What is the profound meaning behind "Books and Texts"? In the era of the Qin Dynasty, the unification of the written language became an unprecedented feat, and what profound impact did it have on the transmission of government decrees?
This is not only a unification of words, but also a far-reaching historical change. We can't help but ask: was the Qin Dynasty's policy of "writing the same text" a symbol of power rule, or a pragmatic choice to improve the efficiency of the transmission of government decrees?
In the Shang Dynasty, primitive writing appeared in the cradle of Chinese civilization. When merchants perform divination, they will carve symbols on animal bones and tortoise shells, and these symbols are the earliest writing in our country - oracle bone inscription. According to research, the oracle bone inscription originated in the middle of the Shang Dynasty and has a history of more than 3,000 years.
The oracle bone inscription is dominated by ideograms, with different shapes, straight lines, curves, and complex structures. The origin of this written name is because it was originally found in a large number of oracle bones unearthed from the tombs of nobles during the Chengtang period of the Shang Dynasty in Yinxu. The oracle bone inscription also reflects the cultural characteristics of ancient ancestors who speculated on their future and destiny through divination of celestial phenomena.
During the Shang Dynasty in the late Shang Dynasty, with the widespread use of bronzes, people began to write inscriptions on bronzes to record history or sacrificial proof. This kind of **-based writing is called Jinwen. The structure of the Jinwen alphabet is relatively simple and the ideographic is strong, which is an important symbol of the transformation of early Chinese characters from ideograms to phonetic characters.
It can be said that both the mysterious and ancient oracle bone inscriptions and the gold inscriptions engraved on the bronze vessels are important marks of the development of Chinese writing. To a certain extent, they have been able to express information and carry civilization.
In the Zhou Dynasty, as the Central Plains entered the feudal society, the use of writing became more and more extensive. However, the differences between the words are also becoming more and more apparent. Zhou Tianzi tried to unify the text, but ultimately failed.
According to the "Zhou Li", the king of Zhou tried to promote the unification of writing by learning language and becoming familiar with characters and books. Every 7 years, they gather the vassal states** to learn the language, and every 9 years teach them literacy. However, Zhou Tianzi's limited control over the vassal states, coupled with the narrow channels for the transmission of the written word, ultimately made it difficult to achieve the unification of the written language.
During this period, there were many variant characters, and the writing norms of the Zhou Dynasty were not fully implemented. It can be said that the failure of the unification of the text weakened the ruling power of the Zhou Dynasty to a certain extent. At that time, King You of Zhou was keen on pleasure, and the government decree was difficult to mission, and the differentiation of words also reflected from one side that the status of the co-lord of the Zhou Dynasty was not as good as before.
By the Warring States Period, the vassal states were powerful and capable of confronting the Zhou Dynasty. The monarchs of various countries are competitive and competitive, and the phenomenon of writing differentiation is more obvious, and the changes in writing are large, and they are not familiar with each other.
Countries have created their own writing systems to show their strength. The text is elongated, the text lines are increased, and fonts such as birds and insects seal came into being. Words not only carry information, but also become a symbol of power. The state of Chu created the Chu script, which is characterized by bold curves, reflecting the strength of its vast territory.
During this period, the monopoly of writing was still strong, and only a small number of nobles and bureaucrats could master it. Character differentiation directly affects and restricts political, economic, and cultural exchanges. It can be said that the difference in writing has become an obstacle to communication between regions. The hostility of the six countries to each other, and the lack of understanding of the written language, also led to a lack of communication and understanding among the six countries.
At this time, the rise of the Qin state, Qin Wengong became famous all over the world, he hired hundreds of scholars, absorbed advanced culture, and laid the foundation for the future unification of writing and cultural integration in the Qin Dynasty. In the context of the differentiation of the characters of various countries, the Qin State advocated the implementation of "writing with the same text", which was in line with the practical needs of integrating the six countries.
After the Qin Dynasty tried to unify the Six Kingdoms, and after eliminating the Six Kingdoms, he ordered the standardization of writing throughout the country, requiring "books to be written in the same language". This is the first time in the history of our country that the written language has been unified across the country.
According to the "Shuowen Jie Zi", there were eight fonts in the Qin Dynasty, but the actual ones that were promoted were small seals and official scripts. The small seal is created based on the big seal, which is more standardized and concise; Lishu is known for its simple strokes, which is conducive to promotion. These writing reform measures directly promoted the cultural integration of the culturally differentiated countries during the Warring States Period, and were an important part of political unification.
To implement the unification of scripts, the Qin Dynasty intended to replace the scripts of the Six Kingdoms with its own written forms to achieve semantic unity. This opens up the possibility of conveying government decrees and communicating information. Qin Wangzheng himself tried to eliminate the culture of the pre-Qin princes and promote the Legalist culture, and the reform of writing was an important measure for this cultural integration.
After the Qin Dynasty unified China, the territory was vast, and effective rule had to rely on rapid transmission of government decrees. Textual unification laid the foundation for this.
On the basis of the standardization of the written language, officials from all over the country can communicate with each other and understand the semantics, so that the decree can be efficiently communicated and enforced. This directly consolidated the rule of Qin Shi Huang. The county system, which was practiced nationwide, was also implemented because of the common use of the script.
In addition, the unification of the writing system also provides the possibility for the implementation of the national postal system. On the basis of the universal text, the post post was set up, and the government decree could quickly reach all parts of the country through the post post, which greatly improved the transmission efficiency. This played an important role in Qin Shi Huang's tour of the country, allowing him to keep abreast of national movements.
It can be said that the unification of writing provided an important way for the Qin Dynasty to consolidate its rule and convey government decrees. As Sima Qian said in "Historical Records: Taishi Benji": "The book is the same text, and the line is the same track, so that the king can order." "The writing reform made the culture of the pre-Qin princes and hundreds of schools of thought integrated, and also provided the possibility for cultural integration and political rule of the Qin Dynasty.
Behind this literary reform, Qin Shi Huang's political wisdom and cultural accumulation are worthy of appreciation. As the son of Duke Wen of Qin, Qin Shi Huang received a good education from an early age. He is intelligent and studious, well-read and familiar with six Chinese. The importance of mastering words and culture at a young age. During his reign, he vigorously admired Legalist culture, believed in Shen Buxian and Li Si as his teachers, and personally engraved stone praises.
After Qin Shi Huang unified the six kingdoms, he deeply felt the seriousness of the problem of character differentiation. Aware of the political significance of the unification of the written word, he personally planned the reform of the written language. In order to ensure the success of the reform, he also made three trips to the country to inspect the use of folk writing.
As an important adviser to assist Qin Shi Huang in the reform of writing, Li Si was like-minded with Qin Shi Huang. He was born at the end of the Warring States period and was plagued by the problem of character differentiation. When Li Si was a child, he witnessed the theft of his father's jade seal, and he was unable to verify the owner of the seal because of another small Chinese script, so he came up with the idea of unifying the script. He advocated changing the law to become strong, which coincided with Qin Shi Huang.
Under the joint impetus of the two politicians and scholars, this reform of the Chinese script was a complete success and had a profound impact on Chinese history.
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The evolution of writing is both historical and political. The context of Chinese characters from oracle bone inscriptions to small seals reflects the brilliance and splendor of Chinese civilization.
In particular, the Qin Dynasty's writing reform directly promoted the reform of the political system and the unification of the country. It can be said that writing not only records history, but is also the promoter of the historical process. The unification of writing has integrated the originally self-contained culture of the hundred schools of thought, and has also promoted the formation of the Central Plains culture.
Looking back at the evolution of writing, we feel the wisdom of our predecessors in governing the country, and also see the historical coordinates of the Chinese nation's continuous pursuit of civilization and progress. This is where the unique charm of Chinese culture lies, and it is also an important source of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.