A New Investigation of Nie: With an Interpretation of Xian-Min, Yi-Min and Ren-Li
Resource
臺大中文學報, 51, 001-040
Journal
臺大中文學報
Journal Issue
51
Pages
001-040
Date Issued
2015-12
Date
2015-12
Author(s)
Chou, F.W.
Abstract
The character xian (獻) was included in several pre-Qin Chinese phrases, where xian (獻) was usually interpreted as xian (賢) ‘able and virtuous.’ Qing scholars noticed that xian (獻) in fact did not bear the meaning of xian (賢) and tried to define this character but still failed to reach a consensus. In fact, xian (獻) should be a word borrowed from nie (櫱), whose original meaning was “remains of the cut trees,” and a series of related meanings originated from it when the language developed. This paper first demonstrates the development of the forms and meanings of nie (櫱), along with its expressions in different dialects, and then discusses the three phrases xian-min (獻民), yi-min (義民) and ren-li (人鬲), which were frequently used in Pre-Qin but cannot be surely understood so far. This paper points out that the three phrases were all derived from nie (櫱) so the meanings of nie (櫱) have to be considered for a correct understanding of the meanings and contexts of these phrases. Finally, this paper illustrates the significance of the two phrases yi-nie-yi-de (益櫱懿德) and yi-wei-qi-nie (以為其櫱) in the recently unearthed Xu Pot of Duke Sui (遂公?) and Confucius’s Talks of the Classic of Poetry (孔子詩論).
Subjects
櫱、義士、獻民、胡簋、遂公?( nie, yi-shi, xian-min, Hu Pot, Xu Pot of Duke Sui）
Type
journal article
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