"Did you learn this from that big tribe?" asked a team leader.
"No, I created it myself." Qiao Yu said shamelessly.
Even if that large tribe had written language, it would definitely be pictographic. Qiao Yu, however, planned to teach everyone simplified Chinese characters directly.
Although culture needs to develop step by step, so does writing; the language of primitive society is very different from that of modern society, and the same is true for writing.
Furthermore, in ancient times, especially before the invention of paper and ink, which were extremely expensive even after their invention, people were eager to convey a lot of meaning in each character they wrote, in order to save as much paper and ink as possible. Therefore, monosyllabic characters were often used. The modern expression "this is it" can be summed up in classical Chinese with a single character, "ran," which greatly saves on paper and ink.
However, this kind of language and writing has further distanced the written and spoken languages. In ancient times, even if one learned a few thousand common characters, they still couldn't understand what was written in books. They had to study seriously in school for several years to even have a basic understanding of books. This was a complete obstacle to the popularization of culture.
Qiao Yu believes that it was precisely because the May Fourth Movement advocated vernacular Chinese that all modern books were changed into vernacular Chinese, which enabled China's literacy campaign to be completed and nine-year compulsory education to be implemented.
What's more, judging from the primitive tribes that Qiao Yu had contact with, the spoken language they usually spoke was not much different from the modern one.
Regardless of how history unfolded, or the land she was standing on, she had traveled here, so she would do things her way. According to the historical development of the great northern tribe, this place would still be in the Bronze Age. But now that she had arrived, iron tools had appeared. Didn't that go against history?
So there's really no need to worry about that. In this tribe, just do what she wants.
Qiao Yu didn't want to admit that she didn't teach classical Chinese, largely because she herself didn't know classical Chinese well.
Seeing no one objected, Qiao Yu said, "The reason I'm talking about literacy is because the personnel and schedule adjustments will need to be made accordingly. When it's your team's turn to learn literacy, each team should finish work earlier and head back as soon as the sun sets. Don't wait until it's almost dark to return to the tribe. After returning to the tribe, come to the open space first to learn literacy, and then have dinner after dark."
Each team nodded.
"With so many people, I definitely can't teach them all at once, so I plan to teach them in batches. Hunting teams one, two, and three will be the first group; teams four, five, and six will be the second; the breeding team, carpentry team, stone tool polishing team, and a few witches will be the third group; the gathering team will be the fourth group; and the women's hunting team and pottery team will be the fifth group. We'll have a rotation every five days. Everyone will first learn to write their own names, and then learn to count."
When they heard that it only took five days to learn and that it only took up a short period of time before dusk, those who had some ideas about it no longer had any objections.
The prey the hunting team has caught is more than enough for everyone to eat. As long as we continue hunting, there will be no problem.
Qiao Yu glanced at everyone and turned serious. "Why do I want everyone to learn to read? Besides being able to record various data and knowledge, writing is also a way to promote talent. Who's smart and who's not, who's capable and who's not, who's conscientious and who's sloppy—all of this can be seen through learning to read."
"When I promote talent in the future, I'll select those with the best literacy and numeracy skills. Those with outstanding literacy and numeracy skills will be assigned to important positions within the tribe. If any of you squad leaders aren't diligent in class and your literacy and numeracy scores aren't good, I'll remove you. If you still wish to continue serving as assistant chiefs, elders, or squad leaders, you must correct your attitude and study hard. Don't let me remove you from your position; it would be shameful, and even pleading for mercy would be useless."
Everyone was initially indifferent to this, but some even disagreed, feeling that Qiao Yu was messing around. Isn't it enough to have enough food, clothing, and shelter? Is it necessary to have things that are neither edible nor wearable?
But when they heard this, they were startled and finally took the matter seriously.
Regardless of whether this matter was meaningful or not, regardless of whether they were willing to learn to read or not, they could not be removed from their positions as team leaders. The tribe had grown in size, and a team leader was in charge of twenty or thirty people. It was quite impressive. Apart from anything else, just being able to come here for a meeting today was a great honor.
Shan, Lu, Man and others also heard the benefits of literacy from Qiao Yu's words.
What's the biggest shortage in the tribe right now? Talent.
With more people comes more work. Not to mention the elders and team leaders, Man and Liushui alone are constantly busy, dealing with all sorts of matters. If there were more people to manage the tribe, it would definitely be better.
"In addition to literacy, another thing I want to do is give everyone in the tribe a surname. When I went to the big tribe this time, I saw that they all had surnames. For example, their king's surname is Ji."
Your last name is Ji?
Everyone was confused and wanted to laugh.
I don't know what a surname is. But a chicken doesn't seem that great, does it? It's not as powerful as a tiger, nor as cunning as a wolf. Even if it can fly, can it compare to an eagle? So why would the king of a large tribe have the surname Rooster?
Qiao Yu did not want to spend more time explaining to these illiterate people that this girl is not that chicken.
She said, "Our tribe is now a merger of three tribes, and there are many people with the same name. For example, I know of several people named Shi."
Everyone looked at Shi.
"There's also a little boy named Shu in the Shanyin tribe," Qiao Yu continued. "When a child is born, parents will name him after the most familiar things they come into contact with in daily life. But the things we come into contact with in daily life are limited, so it's difficult to have different names. But if the surnames are different, adding the surname before the given name will make them different."
"This surname doesn't have to be complicated. You can use the name of your ancestors, parents, or the most famous and respectful person in your family as your surname. Of course, if you like, you can also use your name as the surname of your son or grandson."
"Let me give you an example. For example, the descendants of Shi can all have the surname Shi. Then Shi's son can be called Shi Chong, and his grandson can be called Shi Jian."
Everyone looked at Shi.
Shi was exhausted after a long day and was already feeling a bit tired. He was sitting there with his eyes half closed and dozing off. Hearing these words, he perked up, raised his head, and a surprising light flashed in his cloudy eyes. He slapped his thigh and said, "Okay, let's call them Shi Zhong and Shi Jian."
Everyone couldn't help but burst into laughter.
Lu teased him, "Your son and grandson's surname is Shi, so what's your name? Shishi?"
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