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Earliest known origins of the Chinese language date back 6,000 years.

The first known use of the Chinese writing system is divinatory inscriptions into tortoise shells and oracle bones in the Shang dynasty (1600-1050 BC).

Written Chinese
The original Chinese writing system of the Shang dynasty is currently in use, making it one of the oldest continually-used languages in history. During the reign of the dynasties, Guanhua ("officials' speech"), which was almost exclusively utilized by the educated people of Peking and bureaucrats (or mandarins), was the most used form of writing. With a standardized writing system for all official documents and communication, unification of the mutually unintelligible spoken dialects was possible. After the establishment of the Chinese Nationalist Party, the 1913 Conference on Unification of Pronunciation planned to widely use and teach Mandarin as the official national standard, changing Guanhua to Guoyu ("National Language"). Continuing previous policies, the People’s Republic of China sought to further standardize a common language, now dubbed Putonghua ("Common Speech"), for national and political unity. In aims of reducing the country’s approximately 80% illiteracy rate, the “Decision of the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee and State Council Concerning Elimination of Illiteracy” of March 1956 solidified the Communist Party’s plans to reform the country’s traditional characters to a simplified writing system.

Besides the standard writing systems promoted by the government, no other written Chinese language has been widely established and utilized.