清初王育《許氏說文解字六書論正》溯源古文字形之商兌

On the method of inferring and interpreting the glyphs of Wang Yu’s ancient characters in the early Qing Dynasty

王育《許氏說文解字六書論正》（省稱《說文論正》）為清初《說文》學罕有之長篇，全書常以溯源古文字形的方式注證《說文》。本文分析王育溯源古文字形方法四點，並舉例說明，以見其得失。王育推崇《說文》對於字學的重要性，以為《說文》所收篆文，代表古代字學之傳統，故王育認為溯源古文字形，當以《說文》為基礎，藉此得知文字之本形本義。王育所擬古文字形，有可與甲骨、金文相印證者，於古文字形體之推斷，有獨到之處，但亦有其方法限制。若從王育於清代《說文》學發展初期而論，當時為清代《說文》學研究大盛前的萌芽期，並受限於文字學材料不足的限制，但是其從《說文》溯源古文字形之研究理路，在清代《說文》學史上仍有其學術意義。

This article analyzes four points of Wang Yu’s method of inferring and interpreting ancient character shapes, which are: inferring ancient character shapes based on the ancient text of“Shuo wen”, inferring ancient character shapes based on the structure of seal scripts, inferring ancient character shapes based on the meaning of seal characters, and inferring ancient character shapes based on writing habits. Wang Yu’s theory of calligraphy attaches great importance to ancient Chinese characters and praises the importance of“Shuo wen”to calligraphy. The reason is that the seal script included in“Shuo wen”represents the tradition of ancient calligraphy. Therefore, Wang Yu believes that tracing the origin of ancient Chinese characters should be based on“Shuo wen”.“Wen”as the basis to understand the original shape and meaning of words. Wang Yu often interprets characters by using them in ancient texts. He is unique in inferring the form of ancient characters. He has conducted detailed research on the form and original meaning of“Shuo wen”. Judging from Wang Yu’s early development of“Shuo wen”studies in the Qing Dynasty, his method of tracing the origin of ancient characters from the glyphs and original meanings of“Shuo wen”has its academic value and significance in the history of“Shuo wen”studies in the Qing Dynasty.