An audible China: Speech and the innovation in modern Chinese writing

The image of an "audible China" is one opposed to the traditional China's as "voiceless." Not only does it refer to the survival of modern Chinese out of the abandoned Classical Chinese, it also provides a new means to examine modern China's cultural transformation and development in terms of "voice." This essay will discuss mainly how speech, one of "the three best tools for spreading civilization,"together with newspapers and magazines and schools, contributes to the success of the Vernacular Chinese Movement (Baihuawen yundong CE 1917-1919) and the innovation in modern Chinese writing (including Chinese academic writing style).