本文由「語言純淨心理」（language purism）出發看漢語標準語在過去八十年間的演變，分析民眾對國語的認知及其與官定標準的落差，以及造成此種落差的原因。首先介紹Thomas（1991）歸納東歐、法國語言純淨現象所導出的理論架構，用以解釋國語人口暴增之後所產生的「大眾普通話」運動中，支持者與反對者所提出的各種論證。隨後進一步分析學界反對「大眾普通話」的主要原因之一：對於言語不通的畏懼，及對於「語言」與「方言」觀念的混淆。最後以當下流行媒體和海外華人社區的語言偏好為例證，大膽為現代漢語的演變方向做出預測。

　　　　　This paper looks at the development of Modern Standard Chinese in the past century, and examines the nature of changes in its perception and the factors leading to them, together with the often negative attitudes towards these modifications to the codified standard. Examined are reactions to change in the academic and language-teaching communities, and how lay and academic reception of linguistic innovation differ. It is shown that in resisting alterations to the standard language, different notions of "linguistic purity" have been introduced-reasons similar to those proffered by purists of other languages, yet which are often at odds with each other. At the heart of Chinese notions of language purity is the Chinese understanding of "language" and "dialect"- one which differs significantly from western academic renderings of the two notions, with important consequences. This difference in the language-dialect relationship and the view of the roles played by spoken vs written language is scrutinized in detail. In the end, it is suggested that purists adopt a realistic attitude towards changes brought about by China's contact with the international community and language impurities arising from Mandarin's wider currency in the Chinese-speaking world, both of which are inevitable if the Chinese language is to function as a medium of communication in the modern age.