“百足之虫,死而不僵”辨析

An Analytic Discrimination on a Chinese Idiom: "A Centipede Does Not Topple over Even When Dead

成语“百足之虫 ,死而不僵”的“僵” ,目前有两种解释。本文从成语的出处及语言调查两方面 ,对两种解释进行了考察 ,认为符合原意的解释是“仆倒”。

The Chinese idiom'A centipede does not lie stiff in death'as appearing in Chinese version has currently two different interpretations for the Chinese character'僵'pronounced as 'Jian',which means'stiff,not easily bent or changed in shape'.On the basis of the research on the source of the idiom as well as a language survey,the author differentiates the two interpretations and then argues that the original meaning of 'Jiang'in the idiom is 'Pu' which means'fall forward;topple over'rather than 'stiff'.