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Some people are interested in ancient Chinese culture ( e.g. ancient Chinese religions, poems, etc. ) so they want to learn Chinese, but the official narrative only tells them to learn Mandarin, and most Chinese teaching institutions teach only Mandarin. They prefer not to tell the learners that southern Chinese languages ( so-called ‘dialects’ ) are closer to ancient Chinese and can help them better understand ancient Chinese culture. For example, one would never understand the phonological beauty of ancient Chinese literature if he knew only Mandarin.
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