A refutation of Hu Shi's vernacular and classical Chinese

1. Hu Shi is arguing with his students about which is simpler, classical Chinese or vernacular Chinese. Hu Shi was one of the earliest advocates and practitioners of the New Culture Movement. Because the vernacular Chinese advocated by the New Culture Movement was a new thing, the opposition in the society was extremely fierce at that time. Great scholars who opposed the vernacular movement included Wu Mi, Huang Kan, Lin Shu, Mei Guangdi, Zhang and others, especially Huang Kan.

Huang Kan, a great disciple of Zhang Taiyan, a master of Chinese studies, is famous for his arrogance and meanness. On one occasion, Huang Kan said to Hu Shi, "You advocate vernacular Chinese, which is not sincere!" Hu Shi asked him why he said this, and Huang Kan replied seriously: "If you really advocate vernacular Chinese, you should not call it Hu Shi, but what to do." This remark made him hit three times, and Hu Shize turned pale with anger.

Huang Kan once again praised the wisdom of classical Chinese in his lectures, for example, "If Hu Shi's wife dies, his family will send a telegram saying,' Your wife is dead! "Come back!" It only needs 1 1 words, while classical Chinese only needs four words, which can save two-thirds of the telegram fee. "

This time, Hu Shi hit back, brilliant to amazing. Also in class, when Hu Shi talked about the benefits of vernacular Chinese, a classmate asked unconvinced: Mr. Hu, does it mean that vernacular Chinese has no shortcomings at all? Hu Shi said with a smile, No, the students remembered Huang Kan's argument of saving money by telegraphing in classical Chinese, and retorted, Why not? If the vernacular is not concise, telegrams use more words and spend more money. Hu Shi said: Not necessarily. Why don't we do an experiment? A friend of the Executive Yuan wrote to me the other day and invited me to be the secretary of the Executive Yuan. I didn't want to go into politics, so I sent a telegram and refused. The reply is written in vernacular, which is very economical. If students are interested, you can help me write a message in classical Chinese to see whether to save money in vernacular Chinese or classical Chinese.

As expected, the students drafted one draft after another. Finally, Hu Shi picked out the one with the least words and the most complete expression from the telegram, and its content was "I'm afraid it's difficult to be competent, so I won't do it." Hu Shi said humorously after reading it: "This telegram is only 12, which is concise, but it is still too long. I only need five words in the vernacular: I can't do it, thank you. " Later, Hu Shi explained: "I can't do it" means that I am ignorant and afraid of being competent. "Thank you" means both thanking my friends for their painstaking introduction and declining. It can be seen that the conciseness of language does not lie in using vernacular or classical Chinese. As long as the words are used properly, vernacular Chinese can be more concise than classical Chinese.

Hu Shi's incisive exposition is a counterattack against Huang Kan's argument of "saving money by telegrams in classical Chinese". Hearing this, the students could not help nodding their heads in agreement. With the unremitting efforts of Hu Shi and others, vernacular Chinese finally replaced classical Chinese.

Hu Shi first put forward vernacular Chinese, but I heard that he also opposed vernacular Chinese, didn't he? Huang Zunxian was the first to put forward the creation of vernacular literature. He believes that the integration of language and literature has made western countries popularize culture, develop science and technology and make social progress. China's separation of language and writing is the root of backwardness and the tool of ignorance. He thinks that classical Chinese misleads the country.

Hu Shi put forward the idea of replacing classical Chinese with vernacular Chinese, which was published in New Youth in June of 5438+09 17. He put forward the viewpoints of "literature of an era" and "today's literature should be authentic in vernacular Chinese", and advocated the combination of words and literature in writing about today's society.

As for his opposition to vernacular Chinese, I have never heard of it. I remember that there were great scholars Wu Mi, Huang Kan, Lin Shu, Mei Guangdi and Zhang who opposed Hu Shi's vernacular movement at that time. Tell a joke about Huang Kan poking fun at Hu Shi;

Huang Kan advocated classical Chinese and opposed vernacular Chinese. He praised the wisdom of classical Chinese, citing only one example: "If Hu Shi's wife dies, his family will send a telegram in vernacular Chinese and say,' Your wife is dead! "Come back!" Eleven words long. Classical Chinese only needs the word' wife's funeral', which can save two-thirds of the telegram fee. "On one occasion, Huang Kan said to Hu Shi:" You advocate the vernacular, not sincere! " Hu Shi asked him why he made this statement. Huang Kan primly replied: "If you really advocate vernacular Chinese, you should not call it Hu Shi, but what to do." This remark made him hit three times, and Hu Shize turned pale with anger.

The time is around the May 4th Movement. Hu Shi put forward the idea of replacing classical Chinese with vernacular Chinese, which was published in New Youth in June of 5438+09 17+0.

Do you agree or disagree that vernacular Chinese should replace classical Chinese? Classical Chinese should replace vernacular Chinese. At this time more than 90 years ago, China, as a bloated pig, experienced all kinds of unbearable disasters under the hands of many foreign butchers. Under such circumstances, Hu Shi waved the banner of vernacular Chinese and attracted many literati to fight against classical Chinese. He may not know how much trauma he has caused to the great Chinese civilization. Yes, he will never know, but history knows that he will definitely give him an extremely objective evaluation of this foolish man's behavior. In fact, today, some things have been displayed, especially the classics of China traditional culture. However, it has really reached the point of despair. I hope this is the afterlife of the Jedi, not the sandstorm before the disappearance of the Xinjiang tiger. How I wish I was exaggerating and worrying. However, this is not the case. Since the appearance of Lu Xun, Contradiction, Ba Jin, Bing Xin, Lao She and, of course, Hu Shi, Lin Yutang and Liang Shiqiu, China has several master tasks. Nobel Prize in Literature. Just like the dreamy eyes that a beautiful woman gives you. I don't know how much work I have done and how many bowls of rice I have eaten. In fact, all this stems from Hu Shi's vernacular movement. Think about it: what kind of cultural education they have received by themselves is vernacular education. If that's the case, I'd rather be silly and accept this vernacular movement unconditionally, without any words that seem to be complaining. When Hu Shi was a child, he was familiar with classics and grew up in a strong classical Chinese education environment. Who was the master of that era? They didn't read China's excellent cultural classics first, and then they became famous because of the culture of that time or even thousands of years. They are just symbols of erudition, representatives of culture and authority. But they have no right to deprive our descendants of the opportunity to receive classical Chinese education. Don't think that you can do anything just because you can. However, they did it, and claiming to be heroes is another big scam in history. Let's expose that terrible lie and give him a true face. Don't let the wicked have a wreath, give him the chains he deserves. Classical Chinese, the crystallization of our eternal culture, condenses language and words to the extreme without losing rich meanings and is catchy. We don't cherish and master such excellent traditional things. Do you have to wait for it to disappear before you shed a few drops of regret like a snot? And the vernacular we speak all day is what we have learned through practice all our lives. Do you have to waste a lot of time on this! Classical Chinese is a treasure house of art, even if you spend your time in Chinese class every day, it is not an exaggeration. If you don't have a good grasp of historical things, how can you inherit them from your ancestors and pass them on to future generations? This is the only way to become an outstanding descendant of the previous culture. Perhaps, some people still think that there is education about classical Chinese in China education. But are these enough? I didn't remember this year's work, but I forgot last year's work. If you study like a blind man touching an elephant, you are smart. Can you guarantee that classical Chinese will be passed down for another thousand years? By then, those who can read a few Tang poems will become a generation of great scholars. Chinese class should be the temple of classical Chinese. It is urgent for Chinese education and classical Chinese to replace vernacular Chinese education.