Historical materials for the debate between words and meanings

Discussion on the relationship between word meanings in pre-Qin period. The Book of Changes said: "Confucius said: The book is not full of words, and the words are not full of meaning. But is the sage's intention invisible? Confucius said, "The saints erect statues and do their best. "Yan here refers to the hexagrams in the Book of Changes, Xiang refers to the hexagrams, and Yi refers to the meanings symbolized and explained by the hexagrams. The meaning of this passage is that words can't fully represent language, and language can't fully express ideas (meaning), so saints use the symbols of hexagrams to express ideas.

This statement of "establishing an image with the heart" in Yi Zhuan had a great influence on the study of Confucian classics in Han Dynasty. The duty of a Confucian scholar is to explain the thoughts of ancient saints through the study of Confucian classics. But how can we understand the thoughts of saints? Confucian scholars in the Han Dynasty believed that the divinatory images in the Book of Changes fully reflected the thoughts of saints. By extension, it can also be said that the words in Confucian classics completely represent the meaning of saints. Therefore, when they study Confucian classics, they focus on the level of hexagrams and texts, while ignoring the grasp of the spiritual essence of Confucian classics, resulting in the prevalence of fragmented academic atmosphere.

The relationship between words and meanings is expounded in Zhuangzi Tiandao: "Those who value Taoism in the world also write books. Books are not words, words are expensive. What is valuable in a language is what it means. Don't say what you like, the world is more important. Although the world is expensive, I am still not expensive, because it is not expensive. Therefore, those who can be seen are all kinds; Those who can hear and smell are also famous. Sad husband! All kinds of fame in the world are enough to win the love of others. If the husband's name is not enough to get his feelings, then the knower does not speak, the speaker does not know, and the world knows it! "

In the Han and Wei Dynasties, the complex Confucian classics declined with the demise of the Han Dynasty. People no longer treat Confucian classics with dogmatic attitude and complicated philosophical methods, but demand to break through the limitations of Chinese characters and sentences in classics and grasp the meaning of classics, that is, grasp the spiritual essence of classics. Therefore, the relationship between language and meaning in classics has become a topic of discussion. In addition, there was a popular atmosphere in society at that time, that is, judging people. He was called "Li Ming" at that time because of his certain name and criteria for judging characters. How to determine a name, that is, when giving someone a name, is it based on his external appearance or his internal spiritual temperament? External appearance and behavior can be expressed in words, while internal spiritual temperament can be understood but not expressed in words. Therefore, judging characters and talking about names also involves the relationship between words and meanings. In a word, the academic changes of Confucian classics and the popularity of distinguishing characters directly promoted the rise of distinguishing words and meanings in Wei and Jin Dynasties.