《孟子》“深耕易耨”之“易”的词义问题

On the Meaning of Yi(易) of the Phrase Shengeng yinou(深耕易耨) in The Works of Mencius(孟子)

《孟子》“深耕易耨”之“易”的词义历来有多种解释,其中,王引之《经义述闻》的解释影响最大。但是,王引之的考证存在一些疏误,如误以文意训释为词义训释、同义训释立论根据不充分等,因此,王引之关于“易”有“疾、速”的结论恐难成立。根据“易”在农业语境中的词义及其意义关系,“深耕易耨”之“易”当释为“草秽净除”,表示“耨”的结果。论文最后对赵岐、朱熹、焦循等训释“易”的得失进行了辨正。

There are several different explanations on the meaning of Yi(易)of the phrase Shengeng yinou(深耕易耨) in The Works of Mencius(孟子), of which Wang Yinzhi(王引之)’s explanation in his work Jingyishuwen(经义述闻) has a great influence on Chinese academic circle. However, carefully investigating his arguments, we find that such mistakes among his research as confusing contextual meaning of Yi(易) with its non-contextual meaning and inadequate assertion of synonymy relation between Yi(易)and Ji(疾), which fundamentally undermine his conclusions. By summarizing and systemizing the meanings of Yi(易) in agricultural context, we propose that Yi(易)of the phrase Shengeng yinou(深耕易耨) should be explained as "neat and tidy", which describes the state after weeding. Whereafter, this paper discusses other explanations of Zhao Qi(赵岐), Zhu Xi(朱熹) and Jiao Xun(焦循).