan Groups
This classification of Chinese regional varieties is based on Yuan Jihua’s authoritative handbook Hanyu fangyan gaiyao / 汉语方言概要 (An Outline of Chinese Dialects, 1960, 1983, and 2001).
Mandarin Dialects / 北方方言 / 官话 (Beijing, Chengdu, Xi’an, Nanjing) : 70%
Wu / 吴语 (Shanghai, Suzhou, Wenzhou) : 8.5%
Yue / Cantonese / 粤语 (Guangzhou, Hong Kong) : 5.5%
Xiang / 湘语 (Changsha, Shuangfeng) : 5%
Min / 闽语 (Xiamen/Amoy/Hokkien, Fuzhou, Chaozhou, Taipei) : 4.5%
Kejia / Hakka / 客家话 (Meixian) : 4%
Gan / 赣语 (Nanchang) : 2.5%
Chinese Dialect Map
Politics of Terminology
Fangyan has been translated in English as dialects, topolects, or regional languages. The controversy over the relationship between dialect and language is a global and often politicized problem.
Linguistically speaking, the differences among Chinese fangyans are often conceived to be analogous to those that distinguish the Romance languages in Europe. However, the identification of Chinese fangyans as dialects and European varieties as languages is never a purely linguistic issue, and cannot be separated from politics, nation, culture, ethnicity, and other nonlinguistic factors.