“五谷”之“五”新探

New Explanation on"Wu"in the Chinese Word"Wugu"

"五谷"、"五种"之"五",古今许多研究者都认为是实数,即指具体的五种谷物。利用出土的简帛材料,并从文化学的角度进行分析,得出的结论是:"五谷"之"五"一般是虚指,即泛指多种谷物,后之注者往往作定数解,失之。

It has been accepted by a number of scholars in both ancient and present times that the 'wu' in words like 'wugu' and 'wuzhong' is a symbol of the actual amount,referring to the five cereals.The paper is making an effort to review the old problem from the cultural perspective,by researching the unearthed bamboo slips and silk documents.Finally,it comes to a new conclusion,that the 'wu' in 'wugu' is an unreliable figure,implying many kinds.The scholars who wrote the annotations for ancient works misinterpreted it as a definite number.