New Proof of Collation and Interpretation of Huainanzi from the Perspective of Character, Word Meaning and Word Relationship in the Early Western Han Dynasty
Bian Tiangang
Department of Chinese Language and Literature, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
Abstract：Some of the problems of collation and interpretation in Huainanzi (《淮南子》) are controversial or have no good solutions. Based on the actual Chinese language in the early Western Han Dynasty, there are often new breakthroughs. Firstly, part of the collation problem can only be explained satisfactorily through the form of Libian (隶变) characters in the early Western Han Dynasty. For example: (1) It is most direct and credible that “德” character was wrongly formed into “位” due to its Zhangcao (章草) character . In the Tianwen chapter of Huainanzi, the “位” in “爵有位” is a mistake of “德”. (2) In the Tianxia chapter of Huainanzi, “云臺” is a mistake of “云夢”. In the Western Han Dynasty, “夢” can be written as , easily to be misidentified as “臺”. According to the characteristics of the text configuration in different periods, it can be inferred that the occurrence of text errors was no later than the end of the Western Han Dynasty. Secondly, in the collation and interpretation of ancient books, we should further implement the perspectives on the history of Chinese language development, and proceed from the actual meaning and relationship of words in the Western Han Dynasty to rationally evaluate the disputes of the predecessors and draw more convincing new theories. For example: (1) In Zhushu chapter of Huainanzi, “害” is actually a mistake of “容”, and in this sentence it should mean “set”. “Set” is a very commonly used meaning of “容” in the Han Dynasty and before. (2) In Taizu chapter of Huainanzi, the “脩” should be a mistake of “循”. “循” and “揗” are different glyph forms that represent “caress” in the Han Dynasty and before.
边田钢. 汉语史视角下的《淮南子》校释新证[J]. 浙江大学学报(人文社会科学版), 2021, 51(3): 153-165.
Bian Tiangang. New Proof of Collation and Interpretation of Huainanzi from the Perspective of Character, Word Meaning and Word Relationship in the Early Western Han Dynasty. JOURNAL OF ZHEJIANG UNIVERSITY, 2021, 51(3): 153-165.
2021, Vol. 51 
