|
The Profound Chinese Language (Episode 1): Cangjie's Tears
By Da Qiong (Great Universe) Culture Preservation Work Group (Clearwisdom.net) An opening poem: When the sky above the yellow earth was dark and the universe was barren, Narrator: Once upon a time, the deities held a grand banquet on top of Mount
Hua in China. The banquet was held only once every hundred years, and deities
came from everywhere to enjoy the banquet. On the other side of Mount Hua,
Cangjie and his student, Wentong, were enjoying a cool breeze sitting under a
divine tree. (After a while...) Wentong: Teacher, I heard you are the one who invented the Chinese
characters! Cangjie: I would not dare to say so. Actually I brought the characters from
heaven down to China. The Chinese characters have profound and intricate
meanings. Because they carry very profound meanings, they serve as an excellent
vehicle to spread and preserve the Chinese culture. Wentong: The Chinese characters are truly something! By the way, Teacher,
there is a divine banquet on Mount Hua today. Are you or are you not going to
attend the banquet? Cangjie: I prefer to stay here for a little while. You go ahead without me.
If there is something special going on, come back and tell me about it. Narrator: Thus Wentong went to the banquet alone. There, many deities were
enjoying the lively party. Immortals greeted and chatted with one other. After a
while, an immortal handed his name card to Wentong. Wentong looked at it and
asked him curiously, Wentong: Immortal, you have such a special name. Immortal: Ha, Ha... Did you mean it's a remarkable name? Wentong: Oh, no. It's just so odd. Immortal: How come? Wentong: See? It says, "The Weird One of the North." Immortal: Oh, you have made a mistake! It says, "The Sage of the
North.") Wentong: But it still looks like the word "weird" no matter how I
look at it. Immortal: You are probably not familiar with these simplified Chinese
characters that are becoming popular in the human world now. Narrator: Wentong looked very confused. He brought the name card back to his
teacher. Cangjie looked at the characters on the card. He could identify some of
the mutated Chinese characters, but some of the Chinese characters have been so
completely changed that he could not make out what they were supposed to be.
Cangjie became very upset. Wentong: Teacher, the characters on the card may look strange, but they are
simpler in form. It should be easier to write. Oh, I like it. (As Wentong was grinning, Cangjie hit him on the head.) Cangjie: Forget about convenience or speed. There is a Chinese saying,
"Haste makes waste." Every stroke in a Chinese character carries a
special meaning. When you change a Chinese character's form, you will alter its
meaning. The consequences will be very severe. We absolutely must not modify or
damage the Chinese characters' forms at will only to make it easier to write
them. Wentong: Oh, I see. Cangjie: Wentong, I think we must descend to the human realm and assess the
damage to the Chinese characters in the human world. Narrator: So they rode on the breeze and descended to earth. They arrived in
China. They traveled all over China and went through all the major streets and
small alleys. What they saw everywhere was the simplified Chinese.
Cangjie couldn't hold back his tears upon seeing the Chinese characters he had
worked so hard to teach the ancient Chinese people in the old days being ruined. (Suddenly, Wentong thought of something.) Wentong: Teacher, Confucius once said, "If the Tao goes bad, I'd rather
live on the sea." Why don't we go to the other side of the sea? Cangjie: Hmm, Okay. Narrator: So they rode on the cool breeze towards the other side of sea.
Before long, Wentong exclaimed with joy: Wentong: Teacher, look! There is a piece of banana leaf on the sea. Cangjie: That's not a piece of banana leaf. It's an island called Formosa,
the other name for Taiwan. I heard that the traditional Chinese culture and arts
are flourishing there. Wentong: Let's go take a look. Maybe this is the place we are looking for. Narrator: Cangjie and Wentong went to the island. Cangjie: I hear someone reciting aloud. Let's go take a look! Narrator: Cangjie and Wentong came to a grand building. On the gate it said,
"Minghui School." In a classroom, a schoolteacher was having a
discussion with the class on the Chinese characters. Cangjie and Wentong
listened carefully outside the window. (On the blackboard the schoolteacher wrote, "A sage values kindness and
loyalty.") Student: Teacher! Some characters have so many strokes. It's a chore to
practice writing them. Teacher: Every stroke of a Chinese character has its origin. Sometimes, a
character may be a challenge to write at first; however, if you know its meaning
based on its word root, you will never forget it once you learn it. Teacher: Let's take the character "sage" as an example. The top
portion is made of two word roots: ear and mouth. It means that a sage must be
able to listen wisely to be able to distinguish right from wrong and that he
must also be eloquent so he can spread the Tao and address his students'
questions. Only when a person is able to attain these virtuous qualities, will
he qualify to be a sage. If you alter or omit any of these strokes for
convenience, this person would probably not be able to listen or speak wisely.
Then he cannot be called a sage. As Cangjie was listening to the schoolteacher's lecture outside the window,
he kept nodding his head and felt immensely grateful to witness that the Chinese
characters are being preserved and passed down to the next generations in
Taiwan. Once again, he was moved to tears. First published in English at http://www.pureinsight.org/pi/articles/2006/1/2/3640.html |