“约法三章”不宜割裂

Yuefa-san-zhang Should Not Be Separated

中华书局本《史记》、《汉书》,把汉高祖刘邦为三秦父老"约法三章"四字割裂开来解读标点是不妥当的。它既与流传已久的成语相悖,又不符合马、班原意,且历代史家也无如此解读者。此误很可能源于对原典文句中"与"字词性的误判。

In The Book of History and the History of Han published by Zhonghua Books, Liu Bang＇s Yuefa-san-zhang （Three Promises） with people are punctuated and interpreted as four separate characters. This interpretation neither agrees with the traditional proverb nor reflects Sima Qian and Ban Gu＇s original intention. No previous historians made such interpretations. The mistake may probably have come from the misunderstanding of the character 与 （yu） in the two classics.