The Sage of Confucianism and Taoism

Chapter 1724 The core of words

"Please give me some advice, Mr. Fang." Zeng Yuan completely lost the momentum of his previous argument with Fang Yun.

Fang Yundao: "Everything has a core. Ordinary people have different core needs when buying a house. Some people want to buy a house surrounded by trees, some want to buy a house in the center of the city, some want to buy a cheap house, and some people want to buy a house surrounded by trees. I want to buy a shop on the street and rent it out. For another example, the core of a spear is to kill enemies, and the core of a shield is to protect, etc. So, what do you think is the core of words?”

Zeng Yuan's momentum had been dampened by Fang Yun's previous words. He hesitated for a long time and said, "Students' understanding of the core may be different from yours. From the student's perspective, the most important thing about words is to express meaning."

Fang Yun nodded and said: "You are right, but to put it in another more comprehensive way, the core of writing is instrumentality. The human race has language first, then writing. Language itself is a tool and a means of communication. The most basic tool. And writing is also a tool that carries information and allows us to communicate accurately. But writing is not only instrumental, but also artistic. For example, calligraphers can show the ultimate beauty of writing. However, artistry is only secondary to writing. Features are far inferior to core, do you understand?”

"Students understand," Zeng Yuan said.

"The development of human writing has been enhancing its instrumentality. For example, Zhong Ding Wen is very simple, but because it is too simple, it cannot carry effective information, so the human race continues to complicate it and has the big seal script. In the Qin Dynasty, in order to facilitate the learning of the human race In order to make writing more practical, Emperor Qin and Li Si simplified the large seal script and created the small seal script. The people continued to strengthen the tool function of Xiaozhuan, but it was inconvenient to write and the characters were complex, so they developed the official script, which was easier to write. It is difficult to find out where the official script originated from, but there is historical record that it was the government who really implemented the official script. Officials who often use writing in their daily lives have to write a lot of words and know the advantages and disadvantages of the two kinds of writing best. "

"Has Xiaozhuan completely disappeared after it was replaced by official script? Did the human race create official script to destroy Xiaozhuan? No. This is the uniqueness of Chinese writing. It is not only instrumental but also artistic. Although Xiaozhuan was eliminated tool, but the writing is beautiful and deeply loved by calligraphers, then the core of Xiaozhuan is composed of The instrumentality is transformed into artistry, and it is more suitable for calligraphy works or seals, rather than for communicating information. Therefore, the current small seal script is not so much a tool for carrying information, but a tool for carrying beauty. It is no longer necessary for the general public to master it. Only those who like calligraphy and seal related things need to master it.”

"Only when you know what to give up, what to change, and what to accept can you make progress. Creatures that are stubborn will definitely be eliminated by the world. The transposition of the Lord of the world is the best example."

"Students are taught," Zeng Yuan said.

Fang Yun continued: "Why was official script replaced by regular script? It is generally accepted that the writing of official script has flaws and the strokes lack coherence, which affects the fluency of writing. This is very fatal for the core of the writing that is instrumental, so , replaced by regular script with more reasonable strokes. What's more, the artistry of official script also has flaws, that is, the text structure is too simple, while regular script is more square and more in line with the aesthetics and ideas of the human race. "

"The small seal script is inconvenient, so the human race gradually tends to the official script; the official script is inconvenient, and the human race gradually tends to the regular script. And now, there has been an irreversible trend in Shengyuan Continent, that is, the clerks and scribes from all over the human race have begun to use scripts derived from There is no other reason than calligraphy works or vulgar characters created by predecessors. Vulgar Chinese characters have the advantages of traditional Chinese characters, but are simpler and easier to write. They can often double the writing efficiency of clerks! I just want to ask, now that the human race is in crisis, in order to spread information faster, do you think using complicated characters? Is traditional Chinese characters more reasonable, or is it more reasonable to use simple common Chinese characters?”

Zeng Yuan smiled helplessly and said: "I do prefer traditional Chinese characters, but since the times require it, it is more reasonable to use common Chinese characters. Although I am stubborn, I am not a fool."

“Easy to write quickly is not the biggest advantage of common Chinese characters. The biggest advantage of common Chinese characters is that they are easy to learn!”

Fang Yun's tone was very calm, but Zeng Yuan was stunned for a moment, and then his expression changed slightly.

Fang Yun smiled slightly and said: "It seems that you have understood the reason why I compared you with Lu Zhan before. Human abilities are limited, time is limited, and energy is limited. Let me take Lu Zhan as an example again. Lu Zhan My body and mind are not as good as yours, my study time is not as good as yours, my energy is even less than yours, I use a more intuitive way For example, when Lu Zhan went to elementary school and learned a lot of poems and articles, it would be at least five years before he could accumulate five thousand traditional Chinese characters. And you, after studying for at most three years, could accumulate five thousand traditional Chinese characters. Thousands. In other words, the gap between you in the first stage of elementary school is two years, right?"

Zeng Yuan nodded lightly.

"However, the common characters are different. The strokes of the common characters are simple, easy to remember, and easy to write, which greatly reduces the learning time. Lu Zhanruo has been studying poetry and articles in the common characters. When the number of common characters he knows reaches 5,000, , I’m afraid it’s only been four years. And to you, is there any difference between the traditional Chinese characters and the traditional Chinese characters?”

Zeng Yuan said: "There is indeed no difference. Let me give you the simplest example. It would take three days for Lu Zhan to completely memorize a hundred traditional Chinese characters. It would take about two days to completely memorize a hundred common Chinese characters. time. And if a person with a photographic memory remembers a hundred orthodox When it comes to memorizing a character in one breath, it only takes one hundred breaths. When it comes to memorizing one hundred common characters, it takes about one hundred breaths to learn traditional Chinese characters. The gap between Lu Zhan and those who have a photographic memory will be significantly reduced.”

Fang Yun nodded and said: "Vulgar Chinese characters are easier to write and remember than traditional Chinese characters. At the same time, they are easier to recognize and read faster. The human mind needs to expend energy when identifying characters. , the simpler the characters, the less effort is spent, and the more complex characters, the more experience is spent. The difference between a traditional Chinese character and a common Chinese character is very small, but over decades of life, these differences will be very huge. "

Zeng Yuan continued to nod.

"You also know that as long as human beings study and study, even if they have no talent or academic qualifications, their power will be released after death because of what they have learned during their lifetime, making the Holy Yuan Continent stronger and the Holy Academy more talented, so that later It is easier for a scholar to master talent. The talent and power that escapes after death will not increase because he knows vulgar Chinese characters instead of traditional Chinese characters, but it will increase because he has mastered more knowledge. "

Zeng Yuan still nodded.

"Then, if a person learns to use common Chinese characters, the learning time will be shorter, the writing speed, and the reading speed will be faster. Naturally, he will gain more knowledge than using traditional Chinese characters. In the end, his contribution to the human race will naturally be greater. And most common Chinese characters will make a greater contribution to the human race. The traditional Chinese characters are not separated from the traditional Chinese characters, but the traditional Chinese characters are made simpler and easier to use, and the core tools are stronger. So, why do we not use the traditional Chinese characters and continue to use the current traditional Chinese characters?”

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