Zhao Yi, a historian and scholar of the Qing Dynasty, pointed out in the "Twenty-two Historical Notes" that if the national history or bronze inscription of a dynasty is repaired in the later dynasty, then the historians of the later dynasty will definitely write according to the history; if it is repaired and cast in the current dynasty, there must be a curved pen to protect the "Spring and Autumn Brushwork". That is, in ancient times, when writing history as an edict, using words and sentences often "each bitter text has fewer complicated meanings" and chooses many meanings, both simple and rich, and allegorical praise and depreciation and multi-layered meaning in one word, which can be described as a pearl of words and sentences, repeated consideration, this is the so-called Spring and Autumn Brushwork in ancient times, which is the usual method of han Dynasty and modern literature and scripture.
Therefore, when Liu Xiang was serving Zhang Zhong, a loyal minister and imperial chancellor who died young for Emperor Cheng of Han, in order to avoid the trap of the Wang clique, he used the Spring and Autumn brushwork more.
Generally speaking, the ancient bronze inscriptions have few meanings and wide meanings, which are more difficult to translate, more ambiguous, and the benevolent see the benevolent and the wise see the wise. The so-called micro-speech text, which is not only a form of language, but also directly related to the development process of ancient Chinese characters, and is also related to the dispute between ancient and modern texts.
In the dispute between the ancient and modern texts and classics of the Han Dynasty, the study of modern texts and classics especially advocated "subtle words and hidden meanings" and "micro words". Especially now, with the large number of excavations (present) and in-depth study of ancient bronze artifacts and Jian Mu documents, "micro-speech hidden meaning" and "micro-speech text" are more prominent. In this regard, Li Songru, associate professor of the Department of Chinese of the College of Literature of Jilin University, called it "hidden writing" in the article "Hidden Writing" and Its Role in Qinghua Jian [The Way of Governing the Government] [The Way of Governing the State]". and further elaborated as -
"The 'hidden script' in ancient books refers to other written information other than the text content that appears on the bamboo text, such as anti-Indian script, scratching the unpurified handwriting, and the text written at the beginning or end of the jane, which seems to be unrelated to the main text, etc., most of which are not easy to identify and are often not discovered by ancient script researchers. But it is highly valued as part of the handwriting activities. In particular, these 'hidden words' often reveal richer information than the text content. ”
《Zhou Yi》
In contrast, the above refers to the handwriting itself, while I am referring here to the metaphorical meaning outside the meaning of the text. That is, micro-speech or micro-speech implicit meaning. Chinese characters can be divided into three forms and three stages of development. They are "micro-speech", "literary language", and "vernacular language".
The most significant feature of micro-speech is that words are polysemantic, and different occasions, different places, and different scopes have different meanings. It includes both the moral indoctrination significance of political affairs and political affairs before his death, as well as the implicit meaning of divination of religion after his death; both military significance, astronomical and astronomical significance, and even the dual meaning of positive and negative opposites, thus producing different interpretations of different people, thus forming a different meaning. Therefore, it is necessary to devote a special "biography" to explain the original text of the "Sutra" (the original word of the original text). Even the Commentaries on the Sutra are more complex, laborious, and lengthy than the Sutras. For example, the "Yi Chuan" of "Zhou Yi" is much longer than the "I Ching", and posterity still continues to "interpret the scriptures", which makes it easier for posterity to read "Zhou Yi".
01 The similarities and differences between the meanings of words and phrases in ancient and modern translations
Ancient inscriptions are often obscure, one word is more than meaning, one word pun, and even many passes, both refer to things and will understand, and according to the meaning of these words and words, more reorganization into various phrases, thus summarizing the rice and deriving a number of four-word verses that can best express their good wishes, blessings or praises. In addition, ancient texts have no punctuation marks and do not (conveniently) break sentences, so in order to understand the meaning and purpose of creation of ancient bronze inscriptions, it is necessary to understand their origins, the life of the inscription, and their political, ideological, cultural and contemporary and life backgrounds. The so-called "knowing people and discussing the world" is this truth.
In addition, ancient Chinese, most of them are monosyllabic words, one word is multi-meaning, false, false, heterogeneous, traditional, and so on; oracle bone, gold script, large seal, small seal, bird seal text, ethnic minority script, subordination, and even the script. Today, ordinary people mostly use modern concepts and simplified scripts to study ancient bronze inscriptions, or the meaning of ancient books, which will inevitably produce some misunderstandings and ambiguities, which are very large with historical facts or the identity and deeds of the master.
Because, the ancients often used parts to replace the whole, quoting scriptures, using homophones, tongkan characters, multiple meanings of words, hidden quzang, Spring and Autumn brushwork, and police satire. And the same word is used in different contexts, has different meanings, and sometimes has both sides.
Therefore, if you want to read the Four Books and Five Classics, you must first start with the Spring and Autumn Classics, and after thoroughly understanding the "Spring and Autumn Brushwork", you will know that whether it is the Analects or Mencius, some facts will be distorted, subjective views are added, and a sentence, even a word, a word has a variety of uses, can express many layers of meaning, not the general vernacular annotation can be explained clearly.
The poem "Junzi Yangyang" in the Book of Poetry has as many as nine interpretations. Mao Shi said that it was a gathering poem in which the music officials (gentlemen) were disturbed, and thus invited their subordinates to retreat. Zhu Xi of the Song Dynasty said that it was a poem that Zhengfu entertained himself with his wife after returning home. It is generally believed to be a scene of leguan resigning and going into hiding. Modern people think that it is a scene of dancers and musicians singing and dancing together.
Some say that it is a satire of the gentleman's act of curing the waves. Some say that it is a scene of the general celebrating victory after his triumph. Some say that it is a portrayal of Zhou Tianzi's drunken dream and death. Some say that it is a pleasure poem where lovers meet and travel, singing and dancing. Some say it is a pepper room poem describing the harmonious life of husband and wife.
Zhou Yi (and Confucius's Yi Chuan) is the first book of ancient China. Taoists believe that it is the first classic, the so-called Crown of the Three Xuan. Confucianism also considers it to be the first classic, the first of the Five Classics; the title alone is mysterious, and for thousands of years people have had many interpretations of the words "Zhou and Yi". "Zhou" refers to philosophical propositions, the second refers to zhouquan, that is, it is all-encompassing; and the third refers to dynasties, that is, the Zhou dynasty. As for the word "easy", the Han Dynasty scholar Zheng Xuan's explanation is quite penetrating, he said: "Yi one name contains three meanings: easy and simple, one also; change easy, two also; not easy, three also." "Change (the change of the world), not easy (the I Ching gua or sixty-four gua are difficult to read and difficult to understand), simple, that is, the use of simple and clear language and words to explain the profound truths and meanings of the world (the dao to jane: Dao Sheng one, life two, two life three, three life all things, yin and yang two theory), these three connotations indeed summarize the great spirit of the I Ching.
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Professor Feng Ping of Fudan University said in the article "Cultural Accumulation and The Realm of Life": "The word 'Tao' appears 73 times in Lao Tzu, and although the symbolic form is the same, its meaning and content are not the same. The first is the 'Tao' in the sense of existence, the second is the 'Tao' in the sense of law, and the third is the 'Tao' of the living standards. ”
Mozi. It is said in the "The Next Verse" that "Li" and "Violence" in "Li don't have to be Li, there is no need for violence for violence", "non" of "right and wrong" and "non" of "non", "husband" of "brave husband" and "husband" of "husband" of "husband and wife", their meanings are different. These examples tell us that different combinations of the same word have different meanings. Mozi. The Sutra also says, "In, Yao Is Good Governance, and from now on in the ancient times." Since ancient times and today, Yao yao cannot rule it. The meaning is that, according to observation and comparison, to say that Yao is good at governing is to examine things in ancient times from the perspective of today's (moral government); if you examine things in the present from the perspective of ancient times, then even Yao is not good at governing.
The Analects. Xueer yun: "Zi Gong Yue: 'Poetry cloud: such as cutting as a discussion, such as pondering like grinding. Southern Dynasty Liu Xun "Wenxin Carved Dragon. Ming poems" Yun: "The beauty of a hundred words, the wonder of a sentence of contention, the extreme appearance of writing, the words will be exhausted and new." And the "Epitaph" Cloud: "Clear words turn but not poor, clever and outstanding." And the "Preface" Yun: "Although it may be lightly plucked, deep and boney, or have a curved secret source, it seems to be near and far, and the words are not loaded, nor are there countless." ...... But the words are not satisfactory, the saints are difficult, and the knowledge is in the bottle tube, how can it be measured. ”
Yi Zhongtian, a famous professor at Xiamen University, explained the word "jiao dog" in Lao Tzu's "Heaven and earth are not benevolent, and all things are "jiao dog" can better illustrate the use of multiple meanings of the ancient word.
刍 (pronounced as divided), the original meaning is mowing. The grass that feeds the cattle is called the blade grass; by extension, the person who cuts the grass is called the blade (pronounced as Rao). It's firewood. A knife is a person who cuts grass and firewood. Therefore, when a person says that he is of a humble position, he calls himself a man of the grass, which means a man of the grass; when he says that his speech is shallow, he calls himself a discussion, a word, a sword theory, which means the word of a fishing tree. This is, of course, a humble remark. Just like contempt, it means a small local person who lives on the edge and has no insight. So, what is a dog? There are three explanations:
The first explanation for "dog" is grass and dogs. The second interpretation of "sword dog" is 刍豢 (pronounced as transmutation), that is, livestock, livestock, or sacrificial sacrifices. Among them, the grass-eating one is called a knife, such as a cow and a horse; the omnivorous one is called a pig, such as a pig or dog. Therefore, the sword dog is the sacrificial cow, horse and pig dog. The third interpretation of "knife dog" is the grass-bound dog, called the sword spirit, which is equivalent to the current wreath. During the sacrifice, the dog is draped in red and green, and the human-like dog looks like a dog. As soon as the activity ended, it was abandoned on the side of the road, and let the cattle step on it, let the horses step on it, and despise it to the extreme.
All three explanations make sense. And either way of explaining it, the dog is very mean. Therefore, the heavens and the earth "take all things as dogs", which means that although all things are created and generated by the heavens and the earth, the heavens and the earth are always used and abandoned, indifferent to them, and it is completely inappropriate. This, of course, is unkind and unforgiving.
Southern Dynasty Zhong Rong's "Poetry" Yun: "Fu Si Yan Wen is about a wide range of meanings, take the effect of the wind, you can get more, each bitter text is less complicated, so the world is rare to learn." ...... The husband is more than a thing, but for the general conversation. If it is a national rune, it should be Zi Bogu, and the writing of virtue is rebuttal. It is advisable to be poor. As for the nature of chanting, how expensive is it to use things?...... Sentences without virtual words, words without virtual words, restraints to supplement the word, the beetle text has been very much. But nature is heroic, rare in its people. ”
The Jin Dynasty Penny's "Riding on the Proverbs" Yun: "The text is complicated and righteous, and the situation is mean and the wilderness is resigned." Lu Ji's "WenFu" Yun: "Ming Bo is about and gentle, and the top of the proverb is frustrated and strong." Li Shan's note: "Bo Yue, the matter of Bo and Wen Yue also." After the inscription is revealed, therefore Bo is gentle; the proverb is ridiculed to gain and lose, so the top is clear and strong. ”
Emperor Liang Yuandi's "Preface to the Collection of Inscriptions of the Inner Classics" Yun: "The history of Zhao zhao can be obtained and detailed. Therefore, the inscription is the rise of the text, and the Si Yan is still there. Generations of rapid changes, the theory of the thesis is not one, the passage of current events, the body of the word or different. However, the complex is weak, the rate is hateful, the Cunhua is lost, and the reality is tasteless. Or although the quotation is broad, its meaning is the same; or the novelty is strange, there is no covenant; or the beginning and end of the post, the matter seems to be involved; or the repetition of the bo, the system is not working. Can make the bright but not flashy, qualitative but not wild, broad but not complicated, provincial and not rate, literary and qualitative, about and able to run, things turn at will, reason by word deep, the so-called elite, there is no room for it. ”
Qing Dynasty Huang Shulin's "Wenxin Carved Dragon Notes" Yun: "Looking at the text of the southern kingdom, its literary quality is both relevant, the sentiments are both harmonious, gaiju Tai half, and the wu ci indiscriminate body, enough for the later slanderers, there are also present: one is complex, the second is floating, and the third is obscure." The complex, multi-disciplined, intended to be extravagant; floating, the literary affection, not related to the real meaning; the obscure, the easy to train, the literary and rational roundabout. ”
Fan Wenlan "Wenxin Carved Dragon. The Commentary on the "Cut" notes: "The beauty of the history of the husband and the country takes the narrative as the work, and the narrative worker is mainly brief, and the righteousness of the simple is great!" The author of the calendar from ancient times, the "Book of Shang", the traces of the purview, are served by widows. "Spring and Autumn" variant, its words are more expensive than the provincial text, Sgei poured pure and special, before and after the traces, but the text is about and the matter is rich, this description of the Yumei also. Beginning from the Two Han Dynasties, until the Three Kingdoms, the history of the country, the daily wounds and troubles of Jane, the capture of jin has fallen, and the flow is more than far away. Find its redundant sentences, extract its annoying words, between one line, will falsely increase the number, within the ruler paper, constant waste of several lines. Husbands gather mosquitoes into thunder, jun lightly fold the shaft, the situation is not in the chapters and sentences, the words are unlimited, the load is both two, and the foot is the way! There are four different types of narratives: there are those who are straight to the point, there are those who only write their deeds, there are those who can know by words, and there are those who see themselves by false praise. As for example, the "Guwen Shangshu" says that the virtue of Emperor Yao is marked with 'Yun Gong Ke Rang'; the "Spring and Autumn Left Biography" yanzi uncle is like 'beautiful and beautiful and wen'; so it is called so, let alone he said, the so-called zhi ji qi qi.
Another example is that the "Zuo Clan" records that Shen Sheng was killed by Li Ji and hanged himself; the "History of Ban" says that Ji Xin was surrounded by Xiang Zhi and died on behalf of the king; this does not speak of his discipline, but is loyal and filial piety, the so-called book of his deeds. Another example is the "Book of Shang" that the sin of the King of Wu is also said, and his oath is: "Burn the moxibustion of zhongliang, and cut off the pregnant women"; the "Zuo Chuan" Ji Suihui's discussion of Chu Ye, whose words are "the blue wisps of the road, to open the mountains and forests"; this is a deed that is not uncommon, as far as the relevant involvement is concerned, the matter is revealed, the so-called one who can know by words. Another example is the Chronicle of History. Wei Qing's biography later Taishi Gongyi: "Su Jian tried to rebuke the great general for not recommending the wise and treating the soldiers"; At the end of the Xiaowen Ji, his praise is: "The king of Wu cheated on the sick and did not give a few rods", which was passed on to Ji and did not write, and Shi Chen spoke, do not go out of his way, the so-called false praise and see.
However, the deeds, deeds, words, and praises, all four of them are not necessary, and if they are both written, then their costs are particularly extensive, but since the ancient scriptures and history, there are many such things, and those who can be exempted are not one or two. And the narrative province, its flow has two things: one is the provincial sentence, and the other is the provincial word. For example, in the "Left Biography", Song Hua coupled to the league, saying that his ancestors had offended the Song, and the Lu people thought that they were min. If the blunt is called min, then Ming Xianda scorns, which is also a provincial sentence. The Spring and Autumn Classic says: 'Meteorite in Song V'; Fu Wen's meteorite, see the stone, count the five, add a word too detailed, subtract one word too omitted, seek compromises, concise and reasonable, this is also a provincial word. If the "Ram" says that Heke, Ji Sun Xing's father is bald, Sun Liangfu is a man, Qi makes the victim rebel, the bald one is against the bald, and the one who is blinded is against the bald. Gai Yi removed the quilt has been in the next sentence, but the clouds are inverse of their kind. It must be repeated, then in Manjushri, this is a troublesome sentence also. Book of Han. Zhang Cang's biography Yun: 'There is no tooth in the old man'; covered in this sentence, last year and in the mouth can be, the husband of this six texts into sentences, and the three words are vainly added, this is a bothersome word also. However, it is easy to save sentences, it is difficult to save words, and to understand this heart can only be said to be historical. The sentences are exhausted, the words are repeated, the history is troublesome, and the office is due to this. He who covers the giant fish, he who fishes for a thousand fish, and gets it in one basket; the one who catches the high bird, zhang qi wan, and gets it because of one eye.
The narrator, or the rhetoric of the hypocrites, and the gossip, will take what he wants, but he will hear every word. The fisherman who can be the same as the hunter, who is persistent and fishing, will reap the harvest, and the only thing left behind is a glance, then a few fraudulent branches will be gone, and the dust and dirt will be donated, and the Flowers (flowers) will pass away and survive, and they will disappear and perish. Woohoo! What can be lost is also damaged, and Xuan is Xuan, what Chakra Bian can't say, and Yi Zhi can't speak Ding. ”
02 In ancient times, one word was multi-symbiotic, one word was multi-meaning, and it had both meaning and meaning
Ancient and modern speeches are different in time and custom, and the people who write them, Chu Xia, are different. And because of the profit and loss of the generation, there are similarities and differences between each other. It also combines the method of ancient artificial characters, such as pictograms, finger things, meanings, shape sounds, transpositions, false loans, etc., thus forming the pluralism and concurrency of ancient Chinese writing. The meaning is visible with the text, and the matter is free and feasible. The frequent use of false loan characters was also one of the means of learning the "Spring and Autumn Brushwork" of the Han Dynasty.
Ancient composition, multi-meaning combination. Of course, the translation of the present person should be correctly understood and translated. As Tang Xuanzong Li Longji's "Filial Piety Classic. The preface says: "Within a sentence, the meaning is both clear and clear, and the embodiment is complicated, and the omission is also righteous." "For this reason, for ancient books without annotations, especially buci and bronze inscriptions, it is difficult to read, not only because there are too many ancient and modern characters and false loan words, but also because of the polysemy and meaning changes of one word in ancient Chinese.
By the Han Dynasty, the word polysemy was more widely used. Moreover, the development and extension of the meaning of each word in different eras is different. "Wenxin Carved Dragon" Yun: "When commenting on the people of the time, do not be a little confused; when commenting on the texts of the ancients, you must not slightly have a heart." ”
Mr. Nan Huaijin, a well-known scholar in Taiwan, said in "Lao Tzu He Said": "No matter how the times evolve when reading Chinese books and recognizing Chinese characters, we cannot but pay attention to the six books of Chinese characters--pictograms, fingering things, huiyi, shape sounds, transfer notes, and false borrowings. At the very least, to read the ancient books and inscriptions written in the ancient scripts, one must have the common sense of the six books of the Shuowen. For example, the words "Tao" and "Heaven" can be seen everywhere in ancient books. However, because the ancient script takes simplification as the principle, the Chinese character of a square contains a whole concept in people's consciousness; sometimes only one Chinese word is used, but through the role of false borrowing and transposition, it also contains several concepts and several layers of meaning. Unlike foreign languages or modern languages, it takes several, or even one or twenty, words to express an idea. ”
Therefore, it is believed that only a language that is concise, profound in meaning, and worth remembering can be regarded as an inscription. The Jin Dynasty Zhiyu's "Treatise on the Flow of Articles" said: "The inscription of Fugu is the covenant. "About, is simple, less concise words." As the saying goes: the words are big, and the sun and moon are long in the book (inscription).
However, the content reflected by it is extremely rich and the use is extremely extensive, and people can interpret their knowledge and understanding of historical facts and social reality according to their own emotional understanding, according to people, times, places, circumstances, and events. In this regard, the ZhangZhong (Zhong) Zhengdou Fu Ce XiShu Zheng Dou and zhen tomb beast Yi Ce inscription not only have a pun, but also a polysemy, that is, in the same word, it indicates a multi-link (heavy) historical event or situation. Sometimes it is difficult to argue, or even to guide and produce disagreements and controversies.
Take Chinese characters and flower characters as examples to illustrate. Hua is pronounced huā in the oracle bone, the first sound, is a hieroglyph like the shape of a flower, and the later seal text adds a head to this word to become a huiyi character, and the original meaning of Hua refers to flowers. The latter indicates the process. After the Wei and Jin dynasties, the flower character appeared, replacing Hua to indicate this meaning. Hua is also pronounced as the second sound of huá, and many extensions indicate the meaning of brilliance and brilliance. This extends to brilliance, and by extension to gorgeous. By extension, it refers to the essence of things. It is also extended to refer to literary talent, which is used as a noun. Hua also extended the meaning of untruthfulness. In ancient times, Hua was also synonymous with the Han chinese. Therefore, for this one Chinese word, used in different sentences, its meaning is not the same, and sometimes it contains multiple meanings, the so-called meaning is also clear.
The Analects of the Analects: "There is a beautiful jade in Si, a sell in the world, a sell in the world, and I am waiting for Jia (the general price) also!" This "jade" refers to both the beautiful jade of nature and the jade of a gentleman, and refers to scholars, doctors, and talents. And "Jia" also has two meanings, both refer to the merchant sitting on Jia, pronounced gu; also refers to the price, pronounced jia, both meanings. The idiom "sell for the price (price)" comes from this.
Li Zhenhua of Jianghan University annotated and translated the Ancient Literature Guanzhi compiled by Wu Chucai and Wu Tiaohou in the Qing Dynasty. When the article "The Voice of the State of the State of the Emperor", it will be "to go along with the flow, so the quick disaster also." The king, the one who will do the evil is the business, and the speed, nothing is unattainable!? Translated as: "Abandoning the 'six shun' and choosing the 'six inverse' is the root cause of rapid disaster." As a king who governs the people, it is necessary to remove the evil. Now it is hastening the arrival of the plague, I am afraid it will not work! The "speed" here has the meaning of "rapid" and "inviting", and its meaning is more clear and precise.
Because there are too many homophones in spoken Chinese, there are more than 400 syllables in modern spoken Chinese, and if you add four sounds, there are about 1200 syllables. There are 3,000 commonly used Chinese characters, and if you average them, a sound saving contains nearly 3 or so Chinese characters.
In fact, according to statistics: there are as many as 150 ji syllables in the Modern Chinese Dictionary. Branch, fat, zhi, east, winter, because the ancient pronunciation of the sound is different, modern Mandarin has been unable to distinguish.
There are too many homophones in spoken Chinese, for example, issuing two syllables "chéngshì", is it a city, a momentum, a thing, or a program? Without the specific context, it is not clear what the meaning is. Chinese characters make up for this deficiency, and these homophones can be clearly distinguished through glyphs.
Here we found a contradiction in the development of Chinese characters, that is, the contradiction of limited syllables carrying infinite meaning, how to clearly express the exact meaning of a word? That is, to replace monosyllabic words with two-syllable words to clarify the exact meaning of a word. This is also the key point in understanding the vocabulary of the text, and the so-called polysemy of the word is derived from this. Excerpts from the web are taken to deepen its understanding.
1. Original meaning, ancient and modern meaning, basic meaning and general meaning
We say that the three elements that make up Chinese characters have been changing since ancient times, especially the meaning of words is the most changed of the three. Some of the meanings of Chinese characters are not used in ancient times, and we call them ancient meanings. The meaning of some Chinese characters has become another new meaning today, which is the present meaning. The most commonly used meaning of the many meanings of a word in modern Chinese is the basic meaning, and the meaning that has not changed in ancient and modern times is the general meaning.
For example, (1) "The Widow in the Country": "Fill the drum, the blade of the soldier is connected, abandon the armor and drag the soldier away." ”
(2) "Gaining more help from the Tao, losing the Way and Helping the Poor": "The country is not dangerous by mountains and streams, and the world is not benefited by military revolution." ”
(3) Li Bai's "Walking Ma Chuan XingFeng Sending Feng Dafu out of the Western Expedition": "The horse riding should be feared, and it is expected that the short soldiers will not dare to take it." In the above 3 sentences, "bing" is said to be "weapon", which is the original meaning of bing, because bing is:in the oracle bone. The image of an axe in both hands. The ancient meaning is (1) weapon, (2) soldier, (3) army, (4) war. There is no present righteousness, the basic righteousness is soldier. Tongyi is soldier and army.
Another example is the following:
(4) "Father Quaker Day by Day": "Father Quaker and Day by Day, into Japan." ”
(5) "Send Dongyang Horse Birth Order": "After recording, go and send it, do not dare to exceed the appointment." ”
In the above sentence, "walking" means "running", in the Jin text:
"Walking" consists of three parts, the left is a "line" as mentioned earlier, representing the intersection, the upper part of the right is a "big" deformation, like a person running with his arms waved, the lower part is a "stop", mentioned above is "foot", the whole word will mean that people swing their arms on the road, that is, run. Therefore, the original meaning of "walking" is "running", the ancient meaning is "running", and the present meaning is walking. The basic meaning is also walking, there is no general meaning.
2. The original meaning of Chinese characters
The original meaning of Chinese characters plays a fundamental role in exploring the many meanings of Chinese characters. Xu Shen, a great philologist of the Eastern Han Dynasty, made this book "Commentaries on the Interpretation of Chinese Characters", which explored the original meaning of Chinese characters through glyphs, which was the first step in the history of the mainland, especially his classification of Chinese characters according to the head of the department (540 parts), which was its creation.
The original meaning of Chinese characters is the meaning of the beginning of the creation of words, which is often reflected in the structure of the font. Due to their age, some Chinese characters cannot be deduced from their original meanings based on glyphs. The original meaning must be found in the earliest records of the literature. Documentary records, or ancient linguistic materials, are an important means of preventing "looking at words for righteousness." The meaning of a Chinese character in a certain period of time is fixed, and when it appears in the literature of the same era, it is not in this place, but it is yi there. That is to say, language is socially agreed, it does not arise out of thin air, nor does it disappear for no reason.
A term can only be made when it is explained in the literature of the time it was discovered. This is exactly what Mr. Lai Kam-seok said: The law is not ten, and the law is not established.
In order to explore the original meaning of a Chinese character, we must first trace its earliest glyphs, such as oracle bone and gold script. It is also necessary to pay attention to the ancient texts containing these Chinese characters, that is, the Yin Xu Bu Ci and the bronze inscriptions. Of course, these are more difficult for us general readers to contact and difficult to understand, and most of them are the fields of scholar research. However, we can use what they have already researched and what has been recognized by most people.
We must firmly establish a concept that the exploration of the meaning of Chinese characters (especially the original meaning) in teaching is very rigorous, and it must conform to the principle of characters, and strive to avoid arbitrary literary meaning. Mastering the original meaning is of great significance for systematically grasping the meaning system of a Chinese character.
3. The false meaning of Chinese characters
Pseudo-borrowing is a method of word creation, which refers to borrowing a Chinese character to represent another word that is close to its sound. At the same time, the borrowed word has nothing to do with the meaning of the original word. The meaning that arises from the pretense of words is the meaning of false borrowing.
False borrowing is produced from the perspective of phonetics to make up for the lack of Chinese character creation methods. Because some abstract meanings of Chinese characters can not be expressed in the method of pictographic understanding, so they are replaced by homophones, and the large number of monosyllabic homophones in the text provides excellent conditions for the generation of false loans.
For a simple example, "flower" is a shape-sound word meaning flower and grass. It is borrowed as "consumption", such as "spending money". In this way, the "flower" of "flower" is borrowed, the "flower" of "spending money" is a false loan word, and the "consumption" meaning of "flower" is the false loan meaning of "flower".
Many of the virtual words in the text are borrowed from real words, and the meaning of virtual words is also the meaning of false loans. Take the word "its" as an example. Its, Oracle Gold text is as follows:
Jin Wen 2 adds the pronunciation of 丌 (jī).
Like a dustpan shape, the original meaning is dustpan, as a "false borrowing meaning", there are multiple meanings.
(1) Its: its. Collar attribute pronouns. Shen Fu's "Children's Fun": "When you see something small, you must carefully examine its texture." ”
(2) Its: pronouns, third-person pronouns. Han Yu's "Master's Sayings": "Yu Jiaqi can practice the ancient path, and he can make "The Master's Sayings" to yizhi." ”
(3) Its: itself. Reflexive pronouns. Du Mu's "A Fang Gong Fu": "Qin loves luxuries, and people also miss his home." ”
(4) Its: is it, indicating the tone of rhetorical questioning. Wang Anshi's "Journey to the Zen Mountains": "Do your best, and those who can't reach it, can have no regrets, who can be ridiculed?" ”
(5) Song Lian's "Sending Dongyang Horse Birth Order": "If there is no refinement in its karma, those who are not virtuous, and those who are not inferior in nature, then their hearts are not as good as the remaining ears." ”
4. Ancient and modern Chinese characters have different meanings
(1) The meaning has not changed since ancient times
For example, the heaven and earth people flowers and grass sun moon car horse cannon. These are the basic vocabulary of Chinese characters, and the meaning is relatively stable. Note that the unchanged here is in terms of the most basic properties.
With the development of science and technology, modern people know that the moon is actually the moon, it is a satellite of the earth, orbiting the earth, the ancient text does not understand these. But the nature of the night that appeared, and the circle hanging in the sky did not change, and so on and on. For example, in ancient times, there were only horse-drawn carriages, ox carts, and rickshaws, but now there are bicycles, motorcycles, cars, and trains, but their fundamental attributes of having wheels have never changed.
Another example is the ancient era of cold weapons, the cannon character is written "cannon", which is also written in chess, which is the reaction of human beings to enter the era of hot weapons in Chinese characters after the invention of gunpowder.
Another example is the ancient variant character of the hammer, which reflects the common application of iron in people's lives in China, and replaces the situation of wood.
(2) It is a certain change in the meaning of ancient and modern times, which can be divided into several situations:
First, the meaning of the word expands
(1) Su Shi's "Chibi Fu": "White dew crosses the river, and the water and light meet the sky." ”
(2) "The Widow's Yu Guoye": "The fierce people in Hanoi will move their people to Hedong." ”
"River" ancient refers to the Yangtze River, "river" ancient refers to the Yellow River, now expanded into the title of a large river.
(3) "On Passing the Qin": "The world gathers and responds, and wins grain and obeys." "Sound" in ancient times refers to echo, and now refers to the sound emitted by all objects.
(4) "Su Wu Biography": "When he was more than three years old, wang was ill, and he gave Wu Ma livestock, clothing, and vaults." "Disease" in ancient times refers to serious illness, and later refers to all diseases.
Second, the meaning of the word is reduced
(5) Zhuangzi's "Getaway": "How do you know the second worm?" "Insects" in ancient times referred to animals, including people. Today it is reduced to arthropods.
(6) "More help for the lost way and less help": "The widow is the one who helps, the relatives who help him." ”
"Relatives" used to refer to immediate and collateral relatives, and is now reduced to collateral relatives.
(7) Tao Yuanming's "Peach Blossom Origin": "Lead his wife Yiren to this desperate situation and will not come back." "Wife" used to mean wife and children, and is now reduced to wife.
Third, the meaning of words is transferred
(8) Song Lian's "Sending Dongyang Horse Birth Sequence": "Man holds Tang Wo Irrigation, embraces it with a suffocation, and over time is peace." "Soup" in ancient times referred to hot water, and now it is transferred to foods with particularly much juice after cooking.
(9) "The Biography of Zhang Heng": "Since going to the historical post, it has been restored in five years." "Going" in ancient times meant leaving, and now shifting to the past, to the present.
(10) "Peacock Flying Southeast": "Go out to board the car, and drop more than a hundred lines." "Snot" in ancient times refers to tears, and now it has shifted to snot.
Fourth, the emotional color is different
(11) Liu Xiang edited Warring States Policy. Zou Ji ridiculed the Qi King's advice: "Those who can slander the city dynasty and hear the ears of the widows will be rewarded." "Slander" in ancient times refers to argumentative advice, neutral words. Slanderous, derogatory.
(12) Xin Abandoned Disease", "Yong Yu Le Jingkou Beigu Ting Huaigu": "Dance Hall Song Stage, the wind is always blown away by the rain and the wind." "Wind flow" in ancient times means outstanding, handsome, is a positive word. Imam's style of life is unruly and is a derogatory term.
(13) Zhuge Liang's "Table of Teachers": "The former emperor did not despise his subjects, he was obscene and self-deprecating, and the three gu subjects were in the grass. "Despicable" in ancient times refers to a low status, shallow knowledge, and is a neutral word. Imamity refers to disregard for shame and inferior moral character.
(3) It is ancient and modern, and it has completely disappeared
For example, the following words: 胹, 胹, 丞相, 刖, 禊. Such words can be divided into two categories:
One is a different way of saying it. Such as shoes, now refers to shoes. 胹, now refers to boiled water.
One category is what has disappeared in modern society. Like Ding, Xiang Xiang, Jiao (an ancient type of foot-cutting torture), Zen (ancient spring removal of ominous sacrifices held at the water's edge).
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