Let's start with a historical question.
This is a high school senior history question in Huanggang Middle School in Hubei Province, the stem part of the introduction, on February 10, 1929, that is, the first day of the Chinese New Year of that year, the "Changsha Daily" at that time specially issued a special number called "Down with the First Day of the First Month".
According to other documents in Long Majun's hand, the special title of "Down with the First Day of the First Month of the First Month" seems to have been published by the Hunan "National Daily" of that year.
Readers who are familiar with the history of newspapers and periodicals in the Republic of China know that the "Kuomintang Daily" was an organ newspaper of the Hunan Provincial Government at that time, and it specifically published some weighty comments on provincial political issues, and it was one of the largest newspapers in Hunan. The issue of the National Daily issued such a special number, which shows the official attitude at that time.
A hundred years ago in the Republic of China, the elites of that time set off a vigorous campaign to abolish the Spring Festival and the lunar calendar. Regarding the beginning and end of that movement, Ryoma Jun had already introduced it in the article the day before yesterday. Today, let's just talk about this historical problem.
The three cartoons in the title should come from that special number. Let's start with the one in the center.
In the middle part of the manga is the name of the special number: "Down with the first special number of the first month of the first month". In the background, two strong men can be seen tearing a piece of white paper with the word "lunar calendar" written on it.
Since the founding of the Republic of China, the implementation of the solar calendar has been an important measure of successive governments.
At that time, the elites who occupied the upper echelons had a foreign background, the long-established lunar calendar was often considered to be part of the traditional dross, and Japan, which embarked on the road to a strong country after the forced abolition of the lunar calendar, was regarded as an example to learn from, and in this context, their attitude towards the traditional lunar calendar can be imagined.
The second cartoon satirizes some merchants in Changsha, Hunan Province, who did not comply with government orders and took a holiday for the New Year.
The advertisement on the left side of the shop shows that this is a century-old store. On the right side of the shop is a sign diagonally, the shop is currently closed, the owner and the guys are going back to the New Year, and will not reopen until the fifteenth day of the first month. So why are there any people in the shops? The column on the left tells the truth: they were "opened".
This is no joke. On the streets of Changsha on the first day of the Chinese New Year in 1929, the police in the city were waiting in a strict line, and once they found that the shops were closed for the New Year without authorization, they were forced to open for business.
As the saying goes, if you escape the first year, you can't escape the fifteenth. Since the first day of the Lunar New Year has all been rectified on the spot, the fifteenth day of the first month cannot be let go. The man in the third cartoon tramples on the lantern hanging on the Lantern Festival while angrily scolding: "You don't need this waste under the blue sky and daylight", probably warning the people: If anyone dares to celebrate the Lantern Festival, there are such lanterns!
Since the New Year is strictly prohibited, some supplies for the New Year are also prohibited, and once the Spring Festival, the Door God Paper, and the fireworks and firecrackers are discovered, they are all destroyed, and even the vendors who buy these festive supplies will be arrested and locked up for a few days.
After all, the Spring Festival has a history of thousands of years, and under the pressure of the people, the movement to abolish the Spring Festival later disappeared. However, looking back on it today, there are always some complicated feelings.
Many of the actions of the Republican elite seem to be very radical now, abolishing the Spring Festival, abolishing traditional medicine, and even abolishing Chinese characters, they have a very deep understanding of the suffering caused by China's backwardness, so they are very eager to change the fate of the country through change. For the sake of progress, all traditions can be discarded.
This is actually very similar to The Meiji period of Japan, in order to catch up with the West, the Japanese elite has completely transformed almost everything in Japan. However, after the rise of Japan, the situation changed again, tradition began to be valued, and people began to reflect on the history of the Meiji Restoration, which continues to this day. In TV Asahi's 2011 special drama "Hate: Thirteen Years of Meiji, The Last Revenge," the director borrowed the characters in the drama to ask the question: Did Japan give up too many things for the sake of progress?
These questions are actually very interesting if you think about them.
On the one hand, this question can actually be asked in reverse: Is Japan still Japan, which has abandoned too much tradition?
On the other hand, when Japan is backward, tradition is seen as the cause of Japan's backwardness, otherwise it is impossible to fundamentally explain Japan's backwardness. And when Japan rises, tradition seems to be the secret of success, otherwise it is impossible to explain why other countries have not been able to replicate such success.
So, the question arises, what exactly is tradition? Readers are welcome to give your answers in the comments section.
Welcome to pay attention, together with Ryoma Jun, believe in the power of thought.