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郦道元《水经注》标注“仓颉墓”在山东寿光，还强调“仓颉墓”在山东寿光的说法始于周初。热爱书法的人，当然热爱文字，我从《水经注》里知道了仓颉是寿光人，就有了去寿光看看的想法。2020年冬天，我去寿光采风，谒拜了仓颉的墓地，加深了对他的了解。仓颉，原姓侯冈，名颉。上古东夷族部落首领，相传为黄帝史官。仓颉天生睿德，通过观察星宿的运动趋势、鸟兽的足迹，依照其形象首创文字，革除了当时结绳记事之陋，开创了文明之基，因而被尊奉为“文祖仓颉”。黄帝感仓颉贤能，赐一“仓”姓，其意为君上一人，人下一君。中国文字是中华文化、中华文明的标志和灵魂，仓颉作为创制与整理汉字的集大成者，自然拥有崇高的历史地位。
我常翻阅《说文解字》，有时候一目十行，有时候盯着一个字，想看到这个字的深处、尽处，结果是永远看不到它的深处和尽处。清人王鸣盛说：“《说文》为天下第一种书，读遍天下书，不读《说文》，犹不读也。”为什么呢？《说文解字》就是说一说文，解一解字，系统分析、讲解基本汉字的构形原理和规则。汉字有形、音、义三个方面的内容，由此形成文字学、音韵学、训诂学三个学科。鲁迅一语道破：“今之文字，形声转多，而察其缔构，什九以形象为本柢。诵习一字，当识形音义三：口诵耳闻其音，目察其形，心通其义，三识并用，一字之功乃全。”
看看，中国字真的了不起。它表音，又表义；字义明确，字音响亮，字型优美。它记录人们的语言，又不追逐随时随地的口音，它对各地的方言土语具有矫正的功能，维护了汉语的规范化。
有了文字，就有语言，有了语言，就有思想，有了思想，就有着述。从甲骨文到先秦诸子，又到秦汉唐宋，象形的方块文字，记录了一个民族、一个区域的文明。强悍并富有深刻内涵的文字，从东方走向西方，成为世界瞩目的文化存在。
近代中国落伍，自然要找原因，想来想去，把落伍的原因归罪在汉字上，于是，一批知识分子鼓吹中国文字的拉丁化，向所谓的先进文字看齐。显然，这是革命的需要，是极端的表白，是经不起推敲的想法。汉字是世界上最古老的文字，生命活力强盛。今天，我们阅读两千五百年前的典籍，不仅没有任何语言障碍，还会增加知识，活跃思维，开阔视野。比如“乾，元亨利贞，初九，潜龙勿用”（《周易》）；“关关雎鸠，在河之洲。窈窕淑女，君子好逑”（《诗经》）；“子曰：‘学而时习之，不亦说乎；友朋自远方来，不亦乐乎；人不知而不愠，不亦君子乎’”（《论语》）等等，开卷有益。相比较而言，欧洲差强人意。稍有西方文字知识的人都知道，不管是英语、法语，还是德语、西班牙语、意大利语等，历史不会超过一千五百年。这些拼音文字，会因为地域的差异，时间的不同，声调变化，以至于无法辨别。他们阅读古籍，需要专业翻译。《圣经》是希伯来文，而今天通行的不同语言的《圣经》，是从希伯来文，到希腊文，又到阿拉伯文，最后成为拉丁文的普及读物。欧洲历史留下的一些文物和碑碣，比如意大利亚平宁山麓，伊特拉斯坎人留下的文字，无法译成拉丁文，成为难以解释的古老文字。我没有贬损欧洲文字的意思，他们对传统的“不屑”，也许是他们超越自己的原因。我想说的是，中国文字的历史长度和文化深度，需要重新认识，需要换一个角度理解。近代中国的落后不是汉字的问题，而是思想的问题，体制的问题。随着中国国际地位的提高，汉语越来越活跃了，在联合国使用的文字范围里，汉字的精炼给人们留下了深刻印象。联合国传阅的汉语文件与其它语言的文件，不仅篇幅短，看着也美观。计算机文字处理系统，让汉字变得更加流畅。因此，我们可以这样说，改革开放以后，中国综合国力提高，语言的影响必然提高。基于这样的背景，我们需要回过头、低下头，认认真真地思考中国的文字问题，掂量一下它的分量，领会一下它的魅力。
从小学到大学，不管什么专业，都需要了解汉字。每一个汉字的字源，默默体现着中国人的生命智慧和审美情趣。二千五百年前，开蒙的学生“先以六书”，首先系统学习构字理据。清末民初，进入学堂的学子最先接触的就是《三字经》《百家姓》《千字文》《千家诗》，认字，背诵诗词，逐渐步入中国文化的核心地带。汉字是表意体系的文字，知其构形，才能理解字义。中国经典产生于先秦，与汉字构形表意的时代最近，用当时的构形表意的思维去读当时人所写的经典文句，事倍功半，水到渠成。遗憾的是，我们在很长的时间没有兴趣去寻找构字理据，总觉得对文字的深入理解是文字学家的事情，因此，我们习惯以现代汉语的字词知识，来理解古代经典文句，常常是南辕北辙。
甲骨文样本在美国纽约展出 新华社记者 赵鹏/摄
走向古文字，了解古文字，掌握古文字，是文化自信的重要环节。在消费主义时代，我们沉下心，凝视一下我们熟知未必真知的文字，从《说文解字》入手，我们会在探寻中，看到一个幽深的世界，一个无比宽广的世界。
（作者：张瑞田，中国文艺评论家协会会员）
延伸阅读：
中国文艺评论家协会纵览
错字何以成为靶子（张瑞田）
纵览“时代先声——广州文艺百年大展”（张瑞田）
(click the "source: Art daily" below the title of this page to view the newspaper article, and the link is: http://msb.zjol.com.cn/html/2021-03/13/content_3917606.htm?div= -1) Li Daoyuan marked "Cangjie tomb" in Shouguang, Shandong in Shuijing annotation, and also stressed that the saying of "Cangjie tomb" in Shouguang, Shandong began in the early Zhou Dynasty. People who love calligraphy, of course, love writing. I know from the notes to the water classic that Cangjie is a Shouguang man, so I have the idea of going to Shouguang to have a look. In the winter of 2020, I went to Shouguang to collect wind, paid homage to Cangjie's cemetery and deepened my understanding of him. Cangjie, formerly Hou Gang, was named Jie. In ancient times, the leader of the Dongyi tribe was said to be the historian of the Yellow Emperor. Cangjie was born wise and virtuous. By observing the movement trend of the stars and the footprints of birds and animals, and according to his image, he created the text, got rid of the bad habit of tying ropes and recording events at that time, and created the foundation of civilization. Therefore, he was respected as the "cultural ancestor Cangjie". The Yellow Emperor felt Cangjie's talent and gave him the surname "Cang", which means that one person above you is the next king. Chinese characters are the symbol and soul of Chinese culture and civilization. Cangjie, as a master of the creation and arrangement of Chinese characters, naturally has a lofty historical position. I often read Shuowen Jiezi. Sometimes I can see ten lines at a glance, sometimes I stare at a word and want to see the depth and end of the word. As a result, I can never see its depth and end. Wang Mingsheng, a native of the Qing Dynasty, said, "Shuowen is the first book in the world. If you don't read Shuowen, you still don't read it." Why? "Shuowen Jiezi" means to explain the text and interpret the characters, and systematically analyze and explain the formation principles and rules of basic Chinese characters. The content of Chinese characters in three aspects: tangible, sound and meaning, which forms three disciplines: philology, phonology and exegesis. Lu Xun said: "today's characters have more shapes and sounds, and the observation of their structure is based on the image. When reciting a word, we should know the form, sound and meaning. Three: recite it orally, hear its sound, observe its form with eyes, understand its meaning with heart, use the three senses together, and the skill of a word is complete." Look, the Chinese characters are really great. It expresses sound and meaning; The meaning of the word is clear, the sound of the word is loud and the shape of the word is beautiful. It records people's language without chasing accents anytime and anywhere. It has the function of correcting local dialects and maintaining the standardization of Chinese. With words, there is language, with language, there is thought, with thought, there is writing. From oracle bone inscriptions to the pre Qin philosophers, to the Qin, Han, Tang and Song Dynasties, pictographic square characters record the civilization of a nation and a region. Strong and rich in profound connotation of the text, from the east to the west, has become a world-renowned cultural existence. When modern China fell behind, it was natural to find reasons, think about it, and blame the reasons for falling behind on Chinese characters. Therefore, a group of intellectuals advocated the Latinization of Chinese characters and kept up with the so-called advanced characters. Obviously, this is the need of revolution, an extreme confession and an idea that can not stand scrutiny. Chinese characters are the oldest characters in the world, with strong vitality. Today, when we read the classics 2500 years ago, we will not only have no language barriers, but also increase knowledge, activate thinking and broaden our horizons. For example, "Qian, yuan henglizhen, the ninth day of the ninth day, do not use hidden dragons" (Book of changes); "A fair lady is like a gentleman on a river island when a turtle dove is passing by" (the book of songs); "Confucius said: 'it's good to learn from time to time; it's good to have friends coming from afar; it's good to be a gentleman if you don't know but don't get angry'" (the Analects of Confucius) and so on. In comparison, Europe is not satisfactory. Anyone with a little knowledge of Western characters knows that the history of English, French, German, Spanish and Italian will not exceed 1500 years. These Pinyin characters can't be distinguished because of regional differences, time differences and tone changes. They read ancient books and need professional translation. The Bible is written in Hebrew. Today, the Bible in different languages, from Hebrew, to Greek, to Arabic, has finally become a popular reading of Latin. Some cultural relics and steles left by European history, such as the text left by the etrascan people in the foothills of Apennine in Italy, cannot be translated into Latin and become an ancient text difficult to explain. I don't mean to belittle European characters. Their "disdain" for tradition may be the reason why they surpass themselves. What I want to say is that the historical length and cultural depth of Chinese characters need to be re understood and understood from a different angle. The backwardness of modern China is not a problem of Chinese characters, but a problem of ideology and system. With the improvement of China's international status, Chinese has become more and more active. In the scope of characters used by the United Nations, the refinement of Chinese characters has left a deep impression on people. Chinese documents and documents in other languages circulated by the United Nations are not only short, but also beautiful. Computer word processing system makes Chinese characters more fluent. Therefore, we can say that after the reform and opening up, China's comprehensive national strength will increase, and the influence of language will inevitably increase. Based on this background, we need to look back, lower our heads, seriously think about Chinese characters, weigh its weight and understand its charm. From primary school to university, no matter what major, you need to understand Chinese characters. The etymology of each Chinese character silently embodies the life wisdom and aesthetic taste of the Chinese people. Two thousand and five hundred years ago, students in kaimeng "began with the six books" and first systematically studied the motivation of word formation. At the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China, the students who entered the school first came into contact with the Three Character Classic, the hundred family names, the thousand character text and the thousand family poems. They recognized and recited the poems, and gradually stepped into the core of Chinese culture. Chinese characters are ideographic characters. Only by knowing their configuration can we understand the meaning of characters. Chinese classics came into being in the Pre-Qin Dynasty, which is similar to the era of the formation and meaning of Chinese characters. Recently, using the thinking of the formation and meaning of that time to read the classic sentences written by people at that time, we can get half the result with twice the effort, and it will come naturally. Unfortunately, we have not been interested in looking for the motivation of word formation for a long time. We always feel that the in-depth understanding of words is the business of philologists. Therefore, we are used to understanding ancient classical sentences with the knowledge of words and expressions of modern Chinese, which is often quite different. The sample of Oracle Bone Inscriptions is on display in New York, the United States. Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhao Peng / photo: walking towards ancient characters, understanding ancient characters and mastering ancient characters are an important link of cultural confidence. In the era of consumerism, we sink down and stare at the words we are familiar with and may not really know. Starting with Shuowen Jiezi, we will see a deep world and an incomparably broad world in our exploration. (author: Zhang Ruitian, member of China Literary Critics Association) extended reading: China Literary Critics Association overview of why wrong words become a target (Zhang Ruitian) overview of "pioneer of the times - Guangzhou literary and art Centennial Exhibition" (Zhang Ruitian)