"Your Majesty, who submitted this memorial?" Ru Yu, the Minister of Punishment, stood up angrily after reading a few words and said: "Your Majesty, the person who submitted such a memorial should be severely reprimanded!"
"The characters written now have been handed down for thousands of years. They were all created by Cangjie Zhonghou and the sages of the past generations have repeatedly considered them. How can they be changed at will?" Ru Jun continued excitedly: "Not to mention that our Chinese characters have always been consistent with the
Other countries are different. I have also seen the Mongolian and Tibetan scripts of the Yuan Dynasty collected in the National History Museum. The characters are composed of characters created by later generations that have nothing to do with the meaning of the characters. Naturally, they can be changed at will; our Chinese characters are
'The body is taken from the near, and the things from the far'; the meaning can be known by looking at the words, and it must not be changed at will like Mongolian or Tibetan!"
"Ru Shangshu's words are wrong!" The people sitting in the front row heard an unfamiliar voice and hurriedly turned around to look, and saw Chen Ying, the censor of Zuo Qiandu of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, standing up to speak. Although Chen Ying held an official position
He is not very high, he is only in the fourth rank, but he is very well-known in the court. He is responsible for several major cases in the court. Moreover, the person behind this person is also very obvious, so everyone is immediately enlightened, although they still don't know it.
Who sent this memorial, but I know who instigated it.
After confirming this, those who originally wanted to stand up to support Ru Yu weighed it. As for those who had no idea about simplified Chinese characters, they sat still, their mouths closed tightly as if they were sewn shut, and their eyes looked towards the people in the hall.
Ornamental plant, only a pair of ears are left.
Chen Ying and Ru Jin debated for a while, but they gradually found themselves at a disadvantage. They spoke intermittently and had to think about each sentence for a while. On the contrary, Ru Jin became more courageous and passionate as she fought.
Chen Ying was sweating profusely, thinking about how to respond to Ru Yu's words, when she suddenly heard someone say: "You two have been talking for a long time and I still don't understand what you are saying! And looking at your posture, it is possible that you can talk for another hour. Then
Why don't I say what I have to say first? Anyway, I only have a few words to say and I can finish them quickly."
Everyone turned their heads and saw Yu Qi, the minister of the general staff of the Governor's Mansion, saluting Yun He and saying, "Your Majesty, I support simplifying the writing!"
"Your Majesty, the current writing is too difficult to write and read! Because Your Majesty has set a rule after you succeeded to the throne, regardless of the past, starting from the first year of Jianye, those who can read will be given priority in promotion. In order not to delay meritorious service because of not knowing how to read.
When I was promoted, I invited several gentlemen to come to my house to teach me how to read."
"But this character is too difficult to write and recognize. It takes too much effort to learn. It took a lot of effort to learn three to four hundred characters, and then I couldn't learn it anymore. Fortunately, Your Majesty, you summoned ministers to Beijing at the end of last year.
The literacy test taken at that time did not test the words I didn't know, otherwise I would have had no choice but to return to the guard station and continue to be a commander."
"However, after arriving in the capital, because my colleagues in the General Staff Headquarters all knew Chinese characters, and knew quite a few of them, I had no choice but to continue to read in order not to show my cowardice. So now I know more than a thousand characters, including all commonly used characters.
Well, if your majesty doesn't believe it, you can take a test on the ministers." He immediately added, for fear that Yunhe would think that he still didn't know much about reading.
After explaining, he continued: "Aren't words just for use? Because people's brains don't work well and they can't remember too many things, so they write things down on paper to prevent forgetting. In this case, keep it simple.
Okay. If it’s simpler, more people will be able to recognize Chinese characters, and more people will be able to write down things in Chinese characters. So I support simplifying Chinese characters!”
"This word is indeed used to record events, but it is not just a record of events, it is also Chinese culture!" Ru Yu said immediately.
"What is culture?" Yu Qi asked.
"This?" Ru Yu thought for a moment and said, "Culture includes history, etiquette, etc. Without culture, Han people would not be Han people."
"History is what happened in the past dynasties recorded in books, right? Etiquette is what people should and shouldn't do in daily life, and how to receive guests, right?" Yu Qi asked.
"Yes." Ru Yu thought about it again and felt that there was no big problem with Yu Yu's explanation. He probably couldn't understand the accurate explanation, so she nodded and acknowledged his explanation.
"Then I'm going to say it." Yu Zhen said this, and then saluted Yunxi and said: "Your Majesty, if I am rude to Ru Shangshu in any way, or if my words are vulgar, your Majesty, please
I forgive you."
"As long as you don't hit anyone and don't curse them with obscene words, I will never blame you." Yunxi agreed.
With Yunxi's permission, Yu Yu became more courageous. He walked up to Ru Yu and said to him: "History is indeed very important. I heard that there was a famous emperor in the Tang Dynasty named Tang Taizong.
In a word, if we use history as a mirror, we can do whatever we want."
"If you use copper as a mirror, you can straighten your clothes and hats. If you use history as a mirror, you can know the ups and downs. If you use people as a mirror, you can know gains and losses." Ru Jin said.
"Yes, that's the sentence. This famous emperor said this, of course it makes sense. But, what does this have to do with people who can't read!"
Yu Yao spoke loudly, and the spitting stars splashed on Ru Yu's face. "History is very important, but people who can't read don't know what the words in these records are about, so they can't use history as a mirror. This
Only useful for people who can read."
"Simplifying the characters will allow more people to understand the characters. For these more people who can understand the characters because of the simplified characters, history will be useful! It was of no use to them before! So we must simplify the characters."
"Let's talk about etiquette. Etiquette does not necessarily have to be written. I didn't know how to read before. Didn't I learn etiquette from the teacher who invited me? I know how to greet my colleagues and how to salute when I receive a reward from His Majesty."
"Furthermore, even if there must be written words to record etiquette and history, can't simplified words be used to record them? Simplified words are not words anymore?"
"How can this be the same?"
"Why is this different?"
Ru Yu had a painful expression on her face, not only because Yu Yu's spit splashed on her face, but also because of what he said. It would be easier if Yu Yu said nonsense, but the problem is that what he said seemed to make no sense.
There is a trace of truth, but it is specious. And for a semi-literate person like Yu Qi, there are some things that he cannot explain at all. It is very painful.
He tried to explain a few words, but that's what Yu Ai said. He simply stopped explaining to Yu Ai and turned to Yun Xi and said: "I have some things that are difficult to explain to someone like Yu Shilang, but I think that everything
You cannot simplify the text."
After saying this, he felt that it was too blunt, so he quickly added: "Your Majesty, I am not saying that it cannot be simplified at all. Many people have written vulgar characters in the past dynasties, among which the fonts are more beautiful and the vulgar characters are used by a large number of people.
The Chinese characters can be determined to be the official characters of the imperial court, but they cannot all be simplified."
After he said these words, several more civil servants stood up and said similar words to Ru Ru. After that, no one spoke again.
Yunxi had just said nothing except Yu Qi who said something when asking for instructions. Seeing that no one spoke anymore, he said: "If the characters are simplified, it can reduce the difficulty of learning characters and make them easier to learn and recognize. My dear friends,
Do you think so?"
"Your Majesty, although today's writing has more strokes, it is very easy to identify with the help of fonts, radicals, etc." Ru Jin said again.
"You're talking nonsense!" Yu Qi said immediately: "That's for people like you who already know thousands of characters. It's not easy for those of us who don't know much, or are just new to learning characters, to recognize them at all.
!"
He then added: "I'm sorry, your majesty. Please forgive me. But I really feel that what Ru Shangshu said is wrong, so I couldn't help but say it."
"If Nian Aiqing commits your first offence, I will punish you to clean up the empty space in front of Fengtian Hall after a while." Yunxi said immediately.
"I obey the order." Yu Qi said politely.
Using a sharp knife to cut through the mess, "I am rude to you"; after the matter was resolved, Yunxi continued: "Do you, dear friends, admit that simplifying characters can reduce the difficulty of learning characters?"
When no one spoke, Yunxi continued: "Since ancient times, all saints, whether Confucius, Mencius or others, have taken it as their duty to educate all people. Therefore, all saints have tried their best to educate all people."
"The so-called literacy leads to understanding. In my opinion, nothing can educate the people more than making more people literate. Simplifying characters can reduce the difficulty of learning characters, so it will also make more people literate. So I
It has been decided that the "Character Simplification Department" will be established from now on. It will be a temporary assignment under the cabinet, with Dong Auxiliary Officer Xie Jin, a bachelor of the Hanlin Academy, in charge and responsible for this matter."
"Your Majesty, you can't!" Rujun stood up again and said, "You can't simplify the text so rashly!"
Yunxi looked at his excited face and suddenly felt disgusted. Are they really opposed to simplifying the text out of public motives? There may be such people, but Ru Yu is definitely not. Most people do it out of selfish motives.
Or just a confused egg.
The reason why they, these literati and officials, oppose simplifying writing is because they actually don’t want too many people to know writing; and the reason why they don’t want too many people to know writing is to protect their own privileges!
Because if there are very few people who can read, those who can read will receive extra respect and will also get some preferential treatment and privileges in society; if there are more people who can read, most people can read, and those who can read can
There would be no extra respect, preferential treatment and privileges, which would be a loss for the literati and officials who originally knew how to read. In order to prevent themselves from losing anything, they desperately opposed the widespread dissemination of words and opposed too many people knowing how to read!
Mr. Lu Xun once had a wonderful satire on this. Chapter 6 of "Miscellaneous Talk Outside the Door": So writing became a rare commodity. 'Writing sprouted among the people, but later it must have been taken over by the privileged. According to the author of "The Book of Changes"
It is speculated that "in ancient times, people were governed by knotting ropes", so the ropes were already used by those who governed people. When it fell into the hands of the witch historians, not to mention, they were all subordinate to the chiefs and above all the people.
People. As society changes, the scope of people who learn to read will also expand, but it is mostly limited to the privileged. As for the common people, they are illiterate. It is not because they lack tuition fees, but because they are limited by qualifications, they are not worthy. And they can't even see books.
When China's engraving was not yet developed, a good book was often "hidden in the secret pavilion, and the assistant is in the third hall." Even if you became a scholar, you still didn't know what it said.
Because writing belongs to the privileged, it has dignity and mystery. Chinese writing is still very dignified today. We often see hangings on the walls with the words "Respect the calligraphy paper".
Basket; as for the talisman's ability to exorcise evil spirits and cure diseases, it relies on its mystery. Since words contain dignity, then knowing the words will also increase the dignity of the person. New dignitaries are constantly rising,
It is not good for those with old dignity, and if there are too many people who know writing, it will also damage the power of the mysterious talisman. This is because no one except Taoist priests recognizes this thing that seems to be writing. Therefore, for
Words, they must hold on to them.';
Of course, these are just the reasons why Yunxi hates Rujun. If he just hates scholars and officials, it will not benefit him at all, so he will not bother to implement simplified characters. For Yunxi, there are at least three points in implementing simplified characters.
Benefits, it is precisely because of these three benefits that he wants to implement simplified Chinese characters.
The first point is that he can write a lot less strokes. As a person who came to the Ming Dynasty from the era of simplified characters, Yunxi found it extremely painful when he first learned the original Chinese characters. Recognizing characters is not too difficult.
But it was too laborious to write. Lu Liuliang, a famous historian in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties and a supporter of the anti-Qing Dynasty and restoration of the Ming Dynasty, once wrote in a letter to Huang Zongxi: "I like to use common characters to copy books, which can save half the time."
Lu Liuliang was a loyal minister of the Ming Dynasty. Later, he was executed by the whole family because of the "History of the Ming Dynasty" case. His body was dug out of the coffin and whipped a hundred times. He was definitely not poisoned by the Manchus. He hated the formal writing at that time and simplified it for later generations.
Needless to say, Yunxi, who was used to simplified Chinese characters since he was a child, hated the vulgar Chinese characters, which had almost the same characters.
Second, it can spread words among the people at a faster speed, reduce illiteracy, and promote faster social development. Facts have proven that countries with fewer illiterates are more civilized and the society develops faster. Because many jobs
Everyone needs literate people, but because there are fewer literate people, there are fewer jobs. As long as more literate people increase, the corresponding industries will increase, promoting the development of the entire society. And the rapid development of society has a negative impact on everyone in the entire society.
They are all beneficial. Even for Yunxi, there are benefits.
The third is the benefit to Yunxi. After more than a thousand years of development, Confucianism at this time has changed from a simple doctrine or thought to something similar to a religion. Confucius' status is equivalent to that of Christianity or Christianity.
God in Tianfang Religion, Allah, and all those who study and serve as officials are Confucianists. Naturally, even if Confucianism is a religion, it is also a polytheistic religion, and its restrictions on society are not as heavy as Western monotheistic religions, but it has also caused huge negative consequences.
Influence.
What’s even more disgusting is that Confucianism, like Western monotheistic religions, has begun to monopolize knowledge. In the Middle Ages in Europe, even many nobles could not read, let alone ordinary people. The only people who could provide literate talents on a large scale were
In the monasteries of the church, the kings and nobles of various countries can only use the priests of the church to rule their jurisdictions, which eventually led to the supremacy of the church and became the actual ruler.
The same is true in China. Confucianism has a monopoly on knowledge, so the emperor must appoint Confucian talents to govern the country. Of course, because Confucianism is a polytheistic religion, there are no obvious restrictions on the emperor's power on the surface. The emperor can kill whoever he wants, but in fact it is Confucianism.
The emperor was also included in the church system, and even the emperor had to abide by this set of Confucian rules.
If Yunxi chose to rule the world with literati and officials like the emperor of the Song Dynasty, then it would be okay and would not affect his interests; but like the European monarchs, Yunxi chose to rule the world with the nobles, which is similar to the Western Church.
Confucianism also became a stumbling block.
He can allow Confucianism to continue to exist, but he cannot use the thoughts of Confucius, Mencius or anyone else as the actual guiding ideology. He must use the common thoughts of him, or all the descendants of the clan, and the aristocratic class as the actual guiding ideology. Just like England
The royal family's resumption of power was marked by the abolition of the dominance of the Holy See and the establishment of the Church of England. If Yunxi wanted to rule the world with the aristocracy, he had to break the current Confucian system.
The best way to break the current Confucian system is to popularize writing. Writing has become popular, but the country only needs so many official positions. Many people cannot be officials and can only find jobs in society. Confucian believers are all officials.
And those who are preparing to become officials. These people who are desperate for officialdom but are literate will not be Confucianists. As the number of such people increases, the proportion of Confucianists among scholars will become smaller and smaller, and the influence of Confucianism will become smaller and smaller.
The smaller it is, the better it is to win without a fight. After defeating Confucianism without a fight, Yunxi's vision of co-ruling the world with the nobles can be realized, and he can better maintain the rule of the Ming Dynasty, so it is good for him.
Based on the above reasons, he wants to promote simplified Chinese characters. (To be continued)
