段注古今字理论的历史贡献

The Historic Contributions of Duan Yucai's Notes on Chinese Characters' Different Forms

古今字指的是同一个词的、通行时代有古今之别的不同书写形式。这一现象历来受到训诂学家和文字学家的关注。段玉裁的《说文解字注》全面而系统地论述了古今字问题,他所提出的一系列古今字理论,如古今字是古今人用字不同、古今字非古籀篆隶之别、古今字的古和今是相对而言的等等,在当时来说是十分卓越的。肯定段注古今字理论的历史贡献,指出其某些不足之处,可以得到许多有益的启示。

Some Chinese characters might have been written in different forms in various eras, which has been attracting the attention of exegesis scholars and philologists. Notes on Origin of Chinese Characters by Duan Yucai systematically expounded this phenomenon. Many theories of his were predominant then and there, for example, different calligraphic forms don＇t respectively belong to different styles of calligraphy, and the so-called ancient form and present form are only a relative matter. Some beneficial revelations might be got when we acknowledge its historic contributions and point out its deficiencies.