Is there a difference between modern Mandarin and Old Chinese?

Yes, there are differences. I'm not majored in Chinese literature, but I happen to love ancient Chinese literature (诗词歌赋, poetry, song, etc.). So hope the following helps. read more

Mandarin is only a (special) dialect of modern Chinese. Anyone who understands a certain amount of Chinese characters, no matter which Chinese dialect he/she speaks (even if he/she speaks Japanese/Korean/Vietnamese), can be trained to understand texts in old Chinese. read more

There is not much of a distinction between Chinese and Mandarin other than the fact that one is only a subdivision of the other. Chinese is the general term of the language used while Mandarin falls under it. read more

Mandarin is to be distinguished from standard Chinese which is the official language in Mainland China (P.R.C.) and Taiwan (ROC) which is based on the Beijing Mandarin 北京官话 and has eliminates some local characteristics to make it 99.9% understandable by all mandarin speakers. read more