As early as the Song and Yuan Dynasties, there were two writing systems in China's ancient literary language: classical Chinese and vernacular Chinese. As the foundation of elegant literature, the classical Chinese system regards the vernacular Chinese system as the existence of vulgarity. Although elegant literature sometimes absorbs the nutrition of some popular literature forms, both of them have their own development fields and logics. In the late Qing Dynasty, under the background of national peril, scholars began to pay attention to the existence of the people, so as to jointly shoulder the goal of enriching the country and strengthening the country and cope with the competition among nations in the world. This tendency is manifested in the cultural field, and a notable sign is that under the attitude of "benefiting the vulgar", scholars began to advocate "vulgar" vernacular Chinese. To a great extent, it shows that vernacular Chinese does not depend on classical Chinese, or is completely excluded by classical Chinese, and it has its own unique functions. So that in the late Qing Dynasty, some people initially put forward the idea of replacing classical Chinese with vernacular Chinese in the writing system. At the same time, we also saw the development level of vernacular Chinese based on the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China. At this time, we can only say that we have seen the trend and possibility of the transformation of modern written style in China. During the development of the vernacular movement in the late Qing Dynasty, many paradoxes of its own were exposed. Perhaps it has only achieved the effect of impacting the pattern of ancient literature in China, but at this time it is not mature enough to become a recognized modern literary language. But in the long run, it also laid a realistic reading foundation for the occurrence of modern literary language in the future, so it has extraordinary significance.

It should be said that in any language, written language is arranged and standardized on the basis of spoken language, so it is normal to have a distance between spoken language and written language. However, it is an abnormal phenomenon when this distance is widened to a considerable extent. In the late Qing Dynasty, while learning from foreign cultures, the scholar-officials found the prominent fact that "words and words are inconsistent", which triggered various reflections on its deep cultural structure. In the process of advocating "consistency between words and writing", scholars regard language and writing as a cultural reform cause, opening up many new social and cultural practice spaces. Compared with classical Chinese, according to the standard of "words are consistent with words", vernacular Chinese is undoubtedly closer to spoken language, clearer and smoother, and closer to the lower class, which is a natural resource that can be utilized.

Scholar-officials in the late Qing Dynasty paid attention to the choice of vernacular language, not because of the artistry of the writing itself, but because of its practicality and publicity. In this context, the consideration of obtaining a popular writing for the lower classes has actually brought obvious changes to the unified and fixed pattern of elegance and vulgarity in China's ancient literary language. From here, we vaguely see the theme of China's language reform in modern times-"The language movement in China, especially the vernacular movement, does not have the problem of getting rid of Chinese symbols, nor does it have the problem of re-creating a written language system centered on pronunciation. ..... The vernacular movement established its own value orientation in the confrontation between poverty/expensiveness and vulgarity/elegance. The so-called colloquialism of the vernacular movement is aimed at the rhythm of classical poetry and the carving and abandonment of ancient written language, but it is not really colloquialism. In fact, the modern language movement was first formed in the relationship of ancient/modern, elegant/vulgar contrast, not in the relationship between written language and dialect, that is, the vernacular is expressed as' modern language' and the classical Chinese as' ancient language', and it is still' vulgar' and' elegant'. Therefore, the comparison between ancient and modern times also shows the different orientations of nobles and civilians in cultural values. " Therefore, the foundation of the vernacular movement in the late Qing Dynasty, and even the modern transformation of China's literary language, is more based on the subversive adjustment of the elegant and popular pattern of China's ancient literary language, and the core is "the problem of replacing another China written genre with one China written genre".

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1897, Qiu published the article "On Vernacular Culture as the Foundation of Reform" in Su Bao, and then published it in Wuxi Vernacular Newspaper which he ran himself, and then reprinted it in Qing Yi Bao sponsored by Liang Qichao. It is not difficult to see the extensive influence of this article-it is a classic document of the modern vernacular cultural movement.

In the article "On the Vernacular Style as the Basis of Reform", the object of the Vernacular Style Movement in the late Qing Dynasty was highlighted at first. Qiu Jian said: "The people are wise in their country, not new scholars, not diligent in their work, not interested in the interests, and the monarch is in the hands, eyes, ears and feet of the people. This move should be made in an instant. Those who are wise in the country and ignorant in the people will not be academically corrupt, decadent in their careers and ignorant of their interests; Scholars have no ambition, businessmen lack far-reaching plans, farmers and workers are old-fashioned and turn a blind eye to the new law; To be all the people in the world, the light will be black without it, as stupid as a deer. Although it is frequent, it will be inspired by new ones, such as playing soft cotton to make it silent, such as being deaf. " Obviously, the purpose of using vernacular Chinese is to make the deaf-mute people develop into "intelligent people" and have the ability to respond to the official "Ming imperial edict" and revitalize industries at all levels of society.

So, how to become a "wise man"? Qiu pointed all his finger at words-the existing classical Chinese writing system: "Having words is a wise country, but having no words is a foolish country;" People who can read are smart people, and those who can't read are stupid people: this is the same for all countries on earth. Only China has written language, so it can't be a wise country. People can read, but not be wise. What a pity! This classical Chinese is harmful. " It is worth noting that Qiu's above argument is based on a tool language view different from China's ancient literature: "Therefore, words come from sound, and words come from language. A writer is a common phonograph in the world. What I started writing was just vernacular. " Then, Qiu explained in the Primary Stage of Language and Writing that "writing" and "writing" are consistent and should be consistent. During the period of "Five Emperors" and "Three Kings" in China, words and deeds were integrated, and in the Spring and Autumn Period, "Classical Chinese" began to be used, which finally caused serious consequences: "If future generations don't know the meaning of Si, they will imitate what people say, so it is a great pity that words and deeds are judged as two, one person's body, and the mouth is foreign."

Therefore, it can be said that the foundation of advocating vernacular Chinese in the late Qing Dynasty was basically based on the proposition of "consistency between words and writing". Qiu directly explained the harm of "classical Chinese" by taking vernacular Chinese as the expression of "consistency of words and writing", and put forward the central point: "For two thousand years, the domestic focus has been on it, and the poor years have never stopped. From now on, it will be awkward. Oh! I have no other way to take away those who let the ancient king of the world worship the vernacular and abandon the classical Chinese. I must be a useful study. Why is it so dark? " Under such conditions, the position of "writing" in the ancient written style system has to be greatly reduced: "Will people's desire for ordinary writing drive it to be used by us?" Restrain poverty and old age, serve words, and treat people as slaves of words? And there is nothing strange about what my husband said. Cang Xie and Bow, who created words, have the merits of creating words. Later, people only regarded words as the most precious thing, and those who advocated words created them in obscurity. "Based on the tool view of language and writing, Qiu distinguished classical Chinese from vernacular Chinese, and proposed to translate the original classical Chinese classics in vernacular Chinese:" Classical Chinese, like vernacular Chinese, is different in complexity and simplicity, but has the same purpose. Only when we are late, but not refined or coarse, should we emphasize this and despise that. I don't know what to say. And the beauty of classical Chinese is not true. Bibliography before the Han Dynasty, Japanese philosophers and biographies of Japan are all written words, so there must be something for the speaker first. Although it is changed into vernacular today, the quality is dry and well preserved, which does not damage its beauty. After the Han Dynasty, the seemingly complicated books of reasoning and remembering were preserved. Coupled with sweating, the effect is that it is work, the toddler thinks it is smart, and Zhu Fu powder thinks it is beautiful. In this way, in vernacular translation, the beauty of foreign style is gone, and the quality is poor. Ancient people would be dumbfounded. As a result, Qiu completed the overall conception of his vernacular Chinese proposition, in which "less refined but coarse" showed that he tried to blur the huge boundary between Chinese and vernacular Chinese in China ancient literary language.

Then, Qiu further explained the benefits of the implementation of vernacular Chinese: one day saving effort, two days eliminating arrogance, three days neglecting reading, four days protecting holy religion, five days starting kindergarten, six days cultivating mind, seven days giving up talents and eight days helping the poor-basically covering the social functions of vernacular Chinese in an all-round way, showing a new space for cultural popularization. Qiu illustrated the decisive role of the vernacular Chinese in education, propaganda, industry, national conditions and other social cultures with China's Grow Up, Ye Zhi's Missionary in the West and the influence of the vernacular Chinese in Japan. The conclusion of the full text is: "If you think from the point of view, you are stupid in the world, but not classic;" If you are a wise man in the world, don't speak in vernacular. If I don't want to be wise in China, but I want to be wise, but I still want to be wise in classical Chinese, then those who benefit from what I said before will seek it in reverse proportion, which will ruin the wise people in the world. What I want to say today, in a word: classical Chinese is prosperous and then practical learning is abolished, and vernacular Chinese is prosperous and practical learning is not prosperous, which is called no people. "

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Throughout the article On Vernacular Culture as the Foundation of Reform, we can see two positive paradigms of advocating Vernacular Culture Movement in the late Qing Dynasty: one is the "three kings" and "five emperors" in ancient China, and the latest is the Western Zhou Dynasty; First, western culture and Japanese literary movement were almost at the same time. In fact, the whole reason for taking them as an example is that they all use vernacular Chinese on the basis of consistent language and writing. There is no difference between these two types of role models in On Vernacular Chinese as the Basis of Reform. In other words, it exists only to prove a concept. Therefore, the advocacy of the vernacular movement in the late Qing Dynasty is first of all an idea, not the result of the natural development of China's ancient literary language, but an artificial design. Not to mention that the examples of "Three Kings" and "Five Emperors" are too remote and ethereal, and the examples of the West and Japan are too refined, forming a "vernacular determinism" of a certain language on social and cultural life. The consistency of China's ancient language and writing, as well as the consistency of western Japanese language and writing, actually played a role in the transformation of China's ancient literary language system, that is, finding a supporting point in the transformation of the inherent classical Chinese system and the vernacular Chinese system.

It can be said that the vernacular movement in the late Qing Dynasty was basically the internal adjustment of China's ancient literature and language in a specific historical period, and its vision basically did not involve the new changes of language and writing under the external influence. In On the Vernacular Writing as the Foundation of Reform, China made a positive example of combining the West and Japan indiscriminately in ancient times, which also showed that the Vernacular Writing Movement in the late Qing Dynasty failed to recognize the important problem of the modern development of ancient vernacular writing, that is, due to the actual situation of historical development, it was impossible to distinguish ancient vernacular writing from modern vernacular writing, which was a basic feature of the Vernacular Writing Movement in the late Qing Dynasty. It is also worth noting that one of Qiu's positive paradigms, the example of "Three Kings" and "Five Emperors" Braille consistency, is far less practical than Hu Shi's later "History of Vernacular Literature" in terms of connecting the Song and Yuan Dynasties, Yuanqu and Ming and Qing novels.

On vernacular Chinese puts forward "advocating vernacular Chinese and abandoning classical Chinese" as the basis of reform, which is based on the consideration of the proposition of consistency between words, which inevitably brings the view of language instrumentalism into the logic of language function. In a specific historical stage, it has played an important role in promoting the modern transformation of China's literary language, and it is also more radical and has made remarkable progress. On Vernacular Writing as the Foundation of Reform established a hierarchical structure of "one word and one sound", which reduced the exclusive respect of China ancient literary language for writing. So a question immediately arises: is this equal to phoneme centrism? We believe that the decline of writing status is a fact, but on the other hand, it has not changed the dominant position of writing in written genre. What is always carried out in the article is the concern for words, whether it is classical Chinese or vernacular Chinese. The proposition that characters are consistent with each other is also an argument for the transformation of the writing system, rather than replacing the role of words.

A very important problem is that the proposition of "advocating vernacular Chinese and abolishing classical Chinese" in On Vernacular Chinese as the Foundation of Reform has nothing to do with literature. On the surface, Qiu's advocacy of vernacular Chinese is a fundamental change in brushwork, in which the assertion that "the beauty of classical Chinese is not true" is quite radical, which is in line with the promotion of vernacular Chinese to the lower classes in the vernacular movement in the late Qing Dynasty. It is generally believed that literary language should still adopt "elegant and clean" classical Chinese, which seems to be different. However, in fact, it is a blind spot of literary language to advocate vernacular Chinese as the basis of reform in On Vernacular Chinese, and Qiu has absolutely no intention of "recreating" a new literary language. The whole focus of his advocacy of vernacular Chinese lies in its connection with social practice on the basis of practicality. In Qiu's The Benefit of Vernacular Chinese, there is a content of "four-day collection", and the promotion of Vernacular Chinese goes hand in hand with the collection, which contains a deep value construction, that is, while promoting Vernacular Chinese, it also ideologizes Vernacular Chinese with China's ancient cultural values. Here, the refined and popular pattern of China's ancient culture undoubtedly still plays a leading role, so the essence of Qiu's efforts is to explore new space as much as possible within the elastic range allowed by the refined and popular pattern of China's ancient literary language.

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On vernacular Chinese as the foundation of reform has far-reaching influence, covering the theoretical trend of the vernacular Chinese movement in the late Qing Dynasty. At that time, many scholars echoed the theory and became the cultural consensus of the times. In addition, it is interesting that the article supporting Kang Youwei's conviction in the Reform Movement of 1898 also joined the discussion of this issue with the attitude that "China is not complicated". Wen has his own independent thinking on the changes of language and writing in the late Qing Dynasty, which seems to run counter to the trend of the vernacular movement in the late Qing Dynasty, and thus stands out from the crowd. Here, we continue to analyze the article "Luo Xiaoshan Drunkenness", whose Chinese language analysis method is rare in the late Qing dynasty, and also discusses the important issues of the rise of vernacular Chinese in the late Qing dynasty, with quite unique ideas. Together with Qiu and others, it actually represents the mainstream opinion of enlightened literati in the late Qing Dynasty.

Wen Shiting saw the changing trend of language and writing in the late Qing Dynasty, and in the reality that China writing is generally considered difficult to write and identify, he made a surprising remark: "Today, several people want to simplify the writing. It is urgent or inevitable to change the world. However, some people say that Chinese characters are the simplest knowledge between heaven and earth, which seems to be different from Qiu's point of view. However, we should pay full attention to the specific meaning of the word "writing" in the discourse. It not only refers to classical Chinese, but also includes two written languages: classical Chinese and vernacular Chinese. In fact, the problem of "writing" mentioned in Chinese has gone beyond the distinction between classical Chinese and vernacular Chinese, and it comes down to a unified concept of "writing", which undoubtedly greatly improves the status of vernacular Chinese. In the discussion with timothy richard, an English missionary who had a wide influence on the cultural circles in China in the late Qing Dynasty, Wen's argument was developed. They first talked about: Westerners timothy richard tasted "China is rich in literature", and Yu Yingzhi said: "China is not rich in literature. "Timothy Richard asked him to speak, and I told him," There are tens of thousands of sounds in western pinyin, while China uses only a few thousand sounds, and it is very simple. "There are no fewer than100000 words in westerners' dictionaries, and there are nearly 10000 commonly used words. In China, there are only 10000 characters and only 4000 commonly used characters, which is also simplified. And thousands of tones, most of which are divided into four tones and the language of Tao, are not much different from the three tones, which is particularly simple. In all languages, the strokes of writing interline sounds are similar to those of empty word in China, but all the sounds are ignored. This is so simple and sufficient. "

Obviously, the "comparative linguistics" of literature is based on the characteristics of words and sounds in the writing system, and one of the most important points is to show the importance and confidence in words. Although it may not be correct, it conforms to the core content of the word-centered writing system reform advocated by vernacular Chinese in the late Qing Dynasty. Then, they chatted for a while and asked, "However, every ten years from 1978 to 1978, there are still students in China who don't understand arts and sciences. Why? " Yu Yue said, "It's not the word's fault to ask for elegance. China's grammar mostly follows the Zhou Dynasty in Qin and Han Dynasties. There are 12 or 13 people along the Tang and Song Dynasties. If the famous events of the past thousand years are not published in words, the language of the past 500 years is not simple, because scholars read ancient books, and they are well versed in arts and sciences, including two translations. Not slow? "

This paper regards the language that is inconsistent with the writing in China ancient elegant literature as "two translations", which should be quite incisive. Here, the criticism of China's ancient elegant literary language is obvious, and it also contains a prerequisite, that is, there are two forms of China's ancient literary language-one is the language of "striving for elegance" and the other is the language of "China is not complicated", which he chose as the written style system. Wen went on to say more specifically, "The woman who lives in the countryside is an ordinary citizen, but she can watch operas and novels. After a year or two, she can write home in person." . If ten years have passed, has the intelligence of such people really been transferred to those who have been studying at school? Therefore, after learning to read and write, he changed to chemistry, arithmetic and other arts to use words. Although he is a fool, he can't remember notes for three years. Therefore, there is no need to re-create simple words.

Positive examples of vernacular Chinese practice, such as operas, novels and letters from home, obviously contain the advocacy of vernacular Chinese, which is regarded as a convenient tool. In the end, Wen's point of view and Qiu's point of view reach the same goal. In addition, the article also opened up some blank fields in Qiu's On the Vernacular Writing as the basis of reform. For example, the proposition that "simplified characters don't need to be recreated" once again confirmed the problem of dominant characters in the vernacular movement, which opened a distance from some ideas of language reform at that time. The continuation of the dialogue between Wen and Timothy Richard: Or: "Why does Japanese Koryo have its own simplified characters, but China should not?" Yu Yue said, "The Korean language in Japan is different from that in China. Its words must be spoken and heard before people can recognize it. If China has the disease of variant characters in different provinces, one word at a time, and the whole country is the same, then there is no need to learn the pinyin method of other countries, which will make the people do more things. China's parallel poems and other works must be based on the past, not on today's words, and this is what today looks like, just to embroider its sound. When you are a scholar, you can be inspired. "

"China Simplified Characters" and "Pinyin Method" are the core contents advocated by the movement of dividing Chinese characters and Putonghua in the late Qing Dynasty. Wen's refusal gesture shows the position of insisting on the dominant position of writing in the reform of written language, and also shows the substantive difference between the vernacular movement and the mandarin movement in the late Qing Dynasty. It is worth noting that Wen's thought has initially touched on the issue of literary language. His criticism of "don't say anything today" in the language of parallel poetry and prose only requires that "any scholar should be self-sufficient and there is no room for encouragement". It can be seen that due to the specific development of history, the advocacy of vernacular Chinese by the literati class in the late Qing Dynasty failed to make a big difference in the language of literary creation, but only aimed at the cultural popularization of the lower class to "benefit the vulgar", and did not touch the Chinese characters themselves, but only popularized the writing methods of written language to meet the social demand for written language at that time.

To sum up, this paper basically highlights and analyzes the internal logic advocated by the vernacular movement in the late Qing Dynasty. Although Qiu Hewen's views and thoughts are not exactly the same, they jointly reveal an object of language change, and even hold roughly the same views, creating a great space for language change. Xia Xiaohong said: "Because the confronting vernacular Chinese and classical Chinese still belong to the same cultural system, the stylistic change of the integration of language and literature in the late Qing Dynasty has the significance of adjusting between the big and small traditions. Therefore, for scholars who hold the quintessence of Chinese culture, vernacular Chinese is not unacceptable. The popularity of vernacular Chinese in the late Qing Dynasty has a lot to do with this background. " Objectively speaking, although the literati made subjective adjustments in the language system of China's ancient literature, it caused a huge split between the elegant and popular pattern of China's ancient literary language and the traditions of size and size, showing a new development scene of China language under the conditions of the times.