While Mandarin is the official language for 1.3 billion Chinese people, the Middle Kingdom remains a linguistic mosaic due to its ethnic, cultural and religious diversity. Beyond the languages of Tibetan, Mongolian and Muslim minorities, at least seven major families of so-called "Chinese" languages are documented, including Mandarin, Cantonese, Wu, Hakka, and Min...

Chinese languages (中国语文, Zhōnggúo yǔwén) belong to the category of Sino-Tibetan languages. The Chinese territory, though unified by a common writing system (Chinese characters) and a common official language, is marked by a genuine mosaic of languages and dialects.

Chinese languages represent the vast majority of spoken languages in Chine. Although from the same "family", some are fundamentally distant from one another, much like Mandarin and Cantonese.

A simplified and general overview of major Chinese languages

• Standard Mandarin (汉 语 hànyǔ or 普 通 话 pǔtōnghuà): This is the official language in mainland Chine, also used in Taiwan (where it is called 国 语 guóyǔ) and Singapore. It is primarily based on dialects from northern and northeastern Chine, and is often presented as the language of Beijing. In reality, old Beijing dialect differs from Mandarin. Officially, Putonghua is the most widely spoken language in the world with 1.3 billion speakers. However, not all Chinese people, particularly those from minority groups and rural areas, speak Mandarin but rather their regional dialects or languages.
  
  
• Mandarin (官 话 Guānhuà or 北 方 话 Běifāng huà): This is arguably the most widely spoken language in practice, with approximately 840 million speakers. Its name literally means "language of officials" (guanhua) or northern spoken language (beifang hua). Mandarin forms the basis of the official Chinese language, Putonghua. It is primarily spoken with local variations in northern and northeastern Chine.
  
  
• Wu (吴 语 wúyǔ or 吴 方 言 Wú fāng yán): This is one of the largest variants of the Chinese language. It is primarily spoken in Shanghai, in much of Zhejiang province, southern Jiangsu province, and scattered across Anhui, Jiangxi and Fujian. With approximately 90 million speakers, Wu is the second most widely spoken language in Chine, and one of the largest non-official languages. This language is divided into several dialects including those of Shanghai, Suzhou, Wenzhou...
  
  
• Cantonese (粤 语 yuèyǔ): This is the principal language of the south, spoken in Guangdong and Guangxi, as well as in Hong Kong and Macau. More than a dialect, Cantonese is a language entirely different from Mandarin even though it uses the same writing system. The third major language of Chine, Yueyu is also the most widely spoken in the Chinese diaspora, primarily composed of southern Chinese people.
  
  
• Gan (赣 语 gànyǔ): This is the language spoken in Jiangxi province (the northern two-thirds), and is part of the Sino-Tibetan language family in the same way as Mandarin. Some people also speak this dialect in northwestern Fujian, Anhui and Hebei.
  
  
• Hakka (客 家 话 kèjiāhuà): Primarily spoken in northern Guangdong and Taiwan, but also in Fujian, Hakka has approximately 33 million speakers worldwide. Divided into dialects, Hakka is the language of a subgroup of the Han ethnicity bearing the same name.
  
  
• Min (闽 语 mǐnyǔ): This is a group of languages or dialects that would include seven main branches. Min originates from southeastern Chine, and more precisely from Fujian province. It is spoken by natives of this region in Guangdong, Hainan, southern Zhejiang and Taiwan. Minyu is generally divided into two main dialects: Minbeihua in northern Fujian, Minnanhua in the south. There is also Eastern Min (Mindonghua), Central Min (Minzhonghua) or even Puxian, spoken around the city of Putian. The southern dialect, Minnanhua, is the most widely spoken within the Min group. It also forms the basis of Taiwanese, a language spoken by 60% of Taiwan's population.
  
  
• Xiang (湘 语 Xiāngyǔ): This language concerns 3.5% of the Chinese population, or approximately 36 million speakers, primarily from Hunan and Sichuan provinces. Some people in Guangxi and Guangdong also speak it. This linguistic group sits between Mandarin and Wu in its structure. It should also be noted that Xiangyu was Mao Zedong's native language, yet he made Mandarin the official Chinese language. Xiangyu is commonly distinguished into two subfamilies: Old Xiang in the south, which remained closer to medieval Chinese, and New Xiang in the north, much more influenced by Mandarin.
  
  
• Jin (晋 语 Jìnyǔ): Derived from the Sino-Tibetan language family, Jin was previously considered a dialect of Mandarin. It is now considered a language in its own right. It is spoken in mainland Chine in Shanxi, parts of Shaanxi, Inner Mongolia and Henan. It is also present in Taiwan, and represents a total of 45 million speakers.
  
  
• Hui (徽 语 Huīyǔ or 徽 州 话 Huīzhōu huà): The geographic distribution of this language remains subject to expert debate. It is mainly spoken in southern Anhui and somewhat in Zhejiang and Jiangxi. Some theories consider it a variation of Wu, others a variation of Gan or even a completely independent language. It comprises five major dialects and is spoken by just over 3 million speakers.
  
  
• Pinghua (平 话 Pínghuà or 广 西 平 话 Guǎngxī pínghuà): Spoken in parts of Guangxi and parts of Hunan, Pinghua is often associated with Cantonese. Its classification remains debated between a dialect derived from Cantonese or a separate language. This language is spoken by approximately 200,000 speakers.

Many other Chinese dialects remain unclassified to this day but further enrich the already diverse linguistic variety of Chine. All languages considered "Chinese" trace their origins to Archaic Chinese.