Chapter 1231 Doctoral Level
Gu Lao also believes that this direction is very valuable, as it can continue to explore forward on the basis of predecessors, and has the effect of clearing up the source, so he encourages Zhou Zhi to continue to advance in research.
The two of them had discussed a model before, which was to write a book following the style of "Shuowen Jiezi", but it went one step further than "Shuowen Jiezi" and listed the origins of characters starting from oracle bone inscriptions. , which can describe its rheology very clearly.
Zhou Zhi thinks this book can be called "Explanation of Oracle Bones".
"This won't work." Mr. Gu said, "How about I put more burden on you and I'll apply for an elective course from the department, and you will do the talking?"
"Ah? Me, giving a lecture?" Zhou Zhi was really stupid this time.
“I know you used to accompany Tingting to sing at night, didn’t you?” Mr. Gu is not an old scholar who is completely indifferent to worldly affairs: “Now that Tingting is so famous, I’m afraid it will be difficult to go to those places again. Isn’t it appropriate? If she doesn’t go, why don’t you go too? Can you make some time in the evening? Yes, but..."
"Don't be so, then it's settled." Mr. Gu said: "In one class a week, you will tell the students a few oracle bones. Just follow the caliber we discussed before, explain the words clearly, and then If you record the lecture notes, you can add up to them.”
“Didn’t you tell your classmates about "Guan Ju" last semester? Welcome! ”
"Ah? How did Senior Brother know?"
"He was supposed to be the substitute for that class, but when he walked to the door of the classroom and heard that you were already giving the lecture, he came back and told me that even if he was the lecturer, I won’t be able to speak better than you. The key is that you speak in a lively and interesting way, which makes the students like it very much. ”
< br>"By the way, regarding the 'Ling' statement, I called Peking University. They recognized your discovery, thought your inference was valuable, and asked you to write a paper and publish it in "Literature and History"."< br>
"Is this matter worth mentioning in "Literature and History"?" Zhou Zhi was a little surprised. At that time, he just said it casually.
The word "Ling" in oracle bone inscriptions has two glyphs. One is a human shape, but one leg is long and the other is short. The short leg has several short horizontal lines on the calf.
This is a familiar word, which means that a person is amputated and one foot is cut off. This is a cruel punishment method in ancient times, called mausoleum punishment.
Based on this meaning, later the usages of "bullying the upper mausoleum", "ling mausoleum", "ling mausoleum" and so on in Chinese were derived. Later, bullying, humiliation, and overriding actually also came from this word. Corruption.
However, there is another glyph, which is also a person, with two legs, one long and one short, but next to it there is an additional silhouette shape representing a hill, the mountain of Gaobu.
The root of this word is actually "霜", which represents the stone pedal on the edge of the cliff. In later generations, it also evolved into the left ear.
Therefore, many words around the left ear are also related to its instructions, such as step, steep, drop, etc.
Going back to the word "Ling" in oracle bone inscriptions, this word is like a person climbing a ladder. As a verb, it means to ascend, climb, and transcend, such as Lingyun, Lingxiao, which later evolved into Lingyun, Lingxiao, Lingmai and other usages.
As a noun, it means high places, big mountains, etc., such as mountains and mausoleums.
Through analysis, Zhou Zhi believed that "Ling" was originally two characters during the Oracle period, one representing criminal law and the other the shape of climbing. The character in the shape of climbing is a phonetic character. Adding stone pedals to the side of the Criminal Law Mausoleum turns it into the mausoleum of a mountain mausoleum.
Of course, this explanation is not necessarily correct, because the shape of climbing is drawn as a figure, and the legs of climbing stairs are always in a straight state, so it may be purely intentional.
Regardless of the type, by the Bronze Inscriptions period, the single character "夌" had basically disappeared, and Ling was widely used as a fixed character.
When Xu Shen wrote "Shuowen Jiezi", the word "Ling" also included "Lingzhe", and the meaning of "Lingsao" did not know the origin, so he first explained that "Ling" is a large The original meaning of mound was later thought to have derived the meaning of "above and suppressed", so the meaning of "oppression" came into being, and eventually words like "lingzhe" and "lingsao" were developed.
Obviously this is because Xu Shen did not know that the original character "Ling" in the oracle bone inscriptions also meant punishment, so he forcibly interpreted it.
The reason why Zhou Zhi’s discovery is important is that he provides an additional understanding of the origin of Chinese characters. There are many completely different meanings of a word in modern Chinese characters, which may have hidden meanings for thousands of years. The underlying reasons behind the changes in language habits.
The valuable thing about Xu Shen is that he established the research method of Chinese characters, and his idea is also very correct, which is to "find the roots" from the original meaning of the glyphs.
However, limited by his knowledge at the time, Xu Shen's research could not reach as deep as he could. There was no reasonable explanation for the "corruption", "combined use", "division and subtraction" of countless Chinese characters that have disappeared in history. explain.
The insights Zhou Zhi dug out from oracle bone inscriptions about the word "Ling" almost wiped away a little of the fog of history, allowing everyone to understand why the word "Ling" has so many meanings. Why are there two completely different meanings in the same word, "山灵" and "Lingsao".
It turns out there is a reason.
"Any work that is helpful in deciphering oracle bone inscriptions, especially the kind that inspires thinking, is worthy of being included in "Literature and History."" Gu Lao said with a smile.
Zhou Zhi’s insights are actually a further development of Xu Shen’s theory and a further development of exegesis that has almost reached a dead end for thousands of years. It is of course a very valuable methodology and is therefore worthy of publication. "Literature and History", Zhou Zhi can't see the value of his own point of view, it doesn't mean that Gu Lao can't see it.
"What article are you on?"
"Wenshi" is the highest-level liberal arts academic journal in China, similar to the foreign "Nature". If an article can be published in it, it can almost be called As an "expert".
"If this can be published, there will be seven or eight articles." Zhou Zhi said: "Then I will sort it out."
"The seven or eight articles are not a category, right? "Gu Lao was very concerned about Zhou Zhi's thinking and his wide range of ideas. It was so vast that I was speechless. I counted with my fingers: "Start with the "Compendium of Exegesis of Jiachuan Dialects", right? Then there is the "Text of Xuantou in the Two Song Dynasties" which explains the official documents of the Privy Council; and the other one is "Ouyang's Poems and Prose "Political Relations of the Three Dynasties"; Analysis of the Qianlong Edition and Guangxu Edition "A Comprehensive Examination of the Different Editions of the Longzang Sutra"; there is also "A Brief Discussion on the Papers Used in Official Books of the Past Dynasties"; and later, "Shuowen Jie Zi and Errors"; there are also several articles related to the font library, such as "Han" "Thoughts on the Character Root Classification of Wenda Character Library", "Chinese Character Advocacy in the Information Age" "And so on. By the way, there is another article in the middle that corrects Qiu Xigui." The letter was forwarded to the editorial office for publication.”
"Not bad, not bad." Mr. Gu smiled like a child who got toffee: "I don't know if I don't count them. If I count them down, there are more than ten articles, which is equivalent to a doctor's level."
(End of this chapter)