“风马牛不相及”之“风”新解读

A New Interpretation of the Word “Feng” in “Feng Ma Niu Bu Xiang Ji”

成语“风马牛不相及”常被用来比喻事物之间毫不相干,但其中的“风”所指为何,众说纷纭。目前学界存有“牝牡相诱”“因风而走”(“风向”)和“放逸、走失”三种主流说法。但是,三种主流说法均是孤证,且存在许多其它问题。今立足于该成语所处历史时代,通过统计分析,结合“风”与“凤”二字之间的渊源关系,加之以意象图式理论的进一步印证,全新解读“风马牛不相及”中的“风”为:名词,表“自然界的空气流动现象”之义。不过此时的“风”,刚脱胎于殷商时代的“凤”,还保有神鸟“凤”的神性色彩。

The idiom “Feng Ma Niu Bu Xiang Ji” is often used to describe the irrelevance between things. However, there is no definite answer to the interpretation of the word “Feng” in this idiom. At present, there are three mainstream interpretations in the academic circle. They are “seduction between male and female”, “walking driven by the wind” (“wind direction”) and “getting lost”. However, these three mainstream interpretations are single evidence that contain many other problems. Now, based on statistical analysis and the discovery of the origin relationship between the word “Feng” and the word phoenix, a new interpretation which can be improved by image schema theory has emerged. It turns out to be a noun representing the meaning of air flow phenomenon in nature. However, the word “Feng” just derived from the word phoenix in the Shang Dynasty, having the divinity given by the divine bird phoenix.