Author: Wang Jianli (Professor, Communication University of China, Executive Vice President of Inner Mongolia Linguistic Society, Special Researcher of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Research Center for Theoretical System of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics)
China has a vast territory and a large population, and has formed a pattern of pluralism and integration for a long time. The use of the common language of the state by all ethnic groups is not only the responsibility and obligation entrusted by the Constitution and the law, but also the concrete embodiment of the people of all ethnic groups loving the motherland and the Chinese nation, and is also the only way to promote national unity and progress.
The popularization of the common language and writing is the basic strategy for maintaining the unity of the country
Since ancient times, China has attached great importance to the popularization of the common language and writing, and has taken the use of the common language and writing as the basic strategy for governing the country, and has formed a series of effective methods.
When Qin Shi Huang unified the six kingdoms, the first thing was to unify the language and writing. In the Han Dynasty, the lingua franca was a "tongyu" formed on the basis of the original Qin and Jin dialects, and according to Xu Shen's "Order of Explanation of Words", the promotion and use of "tongyu" was raised to the height of law. During the Northern Wei Dynasty, the Xianbei language was called "Northern Language" and Chinese was "Zhengyin". It is stipulated that officials can use Chinese in the upper court. At the imperial court, humble officials over the age of thirty were required to gradually change their language to Chinese, and those under the age of thirty were required to immediately change their language to Chinese. The Yuan Dynasty took the Chinese dialect represented by the capital city (Beijing) as the basic dialect. The Qing Dynasty took the Beijing dialect as the standard tone, and stipulated that people, students, tribute supervisors, and children who were not familiar with official dialects were not allowed to be sent to the test, and the written language and text were read according to the standard tone.
Schools of all types have passed on traditional classical culture in the common language. Confucius was a native of Lu, but he taught in the "Ya dialect" (i.e., the lingua franca). After the establishment of the Sui and Tang Dynasty examination system, the implementation of the national unified examination for various subjects required a unified teaching book; and the unified teaching book needed a unified text and text. Thus came the Five Classics of Justice, from words to explanations, with the standard teaching books of official cultivation. From the beginning of the initial education, schoolchildren learn to recite scriptures and practice calligraphy. The imperial examination systematically guarantees and promotes the popularization and use of the common language and script.
Tracing back to history, the popularization and standardization of common languages and scripts has well adapted to the needs of political and cultural development of all generations, and has played a positive role in promoting social development. In the Yuan Dynasty, northern qu flourished, and excellent yuanqu writers such as Guan Hanqing, Ma Zhiyuan, and Bai Pu appeared. A number of ethnic minority writers such as Yang Ne of the Mongolian nationality, Li Zhifu of the Jurchen ethnic group, Guan Yunshi of the Uyghur ethnic group, and Lan Chufang of the Hui ethnic group have also emerged. They are proficient in and love Chinese, and have created many yuanqu works. At the end of the Song Dynasty and the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty, the Northern Dialect gained a stable basic position, and the influence of the Central Plains Sound gradually increased. Yuanren Zhou Deqing compiled the rhyme book of qu rhymes that the literati at that time used as a reference to, "Zhongyuan Yin Rhyme". The smooth implementation of "Zhongyuan Yinyun" has been widely popularized, and objectively promoted the prosperity and development of Yuanqu and other political and cultural aspects.
The basic component of the national common language is Chinese, and there are also components of other ethnic languages. This has gone through a long process, which is the result of the continuous integration of Han Chinese with other minority languages from ancient times to the present. Historically, China's central government has a common language, such as the Zhou Dynasty "Yayan", the Han Dynasty "Tongyu", the Ming and Qing "Official Dialect", the Republic of China period "Chinese", etc., to understand their popularization history, to today's casting of the Chinese national community consciousness has important guiding value and reference significance.
The use of the national common language is an important representation of the Chinese national community
China is a multi-ethnic, multi-lingual, multi-language country, the realization of cultural identity, the most basic and most important is to promote the national common language. Using the common language and writing of the country as a link will greatly enhance the economic, cultural and social exchanges between different ethnic groups, deepen the feelings between various ethnic groups, and cast a solid sense of the Chinese national community.
Practice has shown that the popularization of the use of the common language of the state has played a major role in the development of the political, economic, cultural, educational, transportation, information technology and other fields in ethnic minority areas. Learning the common language of the country can make it easier to contact the world, understand the world, and better and faster integrate into modern society.
The common region, common economic life and common psychological quality of the Chinese nation are all based on the common language and writing of the country. The common psychological qualities of a nation are often conveyed through language and maintained by language. Without a language that understands, uses, and reflects common emotions, common psychological qualities are difficult to exist.
The common language and writing carry the common culture of the Chinese nation and are the endless genetic lifeblood of Chinese civilization. Cultural identity is the deepest level of identity, the root of national unity and the soul of national harmony. It is urgent and necessary to popularize the common language of the country.
The popularization of the national common language and writing is a basic project to strengthen the consciousness of the Chinese national community
General Secretary Xi Jinping stressed that it is necessary to "comprehensively strengthen the education of the national common language and writing, and continuously improve the scientific and cultural quality of the people of all ethnic groups", providing a fundamental follow-up and action guide for the promotion and popularization of the national common language and writing in the new era. The "Proposal of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Formulating the Fourteenth Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development and the Long-term Goals for the Year 2035" proposes to "improve the quality and level of education in ethnic minority areas and increase the promotion of the national common language." Since the Eighteenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China, in the process of poverty alleviation and building a moderately prosperous society in an all-round way, the Party Central Committee has incorporated the popularization of the national common language into the strategic task of poverty alleviation, and the language poverty alleviation has achieved remarkable results and long-term significance. Strengthening the promotion and use of the national common language is a basic project for forging a solid sense of the Chinese national community.
To do a good job in Inner Mongolia's ethnic work in the new era, it is necessary to strengthen and improve the study of regional conditions and history, the study of language and culture, improve the ideas and measures for promoting exchanges, exchanges, and blending of various nationalities, guide cadres and masses of all nationalities to establish a correct outlook on the motherland, nationality, culture, history, and religion, and consciously practice the concept of watching over each other and helping each other. The education on the consciousness of the Chinese national community will be included in the whole process of national education, cadre education, and social education, and into all policies, regulations, and tasks of ethnic work, and the activities of creating national unity and progress will continue to be promoted, so that the consciousness of the Chinese national community will firmly take root in the hearts of cadres and masses of all ethnic groups. Adjust, improve, and plan to build a number of engineering projects that embody the consciousness of the Chinese national community, have the characteristics of Chinese culture, and highlight the visual image of the Chinese nation, and organically combine respect for the protection and promotion of the excellent culture of all ethnic groups with the inheritance and construction of Chinese culture shared by all ethnic groups. Comprehensively strengthen the education of the national common language and writing as a key and basic work, solidly promote the reform of bilingual teaching, build a harmonious language environment that is unified with unity and pluralism, adhere to the main position of the national common language and writing, and promote the cultural identity of the big family of the Chinese nation and the cause of national unity and progress.
Guangming Daily ( 2021-05-10 08 edition)
Source: Guangming Network