《红楼梦》中的戥子与计量单位“星”

The Precision Scale Dengzi and Xing as a Unit of Measurement in the Dream of the Red Chamber

本文从《红楼梦》小说中贾宝玉烧香祭拜金钏儿时所用的"两星沉速"出发,尝试透过大数据的环境以e考据之法印证"一星即一钱"之说,并对秤量贵重小物之戥子的形制及其操作做了初步的探讨,以了解戥子杆秤上的刻划与"星"的关系,并希望能以小见大,勾勒出大数据对科技史或物质文化史所可能产生的新机遇。

In the Dream of the Red Chamber, Jia Baoyu measured ＂two xing of chensu incense＂ to pay respect to the deceased Jinchuan. This paper employs the ＂e-textual research （ETR） ＂ method to study the weighing mechanism of dengzi, a precision scale used to measure small and valuable objects. With the support of big data sourced from various genres in classical Chinese texts, I am able to understand how the markings on the dengzi are I conclude that xing is in fact equivalent to qian, read into xing, a unit of measurement. Eventually a common unit of weight. This study demonstrates that ETR creates new research possibilities in fields including material culture and the history of science and technology.