“美”的原始意义反思

Thinking on the Original Meaning of " Beauty

20世纪60～70年代,古文字学家认为,“美”字的原始意义是人戴羊角头饰;到了20世纪80年代,美学家接受了这种看法,又渗入了“图腾”的意识;新近又有论者提出,“美”字的初构意义,生发于男女交感之美。以上几种看法,或多或少地都要涉及到许慎的“羊大为美”,认为是属于味觉感,是不可靠的。本文依据甲骨文献及初民造字的规律,认为“头饰说”、“图腾说”和“交感说”需要再作推敲。许慎“美,甘也。从羊从大”云云,应当是正确的解释,但非属味觉感,而应是视觉感。

From 1960s to 1970s, specialists in old Chinese characters held that the word ' beauty' originated from a helmet made of goat horn.In 1980s, aesthetes accepted the opinion. They also thought it was a totem . Recently, some scholars put forward the theory that the word of beauty originates from the pleasure of sex. These theories relate to Xu Shen's theory that ' Big goat means beauty' Beauty is regarded as a sense of taste. According to inscriptions on bones and ways to make Chinese characters, the author thinks beauty is not a sense of taste but a sense of sight.