大秦珊瑚、琅玕考析

The Textual Criticism and Analysis of Coral and Pearl-like Stone from Da-Chin

汉唐时期,罗马帝国和拜占庭帝国先后被称为大秦。汉唐时人对大秦珍宝极尽赞美,其中也包括珊瑚和琅玕。珊瑚和琅玕本是同一种物品,珊瑚之名最早出现于西汉,但先秦时期珊瑚已经以琅玕之名经陆上丝路传入中国。当古代中国人对珊瑚有了更多了解之后,琅玕的指向也发生变化,或指青珊瑚,或指青绿色珠形玉石,或在诗文中比拟珊瑚以及其他美好、珍贵的物品。

In the Han and Tang Dynasties,Roman Empire and Byzantine Empire were named Da-chin one after another.Treasures from Da-chin were praised highly,such as coral and pearl-like stone in the Han and Tang Dynasties.In fact,coral and pearl-like stone are the same entity.The name of coral firstly appeared in the Western Han dynasty,but it had been brought to China and called pearl-like stone through the Land Silk Road in the Pre-Qin period.When Ancient Chinese acquired more knowledge about coral,the name of pearl-like stone began to be used to refer to blue coral,turquoise round jade,and were used as a metaphor in poems and articles.