“寡人”词义观念考与“2+1”三重证据法

The ancient ideas of gua ren (寡人) and triple-evidence method

上古君侯自称“寡人”,有解为“谦称”者,有解为“尊称”者;然而“寡”字之解何据?其所据之理又有何据?聚讼纷纭,迄无一是。今在王国维“二重证据法”基础之上提出三重证据法,从地下、地上及古人词义观念上证明“寡人”不是谦称,而是“独一无匹”的君侯尊称。基于此,文章进而提出:词义考证不仅限于语音、字形及注释家的成训,而且还要从古人的观念上来考察、研究和验证词义的来源、引申及使用,在此基础之上建立起不同(或各种类型的)的义轨(语义关联的轨道),然后针对同一义轨上的不同形式进行“同律互证”,从而为语义系统找到“二义”同源或同根的理必原理、材料和根据,为理论训诂学和文献考据法,辟出一条新的途径。

In Archaic Chinese,the gua(寡)in feudal lord’s appellation gua ren(寡人)is generally interpreted as“modesty”or“pride”.However,no clear evidence has been found to support such interpretations.Based on the double-evidence method proposed by Wang Guowei,this paper proposes a triple-evidence method by integrating three types of evidential attestations,namely,the unearthed materials,the extant historical written materials and the ancient ideas which determine word interpretation.The analysis suggests that gua was not a modest appellation for self-effacing but an honorific title denoting“the one who has no competitors”.Hence,the paper claims that interpretation of ancient words should not be verified only by unearthed and historical documents but also by the ancient ideas that might have given rise to its semantic source and trajectory.