Let the river of language thrive (People's Review)

Language is our shared spiritual home, flowing with cultural genes, condensing emotional identification, and recording the style of the times

Language and writing are the fundamental elements and distinctive symbols of culture, and an important force in promoting historical development and social progress. Not long ago, the Chinese Language Museum located in Anyang City, Henan Province launched the "Exhibition of Major Language and Culture Engineering Construction Achievements of the Ministry of Education and the National Language Commission," which showcases the integration of ancient and modern Chinese characters.The China Language Resources Protection Project has built the world's largest language resource library, and a number of important works have been published, including the Ancient Chinese Script and Chinese Civilization Inheritance and Development Project, the Chinese Classic Recitation Project, and the Chinese Ideological and Cultural Terminology Dissemination Project. The digital construction of the Chinese Fine Character Library and the Chinese Language and Writing Digital Museum is rapidly advancing... These valuable achievements have laid a solid foundation for the inheritance and development of China's excellent language and culture.

There is a long-standing culture in language. The language that continues from the depths of history is a precious symbol for exploring the origin of Chinese civilization and explaining why China is. As some scholars have said, "Any explanation of a word is equivalent to creating a cultural history.". The oracle bone inscriptions in the Yin ruins are over 3000 years old. For over 3000 years, the structure of Chinese characters has not changed, and this inheritance contains the genes of Chinese civilization, allowing people to decipher the mystery of the origin of civilization from the original configuration of Chinese characters. The inscription on He Zun, a bronze vessel from the early Western Zhou Dynasty, reads "Home in China", leaving the earliest written record of "China". The humanistic ideas accumulated in Chinese classics contain charm that transcends time and space, becoming a collective memory passed down from generation to generation. Thanks to the construction of major language and cultural projects, the cultural business cards of Chinese dialect and square characters are more beautiful, and our proud cultural resources are richer.

There is a never-ending homesickness in language. "Leaving home at a young age and returning to old age, the local accent remains unchanged and the hair on the temples declines." This poem has touched the heartstrings of countless wanderers. Dialects are the coordinates of local culture, which precipitate life memories and condense profound emotions. As a national project, the first phase of the China Language Resources Protection Project has completed the survey and protection of over 1700 survey points in all provinces of China, covering more than 120 languages and dialects in the country. As long as you log in to the China Language Resource Protection Project Collection and Display Platform, you can listen to "voices from your hometown" anytime, anywhere. One by one, the content involves housing construction, daily utensils, clothing and food, various agricultural and industrial skills, weddings and funerals, festival activities, rap performances, etc., like vivid cultural slices, leaving precious records for local cultural characteristics. The language and culture that have been carefully preserved have retained cultural nostalgia.

There is a thriving cultural confidence in language. Preserving and studying language and cultural phenomena is also for better inheritance and application. Against the backdrop of accelerating the evolution of generative artificial intelligence technology and natural language processing becoming a popular application field, the development of language and cultural engineering achievements has more important practical significance. For example, the project for the inheritance and development of ancient Chinese characters and Chinese civilization empowers the dissemination and application of ancient Chinese characters with digital technology, bringing obscure knowledge closer to the public; Selected representative works of famous calligraphers throughout history have been developed into a "Chinese Fine Character Library", achieving a high degree of integration between calligraphy art, information technology, and the application of Chinese characters; The Chinese Language and Writing Digital Museum has developed an interactive exhibition area for oracle bone inscriptions, allowing visitors to gain a deeper understanding of the cultural connotations, artistic value, and innovative applications of oracle bone inscriptions in modern society. Innovation is the vitality of language. When ancient Chinese characters recorded on oracle bones, gold and stone, bamboo slips, silk, and paper pages transform into digital bits, with the wings of big data inserted, our language and culture will surely shine with more unique charm in the digital age.

Language is our shared spiritual home, flowing with cultural genes, condensing emotional identification, and recording the style of the times. In the era of globalization, language that showcases cultural confidence, tells the story of China well, shapes the image of China, and records rich history and diverse cultures is a treasure trove of resources. We have the responsibility and obligation to explore the mysteries of the origin of civilization from ancient texts, perceive the diversity of culture from local dialects, touch the pulse of the times through digital innovation, and let the long river of Chinese language and culture continue to flourish.