从“原”字的释义之争看周人的东进进程

Investigating the Eastward March Process of Zhou People Through the Controversy of the Interpretation of the Character Yuan(原)

由于《尔雅》《公羊传》诸书对“原”字的释义存在“高平”与“广平”两种岐说,历史上学者们对“原”字的地理性质争辩不休。事实上,“高平”与“广平”两种观点在早期文献中同时存在。周人早期生活在黄土高原地区,“原”字最初便是对黄土地貌的一种特指,即《说文》所释的“高平之野,人所登”。“原”字“广平”义的生成,反映了周人“自西徂东”的由黄土高原向东部冲积平原的空间转换。周人的东进进程扩展了中国早期文明的地理空间分布,推动了华夏文化的凝聚和构建,在其基础上形成的政治制度和文化传统对中国的历史发展影响深远。

The geographical features based on Chinese character Yuan(原)has been historically controversial due to the two different definitions of Yuan as"Gaoping"and"Guangping"in book Erya and Gongyangzhuan respectively.In fact,the definitions such as"Gaoping"and"Guangping"existed simultaneously in the early literature.The Zhou people lived in the Loess Plateau in the early days.According to Shuowenjiezi,the word Yuan originally refers to the landform of Loess Plateau,which means“a place where people can climb”.The emergence of the"Guangping"reflects the spatial transformation of the Zhou people from the west to the east,and from the Loess Plateau to the alluvial plains in the east.Eastward March of Zhou people expanded the geographical distribution of early Chinese civilizations and promoted the cohesion and construction of Huaxia culture.The political system and cultural tradition formed on this basis had a profound impact on China's historical development.