Qi Jianhua： Literacy is also a battle.

Qi Jianhua and His "Accelerated Literacy Method"

■ Shi Qunliang Liu Shunting

The "Accelerated Literacy Method" created by Qi Jianhua helped more than 100 million people get rid of illiteracy quickly in the early days of the founding of New China. Mao Zedong called Qi Jianhua a veritable literacy expert. Liu Shaoqi praised Qi Jianhua as the second largest scholar in China after Cang Xie. Premier Zhou Enlai said at the conference on culture and education of the whole army in November, 1951: "Comrade Qi Jianhua has made great contributions to the creation of the’ accelerated literacy method’."

Create a "quick literacy method"

Qi Jianhua,July 27, 1921Born in Qijia, Wanglaiwan, Tangjie, jia county, Henan. At the age of 8, his grandmother, father, brother and sister died of illness and starved to death one after another. Later, they moved to lizhuang village’s grandmother’s house in the river circle with their mother, relying on relatives to help them make a living. At the age of 10, he began to mow the grass, firewood and herd cattle on the mountain. When he had time, he secretly studied under the school window and was admitted to Tangjie Sanjiaotang Minzhi Middle School with excellent results. Under the influence of underground party member Zhang Kuiguang and Zhao Qiyang, I read a lot of progressive books. After graduation, introduced by Zhang Kuiguang, he successively went to Yingqiao and Luohe Tianqiao School in Xiang County (now Xiangcheng County) to teach. Later, he returned to his hometown because the Japanese invaders occupied the Central Plains.

After returning home, in order to kill time, Qi Jianhua hid in a cave and learned more than 8,000 Chinese characters in just 11 days by means of homophone induction.

On April 28th, 1948, Liu Bocheng and Deng Xiaoping founded Zhongyuan Military and Political University. Qi Jianhua was admitted to the military and political university and graduated one year later. He was assigned to the Ministry of Health of the 16th Army of the Second Field Army as a cultural officer and propaganda work. After that, he participated in the Huaihai Campaign and the Battle of Crossing the River.

As a cultural officer, Qi Jianhua’s main task is to help soldiers learn culture. At that time, most of the soldiers were illiterate. A political worker named Wang Xiangde was transferred from the Political Work Group, and he became Qi Jianhua’s first experimental object of "Accelerated Literacy Method". According to Qi Jianhua’s method of learning Chinese characters and literacy, Wang Xiangde learned the phonetic alphabet on the first day and used it as an auxiliary tool. In less than 10 days, he learned the People’s Army Three-Character Classic with more than 500 new words. Qi Jianhua also selected 2000 commonly used words from the dictionary, compiled them into jingles, and noted the sounds. It took Wang Xiangde another 20 days to learn them all. In the gap between crossing the river and marching to the southwest, Qi Jianhua used this literacy method to help a group of caregivers take off their illiterate hats. After that, Qi Jianhua’s "Quick Literacy Method" was quickly popularized in the whole army.

The "Accelerated Literacy Law" has eliminated more than 100 million illiterates in New China.

At the beginning of the founding of New China, President Mao Zedong pointed out: "Eliminating illiteracy from 80% of the population is an important task for the new China." Qi Jianhua soon attracted the attention of state leaders, and his "accelerated literacy method" was quickly promoted from the whole army to the whole country. At the moment, the literacy movement was surging and sweeping across the country. Then, Qi Jianhua, who had gone to the Yalu River to participate in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, was appointed by the Central People’s Government as the deputy director of the illiteracy eradication working committee.

When talking about the historical significance of Qi Jianhua’s "Quick Literacy Method", Zhang Tianruo, then head of the teaching and research department of the National Literacy Committee, said: First, the cultural literacy of PLA soldiers was improved and their combat effectiveness was improved. The second is to adapt to the urgent task of liberating all of China. Third, liberating cities and taking over a large number of factories, all walks of life needed knowledgeable people, and rapid literacy was a major event that the state concentrated its efforts on at that time. Fourth, to preach the party’s policies to the masses in rural areas and manage agriculture, besides relying on local underground party members, it is urgent to send soldiers to their posts. How can we do these jobs well without culture? Fifth, illiteracy accounts for 80% to 90% of the national population, and there is an urgent need for efficient literacy methods. With Qi Jianhua’s "Accelerated Literacy Method", you can know 1,500-2,000 words in about 150 hours, and you can read four to six literacy textbooks in 100 hours, understand popular books and periodicals, and write simple letters and articles.

The "Accelerated Literacy Method" breaks the conventional concept of "Three Five" and the principle of "Four Meetings" and explores the teaching method of "a large number of assaults, dispersing difficulties, gradually occupying, consolidating and improving". This not only adapted to the objective needs at that time, but also conformed to the objective laws of Chinese character teaching. President Mao Zedong once highly affirmed: "The accelerated literacy method is a powerful weapon to eliminate illiteracy." In the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, learning to write is a political task that must be completed-it must meet the minimum standard: knowing and writing 1,800 words. General Han Decai, former deputy commander of Nanjing Military Region, joined the army in March 1949. After joining the army, he participated in Qi Jianhua’s accelerated literacy class. The army adopted Qi Jianhua’s "quick literacy method" and used Chinese pinyin as a "crutch". After three months, the students learned a lot of Chinese characters.

△ Qi Jianhua is literate in teaching staff.

The birth of a new case of Chinese pinyin

One morning in December 1966, while cooking, Qi Jianhua taught his eldest daughter the scheme of Chinese Pinyin. My daughter studied for a while, and suddenly she was stunned and said, "It’s easy to spell one, easy to spell two, difficult to spell three." Qi Jianhua was surprised that a stone stirred up a thousand waves, and the little urchin actually raised this question, which is worth pondering! "Chinese Pinyin Scheme" does have some shortcomings, and some places are not even as easy to learn as "phonetic symbols". For example, "eng", a "zhi" is enough for the phonetic alphabet, so why bother to make it so complicated. Now that you have plenty of time, why not try and design a new set of phonetic symbols?

A middle school teacher gave Qi Jianhua a Red Flag magazine with an article by Guo Moruo, which quoted Mao Zedong’s speech on text reform at the 20th meeting of the People’s Government Committee in 1951. President Mao Zedong said: "The Chinese characters have done a lot of harm to people for thousands of years." "The characters must be reformed, and we must follow the common pinyin direction of the world characters." He added, "Change more phonetic letters and use two spellings instead of Chinese characters." "It takes time to make letters." "The strokes should be one-sided, and the words should be truly simple, with one stroke per word and no entanglement." He also said: "Reform is time-consuming, and it can take 10 years. There is no need to be quick, but it must be good." Chairman Mao’s words pointed out the direction for Qi Jianhua.

Following the instructions of President Mao Zedong, Qi Jianhua determined the principles of improving letters: one stroke, no entanglement, smooth brushwork, one-sided, simple image, elegant appearance and pleasing to the eye.Following this principle, new pinyin symbols have been created one by one in labor practice and life practice. In order to test the new method of quick literacy, many primary school students went to his vegetable monastery to study for free. In winter, the eight-way ventilated Caian couldn’t sit still, and he dug a hole under the Caian with the students, which became his classroom to teach the new case of Chinese Pinyin.

In 1976, according to Chairman Mao Zedong’s instructions on the reform of Chinese characters in 1951, after ten years of hard work, Qi Jianhua’s new case of Chinese Pinyin was born. Qi Jianhua finally formed a new case of Chinese pinyin with 112 phoneme letters, of which the "Putonghua Pinyin Scheme" consisting of 67 letters is completely suitable for Putonghua language; The "Universal Pinyin Scheme" consisting of 85 letters is suitable for languages of different nationalities and regions. As long as the sounds that can be made by human organs can be accurately recorded with the letters he created, Qi Jianhua called this the discovery of "sound energy".Qi Jianhua believes that this set of pinyin letters he created can be read like Chinese characters, and the spelled characters are not only superior to the current Latinized Chinese pinyin scheme, but also can be used as China pinyin characters to replace the current Chinese characters.

With the joy of success and the vision of realizing his dream, Qi Jianhua went to Beijing with his new case of Chinese Pinyin. According to Qi Huiqiong, Qi Jianhua’s second daughter, "I remember that it was the autumn of 1988, and my father and mother took me to Beijing when I was less than 6 years old. After I arrived in Beijing, my father took me to the State Education Commission to meet a director. My father asked me to read a newspaper article to the director to show the effectiveness of the new case of Chinese Pinyin. I still remember the director’s surprised expression after I read the newspaper. The Chief Secretary thinks this is incredible. It is amazing that I can recognize so many words at such a young age. The director shook his father’s hand and said,’ Teacher Qi, you should start an experimental class in your place first, and then we will promote it all over the country!’ "

The experiment proves that the new case of Chinese Pinyin can make people read 2500-3000 words within 100 hours, and can read books and newspapers and write general practical writing; Used in ordinary primary schools, pupils can break through the literacy barrier and master 3,000-3,500 commonly used words in one semester, laying a solid foundation for reading, writing and learning various courses well.Unfortunately, Qi Jianhua’s experiment was successful, but Liu Shunting, a student of Qi Jianhua who works in jia county Post Office, received such a telegram: "The new pinyin case created by Comrade Qi Jianhua has its own characteristics and is convenient to use, but the Chinese pinyin scheme is legal. I hope you don’t stick to your own opinions." Qi Jianhua’s dream of hard pursuit can only become a bubble.

In 1979, Qi Jianhua became a literacy officer in Changqiao Township, jia county. He used his own accelerated literacy method, and Henan Radio also reported his deeds. In September 1979, Qi Jianhua was co-elected as the fourth member of the Standing Committee of the Henan Provincial Political Consultative Conference.Since 1988, more than 30 newspapers and media, such as Guangming Daily, Henan Daily and People’s Daily, have reported Qi Jianhua’s "four speeds" research results.For the first time, the magazine "College Liberal Arts Garden" published a "new case of Chinese Pinyin" which is of far-reaching significance to cultural education. Qi Jianhua’s name has spread all over the country.

In September 1997, Qi Jianhua, who was 77 years old, fell ill in the classroom of a primary school in Tsutomu.

△ The certificate obtained by the volunteer soldiers through the "quick literacy method".

A New Case of Pinyin: Descendants of Hui Ze

Zhang Tianruo, a well-known expert in Chinese education, pointed out: "Qi Jianhua was wronged because of his persistent pursuit. After being repatriated to the rural areas of jia county, Henan Province, he continued to carry out the work of eliminating illiteracy in rural areas while exploring children’s early education literacy, and further developed the literacy methods, forming a literacy thought and literacy method of’ phonetic notation, joint words, initial reading, and subsequent follow-up’."

In April 2000, Zhang Yan, former deputy director of the National Defense Science Working Committee and president of the National University of Defense Technology, read the new case of Pinyin created by Qi Jianhua, and happily wrote: "The new case of Pinyin, which has been hard for many years, has taught people good news, shortened the academic system, renovated its achievements, made research and promotion, and strengthened the country and benefited the people." "The new case of Pinyin is a new star on the educational front, and it is brilliant."

On August 11, 2001, Comrade Qi Jianhua passed away, and the news spread to Beijing. Guangming Daily published the article "Qi Jianhua, the inventor of the accelerated literacy method, passed away".On April 1st, 2004, Elephant Publishing House published A General History of Henan Education, which was written by Wang Rixin and Jiang Duyun. They spared no expense in writing biographies for 79 famous educators in the history of Henan education, including Laozi, Mozi, Han Feizi and Xu Shen in ancient times, Li Shican, Feng Youlan and Fan Wenlan in modern times, and Qi Jianhua, Zhang Baitu and Liu Yamin in modern times.

Liu Shunting, director of Qi Jianhua’s Accelerated Literacy Research and Promotion Center, executive director of the National Centralized Literacy Teaching Research Association, director of the Henan Memory Research Association, and executive secretary of the Henan Qian Xuesen Dacheng Wisdom Education Research Association, was a close friend of Qi Jianhua when he was in trouble and was also his student. Liu Shunting joined the post and telecommunications work in December 1970 as a telegraph operator and later served as deputy director of the post and telecommunications bureau. From 1983 to 1995, Liu Shunting spent three or four hours a day discussing the new pinyin case with Qi Jianhua after work, which played an important role in the experimental summary and formation of the new pinyin case system. After Qi Jianhua’s death, Liu Shunting gave up the position of deputy director of jia county Post and Telecommunications Bureau, and established Qi Jianhua’s Accelerated Literacy Research and Promotion Center with several students who were deeply taught by Qi Jianhua to continue the research and experiment of children’s literacy.

Liu Shunting said that Mr. Qi Jianhua was very down and out-his hair was unkempt and his white shirt was dressed in tattered gray. Some people called him a "madman", and some children in rural areas would shout "madman" while throwing stones at him. Liu Shunting, who was keen on Qi Jianhua’s new pinyin case, became a close friend with Qi Jianhua, and he naturally became a "two lunatics" in people’s eyes.

On December 23, 2020, CCTV’s four sets of National Memory columns broadcast the New China Textbook. The first episode of "Starting a Foundation" commentary: In 1951, Qi Jianhua, a cultural teacher in Chengdu Military Region, founded the "Accelerated Literacy Law", which wiped out more than 100 million young and middle-aged illiterates in China within two years, which became a miracle at that time.In May, 2021, Hunan TV broadcasted "Ideal Shines on China", which was an educational film about the history of the Party organized by the State Administration of Radio and Television to celebrate the centenary of the founding of the Communist Party of China (CPC). Forty touching stories since the founding of the Party were selected and made into TV short plays, among which "Scholar Meets Soldiers" was to publicize Qi Jianhua’s story of teaching soldiers to read with "quick literacy method".

The new case of pinyin makes it possible for Chinese characters to go global quickly.

The new pinyin case created by Qi Jianhua has also been successfully spread overseas.A famous French sinologist, Mr. Balesan, took his disciples to study the accelerated literacy method in China, met with Zhang Tianruo, president of the centralized literacy teaching research association, and compiled Chinese learning materials, which were used in classroom teaching in China and achieved good results.Lei Ling wrote in the article entitled "Zhang Sizhong, Director of Zhang Sizhong Institute of Pedagogy" published in Modern Education News: "He (Zhang Sizhong) used the’ Qi Jianhua’s accelerated literacy method’ he learned when he was a cultural teacher in the army to transfer this method to Russian teaching. Soon, the Russian scores of the students he taught were significantly improved. "

In October 2019, the delegation of Henan Returned Overseas Chinese Federation returned from Africa, and Xie Fuqiang, Chairman of Pingdingshan Returned Overseas Chinese Federation, invited members of Qi Jianhua’s Accelerated Literacy Research and Promotion Center to a literacy class in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. On October 17, 2019, the center teacher arrived in Dar es Salaam, and three days later, in the living room of an apartment where overseas Chinese lived, the literacy class started. After 3: 00 p.m. every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, seven children come to a crash literacy class from schools in different regions. After studying for two hours, they are picked up by their parents. After learning the first volume of verse literacy, more than 900 people were initially literate, and the children’s learning mood was constantly rising. After communicating with their parents, they decided to strike while the iron was hot and assault the second volume, and they would finish the second volume by January 16, 2020. In this way, the actual teaching lasted for 36 days, and 72 class hours were used to complete the teaching tasks of the upper and lower volumes, and more than 2,000 new words were learned. These children basically mastered common high-frequency words, could read with the help of Pinyin, and their spoken Chinese was greatly improved.

(Image courtesy of Wang Wenyi)