| Summary: | 博士 === 國立臺灣大學 === 中國文學研究所 === 97 === In this dissertation I intend to connect different periods of a person’s life by defining certain word forms with the interaction between ancient writing and decorum. These periods are divided into four parts as follows:
Stage One: Pregnancy and Birth
Yun(孕, pregnancy), ming(冥,beginning of delivery), mian(娩, end of delivery)、yu(毓（育）, give birth), sheng(生, birth), jia(嘉, auspicious), hao(好, good), zi(字, to name a newborn infant), ru(乳, breast), and bao(保, protect) represent different periods from the moment an embryo starts to grow, the birth of a fetus, to suckling and nurturing an infant. Among these, the word jia(嘉, auspicious) is related to sexual gender. In addition to these, qi(棄, abandon), si(巳, a dead fetus wrapped in a placenta), and gai(改, attack a dead fetus to change luck) symbolically represent high mortality rates, along with abuse and killing of disabled children in ancient times.
Stage Two: Education and Adulthood
A human being takes on more responsibilities that society endows upon him as he passes through infancy. In this stage, the two words xue (學,learning )and jiao (教, teaching) demonstrate how a person is educated. Guan (冠, a headgear) and ji (筓,15 of age) signify socialized characteristics in adulthood, and fu(夫, a husband) and qi(妻, a wife) symbolize periods of physiological maturity and the act of giving birth. These six word forms denote an adult’s learning period and his identity.
Stage Three: Being old
Adulthood is considered the most cherished period in one’s life. Words like lao(老, aged), shu（ , an old man who walks slowly）, dian（ , age spots on an old man’s face）, die(耊, aging), mou（ , mental confusion that aging brings about）, and qi(耆, an old man with contributions) symbolize physiological aging, and neng (耇, age spots), shou(壽, old age), and kao(考, to finish) express the anxiety and longing to elongate life. Lastly, the word xiao(孝, filial piety) is a concept where family members are expected to flatter, respect and obey elders.
Stage Four: Death and Soul
When life comes to an end, one is faced with the uncertainty of death. The ancients depicted the form and concept of death using words such as ji(疾, illness), si(死, death), sang(喪, mourning), e(歺, a broken bladebone), zang(葬, bury). Hua(化, convert) reveals the transformation from life to death. When referring to the term ‘soul’, I intend to re-clarify it by discussing the relationship between soul(魂魄) and yin-yang(陰陽). In conclusion, gui(鬼, ghost), shen(神, god), and li(厲, harsh) represent the image of souls in the world of mortals. In addition, word forms have been added that are not relevant to death.
Of course life can be short or long and not everyone will pass through these proposed four stages. However, by exploring these preeminent concepts and coupling them with those found in ancient writings, more can be known about the decorum that the ancients left behind for us. Understanding can be gained of the imagination of the ancients who first developed words and their systems as well as their creation concepts and eventually, to lead to further comprehension of ancient life and thought.
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