Abstract Shicang Contracts mainly records all kinds of deals about lands and forests in Shicang area ,Songyang county ,Zhejiang province from the first year of Yongzheng (1723) in Qing Dynasty to the 38th year of the Republic of China (1949) ,and is seen as precious first-hand data to study the local social ,political and economic situations of that period .However ,the low literacy of the peasants who copied the contracts and their local dialect led to a large number of folk characters and dialectal words in the contracts ,which have become a source of difficulty in accurately reading and explaining the contracts . Professor Cao Shuji ,et al .,s explanations of some incomprehensible words and expressions in their collation of the Shicang contract documents were not very accurate .On the basis of the photoprints of the contracts and our collation of the characters ,together with field surveys of the local dialect and with reference to later-day contract documents in other areas of China ,the present paper explains and collates philologically the following 8 incomprehensible words and expressions in Shicang Contracts :″Bengpeng″ (崩蓬) ,″Daduan″ (达断) ,″Dai″ or″Di″(的) , ″Erbi″(二比) ,″Fangping″ (芳坪) ,″Gan″(峎) ,″Xueye″(血业) and″Liangpo″(粮迫) .This paper is expected to generate a more accurate account of these contract documents . The detailed explanations and collations are as follows : Professer Cao et al .,s explanation of″Peng″(蓬)in″Bengpeng″(崩蓬) as the variant form of ″Jiang″(降) is not correct .″Peng″(蓬)is a dialectal word in Shicang ,meaning″clump″ or″stack .″ So the meaning of″Bengpeng″ (崩蓬) is a″collapsing earth or stone stack .″ According to Professor Cao et al .,″Daduan″(达断) means″to arrive and decide .″ This explanation is not correct ,either .″Da″ (达) is the same as″Ta″ (踏) ,with″stamp″ as its original meaning and″field survey″ as its derived meaning .A lot of examples of″Ta″ (踏) used in this sense can be found in Huizhou contract documents .So″Daduan″ (达断) actually refers to″Taduan″ (踏断) ,meaning ″make judgments based on field survey .″ The word″Dai″(的) or″Di″(的)has many meanings and usages in Shicang contract documents .It is used the same as″Dai″ (待) ,meaning″by the time″ in ″Daizhi″ (的至) ,as″Dai″ (代) ,meaning″substitute for″ in″的笔″ ,or as″Di″ (嫡) ,meaning″close relative″ in″Dishu″ (的叔) and in″Dizhi″ (的侄) .It is also used in the same sense as″Di″ (滴) , meaning″drop″ in″Dishui″ (的水) .The phrase″Erbi″ (二比) is not the misspelling of″Erxiang″ (二相) .Rather ,it is a more recent word in the dialect ,meaning″both sides″ as is used in the contract documents in Huizhou , Fujian and Miao Nationality of Guizhou . The expression ″Fangping″ (芳坪) is″Huangping″ (荒坪) for certain .The words with″Xiao″ initial consonant (晓母) are pronounced in the same way as″Fu″ initial consonant (敷母) in Shicang dialect .For example ,the initial consonant″h″ of″Hua″(花) and″ Hui″ (灰) in″ Huamai″ (花麦) and ″Huimian″ (灰面) are both pronounced″f″ in Shicang dialect . So″Fangping″ (芳坪) is a pronunciation variant of″Huangping″ (荒坪) in dialectal phonetics .The″Fang ″ ( ) and″Huang″ (塃) in″Fangping ″ (坪) and″Huangping″ (塃坪) are both the folk characters of″Huang″ (荒) . Professor Cao et al .,s explanation of the meaning of″Gan″(峎) is not accurate .The local people in Shicang pronounce″Gan″ (峎) as″ān ,″ which is the dialectal pronunciation of the character ″Gang″ (岗) ,meaning″mountain ridge .″ The character″岗″ (Gang) is also written as″降″ (Gang) in the contract documents of Shicang and Huizhou ,which can prove that″Gan″ (峎) is the folk character of″Gang″ (岗) .The character″Xue″ in the term″Xueye″ (血业) means″close relative″ as are exemplified by″Xuegeng″ (血耕) and″Xueshu″ (血叔) . Therefore ,″Xueye″ means ″property which the sons born of the legal wife of a man or his grandsons pass down from generation to generation .″ Cao et al .collate the second″Liang″ (粮) in″Liangshi Liangpo″ (粮食 粮迫) as″Liang″ (两) .However ,the second″Liang″ (粮) should be″grain paid as tax .″ We can find proof for this explanation in the usages of″Liang″ (粮) in other regional contract documents .
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