“苦”字缘起及其文化意蕴蠡测

The Origin of the Word "Bitter" and Its Cultural Implication

论及“苦”,其意蕴丰厚、包罗万象,如“苦”是一种感官味道,是一种生活体验,是一种磨砺方式,是一种文论学说,是一种生命智慧,难以尽言。本文从文字学、训诂学、宗教学、民族学等领域切入,通过耙疏考证文献典籍得出,无论是“苦”还是“甘(苷)”最初的含义都是指一种植物,后面才发展成为象形兼指事字,指代某种味觉;且“苦”字与“古”字本义相同。另结合儒释道文化,探究了有关“苦”的文化内蕴,可看出“苦”是儒释道文化相互交织融合的最佳契合点之一。

When it comes to"bitter",its implication is rich and all-encompassing.For example,"bitter"is a sensory taste,a life experience,a way of sharpening,a literary theory,a life wisdom,which is hard to say.This paper starts from many fields such as philology,exegesis,religion,ethnology,and finally comes to the conclusion that whether it is"bitter"or"sweet(glycoside)"at first refers to a kind of plant,then it develops into a pictographic and indicative character,referring to a certain taste;And the word"bitter"has the same original meaning as the word"ancient".In addition,this paper explores the cultural connotation of"bitterness"in combination with the culture of Confucianism,Buddhism and Taoism.It can be seen that"bitterness"is one of the best points of integration of Confucianism,Buddhism and Taoism.