Benny你好吗?
I was wondering about the history of Mandarin. When was it institutionalized as the national language? I heard and read that Mandarin is the language of education and profession. What is competency level for non-native speakers like in the south where the Han Chinese speak other Chinese languages and for ethnic minorities like Uyghurs, Tibetans, Mongols, Koreans, Zhuangs,and etc? I read some where that it was low as 65%.Even Mao Ze Dong was not competent in Mandarin as he spoke something else. Benny xian sheng, is Mandarin your first language or is it Shanghainese where you learned it at school? I’m not questioning your Mandarin proficiency as I already know you’re fluent. Northern Hans speak Mandarin as a native language but w/ a different twist to it, am I right? When was Mandarin first heard or recorded? Sorry for asking such a long question!

Xie xie and take your time if my questions require more than time than usual to complete.