從檢驗書看穴位詞的語義演變及相關問題

A Study of the Semantic Evolution of Names of Acupuncture Points and Other Related Issues in Examination Books

Abstract

LANGUAGE NOTE | Document text in Chinese; abstract also in English.

漢語史學界對穴位詞的所知甚少，限於談醫書中穴位名由來。每種文獻的語言風貌有别，反之，從語言可窺知文獻形成的脈絡與書寫態度。有鑑於此，本文在材料與對象上做新嘗試，將檢驗書與穴位做有意義的結合。首先，擴展穴位本體研究，從《洗冤集録》揀出多義穴位詞“肩井”、“肩髃”、“缺盆”、“頰車”、“髮際”、“曲鬢”、“太陽”、“太陽穴”、“鼻山根”、“印堂”、“腰眼”，觀其歷時發展，澄清注解之誤，辨明義位及語法搭配，推測語義演變方向與機制。接著轉换視角，站在檢驗書立場，歸納穴位分布傾向，反思檢驗記録的疑問，及後代的處理態度。本文發現檢驗書的穴位詞出現新義位。單義穴位詞用穴位義，多義穴位詞語義趨向一致，指體表或骨骼。根據書證及語義演變的系統性，筆者認爲穴位義出現在前，體表或骨骼義在後，促使語義變化的機制是轉喻。在滿足交際需求與詞彙空缺兩條件下，促使穴位轉喻出體表或骨骼義。檢驗書穴位的分布集中於臉部，其次是肩部，因爲臉部是驗屍的重點項目。檢驗書的急救法曾以體表定位，是重視實用的表現。基於《洗冤集録》權威地位及檢驗者素質，對此後代選擇原文照録，不另補正，透露了檢驗體系始終堅持實用的價值觀。

In Chinese language history, studies of the terms used for acupuncture points are scant, and they mostly focused on the origin of the names of acupuncture points found in medical books. As linguistic styles in literature vary, they yield hints to reconstruct the contexts and formation of a text, as well as the writing attitudes of its author. The present essay is a new attempt to deal with both the materials and subjects in an integrated study of the examination books and the names of acupuncture points.

First, this study expands the ontological research of acupuncture points. From the Xiyuan jilu (Collected Cases of Injustice Rectified), it selects acupuncture point terms with multiple meanings for investigation, including Jianjing (Shaoyang gall bladder meridian of the foot), Jianyu (large intestine meridian of the hand), Quepen (Yangming stomach meridian of the foot), Jiache (Yangming stomach meridian of the foot), Faji (hair line), Qubin (Shaoyang gall bladder meridian of the foot), Taiyang, Taiyang point (temple), Bishangeng (bridge of nose), Yintang (ophryon), and Yaoyan (lumbar). We shall observe their evolution, clarify the errors found in notes, recognize semantic units and syntax combinations, and infer the semantic evolution direction and mechanism. Next, from the perspectives of the examination books, this study generalizes the distribution of acupuncture points and reflects upon the doubts of examination records and later generations’ attitudes towards relevant treatments.

In this study we realize that some acupuncture point words in the examination books have new semantic units. The acupuncture point terms with a single meaning are so named according to the literal meaning of the acupuncture point. The semantic direction of acupuncture point terms with multiple meanings consistently refers to the bodys surface or bones. According to documentary evidence and the system of semantic evolution, the author argues that the meanings of acupuncture points appear before those of the bodys surface or bones; hence, the semantic change is a metonymy. Under the conditions of interactive demand and lexical gap, acupuncture points are a metonymy of the meanings of the body’s surface or bones.

In the examination books, the distribution of acupuncture points is mainly to the face, followed by the shoulder; this is because the face is the key to postmortem examination. The first aid method recorded in the examination books was once positioned on the body’s surface; it reveals practicality. Given the authority of Collected Cases of Injustice Rectified and the examiners’ qualification, practitioners of later generations chose to copy the original texts without supplements and corrections. This practice reveals the practical values of the examination system.