《史记》“西域”诂

A Study of Xiyu in Historical Records

"西域"一词,最早见于《史记》。它出于汉武帝统治时代的西向政策,司马迁的《史记》在同步记述武帝一朝的事迹之余,也记录了当时开通西域的情况,是公认最早记述西域的历史著作。《史记》书中把官方所用的"西域"称为"西国",一方面传承了长远的传统态度,另一方面也是贯通古今之变的识见。"西域"一词在武帝后随着汉人开发和对待"西域"的状况发生变化,在原有词义结构基础上,衍生出一个崭新的"地区总称"义项,长久以来成为我们今天觉得是理所当然的含义。

Since the term Xiyu( 西域) is first used in Historical Records,its meanings would be interpreted differently by people today. This paper studies the synchronic use of Xiyu back in Historical Records and revives its original connotation there,from which the idea of Xiyu comes( i.e. foreign countries in the western region) based on the findings of Chinese etymology. This shows that traditional Chinese etymology is an indispensable tool to study historical literature. The paper also describes the historical background of semantic change of Xiyu.