再论司南是磁勺吗?——兼答戴念祖先生

Re-discussion on“Was Sinan a Magnetic Ladle”

自从1948年王振铎提出古文献中的司南是磁勺后,此观点即被普遍接受。笔者从1956年开始对此提出质疑,1985年又提出司南可能既是北斗又是官职之说。最近戴念祖着重引经据典以证明司南确是磁勺,并批驳北斗说。但是他的分析和对文献的理解存在许多问题。文章以对戴文的答复方式进一步阐明司南为磁勺说的质疑和北斗说的根据。

In 1948, Mr. Wang Zhen-duo put forward that sinan or zhinan in ancient Chinese documents was a magnetic ladle. This view was quickly accepted by many people. But the author thinks that there exist many problems or difficulties with Wang＇s view. Since 1956, the author had written several papers to query the validity of this opinion, and proposed a new opinion which considered sinan as the Great Dipper. Quoting the classics, Mr. Dai Nianzu, a faithful follower of Wang Zhen-duo, recently published an article, in which he attempted to further prove sinan to be a magnetic ladle. After making a serious study of Dai＇s article, the author found his discussion and arguments turned out to be invalid. In this paper, as a reply to Mr. Dai, the author also further explains his opinion and points out the difficulties and contradictions in the opinion of a magnetic ladle.