Lu Xun said, "If Chinese characters do not perish, China will perish!" ”
Chen Duxiu said, "Strongly advocating the abolition of Chinese characters and Chinese characters, it is difficult to contain new things and new reasons, and it is a nest of corrupt ideas. ”
Qu Qiubai said, "Chinese characters are truly the most filthy and bastard medieval pits in the world. ”
Liu Bannong said, "If Chinese characters do not perish, there is no hope for a new Chinese culture." ”
"Abolish Chinese characters" is the most radical slogan in the May Fourth New Culture Movement, and many people now do not understand why these big men at that time abolished Chinese characters and cut off their own context. In fact, the first to propose the "abolition of Chinese characters" was Qian Xuantong, who said in a letter to Chen Duxiu in 1918: "... If you want to abolish Confucianism, you have to abolish the Chinese language first. In order to drive out the naïve and barbaric stubborn ideas of the general people, it is especially necessary not to abolish the Chinese language first. (New Youth, Vol. 4, No. 4)
Why should Qian Xuan and Lu Xun, who are cultural intruders, have to live with Chinese characters?
Qian Xuantong and Lu Xun were both disciples of the master of traditional Chinese studies, Zhang Taiyan, and Qian Xuantong was a master of classics and primary schools who were both heirs of the ancient and modern literary schools. Qian Xuantong was originally a retro literati, advocating writing seal characters, reading ancient sounds, and wearing ancient costumes. However, Yuan Shikai's restoration of Zhang Xun greatly stimulated Qian Xuantong, making Qian Xuantong feel that it is likely that the root of all problems lies in China's thousands of years of cultural traditions. Qian Xuantong said in "The Question of Writing in China's Future": "If we want to make China immortal, and if we want to make the Chinese nation a civilized nation in the twentieth century, we must abolish Confucianism and eliminate Taoism as the fundamental solution. The abolition of the Confucian doctrine and the Chinese language of Taoist demonism are particularly fundamental to the fundamental solution. “
Qian Xuantong and Lu Xun's views are the same, and Lu Xun said in the article "Lu Xun on Language Reform": "If Chinese characters do not perish, China will perish." Because of the difficulty of Chinese characters, the majority of the people in all of China will always be isolated from the culture of progress, and the Chinese people will never be wise enough to understand the oppression they have suffered and the crisis of the whole nation. ”
Qian Xuantong declared in "The Chinese Character Revolution and the National History": "I am a person who advocates the Chinese character revolution. I advocate the writing of Chinese into pinyin script, and I advocate the use of the universal Roman alphabet as the Chinese the alphabet of the pinyin script. I studied the popularization of education and cultural innovation and concluded that Chinese should use pinyin characters instead. “
Qian Xuantong did not have a vendetta against Chinese characters, but a vendetta against the old traditional culture, and a vendetta against the backwardness of the nation and the inability to go to the world, so there was an extreme idea of abolishing the use of pinyin in Chinese characters. Lu Xun believed that Qian Xuantong liked to talk about ten to twelve points, which was actually a major feature of the new cultural movement, and it was too extreme to say the first thing. But you can't look at the righteousness of the text, and you can't judge a person out of the social background at that time, as if Qian Xuan and Lu Xun really wanted to plan the graves of their ancestors.
Lu Xun later said of the May Fourth Literary Revolution: "However, in China, when literary innovation was first mentioned, there was a reaction. However, vernacular language gradually became popular and was not much hindered. What's going on here? Just because at that time, Mr. Qian Xuantong advocated the abolition of Chinese characters and the replacement of the Roman alphabet. This book is nothing more than a kind of literary innovation, very ordinary, but it is too bad to be heard by Chinese who do not like reform, so they let go of the relatively peaceful literary revolution and tried their best to scold Qian Xuantong. The vernacular took advantage of this opportunity to subtract many enemies, but there was no obstacle and it was able to become popular. ”
Lu Xun saw very clearly that if you are not extreme, it is difficult to have results, "Chinese temperament always likes to be harmonious and compromised." For example, you said, this room is too dark, you have to open a window here, you must not allow it. But if you advocate tearing down the roof, they will come to reconcile and be willing to open the window. Without more drastic proposals, they would not dare to carry out even peaceful reforms. At that time, the vernacular was able to pass, because there was a discussion of abolishing the Chinese character and using the Roman alphabet. (Lu Xun, "Three Idle Collections: Silent China")
The popularity of vernacular literature is inseparable from the credit of Qian Xuantong.
Many people only know that Qian Xuantong abolished Chinese characters, but they don't know how much Qian Xuantong contributed to the new cultural movement!
Everyone knows Lu Xun's historical contribution to the history of Chinese literature to the New Culture Movement, but without Qian Xuantong, there might not have been lu Xun's birth. After the Xinhai Revolution, Lu Xun only copied ancient tablets in the Shaoxing Guild Hall outside Xuanwu Gate, and his life was "darkly disappearing.". Qian Xuantong vigorously encouraged his old friend Lu Xun to write novels: "I often went to the Shaoxing Guild Hall to urge, so his novel "Diary of a Madman" was actually completed and published in the fifth volume of the fourth volume" (Qian Xuantong, "My Remembrance and Brief Comments on Zhou Yucaijun").
Lu Xun also said in "Scream and Self-Introduction", "Finally agreed to make an article, this is the first "Diary of a Madman". In the "Autocryphal Biography", it is also said: "The first novel was made in 1918, because of the advice of my friend Qian Xuantong, who came to be published in "New Youth", and only then did I use Lu Xun's pen name." We should thank Qian Xuantong for giving birth to such a literary hero as Lu Xun.
Qian Xuantong himself is a fierce general of the New Culture Movement, and "Doubting Ancient Xuantong" is not a waste of time. Qian Xuantong in the "New Youth" period was the most revolutionary and enlightening, and the repercussions aroused were also the greatest. Li Jinxi believes: "In "New Youth", only Mr. Qian's words are the boldest, the least afraid, the most painful, the most exciting, so I want to push him as the one who unveiled the "New Culture" movement. "
Hu Shi was the first person to write in the vernacular. As early as October 1917, he compiled the vernacular poems he had written in the past year into an "Attempt Collection", and Hu Shi asked Qian Xuantong to write the preface. It can be seen how big Qian Xuantong's role is.
Chen Duxiu and Hu Shi are both foreigners who have returned from studying abroad, and the launch of the new cultural movement is incompatible with the old school, and they have a fatal flaw that the foundation of sinology is not good, and there is no lethality to the old school. Qian Xuantong is different, although he also studied in Japan, he studied under zhang Taiyan and Cui Shi, two masters, and is a true master of traditional Chinese studies, and the traitors who belong to the old school sweep everything away with one blow. Therefore, Qian Xuantong's criticism of the old school is to the point, single out the "Tongcheng fallacy" and "the selection of evils", and Qian Xuantong's same fire will burn out the object of the literary revolution.
Chen Duxiu excitedly believed, "With the voice of Mr. (Qian Xuantong) to discipline the university, and advocate popular new literature, why worry about the country's unhappiness?" "When" can be a big white for the literary world." And Hu Shi felt even more flattered, "Qian Shi was originally a disciple of the master of traditional Chinese studies, Zhang Taiyan (Binglin). I was flattered by the article written by an international student discussing the improvement of Chinese literature. He also said, "Professor Qian is an ancient Scholar." He actually reacted to us with such sympathy, which really made us feel strong. ("Hu Shi's Oral Autobiography") Li Jinxi also said in "The Biography of Mr. Qian Xuantong": "Among the editors of the "New Youth" magazine, he is the only one who is the master of old literature, Mr. Zhang Taiyan, who has a source of learning, speaks more 'jargon', and has a greater influence. ”
Qian Xuantong's historical contribution is not only a new cultural movement, until today we have been enjoying Qian Xuantong's achievements.
1. Advocate vernacular language
2. Advocate the simplification of Chinese characters
3. Advocate the unification of Chinese, with Beijing dialect as the standard voice
4. Advocate Chinese character zhuyin and design pinyin schemes
5. Advocate punctuation
6. Advocate the horizontal flow of Chinese character writing from left to right
7. Advocate the gregorian era that is common in the world
Qian Xuantong is the forerunner of the work of writing reform, and the three major tasks of character reform after the founding of the People's Republic of China, simplifying Chinese characters, promoting Putonghua, and formulating and implementing the "Hanyu Pinyin Plan" are indispensable to Qian Xuantong's contribution. Qian Xuantong's abolition of Chinese characters is actually a script reform, which is full of utopia but very successful.
Qian Xuantong is not only a university student, but also has national integrity. In the spring of 1938, Qian Xuantong reverted to his old name of "Qian Xia", indicating "Xia" instead of "Yi", and not being an enemy and hypocrite shunmin. Qian Xuantong expressed his heart to Lai Jinxi: "Never 'defile your life'! He also said to Wang Ruchuan, the secretary of the Beijing Normal University: "Please tell your friends to rest assured, Qian Mou will never be a traitor!" ”
After Qian Xuantong's death, the progressive journal "Literature" at that time published a signed "Tribute to Mr. Qian Xuantong" that said: "After the fall of Pingjin, the northern cultural circles were under the iron hooves of the violent sun, and the living conditions were very miserable; however, Mr. Qian maintained a high level of discipline, and although he had uncles and nephews with Qian Daosun and friendship with Zhou Zuoren, he was still not surrounded and insulted. In his prime, he led the youth with a fighter, in his middle age he worked hard as a scholar, and in his later years he maintained his honor as a righteous soldier, Mr. Qian was finally worthy of himself and a perfect man of the country and the nation. ”