The Chinese have had a written language for more than 3000 years. Although the Chinese language comprises more than a dozen major spoken dialects, some of which are mutually unintelligible, all writing is done with the same script, or characters. This literary unity has been significant to the historical unity of the Chinese people since the Shang dynasty (1766?-1027? BC).

One of the most ambitious efforts of the Chinese Communist government since 1949 has been the modification of the Chinese language. The official spoken language of the Chinese is Putonghua ("standard speech"); it is sometimes known to Westerners as Mandarin and is the dialect of North China. This dialect was declared the common language at the National Conference on Reform of the Chinese Written Language in 1955. Major efforts have also been directed toward modifying the written language. The use of simplified characters--traditional characters written with fewer strokes, or in a type of shorthand--has steadily increased. This has been done to facilitate the government's goal of broader literacy.

In 1977 the Chinese made a formal request to the United Nations (UN) to have pinyin ("phonetic spelling") romanization used for the spelling of place-names in China. This method of transliteration was created by the Chinese in the late 1950s and has been undergoing steady modification. Some Chinese officials claim that pinyin will ultimately replace Chinese characters as the written Chinese language; this is not expected to become a reality in the near future, however.

China's more than 70 million minority members have their own spoken languages, which include Mongolian, Tibetan, Miao, Tai, Uygur, and Kazak. Formerly, many of the minority languages did not have a written form; the Chinese government has encouraged the development of written scripts for these languages, using pinyin. These groups are also encouraged to continue traditions that will promote knowledge of their ethnolinguistic heritage. The Mandarin-based dialect is taught in schools, usually as a second language, and knowledge of it is requisite throughout China. See Chinese Language.