I use Classical Chinese when I want to tell a LONG story in a 140L tweet. Its informational density is SO HIGH.
In fact the Classical Chinese is so concise partly because it was carved/written on bamboos/shells/bronzes and people had to save the space.

In Malaysia, Chinese schools teach Classical Chinese 文言文 during secondary school. In our national exams, we also have Classical Chinese test as part of our Chinese language papers, which is mandatory for all Chinese schools. We learn to translate classical Chinese, understand it's meaning, and even translating a modern Chinese sentence into classical Chinese. Malaysia is the only country outside of China that has a complete Chinese education system, from Kindergarten to University, no other countries have it, even Singapore doesn't have a full system.

We also learn the types of sentences, how to summarise a thousand word essay into 120 words without losing its meaning, writing essays, using idioms,  analyze classical poetry of different dynasties, and analyze modern texts.

Confucius lamenting about the past glory days. What a boomer. 😂

Didn't understand a thing and enjoyed every second watching it

westerner may realized that Chinese is a very condensed language, but 文言文 is just another dimention by condensing the meaning
but as a Cantonese speaker, we actually using a lot of old phrases from Classical Chinese in out daily

As a language enthusiast, I love videos that show you bits of how a language simply works, just for fun.

I nearly forgot all the classical Chinese that we learned in school. This video makes me remember again! You explained it so well, but a bit too fast. I couldn't keep up on some of them lol

Another great way to learn classical Chinese is through classical Chinese poetry, by the way. Once you have learned, you probably won't unlearn. It stays with you for good. Many classical Chinese poems are still being used in modern dialogues and essays today.

I know zero Chinese but I enjoy the stories. 😊

I admire any westerner who learns and become proficient in Chinese language like this man.
I had to study these texts while in high school in Japan in 1960s (alas they don't teach classic Chinese
literatures anymore) however small the volumes of examples were .
Of course we used Japanese methods of breaking it down to fit into Japanese grammatical structures
as well as pronunciations of each letter (character). We weren't studying Chinese language but simply
understand the great Chinese philosophies to integrate those ideas into our civilization.

My background is in Classical philology with knowledge of Hebrew and Aramaic as well. I've dabbled in many other languages. This is cool stuff.

I think a good way to understand the sociolinguistic importance of Classical Chinese, at least for westerners, is to compare it with Latin. Not because they are like each other, but because they filled a similar niche. They became extinct as spoken language over a thousand years ago, but continued to be the written languages of educated people throught their respective spheres of influence. Even people who didn’t speak descendants of these languages used them, like Germans writing in Latin or Japanese people writing in Classical Chinese. And it also explains why it’s hard to read for modern Chinese people: It’s like asking a contemporary Italian person to read Latin.

Man oh man, I normally hate watching YouTube videos because they're so lengthy, but you held my attention for what's a relatively new topic [for me] for the entire time without any issue—and I feel enriched from the experience. Super well done.

4:14 as read according to Modern Mandarin. The pronunciation of Ancient Chinese was utterly different, toneless, full of consonantal initials and codas, and pretty similar in sound to classical Tibetan, as far as linguists were able to back-guess through rhyme books.

This is so cool! Exactly what I was looking for. Please continue!

My late daughter's name is "樂知", which means happy to learn.

Yeah! I live in a Daoist monastery and have been studying the scriptures. Now I can read lots of old documents, but not a newspaper. (sigh)

I would like to see more videos on Classical Chinese.

As Chinese, I want the foreign friends to know that most Chinese people could probably understand 10% or less of one completely line of the Classical Chinese if they haven't learned it before and the remain 90% will be pure guessing. Yeah, it's so difficult for modern people to understand the Classical Chinese but we will never give up on it,  it's our culture treasure, it shapes who we are today.

Great video; thanks for making it! I began studying Classical Chinese two weeks ago, and two of the passages you diagrammed here were ones that I had just read for the first time today. 😀

"This is a must-watch for any Chinese history buff. I dive deep into ancient dynasties on my channel and will definitely be recommending this grammar primer to my viewers!"