“以客之功”新解

New Explanation of "Yi Ke Zhi Gong (以客之功)"

李斯《谏逐客书》一文中的"此四君者,皆以客之功"的"以客之功",即"以客为功"——句中之"之"犹"为",应是一个泛义(意义广泛的)动词,这里可具体解为"成就"、"取得"、"建立"之类的意思。"功",名词,功业义。"以客之功"意即"凭借客卿成就(取得、建立)功业"之义。目前流行的几种有代表性的、权威的训释都是值得商榷的。

The paper holds that ＂yi ke zhi gong＂ （以客之功） from ＂ci si jun zhe, jie yi ke zhi gong ＂ （此四君者,皆以客之功） in Li Si＇s Jianzhuke shu （谏逐客书） is ＂yi ke wei gong＂ （以客为功）＂.Zhi（之）is like ＂wei＂ （为）. Furthermore, ＂wei＂ （为） should be a verb having extensive meaning that can be translated as achieve or obtain and ＂yi ke zhi gong＂ （以客为功） means ＂ achieving success with resort to guest minister＂. From this view, some authoritative and representative explanations prevailing at present should be discussed.