“周星”考

摘要

The term ＂Zhouxing＂ （Circular Star） is explained by The Chinese Et2onologicon and TheChinese Comprehensive Dictionary as ＂Suixing＂ （means 12 years） by quoting poems form Bai Ju-yi and Zhou Liang-gong as examples, which is proved to be one-sided and wrong. The meanings of this term in the ancient documents, besides the meanings cited in the above dictionaries （but the most examples quoted in the dictionaries are wrong）, still have the following meanings, i.e.Ⅰ. ＂one year＂ （for time）; Ⅱ. ＂years, ages＂; ⅢⅢ. ＂one year＂ （for age）; and IV. ＂the name of a star＂ （not ＂Suixing＂, which means ＂year star＂ ）.%“周星”一词，《辞源》、《汉语大词典》释为“岁星”、“指十二年”，引白居易文、周亮工诗等为例，片面而有误。此词在古文献中之意义，除了上引两辞书所列义项（但辞书所引例多误）外，尚有下列义项：一、“一年。”二、“岁月，年华。”三、“一岁（用于表示年龄）。”四、“星名”（非“岁星”）。