Languages can be translated and converted to each other. English can be translated into Chinese and vice versa.
Language is also associated with a particular culture or politics, so when translating one language into another, it is sometimes impossible to translate the original meaning.
For example, the English word "China", we all know that it means "China", but sometimes it cannot be literally translated as "China" because the two words cannot be converted into each other.
A few years earlier, Beijing established a China Non-Profit Centre, which literally translates to "China Non-profit Center." The purpose of the establishment is to increase the transparency of Chinese non-profit organizations, strengthen ties with the government and the community, and coordinate the activities of non-profit organizations.
At the inauguration ceremony, the Chinese name above the English was, "Nonprofit Organization Center Network", "China" is gone. The English name has "China", and the Chinese name does not have "China".
This is because, in China, the word "China" cannot be used casually. Only the party, government, and military organs of the CPC Central Committee can use it, and no one else can use the word "China" casually without the consent of the CPC Central Committee. In other words, those with "China" in their names are recognized by the Party and the government, and cadres are responsible for their management.
This is common sense, foreigners do not understand.
The CCP has "China", which ordinary people cannot use casually.
The English word China is OK, and many organizations, enterprises, and associations that have no relationship with the party and the government can use the English word China. Chinese word "China" cannot be used casually, because it gives the impression that the organization seems to be approved by the party and government.
Like the China Non-Profit Centre, English can be used China, Chinese cannot be used as "China" because it is outside the system and is not recognized or authorized by the Party and government.
The word "China" is a proper noun of the Party, and any independent or professional organization, business group, or charity cannot call itself "China this" or "China that" if it is not within the organizational structure of the CCP.
"China" belongs to the party, not to the people.
And so does local governments. "China" belongs to the Party Central Committee in Beijing, and any organization or institution with the word "China" not only belongs to the Central Committee, but is also managed by the Central Committee. Names with names such as "Hunan" or "Shanghai" should belong to the party and government organs of Hunan Province or Shanghai.
This was especially true before the reform and opening up. After the 1990s, party and government management of names was relaxed, but party and government at all levels still had priority over local names.
In other words, the Party owns not only all of China, but every part of it.
This naming right deprives citizens, civic organizations and private enterprises of equal opportunities to participate in public life with officials. People cannot use the names of their country or provinces to indicate that they are outsiders to that country.
For many Chinese, they don't speak their own dialect, but standard Chinese. In modern China, this official dialect has become a political language that is far more important than any dialect.
At the beginning of the twentieth century, a group of elites invented and popularized a new national language, a language that met the requirements of nationalism. This language was originally called "official dialect", in the Republic of China it was called "Chinese", and in New China it was called "Mandarin". The new language was used to talk about national affairs, debate political and public issues, and dialects were used to "buy fish, scold children, chew tongues, and chat daily." This is true in many places, where one language is used to talk about the state and the other language is used for daily life, and each has a different living space.
Because of the unified education system throughout the country, Chinese became popular and was associated with many abstract political terms of the 20th century, mostly from the Japanese language. Kropotkin's anarchism, Wilson's democratic ideals, Lenin's radicalism, entered China and began to spread through debates and publications. Some new terms entered the Chinese family, such as politics, economy, democracy, social, imperialism, socialism, nationalism, and so on. After 1949, the CCP added its own label to this new Chinese, and the grammar changed, and in many cases, the subject was omitted and the verb became abstract and became a cadre language, or official language. Because it is not used in everyday life, it is difficult for ordinary people to understand the abstract, high-level expressions used by party insiders. For example, "adhere to the four understandings, practice the four self-confidence, enhance the four consciousnesses, maintain the four principles, and implement the four obediences", such words are difficult for ordinary people to understand and difficult to translate into another language, or dialect.
Party speech is more fluent in Chinese, and there are many inconveniences in dialects. People discuss national affairs in Mandarin, but if they use Cantonese or Shanghainese, it seems awkward. Cantonese and Shanghainese have different understandings of northern politics, and they both debate national affairs in Mandarin, rather than their respective dialects, which are only used to discuss local life.
Cadres have an advantage in learning new political terms. There are more than 3,000 party schools across the country, and one of the tasks of party organizations at all levels is to capture political new words. When they write or make reports, they often mix emerging political jargon.
One of the first things to do after a leadership change is to clear the old discourse of the previous leader and replace it with the new political terminology of the new leader. Of course, new words must also have a Marxist theoretical basis, such as social development, social harmony and so on. In order to explain the new words, thousands of party school teachers are also busy, and every few years, they have to rotate to train the cadre team.
In order to keep up with the situation, people outside the party must also train and learn to master fashionable political terms, which provides teachers and theoretical workers in party schools with the opportunity to earn extra money, and they use their weekends to give lectures to enterprises and institutions, earn some extra money, and supplement their families.
Old words are constantly being eliminated, and new words are constantly emerging. This linguistic cycle, about five years, coincides with party congresses and leadership changes. Every ten years, a new set of official terms and theoretical interpretations emerges.
The party's discourse can also be divided into two cycles: 30 years and 10 years. From 1949, when the CCP came to power, to 1979, the party's discourse was "class struggle." From 1979 to 2009, it was "reform and opening up", and from 2009, it was the "Chinese dream".
Writer Moro summarized that the 30 years after 1949 were "self-reliance", then the next 30 years were "reform and opening up", and after 2009, it was "the rise of China".
In a 30-year cycle, every 10 years, there is also a small cycle, which coincides with the term of office of the party and state leaders. Jiang Zemin's "three represents", Hu Jintao's "scientific outlook on development" and "harmonious society", and Xi Jinping's "four comprehensive, four self-confidence, four consciousness, two safeguards" are all popular "banners".