In ancient times, the Paoxi clan was the king of the world. When looking up, one would observe the phenomena in the sky, and when one looked down, one would observe the laws on the earth. He would observe the patterns of birds and beasts in harmony with the conditions of the earth.
Take all bodies from near, take all things from far away; then I started to make the Eight Diagrams of Yi to hang the image of the constitution. As for the Shennong family, they tied ropes to rule and unified their affairs.
. The common people's business is complicated, and false pretenses are born. Cangjie, the historian of the Yellow Emperor, saw traces of the hooves of birds and animals, and knew that principles could be distinguished from each other, so he first created
Book deed. Hundreds of works are based on Yi, thousands of products are inspected, and all the merits are obtained. "夤, promote it in the king's court", the speaker preaches and makes it clear to the king
When it comes to court, "a gentleman should give money and salary to his subordinates, and if he lives in virtue, he will be taboo".


When Cangjie first wrote books, they were based on pictograms, so they were called wen. Then the shape and sound complement each other, which is called the word. Literary person, object
The origin of Xiang; the character means that it breeds milk and soaks in too much. Written in a book called Zhubo. The book is like this. Up to the time of the Five Emperors and Three Kings
, changed to a different body, and there were two generations in the seventies who were granted the title of Mount Tai, but they were all the same.


Zhou Li: When he entered primary school at the age of eight, Bao Shi taught Guo Zi, starting with the Six Books. One word refers to things. Those who refer to things can be recognized by looking at them.
When it comes to seeing thoughts, "up and down" are the same. The second is pictography. Pictograms are drawn into their objects, and they are interrogated according to the body, such as "sun and moon".
The third is the phonetic sound. The phonetic form is named after something, and the example is used to complement each other, such as "jiang, he". The fourth is understanding. Understand,
By analogy with Heyi, we can see that it refers to "Wu and Xin". The fifth day is transfer. Those who transfer the bet, build a similar poem, agree to accept it,
Kao, Lao" is also. The sixth is to borrow. Those who borrow under the guise have no real purpose at all. They rely on the voice to ask for something. This is "Ling, Chang". and King Xuan
Taishi Zhou wrote fifteen large seal script chapters, which may be different from ancient Chinese prose. As for Confucius's Six Classics and Zuo Qiu Ming's Spring and Autumn Annals, they are all written in ancient prose.
Jueyi can be obtained and said.


After that, the princes were in power and were not unified under the king. If those who dislike rituals and music harm themselves, they should all be removed from their books. Divided into seven kingdoms, the fields belong to different lands
, the cars are painted on different tracks, the laws and regulations are different, the clothes are different, the speech is different, the words are different, and the writing is different. At the beginning of Qin Shi Huangdi's reign, he became the Prime Minister.
Li Si played the same tune, but dismissed those who did not agree with Qin Wen. Si wrote the Cangjie chapter. The CRRC government ordered Zhao Gao to write a love story. Great Shi Linghu
Wu Jing wrote a learned chapter. They are all based on the large seal script of Shi Zhen, or they may have been slightly modified, so-called small seal script.


At this time, Qin destroyed books and eradicated old classics. A large number of officials and soldiers were promoted, and garrison service was established. Officials and prisons had many duties, and at first there were official scripts for fun.
The agreement was changed, and the ancient prose was extinct. Since the Qin Dynasty, there have been eight types of calligraphy: the first is called large seal script, the second is called small seal script, the third is called carved talisman, and the fourth is called "engraved seal script".
Chongshu, the fifth is called copy seal, the sixth is called official script, the seventh is called Shushu, and the eighth is called official script.


There was cursive writing in the Han Dynasty. Wei Lv: The examination begins for schoolchildren over seventeen years old. The 9,000-word satirical book can be regarded as history. Another eight-body test
Of. The county moved to Taishi and incorporated it as a class. The most popular one is Shangshu Shi. If the book is not correct, it will be impeached at any time. Although there are military regulations today, there are no classes.
If you don't practice it, you have been talking about it for a long time.


During the reign of Emperor Xiaoxuan, he summoned Cangjie readers, and Zhang Chang accepted them. Du Ye, the governor of Liangzhou, was a great lecturer in Pei people.
Qin is close and can also be said. During the reign of Emperor Xiaoping, he recruited more than 100 people, including Li, to order Shuo Wenwen to be in the Central Court, and he regarded Li as a primary school scholar.
. Yang Xiong, the minister of Huangmen, adopted it for training and compilation. The following fourteen chapters by Fan Cangjie, and the five thousand three hundred and forty-four words written by Fan Cangjie, are recorded in the group of books.
, save a little bit.


After his death, he was photographed in his new residence and sent to the Department of Documentary Affairs such as Chief Sikong Zhenfeng and others. I thought I should make it, so I changed the ancient text. There are six
Book: One is called ancient prose, which is also the book written on the wall by Confucius. The second is Qi Zi, which is the official script of Qin Dynasty. It was written by Cheng Miao, a native of Xiadu, who was envoyed by the First Emperor of Qin.
The fifth one is called Miao Zhuan, so it is also a copy of the seal. Sixth, it is said that birds and insects write books, so the books and flags are also letters.


The author of the book on the wall was that the King of the Communist Party of Lu destroyed Confucius' house and obtained the Book of Rites, the Book of Documents, the Spring and Autumn Annals, the Analects of Confucius, and the Classic of Filial Piety. Also Beiping Hou Zhang
Cang Xian Chun Qiu Zuo Shi Zhuan. Counties and counties also often found Dingyi in mountains and rivers, and their inscriptions were similar to the ancient inscriptions of previous generations. Although not repeated
Jian Yuanliu, its details can be briefly described.


But most of the people in the world are not stupid, and they think they are curious, so they change the text in a cunning way, and make up unknowable books on the wall of the countryside. Chaos often happens.
, to shine in the world. Scholars competed for word-telling and interpretation of scriptures, and called the official script of Qin the Cangjie Shishu, saying: "It is passed down from father to son, why?"
Gotta change it! Naiwei said: "The horse-headed person is the leader, and the person holding ten is used to fight, and the insect is bent in the middle." Tingwei said that the law is based on the word
Judgment: "If a harsh person accepts money, the word harsh will stop the sentence." If there are many of these, they are all inconsistent with Confucius' ancient prose and are wrong in historical records. rustic
The vulgar Confucians, because of what they are accustomed to, conceal what they hope to hear. I don't see Tongxue, and I don't see the rules of writing. It's strange that he is old and good at wild talk, so he
What I know is a secret, and I will investigate the subtleties of the cave sage. See also "The youngest son accepted the imperial edict" in the Cangjie chapter, because it says: "What the ancient emperor did
, his words are magical. ” It’s not contrary to the fact that he is astray and does not give instructions!


The book says: "I want to see the image of the ancients." The words must be based on the old text without going into detail. Confucius said: "I am still at the end of history.
Wen, my husband is dead now. ” It’s just because he didn’t know and didn’t ask. People use their own selfish interests to make right and wrong unjust, and they skillfully speak evil words, making scholars all over the world doubtful.
Those who cover it with words are the foundation of economics and art and the beginning of royal government. The predecessors look down upon the latter, and the descendants know the past. Therefore, it is said: "The original
And Tao is born. "Knowing that the world is extremely powerful, it is impossible to cause chaos. Today's description of seal script is based on the ancient seal script. Be knowledgeable and knowledgeable, no matter how small or large you are.
Believe it and have proof, and write it down. Classify rationale, explain fallacies, educate scholars, and achieve spiritual enlightenment. They live in separate tribes and don't mix toilets with each other.
All things are seen, and everything is overwhelming. The friendship is not clear, but the love is clear. They are called the Yi Meng family, the Shu Kong family, the Shi Mao family, and the Li family.
Zhou Guan, Chun Qiu Zuo Shi, The Analects of Confucius, and Xiao Jing are all ancient texts. If you don't know what you don't know, it's like a bridge.

Full text translation

Author: Department of Chinese, National Taiwan University Edited by Xu Fuchang
-------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------- ---

往古的時侯,伏犧氏治理天下,(他)仰觀天象,俯察地理,觀察鳥獸的形象和大地的脈理,近的取法自身,遠的取於它物,在這個基礎上,才創作了《易》和八卦,用卦象示人吉凶。到了神農氏的時代,使用結繩記事的辦法治理社會,管理當時的事務,社會上的行業和雜事日益繁多,掩飾作偽的事兒也發生了。(到了黃帝的時代,)黃帝的史官倉頡看到鳥獸的足跡,悟出紋理有別而鳥獸可辨,因而開始創造文字。(文字用於社會之後,)百業有定,萬類具明。倉頡造字的本意,大概取意於《夬卦》,《夬卦》說,臣子應當輔佐君王,使王政暢行。這就是說,倉頡創造文字是為了宣揚教令、倡導風範,有助於君王的施政。君王運用文字工具,更便於向臣民施予恩澤,而臣民應以立德為本,切不可自恃具有文字之工去撈取爵祿。

倉頡初造文字,是按照物類畫出形體,所以叫做「文」,隨後又造出合體的會意字、形聲字,以擴充文字的數量,這些文字就叫做「字」。叫它為「字」,是說它來自「文」的孳生,使文字的數量增多。把文字寫在竹簡、絲帛上,叫做「書」。「書」意味著寫事像其事。(文字)經歷了「五帝」、「三王」的漫長歲月,有的改動了筆畫:有的造了異體,所以在泰山封禪祭天的七十二代君主留下的石刻,字體各不相同。

《周禮》規定八歲的士族子弟進入初等學館學習,學官教育他們,先教「六書」。《「六書」的名稱,)第一叫指事,指事的含義是:字形、結構看起來認得,但須經過考察才能知道它所體現的字義,上下二字即屬此例。第二叫象形,象形的含義是:用畫畫的辦法畫出那個物體,筆畫的波勢曲折同自然物的態勢相一致,日月二字即屬此例。第三叫形聲,形聲的含義是,按照事物的性質和叫法,挑選可相比譬的聲符和義符組成文字,江河二字即屬此例。第四叫會意,會意的含義是:比聯起事理有關的字素,構成文字;摻合字素的意義,可以得知新字的字義或旨趨,武信二字即屬此例。第五叫轉注,轉注的含義是:立一字為頭、為根,創制類屬字,類屬字對根字的形音義有所承襲,與根字意義相通,考老二字即屬此例。第六叫假借,假借的含義是:沒有為某事某物造字,而按照某事某物的叫法,找一個同音字代表它,令長二字即屬此例。

到了周宣王的太史籀整理出大篆十五篇,籀文同古文有了差異。(不過古文尚在通行,)一直到(春秋末年)孔子寫「六經」,左丘明著《左傳》都還在使用古文;古文的形體、意義仍為學者們所通曉。再往後(到了戰國),諸侯們依靠暴力施政,不服從周天子;他們憎惡禮樂妨害自己,都拋棄典籍(各行其是)。中國分為七雄並峙,田畝的丈量方法相異,車子的規格尺碼不同,法令制度各有一套,衣服帽子各有規定,說起話來方音分歧,寫起字來相互乖異。

秦始皇初滅六國,丞相李斯就奏請統一制度,廢除那些不與秦國文字相合的字。(李斯等人負賈規範文字,)李斯寫了《倉頡篇》,中車府令趙高寫了《爰歷篇》,太史令胡毋敬寫了《博學篇》,(它們)都取用史籀大篆的字體,有些字還很作了一些簡化和改動,這種字體就是人們所說的「小篆」。這個時候,秦始皇焚燒《經書》,除滅古籍,征發吏卒,大興戍衛、徭役,官府衙獄事務繁多,於是產生了隸書,以使書寫趨向簡易,古文字體便從此止絕了。

從這個時候起,秦代的書法有八種體勢,第一叫大篆,第二叫小篆,第三叫刻符,第四叫蟲書,第五叫摹即,第六叫署書,第七叫殳書,第八叫隸書。漢朝建國以後有草書。

漢朝的法令規定,學童十七歲以後開始應考,能夠背誦、讀寫九千個漢字的人,才能做書史小吏;進一步是用書法「八體」考試他們。通過郡試之後,上移給中央太史令再行考試,成績最優的人,被用為樞秘處的秘書。官吏的公文、奏章,文字寫得不正確,「尚書史」就檢舉、彈劾他們。如今條令雖在,卻停止了考核,文字之工不講習,士人不通漢字之學很久了。

漢宣帝時,徵召到一位能夠讀識古文字《倉頡篇》的人,宣帝派張敞跟著那人學習。(在這以後)涼州的地方官杜業,沛地人爰禮,講學大夫秦近,也能讀識古文字。漢平帝時,徵召爰禮等一百多人,要他們在未央官講說文字,尊奉爰禮做「小學元士」,黃門侍郎楊雄採集大家的解說著了《訓纂篇》。《訓纂篇》總括了《倉頡篇》以來的十四部字書,計五千三百四十字,典籍所用的字,大都收入該書了。

到了王莽執政攝行王事的時候,他要大司空甄豐等人檢校書籍,以標榜自己盡力於制禮作樂之事。這期間對古文字很有一些改動。那時有六種字體,第一叫古文,這種文字出自孔子住宅牆壁中收藏的一批古籍;第二叫奇字,它也是古文,不過字體又同古文有別:第三叫篆書,也就是小篆:第四叫左書,即秦朝的隸書,是秦始皇使下杜人程邈創制的;第五叫繆篆,是用在璽符印鑑上的文字;第六叫鳥蟲書,是寫在旗幡等物上的。

King Lu Gong demolished Confucius' residence and (unintentionally) obtained ancient Chinese classics such as "Book of Rites", "Shangshu", "Spring and Autumn", "The Analects of Confucius", and "The Classic of Filial Piety". (ancient classics) and "Zuo Zhuan" presented by Beiping Hou Zhangcang. Some counties and vassal states also often unearthed treasure tripods and utensils from previous generations from the ground. Their inscriptions are ancient inscriptions from previous generations. (These ancient writing materials) are very similar to each other. Although they cannot reproduce the complete picture of ancient writings, we can get a rough idea of ​​the situation of ancient writings in the Pre-Qin Dynasty. People in the world are ignorant and try their best to deny and slander ancient Chinese characters. They think that ancient Chinese characters are unknown characters that were forged by curious people who deliberately changed the writing method of current characters and pretended to come from the walls of Confucius' residence. People who support ancient literature) want to use it to show off to the world.

There are many Confucian scholars (who like to rely on conjecture) vying to explain the text and the meaning of the Sutra. They regard the official script that was only available in the Qin Dynasty as the writing of the Cangjie era. What do they say, "Writing is passed down from father to son, where will it change?" They went so far as to say nonsense: "The character for "horse" means a person is long." "A person holding ten means a fight." "The character for insect is the Chinese character for bend." When explaining the law, the executioner went so far as to make assumptions based on analyzing the glyphs. Criminal laws, such as "harsh people receive money" (the original meaning is to prohibit intimidating criminals and asking for bribes, "harsh" is a borrowed word of "ha", but) some people say that the word "harsh" ("stop" at the top, "sentence" at the bottom) "), meaning "stop sentence". There are too many examples like the above, (these explanations) are inconsistent with the ancient characters unearthed in the hole wall, and are contrary to the font of Shi Zhen Dazhuan. Vulgar and superficial people appreciate the things they are familiar with, but are incompatible with rare things. (They) have never seen Hongtong's knowledge, do not know the laws and rules of Chinese characters, regard ancient Chinese classics as heresy, and regard nonsense as truth. , seeing what you know as wonderful. (They) explored the profound meaning of the saint's writings, and saw the sentence "the young son inherited the imperial edict" in the "Cangjie Pian", so they said that the "Cangjie Pian" was written in the Huangdi era, saying that the sentence implies that the Yellow Emperor went to immortality and asked the young son to inherit the edict. The profound meaning of Si. How can they not violate the truth if they are astray?

"Shangshu" records that Emperor Shun said, "I want to see the images drawn by the ancients." These words indicate that when Emperor Shun formulated the system, he would act in accordance with the old codes and not go beyond the details. Confucius said: "I can still see places where there are doubts in the history books." He also said: "(This kind of "skeptical spirit") is gone nowadays! ” (“doubtful”) It’s not that the author himself doesn’t understand and is indifferent, (but he is worried) that if people rely on their own conjectures to interpret ancient historical events, it will lead to uncertainty about right and wrong; clever words and sophistry will bring confusion to the world. The world's learners and researchers create doubts and confusion. Writing is the foundation of hundreds of schools of classics and history, and is the primary condition for the implementation of the royal way. The ancients used it to record their own experiences and pass them on to future generations, who then relied on them to understand ancient history. Confucius said, "The foundation is established and the Tao is born." This is because (establishing the foundation) can enable people to understand the most profound truths in the world and no longer be troubled. Now I describe the seal script, refer to the ancient Chinese and Zhenwen, and learn from the opinions of various schools, so that all my words, no matter how big or small, are conclusive and evidence-based, and I write my own explanation based on the research. I want to use this book to compile all things and identify fallacies, so that students can understand (the origin of words) and understand the wonderful meaning of words. I use the method of separating the radicals and connecting the radicals with the prefixes to organize the text so that they are not confusing. Everything can be seen in this book, and there is nothing that is not covered or recorded. When I encounter something that is difficult for readers to understand, I use metaphors that can explain it. The book mentions Meng Xi's "Book of Changes", Kong Anguo's "Book of Songs", Mao Heng's "Book of Songs", "Zhou Li", "Zuo Zhuan", "The Analects of Confucius", and "The Classic of Filial Piety", etc., all referring to ancient Chinese versions. When I encounter something I don't know, I just ignore it. …

The text "Xu" lists fourteen chapters and five hundred and forty parts. (This book contains Chinese characters) 9,353 words, 1,163 reprints, and a total of 133,441 words of commentary. In the arrangement of radicals in this book, "一" is placed at the beginning, and the arrangement of Chinese characters is carried out according to the principle that if the "type" is the same, things will be grouped together, so that things are divided into groups; those with "the same article" belong to one place, and those with "the same reason" Continuously, the types are arranged in an orderly manner without confusion, and the prefixes are connected one by one according to the glyphs; starting from the character "一", citing and connecting, the origin of tens of thousands of Chinese characters is explored; the " The word "Hai" is listed at the end of the chapter, so we can see that the change has reached its extreme and returned to "one".

At that time in the Han Dynasty, the sage and virtue were as bright as the sun. Emperor Guangwu accepted the destiny and followed the way of Emperor Yao to create great achievements. China and abroad all received the favor of the Han emperor, and this favor was as great as rain and tide. The (royal) government promoted learning and selected talents without neglecting the common people; the scholars knew the essentials of scholarship and conducted profound research (writings), and their insights could be passed on to future generations (so I collected and edited them into this book). This is the first day of the first lunar month in the twelfth year of Emperor Yongyuan of the Han Dynasty.

I am a descendant of the Xu family, and my ancestors should be counted from Emperor Yan and Shennong. The distant ancestor Jinyun assisted the Yellow Emperor, the distant ancestor Gonggong was succeeded by Gao Xin, the distant ancestor Taiyue assisted Xia Yu, and Taiyue's descendant Uncle Lu guarded the Zhou Dynasty, and was entrusted to Xu by the Emperor of Zhou to protect his ancestors. The Xu family has been passed down from generation to generation. Since then, the Xu family moved from Xu to Runan, and my direct descendants have lived by the Ru River.

I admire saints, and I do not presume to want to get close to their door. How tall is the Holy Gate? Like Nanshan Cui Wei. I wanted to give up halfway, but I couldn't. I have exhausted all my stupidity, but unfortunately I have not mastered the "Tao Tao". When I hear the word "suspicious", I can only remember "suspicious". I deduced the meaning of the saint's words and compiled my own superficial opinions. I don't know much about this subject. If there are obvious mistakes, I hope everyone can correct them. 

Introduction to Xu Shen