Preface#
Two days ago, Wang Zuozhongyou published an article titled “Chinese has indeed died” on his namesake public account. In this article, he listed many abhorrent facts about Chinese, and then he concluded that "Chinese is dead." However, I do not agree with him. I believe this is not about the Chinese language itself, but rather about the people who use it. Elevating the concept to the level of the Chinese language is merely a gimmick; what I want to critique is the people.
In that article, Wang Zuozhongyou argued that Chinese is dead from four aspects: childishness, sensitivity, loss of creativity, and verbosity. This article will also discuss my views based on these four aspects and the facts he listed. However, my lack of rebuttal does not mean I agree with him; I just want to talk about what I believe is more important.
Childish? Or Alienation?#
When he opened by discussing "Chinese becoming increasingly childish," I partially agree with him, as I also dislike unprofessional expressions.
However, compared to unprofessional expressions, I find the phenomenon he mentioned, where "positive patients" are referred to as "sheep," to be more serious and something that must be heeded. Calling people "sheep" and women "ewe" is a form of alienation. If more and more people accept and use such terms, the worst-case scenario might be that a terrible tacit understanding forms in everyone's mind: can we treat them as if they are not "human"? Can we do whatever we want to them because they are just "sheep," not "people"?
I recall that many human tragedies in history have occurred because of this. The only similar story I can remember is from "Black Mirror," where soldiers' perception systems are adjusted so they cannot see the true faces of their victims. These soldiers believe they are slaughtering so-called "cockroaches," but in reality, they are killing living people just like themselves.
But is the above issue a problem with Chinese? No, it is a problem with people themselves; it is people who choose how to use Chinese, and it is people who shape dark thoughts in ignorance.
Sensitivity? Who is Sensitive?#
Regarding the situation he listed where the character for "kill" becomes the symbol "▢" and "money" is replaced by the initial "q," I share his disdain, but I do not know what he truly dislikes. What I dislike are the censors and those who engage in self-censorship.
The reason for this situation is not as he said, that "Chinese is becoming increasingly sensitive," but rather that people are becoming sensitive, fearful, and increasingly lacking moral boundaries. Some are worried about being punished for their words, while others are concerned that censorship is not strict enough. Everyone is engaging in censorship and self-censorship (I have detailed the harms and causes of self-censorship in “Self-Censorship is More Despicable than Any Censorship”).
This is not a problem with Chinese; it is a problem with people. Instead of blaming the term "Chinese," we should directly point out the source of this problem and work hard to correct it, presenting every word with integrity.
Is This Not Creativity?#
Wang Zuozhongyou listed many emerging internet terms in his article, yet he claims that "Chinese is increasingly losing creativity." So what are those new words he listed? Isn't that creativity?
Thus, I believe he is once again confusing the Chinese language with the people who use it. Do we dislike words like "absolutely" (绝绝子)? No, as mentioned by a world-renowned figure on Twitter, what we dislike is "careless, clichéd, and unoriginal writing." What we dislike are the people behind the careless use of these words.
So What if There is More Verbosity?#
He also mentioned that "there is more and more verbosity in Chinese," contrasting what he calls modern "textual garbage" with the classics of ancient literati, lamenting the past and criticizing the present.
However, I believe that every era has its own content; the ancients certainly had their share of garbage, and the modern era is not without classics. He may not like it, and I cannot say I like it either; this is a matter of personal opinion and has nothing to do with whether Chinese is dead.
I Cannot Die#
What I discuss is all based on what Wang Zuozhongyou has listed, but he seems to place the focus of criticism on Chinese, while I believe Chinese is not to blame; these issues are man-made.
I do not want to lament over Chinese; that is useless. I want to awaken myself and perhaps others, to maintain respect for Chinese, and to uphold respect for oneself and others. The power of words is stronger than one might imagine, and what words can represent is more than one might think.
Wang Zuozhongyou says Chinese is dead. As a response or rebuttal to his article, I feel that something in my article must also die, because I am criticizing people. Therefore, I say it is people who are dead, because indeed, from a certain perspective, those who use Chinese so poorly in Wang Zuozhongyou's text, although alive, might as well be said to be already dead.
Postscript#
Written by Magneto on 2024/1/26. Initially, for record-keeping, I deleted some potentially controversial articles. In hindsight, this article actually serves to awaken people and should not be deleted. The links in the article are all invalid, but they are retained to indicate citations. This article is a reprint and not an original work.
This article is synchronized to xLog by Mix Space. The original link is https://fmcf.cc/posts/life/Chinese-Immortal