Abstract
≪Shi-ming≫, a collection of classified vocabulary words, was compiled by 劉熙. Although it is said to be modeled after ≪Er-Ya≫, the first collection of classified vocabulary words, the orders of each category and the characters differ greatly from those of ≪Er-Ya≫. This difference can be seen as a reflection of the publisher’s intention and perception of things. The vocabulary contained in ≪Shi-ming≫ is significantly important in that it interprets the “daily terminology” in Han period. From this point of view, this study examined the vocabulary in <釋飮食> in ≪Shi-ming≫, comparing with different works of literature in terms of type of food and recipe. The study revealed that people of Han dynasty enjoyed various kinds of food and recipes. The meaning of some words such as 羹 and 餐 have been changed, and there are also some words that are no longer used and so have little clue on what foods they used to be, including ‘寒粥’ and ‘溏浹’. The words 糝, 餌 and 餈 were used to describe different foods from those of today. The reason why 飧 is interpreted as supper was due to an ancient dietary way. In ancient China, where agriculture was not developed yet, only two meals were eaten per day, and the second meal was in the form of rice in water steamed that morning, so 飧 came to mean dinner. 韓羊, 韓兔, and 韓雞 are unique Korean recipes. It is often mistakenly believed that Korea has embraced Chinese culture and not the other way around, but cultures cannot flow unilaterally. Yet, until today, China has fallen into ethnocentrism, insisting that all of Korean cultures belong to them. They claim Kimchi, Korean traditional food, Hanbok and Hangul are all theirs. There are different kinds of pickled vegetables in ≪Shi-ming≫, but Korean-style kimchi is nowhere to be seen in the literature. Chinese pickled vegetables are fermented as vegetables with seasonings in water, and these, not like Kimchi, are still their daily food. China also has accepted such various cultures to the extent that 干寶 expressed worries in 『搜神記』 that the country would perish with the excessive prevalence of barbarian cultures in China. On the very mixture of adopted cultures is the current Chinese culture, as seen in 韓羊, 韓鷄 or 貊炙. We should not forget that culture is about interacting among people, not something fixed or static but dynamic and relative.
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