Literary Master 1983

Chapter 354 King Wu Ding of Shang
There are three major pictographic writing systems in the world: the "Holy Book" of Basetta, Egypt; Sumerian script from Mesopotamia; and the oracle bone script that we see today.

Today, modern Chinese characters can no longer be called pictographic, but there are still many characters that show similarities to oracle bone script.

For simpler characters like “日”, “戈”, and “田”, the historical evolution is quite straightforward.

Even a foreign professor could roughly guess what it meant based on intuition.

When introducing these characters, Yu Qie said, "I believe that our ancestors, when they came to this day, also knew some characters, and vice versa."

A professor from the University of Washington tactfully remarked, "Isn't this like your literature? Long-standing and passed down to this day."

He said this because he knew Yu Qie was a writer.

Yu Qie replied, “That’s a good analogy. It reminds me of the purpose of writing. At first, it was just a tool. Merchants used it to record history or to conduct divination. They listened to the voice of the gods.”

"But hearing only the voice of the gods is not enough, so poetry was created specifically to express personal feelings."

"The Ballad of the Bow?" the professor from the University of Washington said.

Yu Qie didn't know anything about this, and he honestly said, "Please enlighten me."

The professor from the University of Washington began by introducing himself: "My Chinese name is Siliyi, and I was originally a priest. In the 1930s, I was a missionary in northern China, where I became interested in the local customs and gradually became a scholar of oracle bone script."

Siliyi is a well-known figure in the oracle bone script community.

Yu Qie knew this person, but he didn't recognize what he looked like.

This person did not write many works, but they were extremely important, and he is considered the foremost scholar of oracle bone inscriptions in the West. In 74, he wrote "A Study of the Language of Oracle Bone Inscriptions of the Shang Dynasty," which was considered a masterpiece in the Western academic world, and he also created the "Standard of Etiquette"—he believed that oracle bone inscriptions had emotional usage.

What is modal usage?

Simply put, the questions asked by merchants during divination were not directed at the gods, but rather expressions of their personal emotions.

This may seem useless, but it is not. At the Hangzhou Conference in late 84, Yu Qie used the story of the beautiful Su writer Enhe Duanna creating the word "I" to inspire other writers to write novels with human touch.

Many people present were surprised. Hu Houxuan stepped forward and said, "So it's Professor Si! Welcome to Anyang."

Siliyi laughed and said, "People generally think that the earliest Chinese poetry is the Book of Songs, but that's not true. That's a collection of poems. There is a poem called 'The Ballad of the Bow' in the Spring and Autumn Annals of Wu and Yue. It only has eight characters in total. It is said to have been passed down from ancient times. I think it may be traced back to the primitive society, such as the Stone Age."

Yu Qie was unaware, but Hu Houxuan, who was present, did know, and he recited those eight words on the spot.

“Break bamboo, join bamboo. Fly soil, chase away the worms (rou, fourth tone).”

Zhou Gucheng explained for him: "This poem has been studied by literary scholars throughout history, and some even believe it dates back to the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors period. I think it is partially credible, but unfortunately, I have not been able to find any evidence."

Hu Houxuan continued, "Cut down the bamboo and make hunting tools. Attach mud pellets to the bow and fire them. Once they hit their target, they run towards the prey. Yu Qie, can you analyze what makes this poem so apt?"

After a moment's thought, Yu Qie summarized: "These eight characters describe the entire process from making tools to hunting. The poem unconsciously contains 'omissions,' lacking a subject and omitting minor processes between scenes."

“Each sentence begins with a verb, which allows the reader to fill in the gaps in the secondary scene through association. The two-word pauses create a rhythmic effect.”

Yu Qie held up four fingers: "Four sentences, four characteristics."

Siliyi said, "If I could do the same analysis as you when writing papers, I think my academic output wouldn't be so low. I lack the infectiousness of a writer."

Everyone laughed when they heard this.

Who says foreigners are clueless about social etiquette?

This foreigner has really high emotional intelligence; no wonder he can become a professor.

Those who were initially dissatisfied with Yu Qie but ultimately did not stand up for him couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat and secretly felt fortunate.
-
In the following days, as Hu Houxuan had suggested, everyone made some contribution.

Needless to say, Yu Qie wrote several press releases praising the brilliance of oracle bone script. Scholars from other countries went to great lengths to write these press releases.

Most people write low-quality, irrelevant content.

They do things for money; whoever pays them is their master. That's why they frequently link oracle bone script with Metro, pitting it against Esperanto and claiming it's an "apocalyptic language."

This is what Harper wanted to see.

Meanwhile, professional oracle bone scholars like Siliyi conducted in-depth research on Shang Dynasty materials during their field trip, preparing to revise his book, "A General History of the Shang Dynasty."

"A General History of the Shang Dynasty" is a textbook used in Western universities as an introductory text to "The Shang Dynasty of China," distributed by Harper. In fact, besides classic works by renowned scholars, Harper's main business is popular science books and textbooks.

In Western academia, there exists a chain of interests between publishers and professors. University professors require students to purchase specific, expensive textbooks, with those who refuse being expelled from the classroom or even sued; while publishers, in turn, try their best to satisfy these professors' demands materially.

What should be done about the only victim, the college student?

They can take out loans to buy textbooks, and with the tuition fees, they can pay it off in about twenty years.

Yu asked Siliyi how he planned to revise it. Siliyi replied politely, "The Shang Dynasty was more developed than I imagined. The Zhou and Hu dynasties have their own research, some of which can be introduced to the United States."

"Yu, you should also be considered a master of oracle bone script. Because you popularized this script to Westerners and made it popular, it has been very beneficial to me!"

At the same time, Professor G.W. Giles of the University of California was also greatly surprised by the artifacts found at the Yin Ruins in Anyang.

Ji Dewei originally studied European history, but then worked as an editor and writer for three years. At that time, academic competition was already very fierce, and European history was a highly sought-after field, so there was nothing for Ji Dewei to do.

What do you think about studying Japanese culture?

That won't work either; after Japan's economy became developed, many people also became involved.

In the 1960s, seeking a comfortable, government-affiliated job, Jeffrey turned to the study of ancient China, specializing in the economy of the Western Zhou and Shang dynasties. This time, Jeffrey found a niche, as almost no one in the United States was interested in those mystical characters.

In the United States, at least 28 public and private museums or private collectors hold fragments of oracle bones, which was not very popular before.

Historically, Egyptian and Babylonian cultures have been more popular in the West, and Arabic history has been more popular than Eastern history.

After graduating with his doctorate, Ji Dewei secured a position at the University of California.

When discussing his past, Ji Dewei was very candid with Yu Qie: "I didn't love China at first, nor could I say I loved Chinese culture. But now I really love Chinese culture because I make a living from it."

"The better China develops, the more valuable my research becomes."

Stop talking to me about my stance. I only have one stance: I wholeheartedly defend the values ​​and interests of the merchants and the people of the Western Zhou Dynasty!
Ji Dewei didn't say it that explicitly, but that was indeed what he meant.

Yu Qie suddenly understood why so many scholars today are "River Elegy School" members—they really do get paid for it.

He suddenly remembered that Zhang Mingming, an actress from the TV series "Dream of the Red Chamber," went to UCL to study computer science, which is a branch campus of the University of California. According to her, there is a student-organized Yu Qie book fan club at UC.

Yu Qie then asked Ji Dewei about this matter: Does the University of California have a Heart Society?

Ji Dewei looked bewildered: "You must be quite famous at UC Berkeley, but I don't know anything about the Yixin Society." It seems this organization is too disorganized and not very useful. Some American writers have fan clubs; in the future, we should support some literature enthusiasts to speak up for Yu Qie's books.

The author of the popular Harry Potter series once offended political activism by saying "women are women and men are men," and was subsequently betrayed and sidelined by publishers and film companies, causing his reputation to plummet.

Yu Qie may also have difficult times in the future, and we need to leave a spark to speak for him.

The conference was a great success, and its influence is growing day by day.

Local research publications in Henan Province claim that this is an unprecedented event in the academic community of Anyang!

A reporter from Xinhua News Agency was amazed by the number of foreign professors present; almost everyone praised oracle bone inscriptions, describing it as a paradise. The reporter wrote a short news article titled "A Chronicle of the Anyang World Conference on Oracle Bone Inscriptions," stating that "everyone here loves China."

According to Hu Houxuan and others, Harper's financial power is quite evident.

Although scholars are paid to do things, they generally do not distort the truth. They also care about their academic reputation. After in-depth research on oracle bone inscriptions, they are indeed fearless and have achieved outstanding results. Therefore, many scholars do not hesitate to use words of praise when writing articles.

Hu Houxuan's "Proposal for the Return of Oracle Bone Inscriptions" surprisingly did not encounter much resistance.

Everyone apologized for what happened in history and said they would do their best to bring the oracle bones home.

Will you work hard?

Like Nu.

Yu Qie seized the opportunity, wrote his name on the proposal, and asked others to write their names as well.

At this point, some scholars dared not continue, and the story of "the East Wind prevails over the West Wind" was repeated once again, with three scholars from the Middle East banding together and being expelled from the conference by Yu Qie.

Soon another thing happened.

While everyone was visiting Fu Hao's tomb, for some reason, Yu Qie got into an argument with a scholar from Cairo University in Egypt.

The professor's name was Hatir, with "Muhammad" in his last name. He was fed up with everyone praising oracle bone script because his homeland, Egypt, had the "Holy Book," one of the world's three major oracle scripts.

This is a script that combines pictographs and phonetics, and its development is second only to Sumerian. In academia, there is far more research on Egyptian hieroglyphs.

Hatir and his assistant said, "The Egyptian hieroglyphs are much older than the oracle bone script, and they have three different scripts. We call a dot the sun, a person holding a bow represents an army, and a bird with outstretched wings represents flight..."

"This should be a more advanced font."

Although Hatir didn't speak to anyone, his voice was so loud that it was clearly directed at them.

The lively atmosphere at the scene suddenly stopped, and everyone looked at Yu Qie, wondering what he would do.
Yu Qie walked towards Hatir and smiled, "I don't know much about ancient writing, but I have heard that ancient Egyptian culture was very advanced, and I have always respected such a country and culture."

The atmosphere had just begun to ease when, perhaps due to nervousness, Hatir joked, "Harper should sponsor Cairo University and invite you to study the Holy Scriptures. You certainly won't be disappointed. Once you've read the Holy Scriptures, you won't think about oracle bones anymore."

"What have we been doing these past few days? A waste of time."

Yu Qie's expression immediately changed.

A suffocating atmosphere was clearly palpable in the room. He stared at Hattir and said, "Is it what I mean?"

This is a Western term.

It often serves as a final warning before a battle.

Yu Qie repeated, "You want us to stop wasting time here, cancel our tickets, use our own money to go to Egypt to study those ancient scripts that have already been thoroughly studied, and write another research paper that many people have already written about?"

"You think we're all wasting our time and aren't as smart as you, is that true?"

He spoke with a smile, without any anger, yet his words carried great power. Perhaps it stemmed from Yu Qie's physique—he was the strongest and nearly the tallest among them—or from his past experiences; he didn't need to emphasize whether he "could do it" or not, because the answer was always yes.

Hattir was clearly intimidated by the display of force.

God knows how many things flashed through his mind.

Finally, Hatir relented, saying, "I apologize for my rudeness."

“You should apologize!” Yuche said. “I respect your culture, but you should consider the occasion. China has never bullied Egypt in its history, and you should not express your wrong sense of pride here.”

"What do you guys think?" Yu Qie asked the others.

No one argued with him; they continued their visit to Fu Hao's tomb and related artifacts. After a moment of silence, it was as if nothing had happened.

But Hatir still left Anyang later. She also reported Yu Che to the Egyptian Embassy in China. This report went through several levels of government and eventually reached China, where Yu Che received a phone call at his guesthouse.

"That Egyptian reported me?"

"He's not important to me; the key is what you think."

"Don't try to smooth things over. Just tell me what you think?"

"...Hmm...Hmm, then that's settled, isn't it? This Hatir is brainless, and those people in Egypt are brainless too. If they have opinions about me personally, let them call me directly, or publish their opinions in a newspaper in a third country outside of China and Egypt. I don't mind arguing with them."

I waited for three days, until the day before the conference ended, but I still didn't receive a call from the Egyptian embassy.

He was a formidable fighter, surveying his territory with great relish, and anyone who dared to disobey him would face certain death.

[Although there is often a legitimate reason for this]

But I often wonder, how much of Mr. Yu's actions stemmed from disobedience, and how much from the influence of oracle bone script?

Chen Dongjie, author of "October," wrote this passage in his diary.

He did have a habit of keeping a diary, but he didn't dare to include this incident in his report.

The publicly released report offers a different perspective on this matter:
Our group's final stop was the tomb of Fu Hao, excavated in 1976. It is currently the only well-preserved Shang Dynasty noble tomb in China, commissioned by King Wu Ding of the Shang Dynasty for the construction of this burial site for his consort.

Wu Ding was a wise ruler.

The narrator was a university student from Yanwai College, a very pretty young woman. When she talked about Fu Hao, we weren't particularly moved until she mentioned Wu Ding.

She said: When Wu Ding was young, he served in the army and worked alongside commoners. At the time, there was nothing special about him, and everyone thought he was mute.

Later, Wu Ding ascended the throne and waged wars in the east and west, conquering a vast territory. He promoted slaves to the position of prime minister and was not extravagantly wealthy. Many interesting anecdotes about him have been passed down through the ages. The idioms 'pheasants ascending the cauldron' and 'dreaming of a sage' originate from Wu Ding; everyone tells his story.

The only drawback was that his rise from commoner to emperor gave Wu Ding immense confidence, leading him to rarely heed advice. In retrospect, while Wu Ding was generally right, he was still too domineering.

Hearing this, we all couldn't help but laugh, even the foreigners who didn't know about Wu Ding before.

(End of this chapter)