Chinese Rhetoric and Writing - An Introduction for Language Teachers, 2012a

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Chapter 8 everlasting truth. Dewey spent some two years between 1919-1921 on a lecture tour of China, during which Hu Shi acted as his interpreter (Haffenden 439). While there is no doubt that Hu Shi’s thinking was influenced by his time in America and by educational philosophers such as Dewey, we want to suggest that his ideas for the reform of language—in particular writing and the rhetoric of writing—may also have been influenced by Chinese scholars, not only by people such as Yao Nai of the Tong Cheng school, but possibly also by those of a much earlier period, in particular by Chen Kui of the Southern Song dynasty, whose “Rules of Writing” we reviewed in Chapter 3. The historical contexts in which the two men were writing hold some interesting parallels. Both were times of great literary change. The development of printing during the Song period saw the popularisation of reading and education. This rapid expansion of education was not without its critics, among whom was Chu Hsi, the leading Neo-Confucian philosopher of the time. He published his “Rules of Reading” in response to what he saw were the sins of book culture (Cherniack). These sins included the desire to gobble down as many books as possible, speed-reading and superficial reading. He recommended that people read less and more slowly and with greater concentration, one book at a time. His twelfth-century concerns about the growth of the exam culture resonate today. Walton quotes him: Scholars must first make a distinction between the two separate things, the examinations and the learning, as which to value as more weighty. If learning occupies 70% of the will, and the examinations 30%, then it is all right. But, if the examinations are 70%, and learning is 30%, then one will surely be defeated (by being focused on external reasons for learning, rather than the self); how much more if the will is entirely set on the examinations! (13). However, given the extraordinary increase in education and in the number of boys and young men sitting a series of examinations, it is perhaps not surprising that Chen Kui felt the need to write “The Rules of Writing.” While we might suspect that he was partly motivated by the same concerns that led Chu Hsi to write “The Rules of Reading,” as we argued in Chapter 3, his major motivation was to provide a helpful handbook for students. The book is full of practical hints and advice. By way of recapping, we summarise them as four major principles: 1. Texts should be natural. The words of a text must be suitable to the time, occasion and context. The length of sentences should 154
The End of Empire and External Influences be determined by the needs of the content. Clinging blindly to a model must be avoided. 2. Texts should be clear. A text must make its meaning clear. 3. Texts should be succinct and straightforward. Being succinct, texts must also be complete. Being succinct does not imply omitting important information. And while a straightforward approach is to be preferred, at times, the content may require more complex forms of expression. 4. Texts should be written in popular and common language. They should not be difficult to understand, but accessible. In comparison, below are the eight guidelines Hu Shi penned in the context of promoting the vernacular bai hua as the medium of educated discourse: 1. Language must have content 2. Do not (slavishly) imitate classical writers 3. Make sure you pay attention to grammar and structure 4. Do not complain if you are not ill—in other words, don’t overdo the emotion 5. Cut out the use of hackneyed clichés 6. Don’t cite or rely on the classics 7. Don’t use parallelism 8. Embrace popular and vernacular language The similarity between these four principles and Hu Shi’s eight guidelines are remarkable. Chen Kui was also insistent that meaning was more important than form. People should use language that would be easily understood by contemporaries. We do not know whether Hu Shi read Chen Kui. Given the similarity between his eight guidelines and Chen Kui’s four principles, however, it is at least possible that Hu Shi and others were influenced by the Chinese rhetorical tradition in the context of adopting the vernacular and a simple, clear style as a medium of educated discourse. We conclude this section of this chapter by suggesting that the U.S. in the nineteenth century also saw an exponential increase in the number of people seeking an education and this, along with technological reform, especially the increasing availability of paper, led to a rhetorical and literary reform represented by the rise in the importance of written rhetoric and composition. Hu Shi and other Chinese intellectuals looking for inspiration for language reform arrived in the United States at this time. They happened upon an America itself undergoing literary reform with the focus upon composition and writing. 155
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CHINESE RHETORIC AND WRITING AN INT
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PERSPECTIVES ON WRITING Series Edit
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The WAC Clearinghouse, Fort Collins
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CHINESE RHETORIC AND WRITING: AN IN
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Introduction that there are more sp
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Introduction in Beijing, where he a
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Introduction Chapter 1 also demonst
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Introduction common, along with the
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Chapter 1 plea, or speech, into eit
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Chapter 1 the temple and the hall,
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Chapter 1 from Emperor to subject,
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Chapter 1 getting confused, who soa
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Chapter 1 similarities of the advic
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Chapter 1 to create an environment
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2 THE LITERARY BACKGROUND AND RHETO
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Literary Background and Rhetorical
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3 THE RULES OF WRITING 9 IN MEDIEVA
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The Rules of Writing In Medieval Ch
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Chapter 4 we shall argue, using con
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Chapter 4 The baguwen has been call
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Chapter 4 The Baguwen: A Traditiona
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Chapter 4 Way at the right time; th
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Chapter 4 pianwen and guwen styles.
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Chapter 4 he has written himself in
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Chapter 4 Links between a computer
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Chapter 4 What is of greatest inter
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5 SHUYUAN AND CHINESE WRITING TRAIN
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Shuyuan and Chinese Writing Trainin
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Conclusion BECAUSE x n +THEREFORE x
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Conclusion current lack of an accep
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Works Cited Chafe, Wallace L. “Gi
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Works Cited “Four Examination Ess
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Works Cited Kirkpatrick, Andy. “A
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Works Cited Ma, Zhengping. Advanced
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Works Cited Sun, Shaozhen. “Prefa
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Works Cited Yang, Ling, and David C
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NOTES This chronological division
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Chinese Rhetoric and Writing (biogr
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Chinese Rhetoric and Writing - An Introduction for Language Teachers, 2012a

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