What are the unique functions of letters from home? What is the significance of revisiting the value of letters from home and awakening the writing of letters from home in the present era? Recently, this newspaper interviewed Yan Binggang, vice president of the Institute of Advanced Studies in Confucianism of Shandong University, Tu, director of the Institute of Culture of Shandong Academy of Social Sciences, Kong Lingshun, associate professor of the School of Literature and Journalism and Communication of Shandong University, deputy director of the Exchange and Cooperation Committee of the Confucius Foundation of China, and Dou, secretary-general of the secretariat of the series of cultural projects of "Family Books Entering Ten Thousand Families". They talked about their understanding of letters from home and related memories and feelings.
Letter culture is the epitome of traditional culture.
Sima Qian's letter to Ren An, Ouyang Xiu's letter to his 12 nephews, Lin Juemin's letter to his wife, Lu Xun's correspondence with Xu Guangping, and Fu Lei's letter to the translator ... Today, these affectionate letters from home are still touching to read. Like them, many family letters have quietly precipitated into history and become a kind of letter culture, which not only has literary and historical value, but also has cultural beauty such as aesthetics, calligraphy, etiquette, postal service, packaging and paper.
"Letter culture is the epitome of traditional culture." Several interviewees spoke highly of the value of letters as a cultural carrier.
"The traditional means of social communication is underdeveloped, and letters are the main way and channel of communication, which can be seen from the handed down words. Many articles in ancient China literature are letters. " Yan Binggang, vice president of the Institute of Advanced Studies in Confucianism of Shandong University, lamented that the ancients' expectations for writing were very urgent. After three months of war, a letter from home is worth a ton of gold. I can finally send my emissary and geese back to Luoyang in Du Fu's Spring Hope, and the geese in Wang Wan's A berth under the North Fort Mountain and Du Fu's The End of the Sky to Li Bai all vividly show this feeling.
And many letters have become famous through the ages because of the height of words and thoughts. Ma Yuan's younger brother Yan Dun's letter, Zhuge Liang's teacher's letter, Zeng Guofan's letter and Fu Lei's letter are all among them. Between the lines of sincere feelings, it reflects noble living standards, excellent conduct and true patriotic enthusiasm, and contains rich cultural connotations and moral strength, which is widely read.
In this regard, Kong Lingshun, an associate professor at the School of Literature and Journalism and Communication of Shandong University, interprets it from the perspective of communication: Of course, letters from home are written to family members first. From the perspective of communication, this is a way of interpersonal communication. However, due to various reasons, in many cases, family letters can often go beyond the limitations of the family and spread to the public in some way, thus becoming a part of social culture, such as Zeng Guofan's well-known letters and Fu Lei's letters. In recent years, as a young mentor, Kai-fu Lee also communicated with young people through an open letter "A Letter to His Daughter", which received a good social response.
Letters from home can present people's inner world.
When telephones and the Internet intrude into our lives, letters gradually fall behind, which is the inevitable result of the development of science and technology, and no one can reverse it. But letters from home have irreplaceable functions by modern means of communication, and "personalized expression" is one of them. "As the saying goes,' words are like people' and' words are like hoops', and the handwriting in letters can reflect the writer's inner activities." Yan Binggang said that, by contrast, the forms of short messages and telegrams are formatted and issued according to unified standards. Writing personality has disappeared, and people's personality has worn away in disguise. It is difficult to see the emotional state and fluctuation of the sender at that time, and it is impossible to see the inner world of a living three-dimensional person. "Not only personalized handwriting, but also carefully selected envelopes, stationery and stamps. Even the folding method of stationery and the pasting method of stamps are very particular. " Kong Lingshun said that many elderly people have experienced this situation. This kind of letter with the writer's unique atmosphere and temperature is a kind of multimedia communication. The receiver's repeated appreciation and playing with the letter can capture all-round information. Nowadays, the widely used communication methods such as telephone, SMS and email have accelerated the communication speed, but also eliminated the depth of communication and turned it into fragmented shallow communication. In fact, this is also a manifestation of contemporary consumer culture.
In addition, tangible letters can be preserved for a long time, and the past will haunt you if you read them repeatedly in your hand. Kong Lingshun told reporters that his brother is ten years older than himself. In the early 1980s, when my brother went to college in other places, he was still a child of seven or eight years old. At that time, every letter my brother sent home could be memorized by himself, often at the end of a semester. When my brother comes home on holiday, he can recite it to everyone one by one. "This has become a warm memory of family life, and these letters have also become an important part of family files." Kong Lingshun said that at that time, he was particularly looking forward to growing up quickly, and he was eager to write home alone in a foreign land like his brother, telling some feelings that he might never say to his face.
The "faith movement" is a return to traditional culture.
Dou, deputy director of china confucius foundation Exchange and Cooperation Committee, was deeply impressed by a sad story: It was cold, and his mother sent three short messages to her son who was studying abroad, urging him to put on more clothes and take care of himself. The child's answer is only one word-"grace". In order to save trouble, my son didn't even use the word "um".
Many people have similar experiences to this story. The striking time distance is shortened, the space is shortened, but the psychological distance between people is far away and the depth is shallow. At both ends of the telephone (mobile phone), the details of feelings seem to be abridged by radio waves. "Over the past 30 years of reform and opening up, with the progress of science and technology and the prosperity of the economy, people have lost the essence of many traditional cultures while getting rid of old burdens and striding towards the future. Of course, this may be the price that society must pay when it develops to a specific stage. Nowadays, we need rational cultural reflection. The result of reflection is that we need to partially return to tradition and family, because that may be the destination and spiritual home of our hearts. " Kong Lingshun told reporters, "New home
The book movement represents the return to traditional culture.
"The power of sincere letters to maintain emotions is long-term and far-reaching. My parents have passed away, and now looking at their early correspondence will always give birth to a feeling of returning to the roots. " Talking about letters from home, Tu, director of the Institute of Culture of Shandong Academy of Social Sciences, was deeply touched. He used the phrase "humanistic care and respect" to describe the significance of family letters in practicing filial piety and guarding family ties: the pressure of survival in modern society has increased and the pace of life has accelerated, but with the improvement of social security system and the gradual "socialization" of old-age care, the emotional connection between the two generations has become weaker and weaker. Old people may have nothing to worry about, but they lack emotional and spiritual care. Writing to parents to express greetings and thoughts is a deeper expression of "filial piety" and full of warmth.
Letters are an important carrier of emotional expression.
Yan Binggang was impressed by two things. When his daughter was a freshman, there was a little estrangement and misunderstanding between father and daughter. Although we meet every day, it is difficult to speak directly, so Yan Binggang wrote a letter to her daughter and sent it to school. Although my daughter didn't reply, this letter from my father hit her hard. She mentioned in her composition that she burst into tears when she read the exhibition letter. This letter should be treasured forever and read frequently.
Another thing happened in his intensive reading class of The Analects of Confucius. Speaking of "filial piety", Yan Binggang once gave students two assignments: calling their parents after class that day and writing a letter to them a week later. Later, many students gave letters to their parents as answers to mid-term exams-some words in the letters could not be expressed in other ways. "Letters are an important carrier of emotional expression," Kong Lingshun said. China people are introverted and reserved, and they are ashamed to express their feelings in spoken language, and letters undoubtedly provide a good outlet for expression.
"Even between parents and children, there are many difficult topics. At this time, words have an irreplaceable role. " Dou said with emotion that many barriers between the two generations are caused by poor communication. He gave an example. Parents always want to be nice to their children, but they can't be satisfied-children feel that their parents are long-winded, nagging and don't listen to many words.
"If children can tell their parents what they are talking about through letters, parents can express their thoughtfulness and concern for their children in a simple but meaningful way, which will undoubtedly build a better communication bridge." Dou said that the "cultural project of letters from home" depends on two legs, one is to rescue historical letters, and the other is to launch a "new letter movement" to awaken people's heartfelt enthusiasm for writing letters.