经、子语境与“橘逾淮而北为枳”释疑

盛险峰

提 要：“橘逾淮而北为枳”见于《周礼·考工记》，《淮南子·原道训》则有“橘树之江北则化而为橙”之语，故橘北移有枳、橙之异，后流为橘有二变说。本文从经、子语境考察枳、橙之异及橘化枳的问题，认为：二书中枳、橙差异的表述，出于百家异说的风气，本为同义相代；“橘逾淮而北为枳”后来成为伪常识，历代经学者的解释，皆本《周礼》“此地气然也”之说，而子部之书，对经书中的这一命题不仅怀疑，而且从植物分类的角度提出橘枳不同种、橘枳不能化的看法，此看法得到移植和嫁接实践的证实。比勘经、子语境中两种认识的差异，可见中国传统学术特点之一斑。

关键词：橘

枳 橙 淮河 经学 子学

Title:On

the Individual Scholars’ Works

Author:Sheng

Xianfeng, Associate Professor, Department of History, Anhui

University, Hefei, Anhui, 230039, China

Abstract:The

sayingJu yuhuai erbei weizhi(橘逾淮而北为枳,Tangerine

North of the Huaihe River)was seen inZhouli(《周礼》),

whileHuainanzi（《淮南子》）provides

a similar yet different wording saying that when tangerine

was transplanted to the north of river it would become

“orange”. Because of such a difference, in later books, that

the judgment of that tangerine would change into two types

of fruits when it was transplanted to the North of the

Huaihe River came into being. This article argues that, in

the original texts, the meaning of zhi and Cheng were

actually the same, which was based upon the ancient

scholars’ stylistic preference. Such sayings actually

presented fake knowledge in scientific terms. Even so, the

later scholars dedicated to the study of Confucian classics

had never questioned this saying. On the other hand,

individual scholars did bring forward questions to this

proposition and provided more scientific judgments. This

case reveals some information about the characteristics of

traditional Chinese scholarship.

Key words:Tangerine

Trifoliate Orange Huaihe River Classics Individual

Scholars