The Paper, reporter Yang Zhe, intern Fang Li
Tongcheng Middle School, a century-old school located in the hometown of the Tongcheng School, attracted public attention because of a collection of antithetical couplets.
Recently, Tongcheng Middle School in Anhui Province issued an announcement that as the school’s 120th anniversary celebration is approaching, it is soliciting from previous alumni and people from all walks of life at home and abroad. .
The event also set up different levels of awards, the special prize can receive a bonus of 100,000 yuan.
Tongcheng Middle School Bell Tower Tongcheng Middle School Official Website Map
On December 7, The Paper (www.thepaper.cn) learned from the Beijing Alumni Association of Tongcheng Middle School, which hosted the event, that since the announcement of the solicitation, the public has been actively participating and has received thousands of pairs of works.
The alumni association originally arranged for two people to reply to the contributor’s emails, but because they were too busy, they had to add a new celebrity hand.
"We are not hyping, but are doing this with a pragmatic attitude." Zhou Zhi, vice principal of Tongcheng Middle School, told The Paper that as a middle school located in a county-level city, financial resources are limited.
A total of more than 100,000 bonuses for this event were provided by the Beijing Alumni Association of the school.
As part of the 120th anniversary celebration activities, the school came up with a framework plan in the early stage, and the solicitation activities were specifically organized and implemented by the Beijing Alumni Association.
Zhou Zhi said that the school pays more attention to the cultural significance behind this incident.
Tongcheng City, Anhui Province, where Tongcheng Middle School is located, is a national historical and cultural city.
Zhou Zhi introduced that the local people love to read, are diligent and studious, tolerant and open, and yearn for a beautiful cultural atmosphere for a long time.
"This event was carried out in a form that the masses would like to hear and see. It is a popular culture dissemination event. It also reflects the good appearance of Tongcheng's popular culture and elite culture, traditional culture and modern civilization complementing each other."
"Liaolian" has become a part of campus culture
After the announcement of Tongcheng Middle School's couplet solicitation, many netizens were also full of curiosity about the origin of this "hundred-year absolute".
"In fact, there is no corresponding written record of this sentence, but it has been passed on from Tongcheng Middle School and Tongcheng for a long time." Zhou Zhi introduced, "Tongzhong knocks the bronze bell to go to school with boys and girls" has a long history.
As for who said it came from, it is impossible to verify it.
Zhou Zhi told The Paper that because this sentence is simple, lively and interesting, and is ingenious, it contrasts with the natural landscape of the campus of "peaks into the clouds, clear currents to the bottom", "miscellaneous peanut trees and swarms of warblers flying randomly" on campus. Chengqu.
During the preparations for the 100th anniversary of the founding of the school in 2002, the school invited the then chairman of the Anhui Provincial Calligraphy Association, Mr. Liu Tianming, to write and engrave on the wall lining the bell tower on the campus, aiming to inspire the students of Tongzhong to work hard and become a national weapon.
Tongcheng Middle School Gate Tongcheng Middle School Official Website Map
Although the creation time has not been verified by textual research, it can be seen from the expression "boys and boys go to school" that the Tongcheng Middle School at that time has already started co-education.
According to Zhou Zhi, the predecessor of Tongcheng Middle School was the Tongcheng School founded in 1902 by Wu Rulun, an educator of the late Qing Dynasty and an ancient writer of Tongcheng School. It was the first modern school in Anhui.
According to school history, in the summer of 1937, the school recruited one class for high school freshmen and two classes for junior high school freshmen. There were six classes for boys in the school. There was also a women’s junior high school with two classes for junior high school students. The old scholar Yao Shensi was hired as the director. , The co-education style began.
In 1938, Japan's invasion of China became worse, and the school was forced to suspend classes.
In 1939, the principal of Shi Huacheng organized the resumption of classes and enrolled five classes of old and new students, both men and women. This set the first Tongcheng Middle School for men and women to have classes in the same class.
"For decades, people have been adding words and sentences after this sentence. In recent years, teachers and students and visitors to the school are also very interested in this sentence." Zhou Zhi told The Paper that people often use this sentence as the best sentence. There are many collaterals, but there are some shortcomings in the content.
In his opinion, although there is no suitable xialian, but the "lonely couplet" that has been difficult to handle for a hundred years is catchy and straightforward, and it has become a part of the campus culture of Tongcheng Middle School.
Experts in couplet circles: no satisfactory dialogues have appeared yet
For a hundred years, why did the Shanghai Federation of Tongcheng Middle School "be singled out" for a long time?
What makes it difficult to crack?
Chen Pin, the vice president of the Anhui Couplets Association, is very familiar with the couplet of Tongcheng Middle School. On the day when The Paper contacted him, many friends who saw the solicitation announcement came to him for advice.
"Since the advent of this pair of Shanglian, there has not been a satisfactory pair. The key is how to deal with several homophones. Tong, Tong, Tong, Tong, Tong, Tong, Tong, Tong, Tong, Tong, Tong, the same phonetic, and Zhonghe Zhong with the same phonetic. There is also 拈The use of rhetorical means of even and dismantling words has also increased the difficulty." Chen Pin introduced that this is a familiar Shanghai couplet in the couplet circle, which is very playful and very connotative, and it is also in line with the actual situation of Tongcheng Middle School.
"The couplet should pay attention to the rhythm, but also the artistry and beauty. The Shanghai Federation of Trade Unions talks about the Tongcheng Middle School, and the Bottom of the Federation should be related to the Tongcheng Middle School. It must be right and connected." Chen Pin told The Paper, these years , Although some people have given out some pairs one after another, but those bludgeoning pairs have no real meaning.
It is not easy to grasp the magical function of homophones, and to fit the culture of Tongzhong and Tongcheng in terms of culture and artistic conception.
Chen Pin recalled that many years ago, a TV station invited him and several other writers to try this couplet, but in the end everyone did not give a satisfactory answer.
He expects that in the Tongcheng Middle School's joint solicitation activity, someone can give a pair of sentences that match this sentence.
"The current call for activities is still in progress and will continue until the end of May next year. Regardless of the results of the call, we believe that this activity will help enrich campus culture, connect with alumni, and promote excellent traditional culture and the new style of freedom, equality and harmony." Zhou Zhi told reporters that the school is eagerly looking forward to the appearance of the wonderful Xianlian.
Regarding whether the solicited Xialian will be engraved on campus like the Shanghai Lian, and how to combine this couplet to promote Tongzhong’s campus culture, Zhou Zhi said that the school will negotiate with alumni associations in various regions and listen to alumni, teachers, students and alumni. It is decided after the suggestions and opinions from all walks of life.