Examination & Correction of Five Phrases on Yáng Bó-jùn’s “Chun Qiu Zuo Zhuan Zhu” –Based on the Period of Lǔ Xiāng Gōng in Zuo Zhuan
Huang Sheng-sung
Abstract
This article takes the reign of Lǔ Xiāng Gōng (575 B.C. - 542 B.C.) in Zuo Zhuan as the scope, and discusses the five notes of Yáng Bó-jùn’s “Chun Qiu Zuo Zhuan Zhu”(hereinafter referred to as “Zuo Zhuan Zhu”) that need to be discussed more. 1. The term “zǔ jiǎ”: Elder scholars interpreted “zǔ jiǎ” and “pī liàn” as a suit of armor. The difference between these two is the person who wore “zǔ jiǎ” was much well-respected than “pī liàn”. The military chariots of Chǔ State were “yòng gé” (to equip with rhino skins). There were two kind of military chariots that could be read so often in Zuo Zhuan, and they were “gé chē” (the chariots which were equipped with rhino skins) and “jiǎ chē” (the chariots which were equipped with armor). So it is so easy to find that military chariots could also be equipped with rhino skins. The word “zǔ” refers to a belt woven with silk. According to the “Zhou Li”, “zǔ jiǎ” can be decorated in chariots, thus it should be interpreted as a military chariot equipped with rhino skin and decorated with a silk belt. 2. The term “zhàng (丈) chéng”: Scholars may say that “zhàng(丈)” is wrongly written words of “female (女)” or “big (大)”. However, Yáng Bó-jùn thought that there was no evidence. There were two types of “xún chéng” (battlements). One was “dié” (short battlement) & “pí” (parapet) and the other was tall battlement or city wall. The word “zhàng(丈)” could be also interpreted as “big (大)”, therefore, “zhàng chéng (丈城)” is “dà chéng (大城)”. These two nouns are with the opposite meaning to “dié” & “pí”. 3. The term “dào qì”: There are three meanings of the word “dào”. The first is to mourn; the second is to go far away; the third is to escape, and all of these above are reasonable in “Zuo Zhuan Zhu”. According to the pre-Qin classics, there were some clues to prove that “dào qì” could be interpreted as “yuǎn qì”; therefore, the second meaning might be the best for “dào”. 4. The phrase “bù xiāng néng”: According to three classics “Shuō Wén Jiě Zì”, “Shì Míng” and “Fāng Yán”, the word “néng” could be interpreted as “rěn”, “néng” and “gāi”; moreover, the meaning of it is to have both political integrity & ability and to be able to tolerate people. Based on pre-Qin classics, the words “nài” and “néng” have similar meanings to each other. Besides, the words “nài” and “rěn” also have similar meanings to each other. Thus, the phrase “bù xiāng néng” could be interpreted as “bù xiāng rěn”, and the meaning of it is people who cannot tolerate to each other. 5. The term “guān cì”: The word “cì” only means residence in Zuo Zhuan. It is irrelevant to neither officials nor official functions. The term “guān cì” is actually an office today. So Yáng Bó-jùn said that “guān cì” is official rank or official position is not reasonable.
