Looking back, why did Mr. Lu Xun say that "if Chinese characters do not perish, China will perish"?
In his profound exposition by contemporary scholar Xiao Qihong, he emphasized the vital importance of Chinese characters in the historical inheritance of the Chinese nation, and regarded them as the root of Chinese culture, the foundation of national unity, and the god of the people's life. Since Qin Shi Huang unified the Six Kingdoms, Chinese characters have become the core of the historical and cultural inheritance of the Chinese nation, which not only carries the crystallization of the wisdom of the ancestors, but also is the key pillar of the national historical inheritance and the continuation of civilization.
The existence of Chinese characters is not only the cornerstone of culture, but also a symbol of the thousand-year-old tradition of the Chinese nation. Without Chinese characters, the historical inheritance of the Chinese nation will be difficult to sustain; Without Chinese characters, China would also lose its unique identity as an ancient civilization.
During the New Culture Movement, some people with lofty ideals, such as Qian Xuantong, a professor at Beijing Normal University, and Lu Xun, a literary giant, put forward the idea of abolishing Chinese characters, advocating that this move should be used to save the country and the people. Mr. Lu Xun once said: "If Chinese characters do not perish, China will perish."
This proposition may seem bizarre. Chinese characters are the soul of culture, how can there be a literary master Lu Xun who supports its abolition?
Mr. Lu Xun, as an outstanding writer of the first period, is well-known for his attainments in philology and the study of Chinese characters. Surprisingly, he later put forward radical ideas for the abolition of Chinese characters and the Latinization of scripts. This view was first embodied in the article "Chinese Characters and Latinization" in 1934, in which Mr. Lu Xun made it clear that if he wanted to choose between Chinese characters and the Chinese people, then he should abandon Chinese characters for the benefit of the Chinese people.
In the article "About New Characters" at the end of 1934, Mr. Lu Xun bluntly compared Chinese characters to the tools of ancient kings to implement the best policies, believing that Chinese characters are like tuberculosis in the toiling masses and need to be cut off to save the country and the people. This clear proposition is a response to the profound problems of Chinese characters, and it also reflects Mr. Lu Xun's urgent desire for the changes of the times.
In 1936, the Japanese invaders occupied the three northeastern provinces of China, and the invasion spread to North China. Mr. Lu Xun expressed his stance at this moment, firmly advocating that "if Chinese characters do not perish, China will perish". This statement can be understood as his urgent call for a literary revolution in the face of a national crisis. In the tide of revolution, Mr. Lu Xun may have thought that the abolition of Chinese characters was a means to promote social change, to get rid of the shackles of feudal culture and realize the self-rejuvenation of the country.
These remarks by Mr. Lu Xun are not only a profound insight into the situation of the times, but also an introspection and criticism of Chinese society and culture. His radical rhetoric may have been to draw attention to society and provoke people to think about cultural change. Although Mr. Lu Xun advocated the abolition of Chinese characters, he devoted his life to enlightening the people's minds and promoting social progress. In his literary creations and social activities, he embodies his thinking about traditional Chinese culture and his pursuit of modernization.
A closer look at the time when Mr. Lu Xun endorsed the abolition of Chinese characters shows that this proposition was a period of a nationwide New Culture Movement. Not only that, Mr. Lu Xun was not the first to propose the abolition of Chinese characters, as early as 1907, Wu Zhihui openly advocated the abolition of Chinese characters in the "New Century" and advocated the promotion of Esperanto. Subsequently, after the Xinhai Revolution, although China made some progress, there was still a huge gap between China and the Western countries. In this context, Qian Xuantong, a professor at Beijing Normal University, also put forward the idea of abolishing Chinese characters, advocating the abolition of classical Chinese and actively promoting vernacular Chinese.
Influenced by the New Culture Movement, and Mr. Lu Xun witnessed the impact of the Japanese invaders on Chinese society, he began to strongly criticize Chinese characters. Mr. Lu Xun believes that because Chinese characters are too complex and difficult to learn, the vast majority of laboring people cannot learn Chinese characters, resulting in most people in China always being on the edge of culture. This means that the Chinese are unable to open up wisdom and deeply understand the biggest crisis facing the country.
In this context, Mr. Lu Xun strongly supported the idea of abolishing Chinese characters and put forward the idea of "Latinization of characters". This means replacing Chinese characters with a Latin script that resembles the phonetic alphabet, in order to make the text easier to learn and more people to have access to and grasp the text. Therefore, Mr. Lu Xun's proposition is not to abandon the written word, but to promote social change by reforming the written form, so that more people can participate in the inheritance and development of culture.
Although Qian Xuantong and Mr. Lu Xun's ideas for the abolition of Chinese characters both emphasize the abolition of classical Chinese and the promotion of vernacular Chinese, there are obvious differences in substance. Qian Xuantong's ideas were more inclined to improve the Chinese character system, and the main goal was to abolish some cumbersome classical Chinese expressions and promote the popularization of vernacular Chinese. He emphasized the internal reform of the Chinese character system, making the script closer to the people and easier to understand, rather than completely abandoning Chinese characters.
In contrast, Lu Xun's proposal for the abolition of Chinese characters was more radical, including not only the abolition of classical Chinese and traditional Chinese characters, but also the Latinization of scripts, that is, the replacement of Chinese characters with pinyin letters. This approach meant completely abandoning the traditional Chinese character system and adopting foreign alphabet expressions. Mr. Lu Xun believes that this is an urgent means to enable the toiling masses to contact and understand the written text more quickly by learning the phonetic alphabet, so as to cope with the crisis facing the country.
From a modern point of view, many people may find Mr. Lu Xun's radical ideas too radical and undesirable. As the foundation of Chinese culture, Chinese characters are a precious heritage left over thousands of years, and their complete abolition may lead to cultural rupture and loss of historical roots. Nowadays, we are more inclined to make some improvements and modern adjustments while retaining Chinese characters, so that they are more suitable for the needs of contemporary society.
On the whole, although both Mr. Lu Xun and Qian Xuantong put forward the idea of abolishing Chinese characters, there are great differences between the concepts and practical plans of the two. In my personal opinion, it is more appropriate and desirable to make moderate improvements while retaining Chinese characters to make them more in line with the needs of modern society. In this way, we can not only inherit the cultural traditions of the Chinese nation, but also adapt to the development and changes of society.
In 1956, the implementation of the "Chinese Character Simplification Scheme" marked a historic change in Chinese characters. Through the simplification of Chinese characters, cultural inheritance has become more efficient, and the introduction of the "Hanyu Pinyin Scheme" has also provided a more scientific tool for learning Chinese characters. The successful practice of this series of reforms proves that the modernization and improvement of Chinese characters can promote the development of civilization and improve the cultural literacy of the country as a whole.
Mr. Lu Xun advocated the abolition of Chinese characters and the Latinization of characters, which may have been motivated by deep concerns about social problems in the context of the time. The implementation of the Chinese character simplification scheme and the introduction of the pinyin scheme have provided a more practical and effective way to solve the problems of cumbersome and illiteracy caused by Chinese characters. This successful experience reflects that while retaining Chinese characters, we can better meet the needs of social development through reasonable reforms.
The implementation of the Chinese character simplification scheme has made the script more versatile, easy to understand, and more in line with the rhythm of modern society. This reform not only increased the illiteracy rate, but also promoted cultural exchange and dissemination in the country. Through moderate improvement, Chinese culture can be better integrated into the international community and promote the spread of Chinese civilization around the world.
In today's globalized context, the exchange of language and writing has become more and more important. Preserving and appropriately reforming Chinese characters to make them more relevant to the needs of modern society will not only help promote Chinese culture, but also provide a foundation for China to better participate in international exchanges. Therefore, Mr. Lu Xun's concern may have been justified at the time, but through the rational reform of Chinese characters, modern China has shown its unique civilization charm and better met the needs of the times.
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