《公羊传》文公十四年“子以其指”解——兼论邾文公两妃的地位问题

A New Explanation of Zi Yi Qi Zhi in Spring and Autumn Annals with The Commentary of Gongyang

《公羊传》"子以其指"一句含义如何,学界素有争论。或附会以天地五行之数,或坐实为残指、骈指、小指。然揆之以理,皆有未惬。邾人此言,实与立嗣原则密切相关,读者宜从屈指而数以计长幼的层面上去理解。唯有如此,邾人答辞方称结构对称、语义明朗,《公羊》纪事方称自守法度、与《左》无违。

In regard to the meaning of the phrase ＂Zi Yi Qi Zhi＂ in Spring and Autumn Annals with The Commentary of Gongyang,there has been a lot of disagreement among scholars.Some explanations were strained with the concepts of Five Elements Theory while others were persecuted by the number of the protagonists＇fingers.But measured by reason and common practice,their studies are not convincing.In fact,what the men of Zhu had said was closely related to the inheritance system.It should be considered as a reserved way to rationalize decisions already made by calculating the age of the protagonists approximately on the fingers of a hand.