Chapter 33: Unification of Script and Language

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Li Nian nodded. “His Majesty is wise indeed! But to establish education properly, we need not only suitable content, but also suitable tools—tools that allow people to study conveniently and learn quickly.”

“At present, words are recorded on bamboo slips, which makes them wholly unsuitable for teaching throughout Great Qin. A single bundle of bamboo slips contains little information, yet is heavy and difficult to carry.”

“From the sound of that, you intend for everyone in Great Qin to learn to read, study, and receive an education?”

It made sense. Li Nian came from later ages, when everyone could read and write, and everyone knew history. To him, universal literacy and knowledge of history were as natural as eating and drinking each day.

Ying Zheng considered this and asked, “Do you intend to replace bamboo slips with this ‘paper’ you mentioned?”

“Precisely. In the history of my homeland, the number of people able to read and study gradually increased because of the invention of paper and printing.”

“Paper bears the written word, while printing places those words onto paper. Together, the two solved the problem of recording and disseminating written knowledge.”

“A book of this size can contain as many words as would require an entire cartload of bamboo slips.”

Li Nian indicated the approximate size with his hands, leaving Ying Zheng and Meng Yi astonished. Something so small could actually equal a whole cartload of bamboo slips.

The five carts in the idiom ‘learned enough to fill five carts’ referred to five carts of bamboo slips.

Of course, the five carts were figurative, indicating that Huizi was immensely learned. But if one truly counted five carts of bamboo slips, they would amount to no more than several dozen modern books.

“If books made of paper can truly hold that many words, it is no wonder that everyone in later ages can read.”

Ying Zheng could naturally see the enormous advantages of books over bamboo slips.

“Besides changing the tools used to record and disseminate written words, the writing itself must also be changed. Forgive my bluntness, but the script of Great Qin is truly too difficult to write.”

“As a tool for conveying information, writing should, in my view, be concise and clear above all else. It should be simple, easy to understand, and easy to learn, while still conveying meaning accurately.”

Ying Zheng asked, “How do you propose to change it? Do you wish to imitate the script of later ages?”

That was exactly what Li Nian had in mind. “I do. The script I learned in later ages also evolved from the script of Great Qin. It has already been tested in practice and is much easier to learn. I see no reason why the script of Great Qin cannot be changed into that of later ages.”

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Ying Zheng neither agreed nor refused. Instead, he said, “Once the paper has been produced, transcribe an article in the script of later ages and present it to me. Use Li Si’s Memorial Against the Expulsion of Foreign Guests.”

Li Nian understood that Ying Zheng wanted to inspect the finished product before making a decision. He replied, “I shall obey, Your Majesty,” then continued, “Not only must the script be changed; the language of Great Qin must also undergo some alteration.”

Ying Zheng asked, “Should it too be changed according to the ways of later ages?”

This time, Li Nian shook his head. “That is unnecessary. We must adapt to the time and place. The things of later ages are not necessarily superior to those of Great Qin, nor are they necessarily suited to Great Qin.”

Hearing Li Nian say that the things of later ages were not necessarily superior to those of Great Qin, Ying Zheng was quite pleased.

“So Great Qin is not inferior to later ages in every respect.”

“The written script can be changed into that of later ages. First, very few people are literate at present, so even if the script is altered, the impact will not be great. Second, the script of later ages also evolved from the present one. After the change, people will not find it difficult to accept.”

“But the language of later ages differs from that of Great Qin, and from the languages of the other six states as well. If we forcibly impose the language of later ages, it would be no different from making the people of the realm learn to speak all over again.”

Li Nian would have liked everyone in Great Qin to speak the common tongue, but the truth was that this would be exceedingly difficult. Even in later ages, the spread of the common tongue had taken many years, let alone in Great Qin of the present day.

To disregard Great Qin’s actual circumstances and offer reckless advice would only produce the opposite result.

After Li Nian explained this, Ying Zheng nodded inwardly. Li Nian had not simply assumed that everything from later ages was better and tried to transplant it wholesale into Great Qin. He had clearly given the matter serious thought.

“Do you intend to use the refined speech?”

This era also possessed a common language known as Refined Speech. Without a common tongue, how could the rulers of the various states communicate with one another? How could talented people from other states enter Qin service? Were they expected to bring an interpreter whenever they entered court to meet the king?

Yet Refined Speech circulated only among the elite. Ordinary people did not know it at all and continued to speak their local dialects.

Li Nian was using Refined Speech himself while speaking with Ying Zheng. He said, “Refined Speech would suffice. The change I propose does not concern how people speak, but the clear establishment of one language as the common tongue of the realm. Whether Qin people or subjects of the six former states, whether kings, nobles, and ministers or farmers and common laborers, all must learn this language. It must be spread throughout the realm.”

“Refined Speech once circulated only among feudal lords and aristocrats. My meaning is that it must not remain confined to the nobility. Merchants, peddlers, and common laborers must learn it as well.”

Li Nian intended to add one more measure to the First Emperor’s program of unifying the realm: unified tracks, unified writing, unified customs, unified territory, unified weights and measures, and unified currency—unified speech. Regardless of which state one had once belonged to, everyone would henceforth speak the same language.

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Ying Zheng understood Li Nian’s intention, and his expression grew serious. If this could be accomplished, it would greatly benefit Great Qin.

The inability to understand one another was the greatest barrier between people. Once language was shared, many problems could be solved. Without a common language, communication itself was impossible.

“To become a language shared by everyone under Heaven, it must be easy to learn. When I studied languages in later ages, there was a method of phonetic notation that enabled me to master them quickly.”

“This method is simple. The pronunciation of a word is divided into an initial consonant, a medial, a final, and a tone. Once one masters the underlying rules and has a dictionary, one can learn the pronunciation of every written word under Heaven.”

As he spoke, Li Nian offered an example. “Take the word Qin. Its initial could be represented by ‘q,’ its final by ‘in,’ and its tone would be the second rising tone. Pronounced together, they produce ‘Qin.’”

The sounds “q” and “in” were pronounced by Li Nian according to the pronunciation of the character in the language of that era, rather than according to the pronunciation used in later ages.

This was merely an example intended to convey the idea. After all, the author was not familiar with Refined Speech.

Ying Zheng and Meng Yi were both men of extraordinary intelligence in their time, and they grasped Li Nian’s meaning with ease. The two of them were deeply astonished.

By Li Nian’s method, learning to read did indeed seem far from difficult. The prerequisite, however, was that every written word in the realm be assigned this so-called phonetic notation.

Li Nian said, “The difficulty lies in providing pronunciations for every word. We would need to compile a dictionary containing all written words.”

“A dictionary is a book that collects written words and records their pronunciations and meanings. Compiling one would be no small undertaking. It would be best to summon learned scholars from across the realm and have them compile it together.”

Ying Zheng declared boldly, “So long as it benefits Great Qin, I fear neither a thousand hardships nor ten thousand dangers! But the dictionary can only be compiled after the paper has been made, can it not?”

To record all the written words of the realm and provide each one with its pronunciation and meaning would require several cartloads of bamboo slips. Only that so-called paper would be truly suitable.

Li Nian said, “Exactly! If the dictionary were made with bamboo slips, it would require an enormous quantity. It would not only be inconvenient to carry, but also difficult to consult. One of a dictionary’s greatest uses is that, whenever one encounters an unfamiliar word, one can look it up.”

Ying Zheng immediately understood when he imagined trying to find a single unfamiliar word among a cartload of bamboo slips.

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