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I. A. Richards and Wu Mi: Basic English, Vernacular Chinese, and Chung Yung
- The Cambridge Quarterly
- Oxford University Press
- Volume 41, Number 1, March 2012
- pp. 66-81
- Article
- Additional Information
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I. A. Richards and Wu Mi were both great admirers and practitioners of Confucianism, but their interpretations of the Confucian doctrine of Chung Yung were slightly different, and as a result of this delicate disparity, they sought two different linguistic solutions to the problems of modernity in China. Richards was a firm advocate of simple and quick Basic English while Wu was a steadfast opponent of Vernacular Chinese which, like Basic, aims to eliminate illiteracy and advance Western civilisation in China.