【美坛综艺秀】Social Media in Ancient China
In the pre-Qin (先秦) era, the Hundred Schools of Thought were practically free to contend with one another, generating a lot of light and heat. Does it sound like today's social media? You bet.
Indeed, social media in pre-Qin China served as a public forum. Then as now, Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) tirelessly asked to be taken seriously by virtue of their ideas. Then as now, ideas could make or break a social media career.
How did pre-Qin KOLs get their ideas across? They "tweeted" or "posted" on bamboo slips (竹简), almost always with a touch of elegance and bouts of wit.
(Google image)
When these bamboo-slip bloggers made a point, they made it memorable and recitable for popularization. Popularity came with limelight, which in turn would catch the attention---if not the approval---of the powers that be. Anyway, plebeians (commoners) did matter. Grassroots' support did mean something.
Unapologetically, therefore, pre-Qin KOLs competed to prevail as living legends. No wonder their bamboo slips were slim in shape and light in weight, thus being passed around easily. Meanwhile, bamboo slip-carrying promoters were like bards, broadcasting their respective schools of thought in town squares and rural marketplaces. All in all, at the end of the day, folks literate and illiterate would be able to share what the Hundred Schools of Thought had to say---until when everybody felt like walking on eggshells, thanks to the First Emperor.
Speaking of the First Emperor, his book-burning policy probably fell short of a great success in practice. For one thing, a book made of bamboo slips could often be put together or put apart at short notice. Such flexibility gave many banned books a new lease on life. Yes, destruction and preservation could somehow co-exist, as observed by the 19th century British poet Lord Tennyson:
"Tho' much is taken, much abides."*
(*The word "abides" here means "remains." The line comes from Tennyson's epic "Ulysses.")
Author: renqiulan
