"Annotated and Bound Edition 2002 (Hardcover)"

Author: Editorial Department of this Book
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2003-02-01
Features: (Yǎo Wén Jiáo Zì) actually addresses various issues reflecting the cultural literacy of the author, not limited to the norms or non-norms of language and writing. This broad perspective on language and writing issues aligns with the views of most people. For example, if a student writes in an essay that their family's rooster laid an egg, the teacher cannot overlook it simply because it involves a factual error rather than a misspelling. In the early days of the reform and opening-up, Comrade Hu Qiaojù reviewed an opinion letter from the redologist Wu Shichang to People's Daily and made a directive for the newspaper to improve its language and writing work. However, both of Wu Shichang's suggestions were factual errors. One was the newspaper's unfounded claim that China was the earliest to brew wine. The other was a report about an acupuncturist who, while experimenting on himself, pricked his own uterine ligaments and prostate, asking whether the military doctor was male or female. As a result, People's Daily held a symposium specifically to discuss how to improve its proofreading and editing work and enhance the language and writing standards of the newspaper. This demonstrates that cultural and historical knowledge and encyclopedic knowledge should not be excluded from language and writing cultivation. (Yǎo Wén Jiáo Zì) is entirely correct in focusing on these issues, and it is highly beneficial. In recent years, a lady in a TV drama referred to her husband as "" (wài zi), which became a big joke. In real life, many people end up making embarrassing mistakes because they misunderstand the traditional terms used among scholars and attempt to use them to appear cultured. For instance, a scholar younger than me by ten years sent me a photo calling me "" (something "Xue Xiong" - Academic Elder Brother). I felt extremely uncomfortable upon seeing it. We had no student-teacher relationship, so how could there be an "Xue" (student)? Moreover, especially the term "" (Academic Elder Brother), I am not his student, yet I am older than him. Even if we were classmates, I would be called an "" (Academic Senior), so why would he so casually call me "" (Brother)? In the past, only teachers could call their students "" (Brother), like how Lu Xun always referred to Xu Guangping as "" (Guangping Elder Brother). Among classmates, regardless of age or class rank, they were all referred to as "" (Academic Senior). These kinds of errors in cultural and historical knowledge must be avoided and corrected. (Yǎo Wén Jiáo Zì) not only criticizes various language and writing errors but also provides a wealth of positive knowledge. The articles are concise, witty, and highly engaging to read. However, such a great magazine is difficult to find even in some places, let alone in Beijing, where many of the criticized authors reside. I hope (Yǎo Wén Jiáo Zì) will strengthen its distribution efforts, adopt an open approach to the magazine, and avoid being confined to a closed circle. It should deliver excellent articles to every corner of the country, especially focusing on culturally advanced regions like Beijing. While developing areas deserve attention, more developed regions should be prioritized even more, as the language and writing standards in these areas have a greater influence on the entire nation.