论“四”字的构形与文化含义

Shaping and Cultural Meanings of “四”

四,在商代甲骨文和金文中写作■,到西周晚期的籀文写作亖,石鼓文里开始写作■,春秋战国以后,■逐渐成为主要写法。文章研究认为,■虽然较晚出现,但是它所反映的却是先民对数概念四的原初认识,即:数概念四,是由先民对大地四方位的认识而形成的。先民在根据观察日出日落认识到大地存在东西两方位之后,同样根据对日出日落的观察,又逐渐认识到大地还可以分出南北两个方位。这是经过分(八)这种思维方式而得到的,于是才逐渐创造出反映这种认识的亖和四字。

The character ＂四＂in Chinese was written as ＂■＂ in inscriptions on bones,tortoise,shells and bronze objects of the Shang Dynasty,as ＂亖＂in a style of calligraphy that was current in the late of Western Zhou Dynasty,as ＂■＂ in the inscriptions on drum-shaped stone blocks of the Warring States Periods and gradually shaped as a fixed form. It is proposed that the shaping of ＂ ＂ reflects the cognition of the four directions of the ancient people. By observing the sun-rising and sun-setting,they recognized the directions of the four directions.The characters ＂亖＂ and ＂四＂ were gotten by the thinking of division.