The eye is an important organ of the human body. To represent this organ, we now use the word "eye" a lot, and the word "eye" was originally used in ancient times. 
目".
The oracle bone inscription and gold glyphs depict the shape of an eye, with an eye socket on the outside and an eyeball on the inside. Later, the glyphs changed from horizontal to vertical, gradually losing their pictographic properties, and finally evolved into the glyphs we use today. From the very beginning, "目" referred to the human eye. "The Book of Poetry, Wei Feng, Shuoren": "Clever smile, beautiful eyes", is to describe the woman smiling beautifully, bright eyes, charming and moving. Wang Chong, a thinker of the Eastern Han Dynasty, said when talking about the content of prenatal education in "On Balance and Destiny": "If you are not right, you will not see, and if you are not right, you will not listen. ”Focusing on the function of the eyes, "目" has the meaning of "seeing, fixing". "Historical Records: Chen Chengxiang's Family": "The boat man saw his beautiful husband walking alone, suspected that he would die, and wanted to have a gold and jade treasure in his (waist), and he wanted to kill him. This passage tells the experience of Chen Ping, the founder of the Western Han Dynasty: once crossing the river, the boatman saw him dignified and traveled alone with a sword, suspected that he was a fugitive general, and guessed that he might have gold and silver treasures hidden in his pocket, so he stared at him from time to time and wanted to kill him. Han Yu of the Tang Dynasty wrote in the article "Sending Chen Xiucai Tongxuan": "I look at it and hear it because I think it is a person." The words "eye" and "ear" here refer to observing with the eyes and hearing with the ears, respectively, and judging a person by his appearance, words and deeds. 
Xia Sen of the Southern Song Dynasty painted "Shadow of the Sail of the Yanjiang River" (detail).
"目" further means "to show with the eyes, to make the eyes colored", etc. "Historical Records: Xiang Yu Benji": "Fan increased the number of Xiang Wang. It means that Fan Zeng glanced at Xiang Yu many times. "Chinese Zhou Yushang": "The Chinese people dare not speak, and the road is the goal." When people met on the road, they did not dare to communicate with words, but could only show with their eyes, which shows the tyranny and arbitrariness of the reactionary rule at that time. The meaning of "目" means "seeing" is further abstracted, and it has the meaning of "seeing, seeing". Bai Juyi in the Tang Dynasty "Don't Go Out": "I don't know who I am in the world." "I don't know who the world thinks of me. Qing Dynasty Huang Zongxi's "Biography of Liu Jingting": "The army does not dare to respect the pavilion with a bibliography. "To the effect that no one in the army dared to use the identity of a storyteller to look at Liu Jingting and despise him. The word "目為" means "to be seen" and is still used in written language. Modern writer Sun Li's "Xiulu Collection: Stones": "The only pastime and hobby is to pick up stones." After a long time, the collection is rich, and for a while, he was regarded as an expert by patients. ”Taking the meaning of "to see, to see" a step further, "目" can also mean "to be called". Li Daoyuan of the Northern Wei Dynasty "Water Jing Note: Giant Ocean Water": "Above the spring stream, there is a shrine on the side of the source foot, and the eye is the Yequan Temple. On the bank of the stream, near the foot of the head, there is an ancestral temple called "Yequan Temple". 
Qingzhanggu painted the "Eight Scenes Atlas" of "Jian Dao Cold Spring".
Along the lines of the original meaning of "eye", "eye" can also refer to something similar in shape to the eye, such as eyelets, meshes, etc. In the idiom "Tsunamu", "Gang" refers to the large rope of the fishing net, and "me" refers to the "mesh". "Han Feizi Foreign Reserve Says Lower Right": "Those who are good at opening the net quote their outline, and they don't get it one by one." It is to the effect that a person who is good at opening a net to catch always pulls the main rope of the net and casts the net, which is a metaphor for grasping the key link in doing things. Zheng Xuan, a scholar of the Eastern Han Dynasty, also wrote in the preface to the lost "Book of Poetry": "Give an outline and ten thousand eyes will open. Literally means that as soon as the big rope in the fishing net is unfolded, all the mesh will be opened, so as to describe that as long as the main line of the article is laid out in place, then other details around the main line can be unfolded in an orderly manner. Because the mesh is woven in an orderly manner with a certain number, it is as if many small items are divided from one large item, so the meaning of "item" is further developed into "item, item". In the Analects of Yan Yuan, it is recorded that Yan Yuan asked Confucius for advice on how to practice benevolence, and Confucius gave a general answer, and Yan Yuan said, "Please ask his purpose." It means that I hope Confucius will give you some specific instructions. He Jingming of the Ming Dynasty "Preface to Mr.": "The rule of a gentleman is also set up with its discipline, and it has its purpose, and the people abide by it." "It is to the effect that the rule of a gentleman is to first establish a large legal system, and then make more detailed regulations under it, and the people will follow and implement it. 
Commentary on the Analects, then, what is the "purpose" of the "title"? This is because,"Title" originally referred to the forehead, and "目" referred to the eyes. The forehead and eyes are at the top of the head, and the title is also at the front of the article or book, so both "title" and "eye" have developed the meaning of "title". "The Book of the Later Han Dynasty: The Biography of Xiangkai": "The one hundred and seventy volumes of the obtained divine books are all ethereal and white, and Zhu Jieqing is the first Zhu Mu. The "purpose" here refers to the title. This sentence basically means that these sacred books are made of blue and white fine silk, and have vermilion boundaries, cyan bookmarks, and vermilion titles. 目 can be used as a radical. Most of the words belonging to this radical are related to the eyes or eye movements, such as "eyebrows, blindness, eyes, eyes, eyes, eyes, eyes, 
Ming Chen Hongshou painted "Fuqin Picture" (detail).
This article was originally published in Monthly Reading, Issue 2, 2024).
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