Chapter 28: The Art of Getting Along with Others Part 4
At work that day, the master and the apprentice sat opposite each other.
Chun said, "Master, I've been reading recently and have occasionally seen [tongjia characters] in ancient texts. Why did the ancients use tongjia characters?"
"Let me give you an analogy. Mr. Zhang's family is very poor, so he buys a plastic basin and uses it to wash vegetables, wash his feet, and wash clothes. This is like the ancients carving words on tortoise shells and bronze tripods. To save space, they tried to make each word have multiple uses.
Later, Zhang San made a little money from his business and bought three basins to wash vegetables, wash feet, and wash clothes separately. This was similar to the invention of paper. If you want to write a few more words, you already have paper, so there is no need to deliberately save space.
Later, Zhang San expanded his business and made a lot of money, so he bought more basins. He had separate basins for washing vegetables, feet, and clothes, and a special basin for washing buttocks. There were a lot of basins for washing buttocks, and first of all, they were separated for mothers and women, and there were as many basins as there were women.
In addition to this, he also equipped it with a [guest washing basin], which is equivalent to entering the Internet age. The area is very large, and you can write as many words as you want without having to save space.
Therefore, new words are being created more and more, especially popular online slang, such as "special forces tourism" - referring to a poor trip - which implies living a hard life like a special forces soldier on training.
The word "poor travel" should have been enough, but it took five. It's like Zhang San setting up a "guest wash basin." It only works when guests come.
Besides, some customers don’t use Zhang San’s clothes because one customer uses them and then another uses them, and she thinks they are dirty and refuses to wash them.”
Chunlai laughed heartily, and then said, "You mean, there's no need to use homophones in today's society."
"Right. Modern society only produces internet slang like [guests washing their buttocks in a basin], which becomes popular among a few people and then disappears after a few years. In modern China, only two words were invented well and have been passed down."
"Which two words?"
"[She] and [it] were always the same word [he] in ancient times. In the early 20th century, Peking University professor Liu Bannong thought that [he] should be divided into:
【He】——refers to a male.
【She】——refers to a woman.
[It] - refers to something other than a human being."
Chun said: "These two words are really well invented."
I said, "Everyone has no objection to inventing the word 'it', but inventing another word 'she' sparked the Women's March. They believe that 'he' has always represented the third person. Why invent another word? It's an insult to them."
"That doesn't make sense. It would be much better to separate them. You can tell whether it's a boy or a girl at a glance."
"They also know it's good. It's mainly because they were unhappy when they created this character, using [女+也]."
"Why not?"
"There's nothing wrong with the character [女]; the problem lies with the character [也]. Mr. Bannong invented this character in 1920, during the New Culture Movement and the rise of women's rights.
For example, in order to fight for women's seats in Congress, feminist activist Tang Qunying slapped Song Jiaoren twice in front of Sun Yat-sen.
Song Jiaoren was the head of the Legal Affairs Bureau and the Minister of Agriculture and Forestry of the Nanjing Provisional Government of the Republic of China. He was beaten, and nothing happened; Minister Song didn't dare fight back. So, the high status women hold in the family today is due to those slaps in the 1920s.
Chunlai laughed so hard that tears came out.
I said, "I've strayed from the topic. Let's talk about the character 也. When it was first created, 也 was shaped like a snake. There's also another way to write it that looks like female genitalia, so it also represents female genitalia."
Chun said, "Yes, like a snake. I looked it up. But why does it mean the same thing?"
I said, "The ancients were very intuitive. Miss Zhang's thing looks like this, and Miss Li's thing also looks like this. So it means the same."
Chunlai's face immediately turned red.
I said, "It and she are well-made." Businessmen today also use this kind of thinking to produce products with different functions. For example, there are very small washing machines specifically designed for washing shorts and socks. It distinguishes clothes from shorts and socks, which is a form of progress.
As humans continue to evolve, they create useful things, like her and it, which will be passed down. They also create useless garbage, like internet slang, which will be eliminated. So, don't prepare a "guest wash basin." If she needs one, just buy a new one.
Chunlai said, "Master, I have learned so much knowledge just by chatting with you."
I smiled and said, "That's what my master usually tells me."
After saying this, a woman came.
The topic she wanted to ask was: she had a boyfriend and wanted me to test his personality.
After I asked her a few questions, I began to answer her.
"He always likes to think and is eager to learn more. Many people, including you, think he doesn't understand the ways of the world.
He likes to talk about logic.
He is calm and analyzes things for you, which often makes you admire him.
In daily life, he has poor hands-on skills and is not good at taking care of others.
When I go on a date with you, I like to go to the riverside, not to crowded places.
What attracted you to him was his strong analytical ability, his ability to analyze everything in a systematic way, whereas you are the type who cannot see the essence of things from the surface."
The woman said, "That's exactly what you said."
I said: "A rational person, an analytical person, a person who will not be fooled. A person who, with the right fate, can become a philosopher, a thinker, a scientist, a senior technician.
His weaknesses are that he's not good at managing his life and handling interpersonal relationships. If he were a science major or a medical major, he'd be a good man."
The woman smiled and said, "I'm studying medicine."
I said, "If you are satisfied with him in other aspects, you can continue to date him."
After the woman left, Chunlai asked, "What type of people are these?"
"Generally known as the 'Thinking Type', they are rational, objective, and fair, quiet, peaceful, and distant. They use less body language. From a general perspective, they appear to care less about others. In reality, however, they care more about others through their higher actions."
For example, if he's devoted to building airplanes, you can't say he doesn't care about others. He's thinking about how to build safer airplanes. Or, for example, if he's a surgeon, he might appear cold on the surface, but he's focused on how to perform surgery. While others might only transplant a single organ, he's dedicated to multi-organ transplantation.
Chunlai asked, "What does multi-organ transplantation mean?"
I said, "For example, you have problems with your liver, kidneys, and gallbladder. A skilled doctor can perform surgery on all three organs at once with one cut."
Chun said, "Is there such a powerful person?"
I smiled and said, "Beijing 309 Hospital and the Organ Transplant Center of Tianjin First Central Hospital have them."
Chunlai asked, "What should I be careful about when interacting with this kind of person?"
I list five for Chunlai:
1. Respect his privacy.
2. Understand his behavior. For example, if he can't do housework, don't laugh at him.
Third, don’t expect him to have too much emotional communication with you.
4. Avoid talking about family matters.
5. In general relationships, avoid physical contact, such as patting the shoulder.
Chunlai said, "Master, please take a rest. I talked too much this morning. I need to digest it."
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