古文献中的“金”字含义考略

Study of the Meaning of Jin(金) in Chinese Ancient Literature

古文献中的"金"字具有多种含义,可指黄金、银、铜,乃至其他的金属。含有"金"字的词语中,只有"黄金"和"金子"可确认为一般意义上的黄金;"白金"多指白银;"赤金"早期多指铜,后期指高纯度的黄金;"黑金"则指铁。而"金"字本身的含义,主要是随着金属货币流通状况而变化。先秦时期多指铜,秦汉到宋元时期多指黄金,明清则多指银,现代则回归于黄金。联系上下文,注意文献的年代背景,是准确理解其含义的关键。

Jin（金） in Chinese ancient literature has different meaning, which can be referred as gold, silver, copper, and even other kinds of metals. Except for Huangjin （黄金） and Jinzi （金子）, most of Chinese words containing Jin （金） do not refer to the gold. For example, Baijin （白金） normally refers to the silver. In ancient times, Chijin （赤金） mostly refers to the copper, while it means pure gold later. And Heijin （黑金） refers to the iron. The meaning of Jin （金） changed with the circulation of metal currency in Chinese ancient. In the pre-Qin period, Jin （金） often means copper. From the Qin Dynasty to the Yuan Dynasty, it means gold most of the time. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it mostly means silver. Today, Jin （金） chiefly refers to gold again. To get the exact meaning of Jin（金）, it needs to analyze the context, and pay attention to the background of the literature.