Chapter 19 postscript

Two or three years ago, an old friend urged me to write a small book about classical Chinese and vernacular.Because these two names are familiar to people who are related to reading and writing, but there seem to be many problems in terms of content and relationship; Both research and use are somewhat useful.I agreed, not because I was confident that I could solve the problem, but because I thought about it and felt at a loss as to what the problem was, whether it could be solved, and how to solve it.I have never left classical Chinese and vernacular for most of my life, and I always regret that I can't tell the eyebrows clearly.So, with the desire to distinguish my eyebrows, I decided to write this book.

At that time, I had other work on hand, so I delayed it for two years. It was not until the end of last year that I drew up an outline and wrote it by hand.Encountered a lot of problems, or quite a lot of difficulties.It took about half a year and I barely finished the volume.It is natural to write badly.But there is gain, from the original deja vu to the eye-catching eyes.Naturally, the result of staring may not necessarily be recognition, but something is always seen.What, there are live broadcasts, there are problems.The real situation is seen through my glasses. The problems, seeing, and trying to solve them are all out of my own opinion, so they may be wrong.The fault is that this road is blocked.From my experience, it is also a kind of gain if the road is blocked, because it can tell people that there is a "road" or "problem" where the "blocked" is, and they should pay attention to it.

Knowing the way is a luxury.Anyone who writes a book can't help but have extravagant expectations, let's talk about extravagant expectations here.The main one is to introduce the real situation, which is to regard classical Chinese and vernacular as goods, take them out, put classical Chinese on this shelf, and put vernacular on that shelf, let customers see it clearly, and then the merit and virtue will be completed.Naturally, the question of what to take out from the pile, what to take, what not to take, where to put it on the shelf, and where to put it are not simple, and all may be wrong.But after all, if you take it and place it, it will be of some use: large ones, such as people engaged in Chinese research, can use it to know where there is a problem and what kind of problem it is; small ones, such as a Chinese teacher, can teach classical Chinese and Vernacular is a major. If a student asks what is classical Chinese and what is vernacular, you can use this to talk about how classical Chinese is and how vernacular is, because this book provides a possible explanation, although it may not be the correct one.

There is also an incidental kind, which is to learn from the past and know the future.Theoretically, everyone cannot do without Chinese, but in fact (for now), many people cannot do without Chinese.In Chinese, we write, use vernacular, and read. Many people use vernacular plus classical Chinese.How to write and how to read seems to have a clear understanding of classical Chinese and vernacular.In such places, this book occasionally makes some critical remarks, such as the achievements of the vernacular in the 1930s, and writing now, it should not be deliberately "outrageous".What you see may not be all right, but self-confidence is to ask some questions, which deserve the attention of those who often hold a pen.

Finally, I would like to thank that old friend, without his instigation, I would not have bothered in this regard. Zhang Zhongxing July 1986