摘要
“中”字金文或作“■”。一般认为,“■”字写法有误,当作“■”,取旗帜之象,因为上古有立旗(即“立中”)聚众之传统。学界的这一普遍看法其实是错误的,因为通过对古代神话文本与哲学文本的综合分析,并结合对“中”字得以构形的经验原型的具体考察,便不难发现,“中”字在上古除了取象于旗帜之外,还取象于“旋转”,而这恰与金文中“中”作“■”形是相吻合的。“中”字之所以在取象于旗帜之外,复取象于“旋转”,这与它内含“世界本原”之意蕴有关。
The Chinese character zhong, meaning ＂centre＂, in inscript-ions on bronze ware looks like ＂zhong＂. Some people tend to think there is something wrong in the written way in the inseript-ions on bronze ware. The correct way looks like ＂zhong＂, coming from the figure of flags, because in the ancient times there was a tradition of inserting the flag in the centre to assemble the people. However, this opinion is not sound enough. On analyzing the ancient myth and philosophy, we find that the Chinese word ＂centre＂ comes both from the figure of flags and the figure of rotation. This is identical with the written way of ＂centre＂ in the inscript-ions on bronze ware. The reason why the word has something to do with both the figures of flags and rotation is related to the origin of the world.
出处
《厦门大学学报（哲学社会科学版）》
CSSCI
北大核心
2007年第3期101-106,共6页
Journal of Xiamen University(A Bimonthly for Studies in Arts & Social Sciences)
关键词
中
旋转
世界本原
centre, rotation, the origin of the world
