Frequent sanctions on China chips, US Secretary of Commerce utters the truth: in vain.

  On December 23rd, the Office of the US Trade Representative announced that it had launched a 301 investigation against the chip industry in China. The target of this survey is mainly the mature process chips in China.

  In the past few years, we have the impression that the United States is more concerned about advanced process chips. The United States has done the same. From products to technology and manufacturing equipment, every time the United States introduces trade restrictions, it is restricting China from acquiring advanced process chips from different dimensions.

  But now, America’s goal has changed.

  How to understand such a change?

  This time, there are many clues about the changes in the United States in the official notice of the United States launching the 301 investigation.

  In the notice, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative mentioned that it would investigate whether there is overcapacity in China’s chips and the dependence of downstream industries in the United States on China caused by these chips.

  The reason why these investigation directions are related to the specific problems that the United States is worried about.

  Recently, the U.S. government completed a study, and according to the research results, two-thirds of American products use mature process chips from China.

  For this phenomenon of "dependence" on China chips, the US government has a great anxiety.

  In the eyes of the US government, the development of China’s chip enterprises not only means that the market share and jobs of American chip enterprises have been "robbed", but also means that China has more chips and "threatens" the safety of the American industrial chain.

  Therefore, according to the "investigation results", the United States will decide whether to impose tariffs or introduce other measures to prevent China chips from entering the US market.

  In this way, many people can feel that the American rhetoric is already a cliche — — From the relatively elementary manufacturing industries such as chemicals and textiles in previous years to the electric vehicles in recent two years, as long as China has established an advantage in the global market, the United States has initiated investigations and imposed tariffs on the grounds of "disrupting market order at low prices" and "threatening American economic security".

  However, after inquiring about the data of China’s export of chips to the United States, Mr. Tan found that things were not so simple.

  △ Since the export data of December this year has not been released, the statistics have selected the data of the same period in the past ten years.

  It can be seen that China’s exports of chips to the United States have not changed much in the past three years. In other words, "the United States relies on China’s mature process chips" is not a new phenomenon this year, which is not the time when the United States launched an investigation.

  And the timeline goes back to 2022 — — At the end of this year, China’s chip exports to the United States gradually stabilized at today’s level. Taking 2022 as the coordinate, and then combing how the United States has discussed mature process chips in these years, we will find that,What really promoted the 301 survey is that the cognition of mature process chips in the United States has changed.

  American media, American think tanks and American government were selected as the statistical objects. In 2022, there was little discussion about "China mature process chips". This year, Biden’s export control measures have just been introduced, which are full of restrictions on China’s advanced manufacturing processes. Americans also have their own hot spots to catch up with.

  By the end of 2022, China’s chip exports to the United States have increased by more than 60%, reaching the biggest increase in the past decade. At this time, a different voice appeared.

  At the beginning of 2023, an American think tank published an article pointing out that the focus of the US government was biased, and they ignored the importance of mature process chips.

  Tan Zhu noticed that this article pointed out a key problem: it is misleading to divide chips into "advanced process" and "mature process".

  Unlike many people’s first reaction, "mature process chips" do not use outdated technologies, including new technologies such as silicon carbide, which are all used in mature process chips. At the same time, such chips will be continuously improved to meet new requirements and applications.Therefore, traditional chips are destined to maintain a high degree of correlation with emerging industries and technologies for a long time.

  Tracing back to the source, the term "mature process chip" was originally a military term. In order to promote the development of military technology, the United States made a distinction between "advanced process chip" and "mature process chip". This distinction has nothing to do with industrial logic.

  The importance of this article lies in the fact that this cognitive rectification has had an effective impact on the US government:

  In January this year, the US-China Special Committee on Strategic Competition of the US House of Representatives sent a letter to the US Department of Commerce and the Office of the US Trade Representative, requesting to launch an investigation into mature process chips in China. This is the starting point of the investigation.

  Soon, the US Department of Commerce responded first. This year, the U.S. Department of Commerce launched a research on the basis of the U.S. semiconductor industry. This study draws the conclusion that the United States "depends" on China’s mature process chips through statistics.

  Based on the evidence provided by the US-China Special Committee on Strategic Competition and the data studied by the US Department of Commerce, the Office of the US Trade Representative finally decided to launch the 301 investigation.

  Initially, the US-China Special Committee on Strategic Competition paid attention to the progress of mature process chips in China, largely because it saw this article.

  In their letters asking the US government to launch an investigation on mature process chips in China, a large number of opinions and data of this article appeared.

  △ Letter from the "US-China Special Committee on Strategic Competition" requesting an investigation on mature process chips in China.

  In other words, this 301 survey reflects that the cognition of the relationship between industrial competition and technological progress in the United States is changing. This also makes this 301 survey more symbolic than before.

  Cao Yun (Former practitioners of chip enterprises in China):

  ● From the perspective of our industry, technological innovation will be divided into different links to discuss. Now, the improvement of chip production process is the most important, not the innovation of the source.

  ● The improvement of chip production process is divided into process node improvement, material improvement, yield improvement and detail optimization. As mentioned above, using silicon carbide on mature process chips belongs to material improvement.

  China has a unique advantage that it has the most comprehensive manufacturing category in the world, which means that we can promote innovation in all processes and links of the chip industry chain.

  From this point of view, it is unrealistic for the United States to try to block the development of advanced process chips in China and then suppress the whole chip industry in China.

  Now, the United States is beginning to understand that simply blocking other countries’ access to advanced technology and products in areas where it has technological advantages cannot maintain its advantages for a long time.

  From this "reflection", we can also better understand the objective law of the development of the chip industry.

  You can look at such a set of data.

  In 2024, the US chip market is expected to grow by 23.7% year-on-year. But there are two important driving forces behind this data:

  In 2024, the global chip market is picking up, and it is expected to increase by 20.7% year-on-year. At the same time, NVIDIA’s revenue in 2024 is expected to increase by over 100% year-on-year, becoming the biggest driving force for the growth of the US chip market.

  But it also means that most chip companies behind it are "dragging their feet".

  Master Tan counted the top ten chip companies in the United States except NVIDIA, and found that 80% of them had a revenue growth rate far lower than that of the global chip market this fiscal year. Even, five companies are expected to have negative growth this year.

  By combing the chip policy of the U.S. government in the past four years, we can see that the thinking of the United States is basically "two-legged": subsidizing American enterprises through the Chip and Science Act, and restricting the export of advanced technologies to curb the development of China enterprises.

  After four years, obviously, the result is not ideal.

  US Commerce Secretary Raymond recently said: It is futile to try to contain China. But there is still a half sentence that she failed to say. At the same time, the US government’s assistance policy was not successful. These two factors have jointly caused the dilemma of American chip companies today.

  The Chip and Science Act was signed in August 2022, but it was not until the end of 2023 that the US government approved the first subsidy. According to relevant disclosures, as many as 40% of large-scale projects have been postponed or stopped indefinitely because of the ineffective promotion of the Chip and Science Law and the Inflation Reduction Law.

  Not only can the US government not help American companies, but more importantly, this year was originally a year of recovery in the global chip market, and many chip companies are expecting a rebound in profits. However, the "chip method" has become an obstacle to this vision — — The "chip law" has set up protectionist provisions, and accepting subsidies from the United States means giving up markets in other countries.

  The choice of market is a particularly important issue this year.

  Professionals told Tan Zhu that a large number of chip companies were pushed to set up factories in the United States through huge subsidies and political pressure, resulting in industrial transfer under non-market conditions, which would lead to increased costs. According to estimates, the cost of opening a new chip factory in the United States is about 30% to 50% higher than that in Asia, which will be shared among chips produced in the United States in the future.

  In the long run, perhaps the profits of these factories in the future can make up for these costs. But for many companies, they don’t have the luxury to think about the market in 10 years.

  In the past three years, every year, the global chip market has a new atmosphere:

  From 2022 to 2023, the phenomenon of "hoarding goods" first appeared in the global chip market, which promoted enterprises to expand production, and then there was the problem of oversupply.

  In 2024, the focus of the global chip market shifted from the previous CPU chip to the GPU chip driven by artificial intelligence.

  When the wind is high and the waves are urgent, should we choose the mature industrial chain that has been verified in the global chip market, or choose the illusory idea of the US government to build a new industrial chain?

  Professionals told Tan that the United States interfered with the balance of supply and demand of global chips, and trade disputes would follow. For enterprises, these are risks.

  The more global scientific and technological innovations emerge and new development opportunities emerge, choosing unknown risks is essentially giving up development opportunities.

  In other words, the act of reshaping the global chip industry chain has not made the United States more "safe" as the US government said, but has destroyed the market environment on which American enterprises depend for survival and growth.

  Master Tan once discussed a question with chris miller, the author of Chip Wars. What was the final result of American intervention in the global chip industry chain?

  Chris miller (American historian, author of Chip Wars.):

  ● The most likely situation is that there are more and more "separated" supply chains, which eventually produce completely independent or parallel supply chains. At present, this trend has appeared.

  ● An obvious impact is that this will lead to inefficiency, and countries will spend a lot of manpower, financial resources and time on the same research. The cost is huge, and the sacrifice of the chip industry is also huge. You know, we could have made progress together and accelerated the development of technology.

  The peak of human wisdom should have been used to explore the sea of stars. It would be a pity if it was consumed in meaningless competition for the sake of zero-sum game.

  Not to mention, the way of competition chosen by the United States has been proved to be the wrong way.

  From 2018 to 2021, American importers paid nearly $123 billion to cover the increased tariff costs. According to the report of the American Chamber of Commerce, if the tariff rate of 25% of the previous administration is continued, the United States will lose $190 billion annually by 2025 and $250 billion annually by 2030, which will make the United States lose nearly $1 trillion in economic growth potential.

  According to the United States’ own forecast data, by 2029, China will further expand its global market share, accounting for about 50% of the global market for mature process chips.

  On this basis, the chip will also be related to the normal operation of key industries such as communications, enterprises, electronic equipment and industrial manufacturing in the United States.

  If the United States imposes tariffs on China chips, it will surely bring huge losses to itself.

  Not to mention, this time, 301 survey is used, which points to unfair trade in global trade. Professionals told Tan Zhu that in the global chip industry, the United States has the largest subsidy, and the United States is the biggest unfair manufacturer.

  What the U.S. economy really needs is not to think hard about what kind of China products to suppress, but more importantly, to completely jump out of this thinking and help American enterprises return to the wave of free flow of global trade to find opportunities for growth.

  For any American government, this is the truth they need to see.

Environmental tax will be levied next month! Do not withdraw from the historical stage by personal sewage charges.

  BEIJING, Dec. 29 (Reporter Qiu Yuzhongqing) On January 1, 2018, China was the first one-way tax law to promote the construction of ecological civilization — — The Environmental Protection Tax Law will be formally implemented, which also means that the sewage charge system that has been implemented for nearly 40 years will withdraw from the historical stage.

  Do ordinary residents have to pay environmental taxes? Are the collection standards the same everywhere? What changes will "fee to tax" bring to enterprises? Zhongxin. com has combed and interpreted this.

  On February 12, 2016, many places in Shandong suffered from smog weather. Image source: vision china

  Do individuals have to pay environmental taxes?

  The Environmental Protection Tax Law stipulates that enterprises, institutions and other producers and operators that directly discharge taxable pollutants into the environment in People’s Republic of China (PRC) and other sea areas under the jurisdiction of People’s Republic of China (PRC) are taxpayers of environmental protection tax, and they shall pay environmental protection tax in accordance with the provisions of this law.

  In other words, ordinary residents are not included in the scope of taxation and do not have to pay environmental taxes. According to local media reports, the responsible persons of tax authorities in Hebei, Jiangxi, Anhui and other places have made it clear that individual residents do not pay environmental protection tax.

  When do you start paying taxes?

  Zhongxin. com reporter learned from State Taxation Administration of The People’s Republic of China that the first collection period of environmental protection tax will be around April next year, not to say that tax returns will be started after January 1st.

  In this regard, Shi Zhengwen, director of the Finance and Tax Research Center of China University of Political Science and Law, pointed out in an interview that the environmental protection tax is "calculated on a monthly basis and declared quarterly", and the reporting period and the time when the specific tax obligation occurs are two different things.

  Shi Zhengwen said that the tax calculation began on January 1, but the declaration was from April 1 to 15. During this half-month period, enterprises had to declare their taxes.

  Data Map: In Guozhuangzi Village, Xinkou Town, Xiqing District, Tianjin, electric heating pipes instead of coal are connected to every household. China News Service reporter Yan Yushe

  What pollutants are taxed?

  The Environmental Protection Tax Law clearly states that air pollutants, water pollutants, solid waste and noise are listed as taxable pollutants.

  Taxable air pollutants include sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, chlorine gas, etc. Taxable water pollutants include total mercury, total cadmium, total lead, petroleum, animal and vegetable oils, formaldehyde, etc.

  It is worth noting that noise refers to industrial noise according to the Table of Items and Taxes of Environmental Protection Tax attached to the Environmental Protection Tax Law. This means that construction noise and traffic noise are not included in the scope of collection.

  According to the Law on the Prevention and Control of Environmental Noise Pollution, environmental noise refers to the sound produced in industrial production, construction, transportation and social life that interferes with the surrounding living environment.

  Among them, industrial noise refers to the sound that interferes with the surrounding living environment when using fixed equipment in industrial production activities; Construction noise refers to the sound that interferes with the surrounding living environment during construction.

  How much do you pay?

  According to the Environmental Protection Tax Law, the amount of environmental protection tax has both an upper limit and a lower limit. The tax range of air pollutants is from 1.2 yuan to 12 yuan per pollution equivalent, and that of water pollutants is from 1.4 yuan to 14 yuan per pollution equivalent.

  Pollution equivalent refers to a comprehensive index or unit of measurement to measure the environmental pollution caused by different pollutants according to the harmful degree of pollutants or pollution discharge activities to the environment and the technical economy of treatment.

  For example, in terms of industrial noise, different decibels exceed the standard, and the monthly tax levied is different. For example, if it exceeds the standard by 1-3 decibels, 350 yuan will exceed the standard by more than 16 decibels per month, and it will cost 11,200 yuan per month.

  Data Map: Wetland Ecological Restoration Project in Sanbiao Township, Xunwu County, Jiangxi Province. Su Lucheng photo

  Is the tax payment standard the same everywhere?

  According to the Environmental Protection Tax Law, each province has certain discretion in the specific applicable tax amount of air pollutants and water pollutants. In other words, the specific tax payment standards may be different from place to place.

  "This is equivalent to giving local governments greater discretion," Shi Zhengwen said. "The Environmental Protection Tax Law mentions three factors, namely, the environmental carrying capacity of the local area, the current situation of pollutant discharge and the requirements of economic, social and ecological development goals. According to these three factors, local governments determine the specific applicable tax amount, which varies greatly among different provinces."

  Among them, Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and surrounding provinces generally set higher taxes on air pollutants and water pollutants. The applicable tax amount of taxable air pollutants in Beijing is 12 yuan per pollution equivalent, and the applicable tax amount of taxable water pollutants is 14 yuan per pollution equivalent, both of which are implemented according to the upper limit of tax range stipulated in the Environmental Protection Tax Law.

  Will it increase the burden on enterprises?

  The relevant person in charge of State Taxation Administration of The People’s Republic of China told the reporter of Zhongxin.com that the environmental protection tax was jointly promoted by the Ministry of Environmental Protection, the Ministry of Finance and the State Administration of Taxation. According to the standard of "shifting taxes and fees", the past sewage charges were directly converted into environmental protection taxes. Of course, generally speaking, the design of policies is not aimed at collecting money, but mainly to stimulate the awareness of environmental protection and boost the consciousness of environmental protection.

  The person in charge of the Regulation Department of the Ministry of Environmental Protection said that changing the sewage charges into environmental taxes is conducive to improving the rigidity of law enforcement, reducing local government intervention and internalizing environmental costs. Environmental protection tax is levied according to the amount of emissions, with more emissions and more payments, less emissions and less payments, which is conducive to promoting enterprises to improve their environmental protection level and reduce pollutant emissions.

  Data Map: Seven enterprises and institutions withdrew from Fuxian Lake Nature Reserve in Yunnan, showing their determination to protect the environment. China News Service reporter Ren Dongshe

  Does the environmental protection tax belong to the local government or the central government?

  On December 27th, the State Council issued the Notice on the Ownership of Environmental Protection Tax Revenue, which made it clear that environmental protection tax was local revenue.

  The circular pointed out that in order to promote the protection and improvement of the environment and increase investment in environmental protection, the State Council decided to use all environmental protection taxes as local income.

  The current sewage charges are divided between the central and local governments by 1: 9. Wang Jianfan, director of the Department of Taxation and Administration of the Ministry of Finance, pointed out earlier that in order to mobilize local enthusiasm, considering that local governments bear the main responsibility for pollution control, it is planned to take all environmental taxes as local income, and the central government will no longer participate in the sharing. (End)

Britain announced that it would impose sanctions on China. Yang Xiaoguang: It will not be trampled upon by others and will resolutely fight back.

According to the Chinese Embassy in Britain, on March 22, 2021, the Chargé d ‘affaires of the Embassy in Britain, Yang Xiaoguang, successively received an exclusive interview with British Sky News, TV 4 and BBC, explaining China’s principled position on the sanctions imposed by the European Union and Britain on relevant institutions and personnel in China due to Xinjiang-related issues, and refuting wrong remarks. Sky News and TV 4 broadcast live reports, and BBC broadcast some interviews in the news program that night.

In response to the British Foreign Development Secretary’s announcement that Britain will impose sanctions on China officials and entities,Agent Yang said that Xinjiang affairs are entirely China’s internal affairs. Based on lies and false information, the British side imposed unilateral sanctions on individuals and entities in China on the pretext of human rights issues, ignored the facts, turned black and white, grossly interfered in China’s internal affairs, blatantly violated international law and the basic norms of international relations, and seriously damaged Sino-British relations. China expresses strong dissatisfaction and resolute opposition to this, and reserves the right to take corresponding countermeasures to safeguard China’s interests and dignity.

In response to China’s question about whether it was surprised by the British government’s decision,Deputy Yang said that China was not surprised, but deeply disappointed, and resolutely opposed this wrong decision. Sanctions will not only have no effect on China, but will make the people of China more united. The basic reaction I have heard is that Chinese officials who have been sanctioned are deeply honored to be able to defend national interests.

In response to the question whether China will take countermeasures against Britain,Agent Yang said that China does not take the initiative to provoke confrontation and attack others, but it will not be trampled upon by others and will resolutely fight back. China will not succumb to external pressure, and we should not underestimate our determination and confidence in safeguarding national sovereignty, security and development interests. China is carefully studying the British statement and will make an appropriate response in due course. China urges the British side to change its course in time, withdraw relevant wrong decisions, avoid damage to bilateral relations, and take effective measures to bring Sino-British relations back to the right track.

In response to the question that Xinjiang Education and Training Center is equivalent to a "concentration camp", China has carried out "genocide" and "forced labor" on Uighurs, forced sterilization on Uighur women and separated Uighur children from their parents, Agent Yang pointed out that China has repeatedly stated that there is no so-called "genocide", "forced labor" and "mass sterilization" in Xinjiang. These accusations against Xinjiang are groundless and "century lies". The so-called evidence hyped by the British media is completely malicious lies and false information, which has no credibility at all. The relevant pictures and videos are fabricated or taken out of context.

Agent Yang said that China’s establishment of the education and training center is a preventive anti-terrorism measure to educate and save those who are infected by extreme thoughts, involved in terrorism activities or seriously influenced by extreme thoughts and prevent them from going to terrorism. Facts have proved that this measure has effectively protected the life safety of people of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang, including Uighur compatriots, and also guaranteed the right of the students concerned to reunite with their families according to law. Students study the national common language, legal knowledge and vocational skills education and training in the teaching and training center. After graduation, they generally find suitable jobs and their living standards are improved.

Agent Yang said that cotton production in Xinjiang has been highly mechanized, and there is no need for a lot of manpower. Moreover, there are few job opportunities, high pay and fierce competition. Where is the need for forced labor?

Agent Yang said that the family planning policy is still the basic national policy of China, which is implemented nationwide, but it is more relaxed for ethnic minorities, including Uighurs. The accusations you mentioned are sheer nonsense.

Agent Yang pointed out that the pictures repeatedly broadcast by British TV programs are scenes of centralized transfer of prisoners in Xinjiang detention center, which has nothing to do with the teaching and training center. These prisoners are dangerous people suspected of breaking the law, so it is absolutely necessary to take security measures for them, and there is no abuse problem.

Agent Yang stressed that facts have repeatedly proved that the accusations against China are unfounded. In 2019, Xinjiang received more than 200 million Chinese and foreign tourists. If there are a lot of "torture" or "misconduct" in the local area, why is there no more evidence? In fact, China’s Xinjiang policy has been widely understood and supported internationally. At the 46th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, 64 countries, including Arab countries, made a joint speech in support of China’s Xinjiang policy. We welcome more tourists from all over the world to visit Xinjiang after the COVID-19 epidemic, and believe that they can make correct judgments through what they have seen with their own eyes. What China has done in Xinjiang is frank and aboveboard, which can stand the test of history.

In response to a question about the nature of the Public Security Bureau of Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, agent Yang said that the primary responsibility of the public security organs of Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps is to protect the lives and property safety and legitimate rights and interests of people of all ethnic groups, including Uighurs. Over the years, the public security organs of the Corps have cracked down on serious crimes such as terrorism according to law, which has been sincerely supported and generally supported by the local people of all ethnic groups.

In response to a question from the former US Secretary of State that China had put Uighurs in "concentration camps" and instilled communist party’s ideas and carried out "genocide", Agent Yang said that there was no "genocide" in Xinjiang. A century or two ago, the United States massacred Indians, and what they did was called "genocide."

On the question of whether China allows the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to visit Xinjiang and whether foreign journalists are allowed to visit Xinjiang freely, Agent Yang said that China welcomes the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to visit China and Xinjiang, and has kept close communication with the United Nations. The door of Xinjiang is open. We welcome people who are unbiased and really want to know about the development of Xinjiang to visit Xinjiang, but we firmly oppose any condescending presumption of guilt. According to the relevant regulations of China, foreign journalists can go to Xinjiang to report on the premise of abiding by the laws of China and fulfilling relevant procedures.

In response to a question about a British parliamentarian claiming that he was "harassed on the Internet by diplomats of the China Embassy", Agent Yang said that some British parliamentarians have repeatedly made false statements about Xinjiang on social media, and China diplomats have the right to clarify the truth and set the record straight. Members can make false statements, so we have no right to state the facts? Why do you say "harassment"?

On the question of whether "one country, two systems" in Hong Kong has become "one country, one system" and whether the Legislative Council of Hong Kong will become a "rubber stamp", Mr. Yang said that the China government has always fully and accurately implemented the policy of "one country, two systems", but "one country" is the prerequisite. After the storm of amending regulations, "one country" has been seriously impacted, and it is necessary to strengthen "one country" in order to better guarantee "two systems". What China has done is to ensure that "one country, two systems" is stable and far-reaching, and to ensure that the interests of the overwhelming majority of Hong Kong people are safeguarded. Members of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong come from all walks of life and are widely representative. In the future, there will still be many voices in the Hong Kong Legislative Council. On the premise of safeguarding national sovereignty and territorial integrity, members’ right to express their opinions is guaranteed.

(The original title is "The Chargé d ‘affaires of Yang Xiaoguang is interviewed by British Sky News, TV 4 and BBC")

A summary of the international symposium on Duan Yucai and Qing Dynasty.

    Recently, the International Symposium on Duan Yucai and Qing Dynasty, sponsored by the Chinese Culture Research Institute of Nanjing University and the People’s Government of Jintan City, Jiangsu Province, and undertaken by the Propaganda Department of Jintan Municipal Committee of Jiangsu Province and Jiangsu Hongde Culture Publishing Foundation, was held in Jintan City, Jiangsu Province, the hometown of Duan Yucai, which is known as a blessed land in the east of the river. During the meeting, experts and scholars attending the meeting exchanged views on Duan Yucai’s academic contribution, the Confucian tradition in Duan Zhu’s Shuowen, Duan Yucai in the perspective of ideological history, Western Sinology and Duan Yucai studies, and achieved rich academic achievements, which can be summarized as follows:


    On Duan Yucai’s Linguistics and Philology


    Duan Yucai’s most important academic achievement in his life was in philology, and his main achievements were concentrated in the book Notes on Explaining Words and Characters. Annotation is an important genre of ancient writing. If Xu Shen’s Shuo Wen Jie Zi in the Eastern Han Dynasty focuses on revealing the original meaning of Chinese characters through their glyphs, Duan Yucai in the Qing Dynasty focuses on revealing the extended meaning of Chinese words with handed down documents. Today, we talk about the contribution of paragraph notes to semantics and lexicology, which is mainly based on the extension of paragraph notes. Duan Zhu connects the ancient and modern glyphs, pronunciations and meanings, which makes it more thoughtful.


    Another important contribution of Duan Zhu is that more than 9,000 Chinese characters are placed in the new ancient phonological system, and the rhymes of each character are marked one by one. Attached to Duan’s annotated book, Liushu Phonology Table is the position system of more than 9,000 words, that is, the ancient rhyme system. Duan Yucai’s achievements in ancient phonology can be summarized into two aspects: first, he put forward a series of principles of ancient phonology, became a master of ancient phonology, and especially opened up a new way and a new method system to study the division of ancient phonology from the perspective of harmonic radicals. Second, it is divided into six categories and seventeen parts, which surpass the predecessors and enlighten the later. Duan Yucai and Dai Zhen talked about rhyme for fifteen years, which became a much-told story in academic history. After discussion, the two sides reached a consensus on the part of the three rhymes of "Zhi, Zhi and Zhi" in ancient times. However, Dai has never accepted Duan’s opinion on the separation of ancient truth and literature. Today, the division of ancient truth and literature has become a conclusion and Duan is correct. 


    Another important contribution of Duan Zhu is that, in addition to pointing out the meaning relationship between the related Chinese characters in the radicals of Shuowen, Xu Shen Shuowen has become orderly and "like a text", and it has also been constantly checking instructions on the meaning-related words in the whole book, making them combined and classified.


    What are the new ideas for studying paragraph notes today? To sum up, there are four kinds: one is to absorb the essence of paragraph notes to serve the compilation of contemporary dictionaries, the other is to make a deeper study of paragraph notes by using the sound and meaning of Buddhist scriptures, and the other is to use the "waste words" regulation of paragraph notes to include the study of waste words in the standardization of Chinese characters, so that the International Organization for Standardization can officially publish the Universal Multi-octet Coded Character Set (number ISO10646) as an open mode for editing.


    Some scholars combine the study of Duan Zhujin’s folk characters with the study of dialect characters, which is also very innovative and valuable.


    On Duan Yucai’s Confucian Classics


    First, Duan’s extensive and profound primary school is the methodological support of Duan’s Confucian classics. In the early Qing Dynasty, when Gu Yanwu answered the question of what is Confucian classics, he once said, "Neo-Confucianism is also Confucian classics." That is, "there is no neo-Confucianism without Confucian classics". Similarly, we can also say that there is no Confucian classics without primary school. Duan’s primary school serves the interpretation of classics, and primary school is a tool for studying classics. Duan’s primary school is magnificent, and his achievements in Confucian classics are therefore rich. In Duan Yucai’s view, the history of Confucian classics is really a history of the logical application of pragmatic tools around the group classics, and the history of Confucian classics is a history of the annotation of Confucian classics.


    The second is the language logic of reading classics in Zhou Lihan’s Reading Test (1794). Duan Yucai’s most important contribution to Zhou Lihan’s Reading Test is that he put forward the style of Han Dynasty’s annotation on Zhou Li in order to understand Zhou Li: the preface to Zhou Lihan’s reading test put forward three forms of "Chinese annotation is correct reading". Duan said: "Chinese is a note, and there are three examples: one is to read if, and the other is to read if; Second, read as, read as; Three times. " This passage, also found under the word "read" in Shuo Wen Duan Zhu, can be regarded as an independent ancient philology transferred to Confucian classics as an example of speech. Reading Ru, Reading Ruo: "Imitating its pronunciation" is used to imitate homophones and homonyms. Read for, read for: mainly used to indicate the change of meaning. When: Duan said: "A word error or a sound error is correct, all of which are called when."


    The third is the meritorious service in the field of Shangshu. In the early Qing Dynasty, it was enlightening to denounce the fake ancient prose Shangshu, and Liang Qichao’s Academic Introduction in Qing Dynasty called it "one of the great liberation of sincere ideological circles". Shangshu is one of the thirteen classics, and the thirteen classics are the orthodox guiding ideology of feudal society. It is of course an impact on feudal ruling ideology to expose the forgery of Shangshu. During the Qianlong period, Duan Yucai’s research and verification of the ancient Chinese text Shangshu was of great significance to expose the aftermath of Mei’s pseudograph. 


    The fourth is natural science and reading classics. Duan Yucai attaches great importance to the introduction of natural science into the Confucian Classics. Zhang Binglin’s A Review of Confucianism once said that there are fewer Thirteen Classics in Duan Yucai, and it is advisable to add Da Dai Li Ji, Mandarin, Historical Records, Han Shu, Zi Zhi Tong Jian, and Shuo Wen Jie Zi, Zhou Bian Shu Jing and Nine Chapters of Arithmetic. In this way, two of the eight classics added by Duan are mathematical books, which shows that Duan’s theory of classics attaches importance to natural science.


    Fifthly, it is also worth noting that Duan Yucai’s tolerant attitude towards modern classics. Duan Yucai once asked his grandson Gong Zizhen to learn from Cheng Yaotian, a scholar of ancient Chinese classics. Later, Gong Zizhen, a scholar of Confucian classics, wrote four articles on Ming Liang, exposing the corruption of bureaucratic politics in the Qing Dynasty. When Duan Yucai was 80 years old, he read this article and praised it as "a disease in China and today" and "an outstanding one"! I don’t hate (regret) to die when I still see this. "


    On Duan Yucai’s Philosophical Thought


    There are many contents in the paragraph notes that are close to the philosophy of language. Generally speaking, Duan Zhu’s explanation of the righteous examples in Shuowen, the righteous examples, literary examples and regulations are all the logic of the book itself, and Duan Zhu’s invention of the book permission regulations is an extremely important content of language philosophy. The generalization of the logical and semantic order of the words received by the Ministry after the paragraph notes, and the classification and comparison of similar semantics in different radicals are typical philosophical problems of language. A series of principles of ancient phonology when divided into six categories and seventeen parts of ancient rhymes, especially the deep-seated principle and composition of "the homophonic sounds are the same, and the ancient rhymes are the same", the metalinguistic characteristics in the interpretation of the extended meanings in the paragraph notes, and the examples of the interpretation of Duan’s Confucian classics, are all philosophical problems of language.


    There is a problem here, that is, the ontology of language philosophy. The ontology of China’s ancient philosophy of language is Chinese and Chinese characters. Modern cognitive linguistics also believes that the words of a national language can be used to understand the culture, thought and national spirit of the nation. Duan Yucai devoted his whole life to explaining Chinese language, revealing phonology and semantic categories, which is precisely the ontological research of language philosophy. The deeper value of this research lies in carrying forward the national cultural spirit. Whenever we study Shuo Wen Duan Zhu with awe, we are certainly attracted by the knowledge treasure in it, but what fascinates us even more is the cultural spirit of Duan Zhu’s Chinese characters, which is the spiritual implication conveyed by Duan’s explanation. Duan’s research is, in a word, the study of the meaning of language. Our study of the meaning system revealed by Duan Yucai is of general world outlook and scientific understanding significance.


    In recent years, the academic circles have mentioned the modernity of traditional academics, that is, the modern transformation of traditional academics. Different fields have their own academic transformations. For example, in the above-mentioned field of linguistics and philology, from three segments: extended meanings, ancient phonology and analogical characters, from dictionary compilation, Buddhist phonology and meanings, from compiling Chinese character "attribute dictionary" to developing paragraph notes by using the "waste words" regulation of paragraph notes, and from supplementing Xu Shu and paragraph notes with ancient characters. In the field of Confucian classics, it is all aspects of modernity to construct the philosophy of language and philology of China’s ancient philosophy of language in the field of philosophy from the aspects of practical learning, style, enlightenment thought and natural science view.


    The more important aspect of "modern transformation" is to inherit Duan’s rigorous and realistic academic spirit. Duan spent nearly 40 years (1776-1815) creating a book "Notes on Explaining Words", which shows that Duan’s academic and cultural spirit is the most valuable spiritual wealth.


    (Author: College of Literature, Nanjing University)


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