Fifty-seven Hanyu Pinyin (Part 2)
Kong Yingda nodded continuously: "Master's thoughts are far-reaching, indeed a high scholar, this is indeed a problem. In the past, I had a good friend who hadn't seen each other for over 20 years, and as soon as he opened his mouth, it was Sichuan dialect, and I couldn't understand it at all. Originally, I didn't think it was a problem, but now it seems that it is indeed a problem! However, Sanming, how does the phonetic transcription you mentioned solve this problem? And how is the phonetic transcription written?"
Su Ning picked up the brush and wrote down the initials, finals, and overall reading of the pinyin on the rice paper, handing it to Kong Yingda to read out loud. The distant memories came flooding back - the days when they sat together eating fruit, and the teacher would say "classmates follow along" as she wrote, and the classmates followed suit, writing from scratch until they no longer needed pinyin. These pure memories, these childhood memories...
But now is not the time for sentiment, Suning sorted out his thoughts and said slowly: "This is Pinyin. This special text is a revised version of an extremely ancient script from the far west. Each character has a unique pronunciation and can be combined with each other, which is similar to but more accurate than the two-character cutting tone method we used before."
Moreover, the phonetic notation method of phonetics was used. The combination of various letters has a pronunciation, and the teacher combined four pronunciations based on the actual pronunciation of our Chinese characters, marked above these spellings. For example, this "d" and "a", when combined, is "da". The first tone is pronounced as "da" (as in "build"), the second tone is pronounced as "da" (as in "noble"), the third tone is pronounced as "da" (as in "fight"), and the fourth tone is pronounced as "da" (as in "great"). Teacher, do you think that apart from these four tones, we can't find a fifth one? One spelling with four tones covers many characters, isn't it very convenient?
And you see, with this pronunciation, it can be said that one pinyin sound covers many characters, isn't it very convenient? What do you think? As long as you learn pinyin, through pinyin, you can easily learn this accent. If everyone can communicate with each other in this accent, then there's no need to worry about people from different regions not being able to communicate with each other, and local accents don't have to be abandoned, isn't that great? Moreover, pinyin is easy to recognize and read, compared to recognizing characters while remembering the pronunciation at the same time, isn't it more convenient? In this way, even a three-year-old child, as long as they remember pinyin, as long as there's pinyin, can also read books.
In the future, if this phonetic system is widely promoted throughout the Tang Dynasty, adults may not be able to adapt, but children can. All children will learn phonetics and all of them will be able to speak with this accent. Looking ahead, twenty or thirty years later, this accent will spread throughout the Tang Dynasty along with the promotion of phonetics.
Su Ning said a few sentences in Mandarin that sounded like Martian language at the moment, and also mentioned the benefits that Pinyin and Mandarin pronunciation promotion can bring after popularization. Didn't the later countries basically complete this task within decades? Moreover, with such a small population of Datang now, it's even easier to promote.
Kong Yingda nodded as he listened, being a wise and astute person who valued the importance of phonetics in educating the masses. The two-character reading method was an improvement over previous methods used before the Han Dynasty, but it still relied on recognizing characters, creating a vicious cycle. Moreover, different regional accents made communication inconvenient. This phonetic system, however, carried its own pronunciation, making it easier to learn and internalize through practice.
Kong Yingda was keenly aware that if all children could be taught to read phonetic script and a batch of books with phonetic script were printed, they would be able to recognize characters even at home! Kong Yingda also thought that if the Kong family strongly supported the promotion of this policy, after its success, the status of the Kong family would rise to a higher level, and the Kong family would have an even more transcendent status.
Kong Yingda felt his heart beating thumpingly, and after calming down, he said seriously: "This sound is indeed more regular, and it sounds quite clear and distinct. Sanming, you compile these things into a complete memorial, and I will present it to the Emperor for you. This matter should be done sooner rather than later, and it should be promoted in various schools to educate the people."
Su Ning was taken aback: "So soon? You... accepted?"
Kong Yingda's eyes widened: "How, you are not willing to dedicate this technique that benefits the country and its people, bringing good fortune for generations to come, to His Majesty? I'll tell you! This is your school's ultimate skill, whether or not you offer it is a matter of personal integrity, I have no right to interfere! His Majesty won't force anyone, but if you don't offer it, I will definitely not let you off easily! I will sit in front of your mansion every day and let the whole world see what kind of selfish and self-serving person you are!"
"You should know! This skill that benefits the country and its people, if you offer it to the imperial court and to His Majesty, would be a great achievement! His Majesty and the imperial court will naturally reward you generously. Haven't you just been appointed as the Earl of San Yuan County? Don't you think your title is not enough? If you present this skill, I'll recommend that you be promoted to Marquis of San Yuan County. Think about it, at the age of 14, you can already become a marquis, and your future prospects will certainly be boundless. You won't lose anything, and you can gain fame, wealth, and benefits. Why wouldn't you do it?"
Su Ning was instantly depressed, how could this old guy be so good at taking things out of context? No wonder so many ancient texts were ruined because of punctuation issues, and the emotions were all messed up by these stubborn old conservatives! Enfeoffment? At this time, enfeoffment does not conform to my interests, I still have a lot of things that have not been presented yet! If one thing is presented and I am promoted to a higher rank, even if all the ranks in the Tang Dynasty are given to me, it would not be enough. The high-yielding rice, potatoes, corn, which one is not a good thing that brings blessings to the world? And those good systems I envisioned, each one can shake the Tang Dynasty, if they were all rewarded, the Tang Dynasty would follow my surname Su!
"Teacher, the disciple is not unwilling to offer the phonetic strategy, on the contrary, since the disciple has brought it up, there is no intention of hiding secrets. Why wouldn't we want to spread it to benefit future generations? As for fame and fortune, if the disciple wants to obtain them, isn't it easy? However, some things cannot be done so hastily. The phonetic strategy still needs to be treated with caution. Promoting it in court is one thing, but whether the people can accept it or not is another matter, and how they will accept it is yet another matter. The cost required for this is also enormous. Not to mention other things, just think about paper alone - how much will be wasted?"
The disciples knew that even the cheapest bamboo paper would cost a fortune, not to mention Xuan paper and Huang paper. Every policy push requires thorough preparation, so that everyone can support it instead of opposing it. The master has said before that when the imperial court makes a decision, it's like pulling one hair and moving the whole body. If the imperial court changes its orders frequently, it will damage the imperial court's reputation, making people question the imperial court's ability, and even letting others mock the imperial court!
Practice is the sole criterion for testing truth. Only after practice can we gradually promote it. This strategy of pinyin, if to be promoted, cannot be done in one or two days, but requires years or even decades of time spent, and absolutely must not be rushed! We can now promote it from within the Hongwen Academy, then accumulate some experience, and then promote it externally. Chang'an is where the people of the Great Tang culture gather, if Chang'an promotes successfully, this strategy will have succeeded halfway."
Kong Yingda was suddenly startled, and Su Ning's words just now had stirred up his desire to recreate his past glories. However, he realized that he was being a bit too hasty, which wasn't a good thing, as it would affect the proper implementation of many things. Kong Yingda took a deep breath, nodded, and said: "I was indeed a bit too hasty, I didn't think it through thoroughly, you're right, this is my mistake. It's not easy for you to think of these things, but please write out a plan, I will follow it and put it into practice. If it works, we can naturally continue to promote it."
Then, Kong Yingda asked all the students to hand over their rice paper and put it on Suning's desk. He asked Suning to write a chapter and introduce what pinyin is in detail. Then he ordered that Suning could skip class and didn't have to follow the normal teaching procedure. If he wanted to listen, he could; if not, he could study by himself. The only thing was that unless there were special circumstances requiring leave, he still had to come to school every day...
Looking at the forty sheets of Xuan paper, Suning rolled her eyes and said that she couldn't rush into it. What's this if not rushing into it? Do you want me to write it out in public? Maybe by the time I finish writing, it will already be in Li Erba's hands! Maybe after a few days, Li Erba will summon Suning to the palace for questioning and then "torture" Suning until she writes something else. He'll try to persuade her with benefits and tempt her with beauty, and then Suning will confess everything. Then Li Erba will start his absurd dream of becoming an emperor for all eternity!
Emperor Taizong of Tang is absolutely not a man who can be at peace, this point Su Ning is certain. Although he is extremely capable, even the most heaven-defying person still has weaknesses. Emperor Taizong's greatest weakness is actually his love for grandeur and showiness. In the early years of Zhenguan, it was possible to suppress it, but as the emperor grew older, some annoying and muddle-headed emotions inevitably arose. For example, in the tenth year of Zhenguan, Wei Zheng wrote a memorial pointing out that Emperor Taizong "gradually hated straightforward words", this is clear evidence. However, Emperor Taizong was still relatively wise, unlike Li Longji, who was an extreme extremist!
We need to hand over some of what we have to Emperor Li, but we can't let him take everything at once. Otherwise, it will inevitably lead to a big mess! The Tang Dynasty has just stabilized and needs time to recover and heal the wounds of its people, who cannot withstand the repeated turmoil caused by this nine-headed dragon.
