What language(s) were spoken in China before the Qin dynasty? Is there any evidence of their existence?

Answer 1

Old Chinese was spoken in eastern China (around the Yellow River and north of the Yangtze River) before the Qin Dynasty. This is the language found in classical texts such as the Analects and the Tao Te Ching.

In southern China (south of the Yangtze River), the languages of the Hundred Yue people were spoken. The exact identity of these languages is unknown, but scholars theorize that they were related to modern-day Southeast Asian languages. The most evidence we have of these languages is the "Song of the Yue Boatman".