Abstract
The word “suoyu” appears in newly unearthed bamboo and wooden manuscripts of the Qin and Han dynasties. Zhu Dexi and Qiu Xigui interpreted it as “dried fish,” and Professor Qiu further explained that this is because dried fish was usually hanging on a rope (suo). Building on this interpretation, Liu Zhao thought that the “suo” in “suoyu” means “dried” (gan), and that “suoyu” therefore means “cured fish” (layu); he suggested that there is a semantic connection between “suo” and “la.” However, Zhu Xiangrong proposed that “suo” should be read as “xi” and “suoyu” is “xiyu,” which means “dried fish.” The word “xiyu” appears in the manuscript Day book (rishu) excavated from a Qin tomb at Shuihudi in Hubei. The modern editors have correctly interpreted this word but mistakenly transcribed “xiyu” as “layu” in the simplified Chinese script. This paper supports Professor Zhu’s interpretation and further analyzes and explains why the interpretations of Professors Qiu and Liu went awry. In transmitted traditional literature, the word “kuyu” appears in Zhuangzi and Hanshi waizhuan. Scholars have different opinions on the meaning of “kuyu.” Qiu Xigui interpreted it as “dried fish,” while Wu Xiaoru interpreted it as “fish without water.” This paper shows that both meanings appeared in traditional literature. For example, it appears in Chapter 26 of Zhuangzi, meaning a “cured-fish shop.” On the other hand, in Chapter 1 of Hanshi waizhuan, it means “a live fish out of water.” These two different meanings of this same word should not be mixed up.
Keywords
suoyu, xiyu (cured fish), layu (cured fish), ganyu (dried fish), kuyu (dried fish or live fish without water)
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