Cultural Textology

Author: Liu Zhicheng
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2003-05-01
Features: Language is the native culture, language includes body language, spoken language, and later tangible symbol language. From this broad concept of language, language is synchronized with human evolution. The mastery of spoken language by humans is a long and gradual process. It is generally believed that before the perfection of spoken language, humans existed in a stage dominated by body language. Based on the fossil remains of Australian hominids, their upper throat structure suggests they could not speak yet. The Neanderthals (discovered in 1856 in a small cave near Neander Valley in western Germany) from 200,000 to 100,000 years ago (Middle Paleolithic) had a low forehead, prominent brow ridges, and a brain capacity of 1,230 milliliters. Modern paleoanthropologists, based on the simulated upper throat structures, found that they could not produce all the sounds of modern humans, only simple syllables. The late Beijing Man and Maba Man in the Chinese mainland were equivalent to the Neanderthals in Europe, and their spoken language function was not yet fully developed. We speculate that the spoken language of the late Paleolithic people might have been relatively developed. Some people, based on the legends of Suiren (drilling wood for fire) and Youshi (building nests in trees) recorded in Han Feizi, believed that these legends could be passed down, speculating that the era of artificial fire and tree houses already had a relatively developed spoken language. Artificial fire and tree houses might have appeared in the late Paleolithic or the early Neolithic, aligning with our previous arguments. However, legends may not be the same as the stories spread at the time of their occurrence, and it is not appropriate to exclude the conjecture of later generations. The development of language can be roughly divided into three stages: body language as the main form supplemented by non-syllabic sounds (probably early Paleolithic), incomplete syllabic language and body language coexisting (possibly middle Paleolithic), and more developed spoken language supplemented by body language (estimated to be late Paleolithic). During the Paleolithic period, the information exchange of ancient humans was dominated by body language, limited by the characteristics of body movements, the "vocabulary" could not be rich, let alone grammatical structures, and it was impossible to produce symbols to record language. However, some symbolic forms of body language in body language might be one of the sources of pictographic characters. For example, the of the character resembles a person with crossed legs, using crossed legs to express the meaning of "cross" might be a word in body language. Similar examples include,,, etc. As for,,, (tongue with textured patterns in the mouth), (nose),, can be directly represented by relevant parts of the body. This discussion was much deeper and more detailed than that in the late Qing Dynasty, involving aspects such as spelling, ligatures, and adding tones. The direct result of the discussion was the agreement by Liu Fu, Zhao Yuanren, Qian Xuantong, Li Jinxi, Lin Yutang, Wang Yi, and others to formulate the National Romanization of Chinese Characters. It was announced by the Chinese Language Unification Preparatory Committee in 1926 (the 15th year of the Republic of China) and officially promulgated by the Ministry of Education in September 1928 (the 17th year of the Republic of China). The Romanization system was much stricter than the 39 phonetic symbols proposed by Zhang Binglin in the early Republic of China, based on the principle of "taking the form of ancient characters and simplifying them." In the 1930s and 1940s, the country was engaged in a national war of resistance against Japanese aggression, and the discussion on text reform did not reach a climax, but public opinion and practical work did not stop. After the October Revolution, the Soviet Union, under the advocacy of Lenin, began to study the Latinization of Chinese characters. Participants included Soviet sinologists Guo Zhisheng, Lai Hejite, Shi Pingqing, Long Guofu, as well as Qu Qiubai, Wu Yuzhang, Lin Bokui, and Xiao San. They formulated a plan, which was revised several times. In September 1931, the first conference on the Latinization of Chinese characters was held in Vladivostok, Soviet Union, and the writing method of the new Latinized Chinese characters was adopted. In the Soviet Union, this plan was taught to Chinese workers and anti-Japanese guerrillas who had retreated to Soviet territory in the Far East; in China, due to the advocacy of Lu Xun, Ye Lishi, and Tao Xingzhi, groups were formed, reading materials were published, and classes were held to promote it among the public. Especially in the liberated areas, as the liberated areas expanded, it continued until the founding of the People's Republic of China; some departments and industries even used it until the announcement of the Hanyu Pinyin Scheme in 1958. In early 1935, Chen Wangdao and others initiated the establishment of the Shanghai Handwritten Character Promotion Association to promote handwritten characters. In February of the same year, 200 people from Shanghai's cultural circles, including Cai Yuanpei, Shao Lizi, Guo Moruo, Chen Wangdao, and Tao Xingzhi, jointly signed an article titled "The Origin of Promoting Handwritten Characters" and 300 handwritten characters to be promoted in publications such as Taibai. This was the first public advocacy of simplified characters in Chinese history. A large part of these handwritten characters were later adopted in the Simplified Chinese Character Scheme. It is worth mentioning that this period also began the study of the psychology of Chinese characters. Among the more famous studies were Liu Tingfang's experiments at Columbia University in the United States from 1916 to 1919 and Ai Wei's experiments at George Washington University in 1923. The purpose was to determine the relationship between the form, sound, and meaning of Chinese characters and the influence of these relationships on the difficulty of learning Chinese characters through processes such as memorization, recognition, and writing. Ai Wei wrote books such as Problems of Chinese Characters, Psychological Research on Chinese Characters, and Analysis of the Sound and Meaning of Chinese Characters, conducting experiments on Chinese characters from a psychological perspective. His conclusion was that simplified characters were better than traditional characters. Ai Wei was an influential scholar in the study of the psychology of Chinese characters. In the 1950s, one of the major achievements in Chinese character reform was the official announcement by the State Council in January 1956 of the Scheme for Simplifying Chinese Characters, which included two batches of simplified characters. Later, two more batches were announced. Although some simplified characters were not simplified properly, overall, the achievements were significant. In February 1958, the fifth session of the fifth National People's Congress approved the Hanyu Pinyin Scheme based on Latin letters, which brought Chinese character phoneticization onto a scientific track. This had important implications for literacy, dictionary compilation, national standards, spelling foreign words, and the global spread of Chinese characters. In the 1960s and 1970s, the on the mainland brought everything to a halt. By the 1980s, mainland China entered a new era, and the Party and the state strengthened the scientific argumentation of major decisions, and the study of Chinese characters entered a new era, just like all other national undertakings. Walking tasks fell on the two feet, and a person's ability to run was not inferior to that of ancient apes. Example 18) The character is a gold inscribed character for , resembling a person swinging arms while running, with the lower character indicating a foot toe touching the ground when running. Its original meaning is to run, as stated in Shuowen Jiezi under the section: ", to rush." In modern Chinese, the meaning of has shifted from running to walking. is an important action, and there are many words related to it. From the original meaning of running, it is extended to going, heading towards, leaving, losing, leaking, etc. In phrases like , (or ), and (or , ), means running. In and , it means walking. In , means leaking. Another character with the same ancient meaning as is Example 19) The character is a gold inscribed character for , also resembling a person swinging arms while running, with three foot toes below indicating that it runs quickly. As stated in Shuowen Jiezi under the section: ", to run." Humans stand upright, with their lower limbs longer than those of ancient apes, and their leg joints are much more flexible. They can , , , , , , . Example 20) The character is , resembling a person with two legs crossed while standing. As stated in Shuowen Jiezi under the section: ", the intersection of the body, from , resembling the form of intersection." From the intersection of human legs, it is extended to the contact, intersection, association, sexual intercourse, exchange, and interaction of two things. was a paper currency first created by people from Sichuan in the Song Dynasty, backed by copper coins equal in value to the paper currency. People could exchange for money at that time. The in means exchange. Due to labor, ancient apes' front and hind limbs became specialized, evolving into hands and feet, giving rise to upright humans. Upright humans represent a great milestone in the evolution from apes to humans. The appearance of humans is a great milestone in the history of natural evolution. Humans not only adapt to the natural environment but also change and create it, and even in the future, they will change and create vast cosmic space. As long as humans are friendly, united, and build in peace, develop science and technology, there will definitely be a brilliant future! The side-standing form is , and the front-standing form is . Example 1) The character is , representing a person in a side-standing posture. As stated in Shuowen Jiezi under the section: ", the noblest of the heavens and earth. This is a Zuhua character, resembling the form of an arm and embryo." Upright posture is the physiological prerequisite for the development of the human brain. Only by standing upright can humans become the noblest higher animals in the world. The appearance of humans is a great milestone in the history of natural evolution. Humans not only adapt to the natural environment but also change and create it, and even in the future, they will change and create vast cosmic space. As long as humans are friendly, united, and build in peace, develop science and technology, there will definitely be a brilliant future! The side-standing form is , and the front-standing form is . Example 2) The character is , resembling a standing on the ground. As stated in Shuowen Jiezi under the section: ", to stand, from standing on above." It is extended to establish, erect, establish, establish, support, etc. After standing upright, humans can increase their height by relying on other objects. Example 3) The character is (ting), resembling a side-standing person standing firmly on a piece of soil. Its original meaning is to stand firmly, and later it was written with an additional form component as , extended to growing and protruding. As explained in Shuowen Jiezi under the section: "One day, it resembles an object emerging from the ground and growing." This is the extended meaning. Note that and are two different characters, (tǐng) and (rén), with the former having a longer bottom horizontal stroke and the latter having a longer middle horizontal stroke. After standing upright, humans' feet became more flexible, and sometimes they could lift their heels and rely solely on their front feet to support their entire body and increase their height when looking far. Example 4) The character is , resembling a side-standing person lifting their foot to look far. As stated in Shuowen Jiezi under the section: ", to lift the heel, from sound," it should be a compound of association and phonetic characters. In the Records of the Grand Historian in the biography of Xiao Wangzhi: "Therefore, the scholars of the world extend their necks and lift their heels, competing to offer their services to assist the high and bright." It also refers to standing, extended to longing. After humans stood upright, their heads became more flexible in turning and tilting. The head of an upright person is the highest part of the body. Example 5) The character is , from and (above), the above part of symbolizes the head, which is the original meaning of . As stated in Mencius, Wen Gong Xia: "A brave man does not forget to lose his ." The modern compound word "" is a synonymous parallel structure. As explained in Shuowen Jiezi under the section: "" is the extended meaning. The division of labor between hands and feet, the upright posture of humans, and especially creative labor must promote the development of human thinking, thereby increasing the capacity of the human brain. The brain weight of humans' "cousins," chimpanzees, is only 400 to 500 grams, while that of humans is generally 1,300 to 1,500 grams. Example 6) The character is , resembling the body of a person kneeling and a developed side profile of the head. Its original meaning is as explained in Shuowen Jiezi under the section: ", the head," so characters from are all related to the head. The page of a book is now written as "" (the leaf of a tree), which is simplified today using a homophone. Example 7) The character is , which is with the body part removed, with the same meaning as . The head is the commander of the whole body, so it is extended to leader, primary; after standing upright, the head is the highest part of the body, and it is extended to the top, the first, and the first. The first in refers to the vanguard of the army, and the first in refers to the first. Due to standing upright, humans have increased in height, and their vision has become broader. Example 8) The character is , resembling a person's eyes levelly looking and seeing something. As stated in Shuowen Jiezi under the section: ", to see, from and ." It is extended to meet, pay a visit. Seeing more things makes one's experience richer, and it is extended to experience. Being seen is present, see and present are ancient characters. Humans can also increase their height by relying on other objects to see far. Example 9) The character is , resembling a person standing on the ground looking far. The upper part of the character, the character, is the upright form of , indicating looking, and the lower part is a person standing on the ground, which is the (tǐng) character, different from and . Later, this character was supplemented with a form component to express the meaning of looking at the moon for far-sightedness. The sound component replaced , and the modern character is , with the original meaning of far-sightedness, extended to longing, reputation, and the full moon on the 15th of the old lunar month. The production of language is closely related to the physical evolution of ancient humans and the development of culture. The increase in brain capacity and the improvement of vocal organs are the physiological basis for the production of language. After humans stood upright, the nasal cavity, oral cavity, and respiratory tract became perpendicular, the position of the vocal cords dropped compared to apes, and the jaw, tongue, and lips participated in pronunciation. They could freely block airflow at various parts of the throat, nose, and mouth, resulting in rich variations in tone, pitch, and volume. Example 23) The character is , from (the pictograph for nose) and , believed that gas originated from the heart and exited through the nose. Its original meaning is to breathe. The airflow exhaled is the "basic raw material" for making sounds. It is extended from breathing to sighing and a brief time. When humans are tired and gasp for breath, they need to adjust their breathing, so it is extended to rest and stop. Breathing sustains life, and it is extended to reproduce and interest.