On September 20, 121 AD, Xu Chong, the son of Xu Shen, a famous scribe and philologist of the Eastern Han Dynasty, arrived in Jingshi from Luohe, Henan, and presented the Shuowen Jiezi to Emperor An of Han. China was also the world's first dictionary, from which it came out.
Zhonghua Bookstore photocopied Vine Flower Xie Ben "Explanation of Words"
The emergence of writing is an important symbol of the birth of civilization and an important carrier for the survival and development of civilization. To date, the earliest mature writing system discovered in China, the Oracle, was born more than 3,000 years ago during the Yin Shang period, and has evolved continuously to become the modern Chinese characters that each of us use today.
The glyph evolution of "text" and "word". Source: Guoxue Master website
However, during the Qin and Han dynasties, about 2,000 years ago, this continuous process was almost interrupted.
In 221 BC, the qin dynasty, the first centralized dynasty in Chinese history, was established. In order to consolidate his rule and forbid the people of the time to "use the past to the present", Qin Shi Huang adopted the suggestion of the chancellor Li Si and ordered the burning of the history of the nations other than the "Book of Qin" and the privately stored "Poems" and "Books" and other classics. Later, Xiang Yu burned Xianyang, the official collection was also burned, and the Confucian classics were temporarily cut off. In the Western Han Dynasty, confucianism was revered, and the great Confucians at that time memorized and explained the classic texts, and the students recorded them with the popular lishu at that time, and the classics transmitted were called "JinwenJing"; correspondingly, the scriptures written in the pre-Qin ancient script found from the folk collection or between the walls of Confucius's former residence were called "Ancient Texts".
Lu Bi published a book (scene restoration), source: Confucius Museum
In order to maintain the status of the modern text, the modern classicists who monopolized the western Han Dynasty official studies not only did not recognize the authenticity of the ancient text, but even did not recognize that there were ancient scripts before the Lishu, and explained the meaning of the characters completely according to the structure of the Lishu. We already know today that while standardizing glyphs and facilitating writing, lishu also erases a lot of the reasons for the beginning of the creation of characters, so these explanations are very ridiculous; but if no one corrects them, these statements may continue to be passed down to the point of becoming a conclusive conclusion; then today we face the ancient script on the excavated documents, but it is really like reading the "Book of Heaven" and do not understand what is written at all.
Fortunately, xu shen, the great confucian of the Eastern Han Dynasty, appeared.
Portrait of Xu Shenli, Source: Xu Shen Cultural Park
As a representative figure of ancient scriptural scholars, Xu Shen believes that in order to prove the authority of ancient texts, it is necessary to first prove the authenticity of ancient texts. Why is it that the Shuowen Jiezi, as a dictionary compiled by the Han Dynasty, does not take the Lishu that was in use at that time as the object of explanation, but instead sets up the small seal in the transitional stage of ancient and modern writing as the prefix? Why is the explanation of the meaning of the text extremely simple, but so much effort has been put into the analysis of glyphs? Xu Shen is to prove the inseparable relationship between the form and the original meaning of the ancient script in this way, to prove the systematicness of the ancient script configuration, and thus to determine the rationality of the existence of the ancient script.
Zhonghua Bookstore photocopied the inner page of the "Explanation of Characters in Shuowen"
More than 9,000 small seals are included in the "Explanation of Characters in Shuowen", and more than 1,000 ancient texts, scripts and other variants are also included. Xu Shen's time was only more than two hundred years away from the burning of books by Qin Shi Huang, and this large number of precious materials that had not gone far away from ancient times directly preserved the system of ancient characters intact, and became the source of inspiration for us to understand and interpret ancient scripts today. If Chinese characters are the genetic code of Chinese civilization, "Shuowen Jiezi" can be called a decoding treasure book, which helps us to perceive the spirit and wisdom of the Chinese ancestors through words, and explore the source and essence of Chinese culture.
Part of the edition of "Explanation of Characters in Speaking Texts" published by zhonghua bookstore
The advantage of "Shuowen Jiezi" is not only that it communicates ancient and modern glyphs and systematically preserves ancient characters, but it also pioneers the radical orthography method, which is still the general practice of the compilation of dictionaries to this day. Five hundred and forty radicals have a very close and three-dimensional connection with each other, with a core, a transition, a glyph connection, a meaning connection, and the whole is a carefully constructed writing system. In terms of explanation, for the first time, the "Six Books" theory was used to analyze the shape of Chinese characters, such as pictograms, pointing things, meanings, shapes and sounds, etc., which were clearly placed and analyzed clearly. Therefore, "Shuowen Jiezi" can not only be used as a dictionary to look up, but also a great philological work, and there have been many people who have studied and ruled "Shuowen" in successive generations, and this knowledge is "speaking literature". To this day, when we study ancient chinese and ancient Chinese, "Explanation of Characters in Speaking Texts" is still a basic book that must be read.
The Qing Dynasty "Four Great Masters of Speaking Texts" published by zhonghua bookstore
On the occasion of the 1900th anniversary of the publication of "Explanation of Characters in Speaking Texts", we recommend this indispensable treasure book for identifying ancient characters and reading ancient documents to all readers who love traditional culture and love Chinese characters.
"Shuowen Jiezi (Phonetic Sequence, Stroke Checking)" is a photocopy of the recognized rare book Chen Changzhiben as the base, the book header is listed with the title of the script, and equipped with a variety of word checklists, easy to retrieve, inexpensive and good-quality, it is also the most popular "Shuowen Jiezi" that has been tested by the market.
"Explanation of Words (Phonetic Sequence, Stroke Checking)"
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Speaking text solution ¥19.8 purchase
The Zhuyin Edition is the same as the previous type of base, using two-color printing, the folio is larger, and the letterhead of the book is marked with pinyin, which is more friendly to friends who are not familiar with ancient sounds.
《Phonetic Version of Explanation of Words》
Zhuyin version of the text explanation word ¥39.6 purchase
"Shuowen Jiezi (Big Character Book)" is an enlarged hardcover version of the Zhuyin version, the original large photocopy, the characters are big and eye-catching, and the reading experience is better. It was also included in the Catalogue of Excellent Publications Recommended by the National Office on Aging to The National Elderly.
"Explanation of Words and Characters" (Large Character Book)
Speaking text explanation (large character book) ¥210.5 purchase
The line-bound version of "Explanation of Words and Characters" is based on the vine flower xie ben, the original large photocopy, the font is simple, exquisitely made, is an excellent choice for collection gifts.
The newly published "Explanation of Words and Characters (Point School)" is a reliable and convenient to use horizontal collation, which is very suitable for friends who are not accustomed to reading vertical ancient books.
"Explanation of Words and Words" (Point Schoolbook)
Speaking text deciphering (point school book) ¥48 purchase
In addition, the three complete books also have "Explanation of Words", the part is slightly larger, the advantage is simplified horizontal arrangement, and there are translations, readers who need this aspect can also buy the "Shuowen" of the three full texts.
"Explanation of Words and Characters" (Three Complete Texts)
Speaking text explanation (three full) ¥169.4 purchase
The study of the Qing Dynasty reached its peak, represented by the "Four Great Masters of Shuowen". Duan Yujie's "Notes on the Interpretation of Words in Shuowen" edits the text and clarifies the meaning with sounds, which is the premier "speaking literature" work of the Qing Dynasty; Gui Fu's "Explanation of the Meaning of The Interpretation of Words in Speaking Texts" quotes ancient books and lists the sayings of the group, focusing on supplementing and participating in the meaning of the words; Wang Yun's "Commentaries on the Interpretation of Words and Sentences" deletes the complicated and important points and refers to his own intentions, which is necessary for the beginner to learn the "Shuowen"; Zhu Junsheng's "Sayings of The Interpretation of the Texts" is arranged according to rhymes, explains the falsehood, and coexists in originality and practicality. Friends who want to delve into "Shuowen Jiezi", don't miss this set of "Shuowen Si everyone"!
Commentary on the Interpretation of The Sayings
"Explanation of The Meaning of Words in Speaking"
"Reading Words and Sentences in The Interpretation of Words"
"Speaking of The Voice of The General Training"
Finally, I would like to recommend two good books to help us understand the "Explanation of Words".
The five hundred and forty firsts are the result of Xu Shen's study and summary of more than 9,000 Chinese characters in the Shuowen Jiezi, and are also the key to the study of the Shuowen; among the scholars who have ruled the Shuowen in the past, Duan Yujie's influence and achievements are second to none. The following book "Commentaries on the First Paragraph of the Shuowen Department" extracts all the five hundred and forty parts of the Shuowen and the relevant annotations of the Duan Yujue, and interprets, translates and expounds them, which is an excellent assistant for us to read the "Shuowen" section.
"Commentary on the First Paragraph of the Literary Department"
The "Twelve Lectures on the Interpretation of Words and Characters" is based on the content of the "Twelve Lectures on the Interpretation of Words and Characters" held by Professor Wan Xianchu in Wuhan University. The focus of this book is also to analyze the five hundred and forty heads, the difference is that Professor Wan made further selections, from which 470 "character roots" were selected, divided into nine types of basic glyphs such as "people" and "body organs" to be analyzed, with simplicity and complexity, vivid explanations, and the development context of Chinese characters is clearly visible, which can make us have an objective, detailed and comprehensive understanding of the configuration of Chinese characters, thus further stimulating our interest in learning Chinese character formations and "Explanation of Chinese Characters".
The Twelve Lectures on the Interpretation of Words
Speaking of the text of the twelve lectures ¥26.9 purchase
With so many versions of "Shuowen" and "Shuowen" works, I believe that you will definitely be able to find the one that suits you, and feel the beauty of ancient writing, the beauty of the thought of the sages, and the beauty of Chinese civilization.