Glossary · Term

Standard Chinese

Also known as Standard Mandarin, Putonghua

Standard Chinese, or Standard Mandarin, is the official language of the People's Republic of China, based on the pronunciation of Beijing and the grammar of modern vernacular Mandarin literature. Promoted as Putonghua ('common speech') from 1956, it is also an official language in Taiwan and Singapore and is the most widely spoken form of Chinese.

Standard Chinese
Image: Kwamikagami · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Mentioned in 2 profiles

People's Republic of ChinaImpactPeople's Republic of ChinaImpact

See also

Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Standard Chinese. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/standard-chinese
MLA
“Standard Chinese.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/standard-chinese. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Standard Chinese.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/standard-chinese.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Standard Chinese’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/standard-chinese (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻