技术与喻义:“榫卯”的术语演变史

Technique and Metaphor:Literature History of the Technical Word Sunmao

以“榫卯”一词在通俗理解与辞典释义间的矛盾切入,梳理“榫卯”及其前身“枘凿”两词的历史文献。重要结论:对于木构节点的凸凹相接,宋代之前文献称“枘凿/凿枘”,唐宋以降称“榫”“卯”。“枘”为凸、“凿”为凹,但“卯”早期可表达凸凹双向,“榫”早期仅为凸,后期则表达凸凹双向。榫卯二字用法有地域差异(南方早期用卯,北方早期用榫),亦有匠作与辞书逻辑差异(匠人倾向于混用,辞书倾向于归类)。“枘凿”与“榫卯”均由技术含义演化出比喻义,“枘凿”在先秦经典即进入成语,喻义影响力强大,贯通历史,同时文献喻义常与真实匠作不同。对两词的文献史梳理,有助于理解中国匠作传统的文化根基,并通过二者矛盾反思传统匠作的思维特征。

Starting from the contradiction between the popular understanding and the dictionary definition of the term“sunmao”,and focus on a systematical study on the changes of this term and its predecessor“ruizao”in historical literature.The most important conclusions include:In the literature before the Song Dynasty,it was called“ruizao”(or“zaorui”)to indicate the mortise and tenon connection in woodwork,and after the Tang and Song Dynasties,the terms“sun”and“mao”began to be used and gradually replace the former;Among them“,rui”is clearly referring to the tenon,while“zao”is the mortise.“Mao”can express both tenon and mortise,while“sun”is only for tenon in the early stage,but extend to both tenon and mortise in the later period.There are regional differences in the usage of“sun”and“mao”(“mao”were used in the early days in the south and“sun”in the early north),and there are also differences in the logic of craftsmen and dictionaries(craftsmen tend to use them mixedly,and dictionaries tend to classify them clearly).In addition,both“ruizao”and“sunmao”have evolved metaphorical meanings from technical meanings.Among them,“ruizao”entered the classics in form of idioms since the pre-Qin Dynasties,and its metaphorical influence is strong along the history,however,this metaphorical meaning is often different with technical facts.The study on the literature history of these two words(word groups)of can help us understand the cultural foundation of Chinese craftsmanship tradition,and reflect on the thinking patterns of traditional craftsmanship through the contradiction between the two.