Explanation of Names

刘熙Jul 2024

4.8

Word count: 22K words
Chapters: 33

Summary

Chinese traditional culture has a long and profound intellectual history, marked by a high degree of originality, inventiveness, and literary quality. Early forms of thought are highly distinctive; religious theology, classical texts of Chinese medicine, ancient military strategy, Confucianism, Daoism, Buddhism, and the Hundred Schools of Thought, feng shui and metaphysical learning, the Twenty-Four Histories, and customs and geographical records—all are vast and profound in content. This series, "Essential Classics of Chinese Traditional Culture: Original Texts," preserves the appearance of the original books and focuses on preserving and transmitting traditional Chinese thought and culture. By reading the literary essence left by ancient sages, readers may cultivate their temperament and subtly come to appreciate the classics of Chinese learning.

Editor's review

Shiming (Explanation of Names) is a famous work of exegetical scholarship written by Liu Xi of the Han dynasty. It explains the origins of names and terms through sound-based glossing and is an important classic for understanding how the ancients inferred word meaning through sound. This book is included in the series "Essential Classics of Chinese Traditional Culture: Original Texts," which preserves the appearance of the original books and focuses on preserving and transmitting traditional Chinese thought and culture. Its value lies in giving readers direct access to an original ancient exegetical text and in allowing them to appreciate the originality and distinctiveness of early forms of thought; it is helpful for understanding ancient institutions of names and things and ancient views of language. This book should not be read hastily; rather, it should be treated as a text that is both a tool and a source of reference, to be consulted and studied entry by entry. Because the original text is terse and archaic and its format is unusual, readers need some grounding in classical Chinese and would ideally have a preliminary understanding of traditional exegetical scholarship. Overall, this is an original-text reader of Chinese classics suited to slow reading, consultation, and careful savoring.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Students of literature and history who are studying classical Chinese and need to understand exegetical methods
Enthusiasts of traditional culture interested in the origins of ancient names and terms and of word meanings
Chinese-language educators who need to consult the original entries of Shiming
Slow readers with a foundation in classical Chinese who enjoy reading original texts entry by entry

Not a good fit for

Readers without a foundation in classical Chinese who hope for modern vernacular explanations
General readers expecting narrative reading or popular general-knowledge writing
Readers who hope to read straight through and want plot-driven momentum

Reading tips

Use it as a reference work: consult specific entries on names and things as needed; it is not necessary to read it straight through.
While reading, pay attention to how sound-based glossing infers meaning and appreciate how the ancients sought meaning through sound.
Understanding is improved by reading it alongside a classical Chinese dictionary and introductory works on exegetical scholarship.
Read only a small number of entries at a time and take notes to accumulate knowledge of ancient names, things, and word meanings.

版权信息
释名叙
卷一
释天第一
释地第二
释山第三
释水第四
释丘第五
释道第六
释州国第七
释形体第八
卷二
释姿容第九
释长幼第十
释亲属第十一
释言语第十二
释饮食第十三
释彩帛第十四
释首饰第十五
卷三
释衣服第十六
释宫室第十七
释床帐第十八
释书契第十九
释典艺第二十
卷四
释用器第二十一
释乐器第二十二
释兵第二十三
释车第二十四
释船第二十五
释疾病第二十六
释丧制第二十七

FAQ

What kind of book is Shiming?

Shiming is an exegetical work written by Liu Xi of the Han dynasty. It mainly explains the origins of names and terms through sound-based glossing and investigates the relationship between word meaning and sound. It is important material for studying ancient language and the institutions of names and things, and it is an original text of traditional exegetical scholarship.

Can someone with no background in exegetical scholarship read this book?

They can try, but it will be rather demanding. This book preserves the appearance of the original text, and the original wording is terse and archaic and the format is unusual. It is advisable first to learn a little about classical Chinese and the basics of exegetical scholarship, then to consult it entry by entry with a dictionary and proceed gradually; one should not try to read it straight through from the start.

Is this book suited to reading straight through or to consultation?

It is better suited to consultation and selective reading. Shiming explains names and terms entry by entry, and the entries are relatively independent of one another, so it is not necessary to read from beginning to end. Looking up specific entries according to interest or need and taking notes while consulting them better brings out its value as a tool and a source of reference.

Related on WeRead

Comments

Find this book

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

刘熙 Author

Liu Xi's life is no longer known in any detail: his nationality, birth and death years are all unrecorded, and the available public information is very limited. What can be confirmed today is only that he wrote the Shiming (Explanation of Names), a work that holds an important place in the study of language and the glossing of names and things in ancient China. The Shiming relies mainly on sound-based glossing, attempting to explain why things are named as they are through phonetic associations, and it glosses everyday objects, institutions, and words concerning heaven, earth, and human affairs one by one, in a format resembling an etymological dictionary. The book preserves a large body of vocabulary relating to objects, institutions, and customs from around the Han period, providing valuable material for later research on Old Chinese etymology, phonological change, and social life, and scholars through the ages have frequently cited and supplemented it. In common classifications, Liu Xi and the Shiming are placed under Eastern philosophy, which relates to its orientation toward clarifying names and realities and inquiring into the principles by which things are named. Because historical sources are scarce, his life cannot be examined in detail; readers should come to know Liu Xi chiefly through the Shiming itself, appreciating its methods of glossing and its investigation of names and things, as well as the book's influence on the history of ancient Chinese linguistics.