Chapter 26 Section 26: Mind and Intellect

Closer to home, is written Chinese a difficult language?My answer is also: both yes and no.I speak written Chinese, and even the advanced classical Chinese I have spoken is not very difficult.Because like spoken Chinese, it is extremely simple.Allow me to take a general example at will and show you how simple written Chinese, and even advanced classical Chinese, can be.The model I used was a four-line poem, taken from Tang poetry, which describes the sacrifices that compelled the Chinese to protect civilization from the savage Huns in the north.The Chinese version of the poem is as follows: (z-55)

Swear to sweep the Huns regardless of their own lives Five thousand sable brocade funeral Hu Chen Poor Wuding Riverside Bone Still a man in a spring girl's dream (35) Word by word translated into English to the effect: Swear sweep the Huns not care themselves, Five thousand embroidery sable perish desert dust; Alas! Wutingriversidebones,StillareSpringchambersdreaminsidemen! A freer English translation of poetry can also look like this: They vowed to sweep the heathen hordes From off their native soil ordie: Five thousand tasseled knights, sable-clad, All dead now on the desert lie.

Alas hewhitebonesthatbleachcold Faroff along the Wuting stream, Still come and go as living men Homesomewhereinthelovedonessdream. Now, if you compare it with my poor clumsy English version, you will see how clear the original Chinese version is in words and forms, and how simple the meaning is.How clear and concise the original Chinese poem is in terms of words, forms and concepts, and how profound the thought is, and how full of emotion it is. In order to get a general idea of ​​this kind of Chinese literature--a work that expresses deep thoughts and feelings in extremely simple language--you have to read the Hebrew Bible.The Hebrew Bible is one of the most profound books in world literature, and its language is clear and simple.For example, let's look at this passage: "How did this faithful city become a whore? Those men who are high above are some hypocritical traitors and associates of robbers; everyone likes to receive gifts and seeks rewards; they do not judge on the one hand. Cases from orphans, and ignore the cases of widows brought to them." There is another passage from the mouth of the same prophet: "I intend to make children their high officials, and rule over them with babies, so that the people will be governed by their The oppression of the old. The child arrogantly opposes the old, and uses the humble to deal with the noble." What kind of picture is this!A picture of a dire country.Have you ever seen a picture like this before?In fact, if you want to have a literature that changes and educates mankind, you have to go to the literature of the Hebrews or the Greeks, or to find it in Chinese literature.But Hebrew and Greek are now obsolete languages.But Chinese is still a vital language, a language that nearly 400 million people still rely on.

Now let me summarize what I want to say about the Chinese language.In a sense, spoken Chinese is as difficult a language as written Chinese.But this difficulty is not rooted in its complexity.Some European languages ​​such as Latin and French are difficult to learn because they are complex and have many rules.Chinese is difficult not because it is complicated, but because it is difficult to understand.Chinese is difficult to learn because it is a language that expresses deep emotions in simple sentences.This is the secret that the Chinese language is so difficult to learn.In fact, as I said elsewhere, Chinese is a language of the soul, a poetic language.This is why in classical Chinese literature, even a simple letter in prose reads like a poem.In order to understand written Chinese, especially what I call highly refined Chinese, you have to be gifted in abundance: your heart and brain, heart and intellect are equally developed. (z-86)

This is also why those who have received a modern European education find Chinese to be particularly difficult to learn.This is because modern European education only focuses on developing a part of man's nature, namely his intelligence.In other words, the reason why Chinese is difficult for a person with a modern European education is that Chinese is very profound; however, the goal of modern European education is more to pursue quantity than quality, so it is easy to cultivate Out of some superficial people.And for those half-educated people, even the vernacular Chinese that I speak, they find it difficult.These semi-educated people may become rich as people say, but if they want to understand classical advanced Chinese, it is as difficult as a camel through a needle, and this is the reason.This is because written Chinese is only used by educated people.In short, the reason why written Chinese is difficult is that it is a language used by people who are really educated, and real education, however, is a very difficult thing.As the Greek proverb goes: "What is beautiful is always difficult."