My art is too advanced.

Chapter 344 Teacher Zhou is still too conservative! (Seeking monthly votes!!!)

Zhou Yue was still sitting in the front seat; he was used to it.

Today is the fifth day of the meeting.

However, some things are still not fully discussed.

Because these veteran experts are all stubborn and opinionated, many things need to be explained little by little.

"The questions that still exist today are about these words, right?"

After glancing at everyone, Zhou Yue spoke.

It's only two hundred words long, but it's really difficult to get it approved all at once.

Because at least these professors in front of me need to be convinced, and each of them has some knowledge of these words, even if they don't know what the word is, they can guess the background of the word.

It's very simple. Just like some phono-semantic characters or ideographic characters, they all have radicals.

Although there isn't much to say about ancient writing, it's clear that it still requires deduction based on phonological knowledge and some specific theories.

"Okay, there are twelve characters left today. If I can explain these twelve characters clearly and everyone votes in unanimous approval, then we can put these characters into practice."

In fact, they believe that sharpening one's axe doesn't delay the work of chopping wood. Even if these few words don't pass the test, it doesn't matter, since future generations may continue to study these things.

Therefore, their review process is quite strict.

They will definitely take a conservative approach to things that don't exist.

Otherwise, they are researchers of ancient writing or historical documents.

If you don't understand a word, you can skip it. There's no need to force an interpretation. If you try to make a far-fetched connection, and then new information comes out later that can completely refute your point of view, you'll be the one who loses face.

So they are quite serious, or rather, very cautious.

Zhou Yue didn't care about all that. Since he was able to arrange these things, he must have come to a corresponding conclusion.

This was a meeting that combined online and offline elements.

In person, there are so many experts and scholars in front of me, including some professors and overseas sinologists who have come from abroad.

These people are all experts in the study of writing, and this conference can be considered one of the most prestigious conferences in the field of writing.

Whether they are researchers of ancient scripts, researchers of historical documents, or even some archaeologists, they are all sitting here. Each of them is a force to be reckoned with in the field of philology, yet here they are, holding pens and paper, silent and still.

There are some things they can't vote on rashly, but if you can really convince them, they're absolutely willing to let the word come to the surface.

After all, once an ancient script is discovered, it will bring corresponding benefits to various document studies and archaeological discoveries.

Therefore, all of them put aside their work to attend this meeting.

What they found somewhat absurd was that a top professor in the field of architecture was hosting a top academic conference in their field of philology.

But just a few days ago, Zhou Yue had a heated debate with the scholars here, and had completely won their respect.

Now, out of more than two hundred characters, only these last dozen or so remain.

As for those who are completely uncertain, or those who are opposed by the majority, there are only about five words to describe them.

It wasn't that they didn't want to finalize the text; it was simply that Zhou Yue provided too little information, and the information he did provide wasn't entirely convincing.

Zhou Yue thought it was quite normal.

Since it is not universally accepted in academia, we can only wait for the unearthed documents to be published before conducting various material analyses.

Time will tell, and it will prove him right.

He didn't think much of it, nor did he feel that they were making a mountain out of a molehill. After all, auctions sometimes fail to sell. He had prepared more than two hundred words, and some of them were unconfirmed, but that was no big deal.

If we're talking about people in person, there are many: some graduate students studying ancient scripts, some big names who can't come, and maybe some enthusiasts.

All of this is happening in a video conference, which has about seven or eight hundred people.

After all, they also want to know who is doing this academic work and to what extent.
Zhou Yue patiently helped them answer their questions.

Whenever there was a problem, he would have his assistant write it down.

Even if you didn't raise any issues during the meeting, you can go back and review them, and then ask them again tomorrow.

He wasn't afraid to ask questions at all.

So say it.

He felt that he was still quite humane.

"Teacher Zhou, could you please explain the second text?"

"of course can."

Zhou Yue looked at the second character.

"The upper part of this character is shaped like a person, and the lower part resembles a hand holding a tool (such as a plow), which may be related to agricultural activities, city building, and other production activities. We can speculate that this symbol may be the pictographic early form of the character 'Xia,' symbolizing the Xia people's control over the land and tools."

"The repetition and regularity of the symbols suggest that they may be clan emblems or early place name markers, similar to the function of clan emblems on Shang and Zhou bronzes. Combined with the record of 'Xiahou clan officials of one hundred' in Zuo Zhuan, they may represent a group of officials."

"Therefore, we will tentatively name this symbol 'Xia'."

"As for the specific materials, for example, these are some." Zhou Yue directly put the materials on the second page of the PPT, which saved time.

After all, he's making a dictionary, and he can't just start without materials. So if you want him to show you the materials, he can do it quickly.

A series of documents.

Almost everyone was convinced.

Moreover, there were some things they hadn't even noticed. They might have seen some materials, but they didn't have a corresponding impression of them, or they hadn't even thought about them in this direction. But Teacher Zhou directly listed these things out.

To put it simply and clearly, this is how the character should be written.

Director Li, who was sitting at the very front, also nodded.

Actually, they were also researching this character, and their findings were quite similar to those of Teacher Zhou.

It's just that Teacher Zhou decided on it directly.

Another day of meetings has come to an end.

More than two hundred words were almost all resolved in these five days.

He will not add controversial entries that did not pass unanimously to the dictionary. He may add or delete entries in the second or third edition.

This is quite normal, because it's impossible for him to be the only one to reach the pinnacle of academia.

Others may also discover something new, and new findings may be made in some papers.

However, once he gets back, he will definitely continue to study the texts that were not approved, and then write the paper so that everyone can continue to discuss it.

Moreover, these people will produce papers after they go back and review their experiences.

Most of these papers would likely refute him.

Most people would agree with him.

These are all normal; in academia, there should be a free exchange of ideas.

It would be great if all opinions could flourish. Right now, everyone has only one perspective, and even with his advanced system, he might not be able to satisfy everyone with his writing.

We'll see when the time comes.

In short, these two hundred-odd words are enough to establish his position in the fields of literature, history, and philosophy.

At least for now, no one is more popular than him.

"Okay, let's leave it at that for now. We'll settle on these 197 characters. If there are any additions later, we can continue to hold academic conferences to study them further."

"If there are any objections to the text, everyone is welcome to submit papers to criticize me, and I will respond in the Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences of Ningbo University."

Everyone applauded enthusiastically.

Even among so many people in the video conference room, they were all sending clapping emojis.

It's no exaggeration to say that they've learned a lot these past few days.

This includes phonology, such as the ancient phonological system.

They basically used the Book of Songs and some Tang Dynasty poems to create phonetic representations and then deduced the ancient sound system.

However, Zhou Yue went into more detail about some of the finer points.

This is a very broad subject, and it is so obscure that even if you know how the ancients spoke and how to distinguish between retroflex and alveolar consonants, it doesn't seem to be of much use.

Even the phonological systems studied in modern Chinese are not necessarily of great use.

The ancients emphasized agriculture and suppressed commerce, but now it feels like science and engineering, that is, natural sciences, far surpass humanities and social sciences.

Being able to take something niche and do it to the highest level, even if it doesn't go mainstream, truly earns the respect of so many people.

Another aspect is the analysis of philology.

Zhou Yue's lectures were very systematic, not just a jumble of random thoughts, which shows that he was extremely knowledgeable and profound in his scholarship.

Later on, people almost subconsciously overlooked the fact that he was a science and engineering professor.

Are you kidding me?
So this is a literature professor!

Although a literature professor is only at level four, tell me that such a high level of scholarship is something a level four professor can achieve?

Everyone could tell that he must have read a lot of books and seen many ancient documents to be able to reach this level.

"I wonder when Professor Zhou's dictionary will be completed?" a scholar of ancient writings said with a smile. "I think this should be a model. Professor Zhou has truly mastered this niche field of study."

"This time, more than two hundred words really startled us. Even after the meeting, we need to take a break before we can conduct further research."

"Yes, it's terrifying, but if we could really make all of these things, it would be an immeasurable act of merit."

"More than a thousand characters, and they are all obscure and rare ancient characters. It's hard to imagine how much pressure Professor Zhou was under to complete this research."

After glancing at it, Zhou Yue said, "The manuscript should be ready to be submitted next month. Director Li will then conduct further review."

"This is a reference book, so the process is quite lengthy. I hope everyone can be patient."

"Of course we have to wait. I even think that once Professor Zhou's book is published, its academic standing will be no less than that of Xu Shen, who compiled the Shuowen Jiezi in the Han Dynasty."

"You flatter me, how can we compare ourselves to the sages of the past?" Zhou Yue shook his head gently and smiled. "We've only done some research on data collection."

"We can only say that we are learning from the sages of the past."

Many experts nodded in agreement; it's just mutual flattery, and these people are doing it very thoroughly.

Moreover, once this academic conference is held, Zhou Yue's achievements in the field of literature will be virtually unshakeable.

There are so many ancient characters. Even when oracle bone script was first introduced into the system of philology, they did not conduct such a high level of research.

It is said to contain more than a thousand characters, but in reality, only eight or nine hundred can be recognized.

Teacher Zhou successfully increased the number of characters from eight or nine hundred to more than one thousand one hundred.

If further research is conducted, the number could reach over 1,200.

In the video conference room.

They were also constantly posting on social media.

"Professor Zhou is simply an academic idol! When we study a single character, we don't even have any academic achievements yet. Just explaining the character is enough to publish a doctoral dissertation. Professor Zhou is simply amazing!"

"We only use about a thousand Chinese characters, right? Professor Zhou recognized almost all of them?"

"Doesn't that mean that if we had this dictionary, reading oracle bone script would be the same as reading simplified Chinese characters?"

"Yes, and it's said that Teacher Zhou has compiled a list of the characters from all dynasties, as well as the different characters from different regions during the same period. It's truly a meritorious deed!"

Even within the same period, for example, the scripts of Chu and Qi were different.

After all, we haven't reached the point of standardizing the written language yet.

Only after unification did we enter a new era.

Before this era, many countries had their own writing systems, which, although they may have been similar, had different scripts in different places.

This explains the origin of so many variant characters in ancient times.

They are the same character, and even sound similar, but they are written differently.

"How is this any different from those ancient sages?"

"If Professor Zhou were to become an academician in the humanities, I would wholeheartedly support it."

"Wake up, there aren't any academicians in the humanities!"

Some positions are indeed equivalent to academicians, but these people are too rare, and their status is incomparable to that of academicians in science and engineering.

This can be considered a tragedy of our times.

Even the study of texts has become a useless field of study.

How can one not sigh in admiration?

After Zhou Yue bowed slightly, he left first, and the others gradually came to their senses.

They could already imagine it.

What kind of place will Zhou Yue leave in academic history?

Especially now.

Everyone's anticipation for the dictionary grew even stronger.

With a dictionary, we might really be able to read oracle bone script just like reading modern characters.

"I didn't quite believe it when Professor Zhou said that he would lead two graduate students to make this dictionary within six months."

"In retrospect, he was too conservative."

Dean Chen gave a wry smile.

(End of this chapter)