“泾渭分明”考辨

Study on “The Distinction between River Jing and River Wei”

"泾渭分明"是一个我们日常都会用到的一个成语,它源于大自然的一个景观。但是对于泾河和渭河到底在泾渭分明中扮演了什么样的角色,这一问题从古至今始终争论不休。史念海先生以动态的眼光作了纵深化的考辨,指出泾、渭两河的清浊问题并不是一成不变的,这种变化按着时代的顺序因时而异。后有学者却认为"泾浊渭清"是两河的历史原貌。在史念海先生文章基础上,兼采其他观点力图完善泾渭分明的历史变迁。并认为杜甫诗作中的"泾浊渭清"是片段的,一时一地的而非历史常态。

“The distinction between River Jing and River Wei” is a daily idiom, and it stems from a view of na-ture.But what entirely different role they played in the idiom has been debated since ancient times .Mr.Shi Nian-hai pointed out that the distinction is not immutable , changing generation to generation .But Wang Jingchang and Li Yu thought that “Jing River turbid and Wei River clear” is the historical appearance of them .This paper adopts all the points to prove their historical shift：“Jing River turbid and Wei River clear” is a fragment, rather than historical norm.