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Chapter 1255: Shi's History of Eating Lions

Chapter 1255: Shi's History of Eating Lions

"Speaking of Bai Zihan, dressed in a blue shirt, he remained calm and collected in front of dozens of literary masters!"

Under the overpass, a storyteller with a goatee was banging the gavel and telling a story in a vivid voice.

The audience who were eating melon seeds below the stage burst into exclamations.

As New Youth reported on the debate on the issue of abolishing Chinese characters at the conference, the name "Bai Hao" became a topic of conversation among the people. Discussions about the debate could be heard in almost every teahouse in the streets and alleys of Beijing, from Qianmen to Di'anmen.

There were even storytellers who specially compiled a piece about "Bai Hao" debating with a group of scholars, which actually received quite a good response. The grassroots people did not quite understand why literary masters like Lu Xun wanted to abolish Chinese characters in accordance with their simple values.

"How can we just throw away the things passed down by our ancestors? When I was a kid in a private school, the teacher taught me 'Heaven and Earth'. How awkward would it be to write it in letters?"

"That's right!" the vendor selling candied haws next to him interrupted, "Although I can't read, I can put up Spring Festival couplets during the Spring Festival. The word 'Fu' is pasted upside down, which is so festive! If it is replaced with foreign words, wouldn't it be a ghost painting?"

Such scenes are being played out in every corner of Beijing. The lower-class people may not understand the great principles of cultural inheritance, but in their simple values, the things that have been used by their ancestors for generations have their own reasons. The Chinese character simplification plan proposed by Qin Hao is obviously more acceptable than completely abolishing Chinese characters.

However, in this era, the voices of the grassroots people are weak. On the pages of major newspapers, the voices supporting the abolition of Chinese characters still dominate.

In the latest issue of New Youth, Lu Xun’s article is like a sharp sword: “If Chinese characters don’t disappear, China will perish!” The black lead type is so strong that it penetrates the back of the paper. “Because Chinese characters are difficult to understand, the majority of the Chinese people will always be isolated from the progressive culture. The Chinese people will never become smart enough to understand the oppression they have suffered and the crisis of the entire nation.”

At the end of the article, Lu Xun lamented his personal experience: "I have suffered deeply from Chinese characters, so I firmly advocate the use of new characters to replace these Chinese characters that hinder the progress of the masses. And promoting new characters should be the task that every progressive cultural person should shoulder."

This article was like a bomb, causing a huge uproar in the cultural world. Scholars who supported the abolition of Chinese characters were greatly encouraged and published articles in newspapers such as Shenbao and Ta Kung Pao to express their support.

Just as public opinion was overwhelming, Zhang Taiyan published a long article in the Guofeng Daily to fight back: "A few days ago at the Ministry of Education meeting, Zihan wrote an article asking you to translate it using the so-called new characters, but in the end no one was able to translate it. Why?"

The article is full of powerful words: "Because Chinese characters are the most profound characters in the world, your so-called new characters often have no way to express their true meanings!"

This article was like a stone that caused a thousand waves, and immediately aroused people's strong curiosity. What kind of article could make so many literary masters helpless?

The sharp-sense newspapermen immediately caught on to this hot topic. The Morning Post was the first to publish the full text of Qin Hao's "The History of Shi's Eating Lions", followed by the Beijing News and the World Journal. For a time, this strange article became a hot topic on the streets.

In an old teahouse outside Zhengyang Gate, several businessmen in silk and satin jackets were dining in a private room. Outside the window came the crisp voice of a newsboy: "Extra edition, Extra edition! Bai Zihan's amazing article stumped all the literary masters!"

"Hey, come here, kid selling newspapers!" a middle-aged businessman with a mustache waved.

The newsboy trotted over and said, "Sir, you want a newspaper? Four coppers for one copy."

The merchant took out a copper coin, took the newspaper that still smelled of ink, unfolded it, and suddenly burst into laughter. His friends at the same table came over curiously, and after a while they also laughed.

Several young people in school uniforms at the next table were attracted by the laughter, and one of them couldn't help asking, "Gentlemen, do you know what's interesting in the newspaper?"

The businessman handed the newspaper over and said, "Read it yourself. This article, 'The Story of Shi's Eating a Lion', is truly amazing!"

The young man took the newspaper and read with a frown: "Shishi poet Shi, loves lions and vowed to eat ten lions." As he read on, an expression of sudden enlightenment gradually appeared on his face.

"Do you understand?" the businessman asked with a smile.

The young man nodded and explained excitedly: "The whole article is full of the sound of 'shi'. Written in Chinese characters, it means: There is a poet named Shi who lives in a stone house and likes to eat lions."

He pointed at the newspaper: "But if it is written in Latin letters, it will all be 'shi'. Who knows what it means?"

The other diners in the teahouse heard this and gathered around to watch the fun. An old scholar in a long gown put on his reading glasses and read it carefully. He clapped his hands and exclaimed: "Wonderful! This article is concise and yet contains mysteries. No wonder those who advocate Latinization can't translate it!"

"Mr. Bai Zihan is truly a talent to have been able to write such a wonderful article with homophones throughout in such a short time!" exclaimed the businessman.

A young man wearing gold-rimmed glasses next to him agreed: "If he wasn't a great talent, how could he have written a new version of the three textbooks of mathematics, physics and chemistry? I have read the algebra textbook he compiled, which is much easier to understand than the previous textbooks."

The spread of "The Story of Shi's Eating Lion" has increased the support of the grassroots people for Qin Hao. In the market, people talk about this article after dinner, and some vendors even copied the article on a wooden board and put it in front of their stalls to attract business.

After the Shi Shi Shi Shi Shi Shi Shi Shi Shi Shi Shi was published in the newspaper, more and more grassroots people supported Qin Hao, but it also attracted a lot of criticism from literary masters. Qian Xuantong directly published an article in New Youth to refute it: "Classical Chinese texts are not conducive to dissemination. Articles like Shi ...

This view was immediately supported by Lu Xun, Hu Shi and other literary masters. In major newspapers and magazines, the debate on whether to keep or abolish Chinese characters became increasingly fierce, with both sides holding their own views and refusing to give in.

While the outside world was arguing, Qin Hao, the person involved, suddenly disappeared. Reporters searched all major hotels in Beijing but could not find him.

That morning, Mr. Cai walked through the snow to a secluded hotel deep in Xisi Hutong. When he opened the door of Room 203, he saw Qin Hao standing in front of the window, staring at the falling snow outside.

"Zi Han, the outside world is making a big fuss about your wonderful article, but you still have the mind to sit here and enjoy the snow scenery?" Mr. Cai said half-jokingly, shaking off the snow on his coat.

Qin Hao turned around when he heard the voice and stretched his hands and feet, which were a little stiff from standing for a long time. "Mr. Cai is here."

He pointed to the desk.

Mr. Cai walked to the desk curiously and saw that it was piled with papers full of words. He picked up the top page and saw two rows of words neatly arranged on it: traditional Chinese characters on the left and simplified new characters on the right.

"These..." Mr. Cai's hands trembled slightly as he flipped through the papers quickly, "are these the simplified Chinese characters you used these days?"

Qin Hao nodded and walked to the desk: "Instead of spending time on meaningless quarrels, it is better to do something practical." He pointed to the manuscript on the table, "This is a simplified version of 3,000 commonly used characters. I referred to the running and cursive writing methods of calligraphers of past dynasties, and also borrowed from folk characters."

Mr. Cai flipped through the pages excitedly and suddenly stopped in front of a page: "This character '国' is well changed! The '口' on the outside represents the territory, and the '玉' inside symbolizes the treasure. It simplifies the strokes while retaining the meaning."

"And the character '学' (learning) has the '臼' (mortar) on top removed, but the '子' (son) on the bottom retained. Does this mean that learning should start from childhood?"

The snow outside the window gradually stopped, and a ray of sunlight shone through the clouds onto the manuscript paper on the desk. Mr. Cai held the manuscripts in his hands, as if holding the seeds of hope: "Zi Han, if these simplified characters can really be promoted, it will be a great merit!"

Qin Hao looked out the window at the gradually clearing sky: "The road must be taken step by step, and the characters must be revised stroke by stroke. Instead of arguing whether Chinese characters should exist, it is better to think about how to make them exist better."

Mr. Cai put the manuscript away solemnly and said, "I will go to see Jiang Menglin right away. The Ministry of Education should immediately set up a special committee to study and promote this simplified Chinese character scheme."

"How about Zihan go with me?"

Qin Hao shook his head: "Simplified characters only make Chinese characters easier to write, but they are still the most difficult in the world. I agree with one point in Mr. Qian's article."

"Oh? What's your opinion?" Mr. Cai asked curiously.

Qin Hao said seriously: "If we want to promote Chinese characters, we need to make them compatible with spoken language. I plan to compile a set of Chinese pinyin..."

Before Qin Hao could finish his words, Mr. Cai excitedly shook his hand, his voice choked with sobs.

"Zihan has devoted himself to the country's education cause without caring about his personal honor or disgrace. Cai sincerely admires him."

These words made Qin Hao feel a little embarrassed. In fact, he was just a knowledge carrier.

Mr. Cai held the thin manuscript in his hands, his fingers trembling slightly. The ink on the parchment had not yet dried, and it was gleaming with a dark blue luster in the winter sun. He carefully wrapped it in a blue cloth bundle, as if he was holding a rare treasure.

In front of the Ministry of Education building, several officials wrapped in cotton robes were hurrying in and out with their necks hunched. Mr. Cai took two steps at a time up the stairs, not even responding to the greeting from the doorman, Lao Zhang, and rushed straight to Jiang Menglin's office on the second floor.

With a bang, the office door was pushed open. Jiang Menglin was reviewing documents at his desk. He looked up at the sound, and a hint of surprise flashed across his eyes behind his gold-rimmed glasses: "Brother Heqing? Why are you in such a hurry?"

Mr. Cai's chest rose and fell violently, and the white breath he exhaled condensed into frost in the cold office. He placed the bundle heavily on the mahogany desk, and the corners of the cloth spread out, revealing a thick stack of manuscripts inside.

“Zi Han. Zi Han, he…” Mr. Cai panted, his fingers trembling with excitement, “He simplified more than 3,000 commonly used characters!”

The pen in Jiang Menglin's hand "clicked" and fell on the document, splashing a few spots of ink. He didn't bother to wipe it off and grabbed the top page of the manuscript. The handwriting on the paper was neat and clear, with familiar traditional Chinese characters on the left and simplified Chinese characters on the right that were different in shape but not without charm.

"This..." Jiang Menglin's Adam's apple rolled up and down: "It's only been a few days?"

He flipped through the papers quickly. Every page was filled with dense writing. "He only has... more than 3,000 words. All simplified?"

Mr. Cai wiped the sweat from his forehead, and his voice was filled with admiration: "Zi Han has not left his house these days. I heard from the shop owner that even the three meals were delivered to the room by the waiter..."

Jiang Menglin paced back and forth in the office excitedly, his leather shoes tapping on the floor: "Brother Heqing, this matter is of great importance! I will call a meeting of my colleagues in the department right away!" He suddenly opened the door of the office and shouted to the corridor: "Secretary Wang! Notify all directors immediately, and hold an emergency meeting in half an hour!"

The meeting room of the Ministry of Education was soon filled with people. Jiang Menglin projected the manuscript onto the screen, and there was a buzz from the audience. The director of the Education Department adjusted his glasses and looked closely at the screen: "Isn't this simplification too casual? How can we change the characters passed down by our ancestors?"

"Yes," said Director Li of the Textbook Compilation Department with a frown, "these characters look weird, like a child's graffiti."

Upon hearing this, Mr. Cai stood up abruptly, his gray beard trembling with anger: "Everyone! These simplified characters are not made up out of thin air!"

He pointed to the manuscript and said: "Look at this character 'dragon', it is taken from the running script in Wang Xizhi's "Lanting Preface"; this character 'wei' is a variation of the cursive script in Yan Zhenqing's "Sacrificial Essay to My Nephew". Zihan referred to the writing styles of famous calligraphers of all dynasties and borrowed from the writing styles of folk characters. Every character has a source!"

The conference room was quiet for a moment, and then a more heated debate broke out. The supporters and opponents each held their own views and argued fiercely. Jiang Menglin had to knock the gavel again and again to maintain order.

The meeting lasted from morning till late at night, and the kerosene in the oil lamp was refilled again and again. Mr. Cai sat in a corner, watching his colleagues arguing endlessly, and rubbed his temples tiredly. After two days, his voice was hoarse and his eyes were bloodshot, but the promotion plan for simplified characters was still pending.

On the evening of the third day, the meeting finally came to a temporary end. Mr. Cai dragged his tired body out of the Ministry of Education. The cold north wind blew on his face, making his chaotic mind a little clearer. When passing by the Red Building of Peking University, the voices of several students drifted into his ears:

"I'm afraid that Bai Zihan doesn't dare to accept the challenge? He has been scolded in New Youth for several days."

"That's right, he is just a person who seeks fame and reputation. Mr. Lu Xun wrote an article to refute him, but he didn't dare to reply even a word..."

Mr. Cai stopped abruptly, his skinny fingers clenched his briefcase. He turned and walked towards the students, his voice trembling with anger: "You...you know what!"

When the students recognized Principal Cai, they immediately fell silent.

Mr. Cai quickened his pace and walked towards the New Youth editorial office, his steps so fast that he was almost running.