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Giản thể: 东西的由来
我上小学的时候，常常想一个问题：“东西”真是个有意思的词。为什么我们说“买东西”，不说“买南北”？或者，在中文里我们为什么要用两个方位词来表示“事物”的意思呢？教中文以后，我发现很多学生跟我一样，也对“东西”这个词很感兴趣。那我们今天就来讲讲“东西”的由来吧。
关于“东西”的由来，有好多种说法。第一种是：在唐朝的首都长安，有两个大的市场，一个在城市的东边，叫“东市”；一个在城市的西边，叫“西市”。所以，人们慢慢就用“东西”来指各种事物了。
第二种说法跟“五行”有关。五行，就是五种自然现象：金、木、水、火、土。中国人认为，世界上所有的东西，都可以分成这五个类别，方向也不例外。东方是“木”，南方是“火”，西方是“金”，北方是“水”，土在中央。在古代，只有“木”和“金”是可以买卖的，所以我们说买“东西”。
第三种说法比较直接，看看“东西”两个字的甲骨文就知道了。（ 东： 西： ）。有没有觉得这两个字看起来都很像装东西的袋子？所以，有人认为，也许一开始，“东西”的意思就是“袋子”，慢慢地就引申成了“事物”的意思。
第二种说法好像最流行，但我觉得有点奇怪，因为如果这个词真的跟“五行”有关，那为什么不直接用“木金”来表示“事物”呢？你觉得哪个说法最可信？快和我们分享吧。
Phồn thể: 東西的由來
我上小學的時候，常常想一個問題：“東西”真是個有意思的詞。為什麼我們說“買東西”，不說“買南北”？或者，在中文裡我們為什麼要用兩個方位詞來表示“事物”的意思呢？教中文以後，我發現很多學生跟我一樣，也對“東西”這個詞很感興趣。那我們今天就來講講“東西”的由來吧。
關於“東西”的由來，有好多種說法。第一種是：在唐朝的首都長安，有兩個大的市場，一個在城市的東邊，叫“東市”；一個在城市的西邊，叫“西市”。所以，人們慢慢就用“東西”來指各種事物了。
第二種說法跟“五行”有關。五行，就是五種自然現象：金、木、水、火、土。中國人認為，世界上所有的東西，都可以分成這五個類別，方向也不例外。東方是“木”，南方是“火”，西方是“金”，北方是“水”，土在中央。在古代，只有“木”和“金”是可以買賣的，所以我們說買“東西”。
第三種說法比較直接，看看“東西”兩個字的甲骨文就知道了。 （ 東： 西： ）。有沒有覺得這兩個字看起來都很像裝東西的袋子？所以，有人認為，也許一開始，“東西”的意思就是“袋子”，慢慢地就引申成了“事物”的意思。
第二種說法好像最流行，但我覺得有點奇怪，因為如果這個詞真的跟“五行”有關，那為什麼不直接用“木金”來表示“事物”呢？你覺得哪個說法最可信？快和我們分享吧。
Pinyin: Dōngxī de yóulái
Wǒ shàng xiǎoxué de shíhòu, chángcháng xiǎng yīgè wèntí:“Dōngxī” zhēnshi gè yǒuyìsi de cí. Wèishéme wǒmen shuō “mǎi dōngxī”, bù shuō “mǎi nánběi”? Huòzhě, zài zhōngwén lǐ wǒmen wèishéme yào yòng liǎng gè fāngwèi cí lái biǎoshì “shìwù” de yìsi ne? Jiào zhōngwén yǐhòu, wǒ fāxiàn hěnduō xuéshēng gēn wǒ yīyàng, yě duì “dōngxī” zhège cí hěn gǎn xìngqù. Nà wǒmen jīntiān jiù lái jiǎng jiǎng “dōngxī” de yóulái ba.
Guānyú “dōngxī” de yóulái, yǒu hǎoduō zhǒng shuōfǎ. Dì yī zhǒng shì: Zài táng cháo de shǒudū cháng’ān, yǒu liǎng gè dà de shìchǎng, yīgè zài chéngshì de dōngbian, jiào “dōng shì”; yīgè zài chéngshì de xī biān, jiào “xī shì”. Suǒyǐ, rénmen màn man jiù yòng “dōngxī” lái zhǐ gè zhǒng shìwùle.
Dì èr zhǒng shuōfǎ gēn “wǔháng” yǒuguān. Wǔxing, jiùshì wǔ zhǒng zìrán xiànxiàng: Jīn, mù, shuǐ, huǒ, tǔ. Zhōngguó rén rènwéi, shìjiè shàng suǒyǒu de dōngxī, dōu kěyǐ fēnchéng zhè wǔ gè lèibié, fāngxiàng yě bù lìwài. Dōngfāng shì “mù”, nánfāng shì “huǒ”, xīfāng shì “jīn”, běifāng shì “shuǐ”, tǔ zài zhōngyāng. Zài gǔdài, zhǐyǒu “mù” hé “jīn” shì kěyǐ mǎimài de, suǒyǐ wǒmen shuō mǎi “dōngxī”.
Dì sān zhǒng shuōfǎ bǐjiào zhíjiē, kàn kàn “dōngxī” liǎng gè zì de jiǎgǔwén jiù zhīdàole.(Dōng: Xī: ). Yǒu méiyǒu juéde zhè liǎng gè zì kàn qǐlái dōu hěn xiàng zhuāng dōngxī de dàizi? Suǒyǐ, yǒurén rènwéi, yěxǔ yī kāishǐ,“dōngxī” de yìsi jiùshì “dàizi”, màn man de jiù yǐnshēn chéngle “shìwù” de yìsi.
Dì èr zhǒng shuōfǎ hǎoxiàng zuì liúxíng, dàn wǒ juéde yǒudiǎn qíguài, yīnwèi rúguǒ zhège cí zhēn de gēn “wǔháng” yǒuguān, nà wèishéme bù zhíjiē yòng “mù jīn” lái biǎoshì “shìwù” ne? Nǐ juédé nǎge shuōfǎ zuì kě xìn? Kuài hé wǒmen fēnxiǎng ba.
English: The Origin of the Word ‘东西’
When I was in elementary school, there was a topic I often thought of: ‘东西 – dōngxi’ (literally ‘east-west, meaning ‘object/thing/stuff’) is really a very interesting word. Why do we say “buy east-west” and not ‘buy south-north’? Or I’d think about why we used two orientations to express ‘事物 – shìwù – thing/object’. After teaching Chinese, I have found that many students are also very interested in the word ‘东西 – dōngxī’ like I was, so today let’s discuss the origins of the word ‘东西’.
There are many different kinds of theories regarding the origins of ‘东西’ . The first theory suggests that during the Tang dynasty, when the capital was ‘长安 – Cháng’ān, there were two big markets. One was in the city’s east, and called ‘东市 – dōngshì – East Market’. The other was in the west and called ‘西市 – xīshì’. And so people slowly began to use ‘东西’ to refer to all kinds of things.
The second theory is related to ‘五行 – wǔxíng’, or the ‘five phases’ of Chinese philosophy. According to ‘五行’, there are five types of natural phenomena: ‘金 – jīn – metal’, ‘木 – mù – wood’, ‘水 – shuǐ – water’, ‘火 – huǒ – fire’, and ‘土 – tǔ – earth’. Chinese people believe that everything on planet earth can be broken down into these five categories, and orientations are no exception. The east is ‘木 – wood’, the south is ‘火’, the west is ‘金 – metal’, the north is ‘水 – water’, and ‘土 – earth’ is the centre. And since in ancient times ‘木 – wood’ (‘东 – the east’) and ‘金 – metal’ (‘西 – the west’) were the only tradable objects, we say buy ‘东西 – dōngxi – things’’.
The third theory is relatively straightforward, and one only needs to look at the two characters ‘东西’ in oracle bone script to know why. Do you think that these two characters look like a bag for holding things? So some people believe that in the beginning, perhaps the meaning of ‘东西’ was ‘bag/satchel’, and slowly the meaning of the word was extended to become ‘stuff/things’.
The second theory is probably the most popular, but I think this is a little strange because if this word is really related to the five elements, then why not directly use ‘木金 – wood-metal’ to express ‘objects/things/stuff’? Which theory do you find most believable? Don’t hesitate to share your thoughts with me.
Zak Gray (zakalternative@gmail.com)
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