"Mr. Fang, please enlighten me." Ceng Yuan no longer had the vigor he had when he was arguing with Fang Yun.
Fang Yundao said, "Everything has a core. When ordinary people buy houses, their core needs are different. Some want to buy a house surrounded by trees, some want to buy a house in the center of the city, some want to buy a cheap house, and some want to rent a shop on the street. For example, the core of a spear is to kill, the core of a shield is to protect, and so on. Then, what do you think is the core of writing? "
Ceng Yuan's vigor had been dampened by Fang Yun's words. He hesitated for a long time before saying, "My understanding of the core might be different from yours. In my opinion, the most important thing about writing is to express meaning. "
Fang Yun nodded and said, "You are right. But to put it in a more comprehensive way, the core of writing is a tool. The human race had language first, and then they had writing. Language itself is a tool, the most basic tool for communication. Writing is also a tool that carries information and allows us to communicate accurately. But writing is not only a tool, but also artistic. For example, calligraphy masters can display the beauty of writing. However, artistry is only a secondary characteristic of writing. It is far from the core. Do you understand? "
"I understand." Ceng Yuan said.
"The development of human writing has always been to strengthen its tool. For example, the Zhong Ding Script is very simple. But because it is too simple, it cannot carry effective information. Therefore, humans kept on complicating it and created the Da Zhuan script. In the Qin Dynasty, to make it easier for humans to learn writing and to make it more practical, the Qin Emperor and Li Si simplified the Da Zhuan script and created the Xiao Zhuan script. After that, humans continued to strengthen the Xiao Zhuan script, but it was inconvenient to write and the characters were complicated. Therefore, they created the easier Li script. It is difficult to investigate the origin of Li script, but there is one thing recorded in history. The ones who really promoted Li script were the officials who often used writing. They had to write a lot of words every day, so they knew the pros and cons of the two scripts. "
"After Xiao Zhuan was replaced by Li script, did it completely disappear? Did humans create Li script to destroy Xiao Zhuan script? No. This was the uniqueness of Chinese writing. Not only was it a tool, but it was also artistic. Although Xiaozhuan was an obsolete tool, the characters were beautiful and were deeply loved by calligraphers. Thus, the core of Xiaozhuan changed from being a tool to being artistic. It was more suitable for calligraphy works or seals than for communicating information. Therefore, instead of saying that the current Xiaozhuan is a tool for carrying information, it's better to say that it's a tool for carrying beauty. There's no need for the general public to grasp it. Only those who like calligraphy and seals need to grasp it. "
"Only by knowing what to give up, what to change, and what to accept can one improve. Living beings who remain stagnant will definitely be eliminated by the myriad worlds. The change in position of the master of the myriad worlds is the best example."
"This student understands," Ceng Yuan said.
Fang Yun continued, "Why was the clerical script replaced by the regular script? It was widely accepted that there were flaws in the writing of clerical script. The strokes lacked coherence, which affected the smoothness of the writing. This was fatal to a script that was meant to be used as a tool. Therefore, regular script with more reasonable strokes replaced it. What's more, there are also flaws in the art of clerical script. The structure of the characters is too simple, while regular script is more square and more in line with the aesthetics and ideals of the human race. "
"Xiaozhuan is inconvenient, so the human race gradually leaned towards clerical script. Clerical script is inconvenient, so the human race gradually leaned towards regular script. But now, there's an irreversible trend in the Saint Origin World. The human race's clerks and scribes have begun to use the clerical script that originated from calligraphy or created by their predecessors. There's no other reason. Many of the clerical script have the advantages of the regular script, but they're simpler and easier to write. This can often double the efficiency of the clerks and scribes! I only have one question. Now that the human race is in danger, in order to spread information faster, do you think it's more reasonable to use the complicated regular script or the simple clerical script? "
Ceng Yuan smiled helplessly and said, "I do prefer the regular script, but since the times require it, the clerical script is naturally more reasonable. Although I'm stubborn, I'm not an idiot."
"The greatest advantage of the clerical script isn't that it's easier to write. The greatest advantage of the clerical script is that it's easier to learn!"
Fang Yun's tone was very calm, but Ceng Yuan was stunned for a moment. Then, a slight change appeared on his face.
Fang Yun smiled and said, "It seems like you already understand why I compared you to Lu Zhan. A person's ability is limited, their time is limited, and their energy is limited. Let me use Lu Zhan as an example. Lu Zhan's body and brain are not as good as yours. His learning time is not as good as yours, and his energy is not as good as yours. To put it in a more direct way, Lu Zhan studied a large number of poems and essays. By the time his knowledge of the regular script reached five thousand, it would take him at least five years. But you, at most, would have studied for three years before your knowledge of the regular script reached five thousand. In other words, the difference between the two of you is two years in the first stage. There's no problem with this, right? "
Ceng Yuan nodded lightly.
"However, the clerical script is different. The strokes of the clerical script are simple, easy to remember, and easy to write. This greatly reduces the learning time. If Lu Zhan had been studying the clerical script, I'm afraid only four years would have passed by the time his knowledge of the clerical script reached five thousand. But for you, is there a difference between the clerical script and the regular script? "
Ceng Yuan said, "There's indeed no difference. Let me give you a simple example. Lu Zhan would need three days to completely memorize a hundred regular script. He would need two days to completely memorize a hundred clerical script. If a person with a photographic memory were to memorize a hundred regular script, he would only need a hundred breaths of time to memorize a word in a breath. Similarly, if he were to memorize a hundred clerical script, he would also need a breath to memorize a word in a hundred breaths of time. By changing from the regular script to the clerical script, the difference between Lu Zhan and a person with a photographic memory would be significantly reduced. "
Fang Yun nodded and said, "The clerical script is easier to write and remember than the regular script. At the same time, it's also easier to recognize and faster to read. When a person's brain is trying to distinguish words, it takes a lot of energy. The simpler the word, the less energy it takes. The more complex the word, the more energy it takes. The difference between a regular script and a clerical script is very small. But after a person's life, the accumulation of these differences will be very large. "
Ceng Yuan continued to nod.
"You also know that as long as a human studies, even if they don't have talent, even if they don't have a literary position, after death, they will still release energy from their studies. This will make the origin energy in Saint Origin World thicker, and allow the Notre-Dame to have more talent. This will make it easier for future scholars to grasp talent. After death, the talent and power that dissipate will not increase because of knowing vulgar characters or orthodox characters, but it will increase because of the more knowledge one has. "
Ceng Yuan nodded again.
"Then, if a person learns to use the clerical script, the learning time will be shorter, the writing speed will be faster, and the reading speed will be faster. The knowledge gained will naturally be more than using the regular script. In the end, the contribution to the human race will be greater. Most of the clerical script will not break away from the regular script. It will only make the regular script easier to use, and the core of the script will be stronger. Then, why don't we continue to use the regular script instead of the regular script? "
(To be continued.)
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