Examples of confusing Chinese characters

Wang Anshi's interpretation of Chinese characters was rendered speechless by Su Shi's words.

Our Chinese characters came into being more than 3000 years ago, and have undergone many changes since their spread. The origin and structure of each Chinese character has its historical basis. Mr. Chen Yinque, a famous scholar, once said: "Every word explained is a cultural history." Therefore, every Chinese character is not fabricated out of thin air, but has its own serious scientific basis. If misinterpreted at will, it will distort and desecrate our history and culture.

Now, under the banner of chicken soup for the soul, some people interpret Chinese characters as they take it for granted, such as the following word: Of course, this explanation is far-fetched and playful, and adults may understand the meaning, but children may have the opposite effect after reading it, which will bring confusion to their future learning of Chinese and is not conducive to the healthy development of Chinese. In fact, not only we now, but also some people in ancient times did the same. One of them went too far. He is going to explain all Chinese characters according to his own ideas, and even published a special book. He is Wang Anshi, and the name of this book is Confucius.

Needless to say, Wang Anshi's position in the history of literature also had a great influence on the forums in the Song Dynasty. His Zi Shuo is not so good, because it is based on his own understanding, without considering the development and evolution of Chinese characters at all, and there are no more classic works to explain Chinese characters, such as Shuo Wen Jie Zi. His book is full of mistakes and has little influence, and even makes a lot of jokes about it.

For example, in Zi Shuo, "Autumn can be clothed in people, and people want it." What do you mean? Wang Anshi believes that "fur" is the leather clothes that people should wear in cold weather, because people have the need to wear clothes in cold weather. The word "autumn" was originally a pictophonetic word, and the upper part of "autumn" is beside the sound of this word, indicating the pronunciation of this word; The "clothes" in the lower part is next to the meaning of words, indicating the meaning of words. Wang Anshi interpreted "seeking" as demand, and misinterpreted pictophonetic characters as literacy.

According to Luo Dajing's Record of He Lin Yu in the Southern Song Dynasty, Su Shi once asked Wang Anshi: "Why is there a three-point water on the left and a skin on the right?" Wang Anshi replied without thinking: "From Shui Pi, Shui Pi is also a wave!" Su Dongpo suddenly felt ridiculous when he heard this, so he smiled and said, "Isn't that' slope' the skin of soil, and the word' slippery' the bone of water?" With such an answer, Wang Anshi suddenly felt that his face was dull and speechless.