What is the practical meaning of numbers in idioms?

Idioms are treasures in the vast forest of Chinese vocabulary. In the long historical process, it not only formed its own fixed structure, but also precipitated the social and cultural traditions of the Han nationality, showing its profound value implication. Some linguists believe that the function of idioms in sentences is equivalent to a word, which is the result of grammatical investigation. The semantic content of idioms is much richer than words, especially the numerals in idioms. As we all know, there are about 400 idioms with numerals in the Chinese idiom dictionary, ranging from one to ten, a hundred, a thousand and ten thousand, among which the number of idioms with one, three, ten, a hundred and ten thousand is the largest, and each category has dozens or even hundreds of words.

First of all, the basis of digital rhetoric is the symbolic meaning brought by the metaphysics and fuzziness of numbers.

In other words, numbers blur the original meaning of quantity and retain a symbolic meaning.

According to historical records, numbers appeared very early in ancient China. As early as the primitive society Yangshao culture period, the numbers in Oracle Bone Inscriptions were quite complete, from one to ten, with complete numbers, decimal, ten, hundred, thousand and ten thousand. Needham spoke highly of the notation of the Shang Dynasty in the history of science and technology in China: "Generally speaking, the notation of the Shang Dynasty.

The basic function of numbers is to calculate and express the quantitative relationship of things. However, in the traditional historical and cultural background of China, in the long-term use process, Chinese numerals have mysterious meanings in addition to expressing quantitative functions, and become "mysterious numbers", and some have different meanings in specific language environments.

Due to the theory of Yin-Yang and Five Elements, the ancients divided the numbers within ten into two series, with odd number-13579 being positive and even number -2468 being negative. These two series have different colors, such as 1359 metaphysics:

(a) the symbol of "one". The founder of Taoism, one of the three major religions in ancient China, was a thinker in the pre-Qin period. In the forty-second chapter of Lao Zi, Lao Zi put forward the core of his ideological system-Tao: "Tao gives birth to one, life to two, life to three and life to all things." The "one" here is the generalization of "you" and the beginning of "you". It all started with one thing. Lao Xiangzi Jules, a Taoist classic in the Eastern Han Dynasty in China, interprets Laozi's Tao Te Ching with Taoist thoughts. It takes Tao as its highest belief and advocates that Tao is the highest god with will and personality. Tao is "one". In the history of China's ancient philosophy, one is about the unity of opposites, and the other is about the separability of unity. Zhu thought it was divided into two, and Wang Fuzhi further expounded the relationship between one and two, affirming that "one divided into two" is the basis of "integration into one". Therefore, "one" is regarded as the origin of all things, with a beginning and an end, which leads to many meanings such as similarity and similarity. There are about 240 idioms containing the number "one", which is the largest number of numeral idioms. But the length is different, the words and deeds are different, the heart is consistent, consistent, equal, unable to reach an agreement, United as one, identical in appearance, arrogant, eclectic, unique, reflecting the same, identical and unique meaning; One in a hundred, and so on, ignorant, penniless, nine Niu Yi hairs, a word teacher, a drop in the ocean, a thousand-mile levee destroyed by a hole, a flash in the pan, a thousand days to find soldiers, an inch of time and an inch of gold, one of them, one, one, one, one.

② The symbol of "three" comes from three times-the sun, the moon and the stars. Early humans had a great dependence on nature. Wherever they went, the sun, the moon and the stars were with them, despite the ever-changing nature, which gave rise to worship psychology. From this, it is inferred that there are "three times" in meteorology-spring, summer and autumn, three rivers in nature and three things in the universe-heaven, earth, man and man. There are three rituals for offering sacrifices. So Lao Tzu said, "The Tao gives birth to one, two, three and everything." Feng Gonghou, a white tiger Yi Tong, said that the king set up "three public officials, nine noble officials, twenty-seven doctors and eighty-one scholars to follow the heaven." Nine, twenty-seven and eighty-one are all multiples of three. Since it is a "Sansheng" dynasty, it is natural to adopt three methods to prosper. "Three" is not only a symbol of change, but also a symbol of many things, such as: going into the wood with three heads and six arms, thinking twice before acting, making repeated orders and five applications, managing the thatched cottage, fishing three times, drying the net for two days, winding the beam for three days, and making three chapters.

(3) The symbol of "Five". It is closely related to the theory of five elements, which may be the result of ancient people observing the movement of stars. They think there are five stars in the sky, namely, gold, wood, water, fire and earth. They put forward that there are five materials on the ground, five sides-east, west, south, north and middle-five elements of interpersonal relationship, five internal organs of the human body and five flavors of diet, and gradually formed a pair of "five".

④ The symbol of "Nine". This is related to the ancient totem worship. The Chiyou tribe has always been known for its toughness and good fighting skills. Its totem is nine-headed dragon. It is said that this is a symbol of strength, ferocity and prosperity. Therefore, people use it to compare powerful tribes, and gradually "nine" has become a symbol of reference, height, size and richness. For example, cloud nine, nine Niu Yi hair, and so on.

(5) symbols such as "ten", "hundred", "thousand" and "ten thousand". Confucius is called "ten, the pole of the tree", so it means perfection, even to the extreme. For example, ten times as sure as a gun, ten times as loud as a voice, full of pride, and won ten years of study. Among them, "ten victories" and "ten evils" all reach the ultimate evil; "Ten times" and "complete" symbolize that the sound price and air have reached the extreme. Both of them have the meaning of complete and complete perfection.

Since "ten" has reached the extreme and is a symbol of perfection and completeness, its multiples and multiples naturally have symbols of "many", "extreme" and "all-encompassing".

"Bai" and "Bai, Shi Ye" in Shuo are multiples of ten and have many meanings. Perseverance, invincible, obedient, bored, all industries are going downhill, everything is being forgiven, puzzling, seeing is believing, everything is tempered, one in a hundred, everything is made in a hundred, waiting for everything to be ready.

"Thousands" and "Shuowen" explain: "Thousands are hundreds." So it contains many meanings, such as daughter's laughter, all kinds of things, once in a blue moon, a thousand words, Qian Shan, a thousand waters, a thousand people.

Wan and Pian Yu Housing Supplement explain "Wan, Wan is also". So like multiples of "100" and "1000", every word with 10,000 has many symbols. Everything is renewed, everything is revived, everything is spared, life is boundless, everything goes well and everything is safe.

Second, the specific expression of rhetorical methods

Mosaic effect

"Escape" is only because it is homophonic with "peach", and the homophonic word of "blooming peach" is used as "escape", while "escape" only plays the role of changing two-syllable words into four syllables in pronunciation. This rhetorical device is designed to make the discourse expression more soothing or solemn, and deliberately adds a few irrelevant words to the original structure to set off. These numerals are only in syllables, and have a symmetry and regularity, such as: clean, poor, accessible, stable, fragmented, gossiping, scattered, patchwork and obedient.

metonymy

Substituting a concrete thing for another thing or a concept related to it can highlight the essence of things and make the expression more concise and vivid. For example, the four seas are at home, the four seas are equal, and they are ambitious in all directions. They are besieged on all sides, four bodies are not diligent, and the grain is denied. One day in Sanqiu, they are refreshed. Among them, the four seas, the four squares and the four squares refer to all the places in the world, and the grain generation refers to all the grains. Don't go into the house for three days, walk around the beam for three days, think twice, chew one's tongue, have a three-inch tongue, be diligent in four bodies, have no distinction between grains, have a cold window for ten years, have a needle and a thread, "three" means more, "mouth" and "three-inch tongue" mean talking, and four bodies mean the body, and "ten years of cold window" means studying hard and living under the cold window.

(C) Metaphor

Just like "cross the rubicon" can't be literally understood as breaking the pot and sinking the boat, it is compared to a kind of determination. Some concrete numbers themselves do not reflect the meaning of quantity, but only assume the role of metaphor, in order to make the truth simple, concrete and intuitive. For example, a dress replaces water-a narrow stream of water is like a belt, very close; A pool of stagnant water-used to vividly describe a dull situation; A glimpse-seeing a point is a metaphor for one aspect of things; Ten fingers connected to one heart-ten fingers connected to one heart, which means close relationship and deep feelings; It takes ten years to cultivate a tree, but it takes a hundred years to cultivate a person. An inch of time and an inch of gold-draw an equal sign between gold, which is recognized as the most precious, and "time" to symbolize the preciousness of time; Ten steps and nine turns back-ten steps and nine turns back, vividly reappearing the feeling of reluctance; Loose sand-sand that can't stick together represents scattered strength and disunity; Kill two birds with one stone-kill two birds with one stone, indicating that things are very effective; A flash in the pan-a short flowering time is used to describe something that doesn't last long, or that others miss it or feel sorry for it. A leaf blocked my eyes, but I couldn't see Mount Tai-a leaf blocked my view, and even the tall Mount Tai couldn't be seen, indicating that I was blinded by trivial matters and couldn't see the whole picture and essence.

(D) the role of exaggeration

The meaning of numbers is to exaggerate or reduce something or a concept and render it artistically, thus revealing the essence of things vividly and enhancing the appeal of language. It embodies the exaggerated meaning, but does not show the specific numerical meaning. It appears in numbers of three, ten, hundred, thousand and ten thousand. Most of them are exaggerated, exaggerated, such as: drooling, three people become tigers, urgency, perfection, ten times the cost, perseverance, victory, boredom, depression, everything is forgiven, puzzled, tempered, full of troubles, tireless reading, various difficulties, riddled with holes and flaws. It is true that everything is renewed and everything is revived. We will never hesitate to die and live forever. Everything will be fine. We will have a complete solution, despair, enthusiasm, Ma Benteng, eternity, last resort, helplessness, change and change. There are exaggerations and contractions: a close call, a short trip, and a journey of a thousand miles. Using the loophole of "a basket of soil" and "an ant nest" to render the smallest problem will lead to great disaster; Use "a hair on your head" to illustrate the degree of meanness; Use a "millet" in the vast sea to vividly express a tiny weight.

(5) Contrast effect

Compare the two groups of specific figures. Generally, it is 10, 100, 1000, and 10,000, which means more, and one means less. Put them together. "Covering the moon" has produced obvious effects. It gives people a profound feeling, such as: one violent cold, a close call, foolproof, one mind, knowing one thing, killing one hundred, exposing ten cold, leaking ten thousand, a thousand troops are easy to get, seeing one is better than seeing one, one in a hundred, a narrow escape, nine Niu Yi hairs, one thousand dollars, and advocating hundred peace. This is a waste of money. Comparing two sets of figures, such as "a thousand troops" to "a general", fully shows the value of "a general", "training for a thousand days" emphasizes the key role of "when using troops", and "nine cows" to "a dime" vividly shows the tiny proportion of "a dime".

Third, the effect of rhetoric

Idioms are concise, symmetrical and elegant in form and implicit, vivid and profound in content, which are closely related to the use of rhetoric. After the words "San", "Qi" and "Mei" are inlaid with rhetoric, they are displayed as "San", "Qi" and "Mei", and the syllables are slow and symmetrical, reflecting the beauty of elegance. Otherwise, all previous efforts will be in vain. "Quite critical" can see the essence from a phenomenon: that is, seeing the essence through the phenomenon has profound philosophical connotation, so it is figuratively compared to the idiom "a fallen leaf in autumn". "One inch of time and one inch of gold" vividly expresses the preciousness of time through comparison. "A thousand-mile levee was destroyed in one hole" is in stark contrast.

This paper analyzes the basis, methods and effects of numeral rhetoric in Chinese idioms in order to explore the use of this ancient language form. We believe that idioms have formed a fixed formal structure pattern and a fixed rhetorical style in the long-term use process, and achieved the effect of implication. If we understand the lexical meaning in grammar from the surface of language, the numerals in idioms should not only understand their lexical meaning from the grammatical level, but also understand their special meaning from the rhetorical point of view. If we don't want to explain, we will only joke. We must be kind to idioms, the cultural heritage of the Chinese nation, and conduct in-depth and comprehensive research on historical traditions, cultural traditions, language content and language forms, so as to master and use idioms more scientifically.