甲戌本《石头记》中“甲午八日”脂批新考

New Interpretation on the Zhi Yan Zhai's Headnotes of “Jia Wu Ba Ri” in the Story of the Stone(Jiaxu Edition)

甲戌本《石头记》第一回有"惟愿造化主再出一芹、一脂"之著名眉批,并系于引发诸多争议的"甲午八日"。先前学界尝改字以求解,然始终无法得到共识。透过"e考据"对此问题进行研究,发现此类纪日法在古代诗文中并不罕见。进而推判"甲午八日"可为乾隆三十九年甲午岁正月初八日(第八日)或八月初八日(重八日)的缩写。

There is a famous headnote in the first chapter of Jiaxu edition of The Story of the Stone:wish that god would recreate Cao Xueqin(the author of the book) and Zhi Yan Zhai(the first critic of the book). The academia has been trying to change the words to seek for a solution,but still cannot reach a consensus. Investigating this problem through 'e-criticism',it is common to find dating method in ancient poems. On the basis of a lot of cases,it can be speculated that 'Jia Wu Ba Ri' maybe the abbreviation of the 8thday of the first lunar month or the 8thday of the eighth lunar month.