《广雅疏证》之释“乘”

Interpretation of “Cheng” in Guangya Shuzheng

“乘”字在《广雅》中作为被训释字,共出现了两次:一次被训为“一”,一次被训为“二”;在古籍注疏中又多次出现“乘”训为“四”的例子。“乘”训为一、二、四,并非矛盾,而是一个对立统一的问题,是按照不同标准来计量同一堆事物时导致的不同数量结果。“乘马”指的就是四匹马。但是如果按照马拉车时的位置,又可以分为两类:两匹服马、两匹骖马;故《广雅》“乘,二也”。用于统计兵车数量时,一车四马为一乘,这时的“乘”又被当成是一个整体,“万乘之国”的“乘”就是车数;故《广雅》“乘,式也。”“乘”出现多种训释是由于数词出现了不同的引申结果,要根据上下文搭配、具体问题具体分析。这样可以解决古书古注中一些涉及到“乘”字的疑难问题。

The character “Cheng” appeared twice in Guangya as a newly interpreted character: once as ^one^ and once as “two”. There are many examples of “Cheng” as “four” in ancient books.“Cheng” is explained as one, two and four, which is not a contradiction, but a problem of unity of opposites. It is the result of measuring the same pile of things in different quantities according to different standards.“ Chengma” means four horses. However,acording to the position of the horse-drawn carriage, it can be divided into two categories: two Fu horses and two Can horses. Therefore, in Guangya “Cheng” means two. When counting the number of military vehicles, one vehicle with four horses is one cheng,which is regarded as a whole. The occurrence of multiple interpretations of “Cheng” is due to the different extension results of numerals,which should be analyzed according to the context and specific problems. This can solve some difficult problems related to the character “Cheng” in the ancient notes.