Wang Yao's Telegraph

by LeafStorm924

Human AU: During the 1930s, China had many disputes over whether old or new Chinese was to be used. Professor Wang Yao, who taught at Beijing University, liked using new Chinese, and was determined to show his students that it was just as good as old Chinese. This is based on the Chinese passage "Hu Shi's New Chinese Telegraph" by Chen Zhuo Zhu, translated into English.

In the 1930s, there were often debates on whether old or new Chinese should be used. Such a dispute interested Wang Yao, a professor who taught at Beijing University. He often praised the use of new Chinese in his lectures, displeasing some of his students who preferred old Chinese.

One time, while Yao was particularly absorbed in his lecture, a student surnamed Wei suddenly stood up, angrily saying, "Professor Wang, does that mean new Chinese has no flaws?" Yao merely smiled and replied, "No." This only riled up the student more, and he continued, "Of course there are! You speak and write too much nonsense with new Chinese, and that wastes money when writing telegraphs." Yao's vision immediately brightened, and he quietly explained, "Not exactly! A few days back one of my friends sent me a telegraph, offering to let me work in the government. I refused, and sent the reply via telegraph. I used new Chinese in the reply, and didn't use many words either. So, how about you students take my perspective and write a reply to my friend's offer? Then we'll see whether old or new Chinese uses less words." After saying that, the students started writing.

15 minutes later, Yao let students raise their hands and tell him how many words they used. Then, he chose the reply with least words. It went like this:

"Little skill, little knowledge, with fear of incapability, can't see offer through." (Original Chinese quote: "才疏學淺，恐難勝任，不堪從命。"）In new Chinese, that meant: "I have little experience in that field, and I'm worried that I'm incapable of fulfilling the role, therefore I can't accept."

Yao said, "This was written very skilfully indeed, and it only used 12 words. But, my reply in new Chinese only used 5 words:

"I can't do it, thanks!" (Original Chinese quote: "幹不了，謝謝！")

Yao explained again: "I can't do it" had the same meaning as "Little skill, little knowledge, with fear of incapability", while "Thanks" meant showing gratitude to the offerer, and refusing.

"Therefore, using either old Chinese or new Chinese can result in speaking nonsense, and it's less a matter of which you use, but how you phrase your words! See? There are occasions where new Chinese uses less words than old Chinese!"

A/N: I'm sorry if this didn't make sense, it was just a funny story I heard in Chinese that I wanted to Hetalia-fy and share with you all. Thanks for reading!