As the hometown of Confucius and Mencius, Jining is deeply immersed in Confucian culture, which is reflected in the people's clothing, food, housing, transportation, speech and behavior.
In 1988, when I first came to Jining to go to school, I once went to the store near the door to buy something. I heard a young salesperson call an old salesperson "teacher". At that time, I felt strange that the teacher also went to the store to sell goods.
Later, as I gradually deepened my life in Jining, I discovered that this kind of title is very common when communicating between people.
There are two ways to call "teacher", one is a formal way of saying it, which means teacher, and the other is "老丝 (pronounced sei)". The two ways of saying it appear in different language environments.
The context of calling teacher is usually in the same unit or mutual acquaintances, and there is no job title. The younger ones usually call the older ones Teacher Zhang or Teacher Li, and the tone reveals respect and self-effacement.
The pronunciation is the same as what primary school students call students in class. If you don't understand this custom, you will think that the older one is the younger teacher who teaches and solves doubts.
The term "Laosi" is generally used in the context of greeting people who are unfamiliar with each other, and mainly exists in the market.
Most of the people, old and young, call each other "Laosi", with a casual tone and full of dialect.
Especially in Jining's stations, streets, markets and other crowded places, the cries of "Old Si, Old Si" are endless.
New arrivals to Jining from other places will definitely be confused when they hear this name. They don’t know what they are called, but they can feel the kindness and enthusiasm from the tone of Jining people.
We are not scholars and cannot delve into the origin of this title, but I think it is related to Confucius's saying "When three people are walking together, there must be one who is my teacher." It reflects the ancient legacy of Jining's "state of etiquette" in how to treat people, and is a Confucian culture.
A concrete manifestation of its impact on Jining’s social life.