The Shuowen Jiezi (说文解字) is the masterpiece of Xu Shen, a master of ancient Chinese scripture in the Eastern Han Dynasty, and it is the first Chinese dictionary that systematically analyzes the shape of characters, explains their meanings, and discerns their sound readings. This book has preserved the form of the small seal script and some of the pre-Qin ancient characters, reflected the appearance of the vocabulary of the ancient Chinese language, concentrated the achievements of the Han Dynasty exegesis, and also contains a wealth of information about the ancient social politics, economy, military, law, science and technology, dialects, and colloquialisms, which is of high research value, and therefore has been emphasized by scholars of the later generations and regarded as a monumental work on textual exegesis.

The Shuowen Jiezi became a specialized study after the Tang and Song dynasties. In the Qing Dynasty, with the revival of Chinese studies, the study of Shuowen Jiezi became more in-depth and more conscious, and reached its peak. Due to the advocacy of Gu Yanwu and Dai Zhen, scholars realized the relationship between the study of textual exegesis and the science of governance: "to know the characters as the beginning of reading the scriptures, and to know the scriptures as the way to know the righteousness and reasoning", and thus they competed to study Shuowen Jiezi, and produced a variety of works on Shuowen Jiezi, such as Duan Yucai's Commentary on Shuowen Jiezi, Gui Fu's The Shuo Wen Jie Zi Yi Zheng, Wang Yun's Shuo Wen Jie Ren and Shuo Wen Shu Lei, Zhu Jun Sheng's Shuo Wen Tong Xun Ding Sheng and other masterpieces. One of the highest achievements of Duan Yucai's "Shuowen Jiezi Note" and Zhu Junsheng's "Shuowen Tongxun Dingsheng", and Duan Shu is even more above Zhu Shu.

Duan Yucai (1735-1815), the word Ruoying, No. Mautang, also known as Qiaolin, Chunfu, also known as Yanbei Jushi, Changtanghu Jushi, Qiaowu old man, Yongzheng thirteen years (1735) was born in Jintan County, Jiangsu Province. Duan's original family lived in Henan Province, and when Emperor Gaozong of the Song Dynasty went south, Duan's ancestors moved to Jintan and practiced medicine for several generations. At the time of Duan Yucai's death, his family was in decline, and his grandfather Duan Wen and father Duan Shixu, both well-educated men, failed to pass the exams. Duan Shixu had to set up a teaching center to support the family's livelihood.

Duan Yucai 6 years old from his grandfather's enlightenment, 11 years old from his father to study in the Vi Ling Lianjiang Bridge House, by strict training. 13 years old, the Qianlong Emperor edited the provinces according to the test, Duan Yucai calmly responded to the Jiangsu school government Yin Yuanfu was extremely surprised, the Duan Shishu said: "This child is heavy, must be taught to become a great talent, do not be thin also." The words of the school government has a double meaning, one layer of meaning is included in the Duan Yucai er later in the academic achievements; quality of the facts, precisely after the fulfillment of this layer of meaning. Because of the encouragement of Yin Yuanfu, Duan Shixue put more hope in Duan Yucai and taught him every day and night, not daring to be a little neglectful. Yucai was also more diligent, in the pre-Qin and Han Dynasty books, especially careful study, which laid a solid foundation for his later note "Shuowen Jiezi". However, Duan Shixue was extremely poor at that time, with no ridge of fields, and only relied on the pavilion to teach reading to maintain a poor life. Duan Yucai was able to take the family motto of "no planting of ink stone, no joy, no support for the iron bones of the poor," and devoted himself to his studies, and excluded the hardships of life from the joys of learning.

In the 25th year of the Qianlong reign (1760), Duan Yucai was 26 years old, won the examination, but not without hesitation, determined to show in the career, and soon went to the capital to participate in the examination. In Qian Daxin's apartment, read Gu Yanwu's "five books of phonetics". He was amazed by the book's extensive and well-documented arguments. This was one of the reasons why Duan Yucai turned to study. He read the Gu book and further realized the importance of the ancient sound, then made up his mind to study the study of rhyme. Because without knowing the ancient sound can not really read the pre-Qin and Han rhyming text, but also can not explain the non-rhyming text of the phenomenon of false borrowing. The following year, the spring exam test, unexpectedly Duan Yucai failed. This certainly makes Duan Yucai family exceptionally disappointed, but at the same time, but also strengthened his ambition to study, determined to study the results to realize the value of his life. In order to make ends meet, he took the qualification of a graduate as a teacher in the official school of Jingshan Wanshantian.

Three years later, Dai Zhen went to Beijing to take the examination and failed, Duan Yucai and its encounter in the capital, the two similar interests and the situation is the same, Yucai hate to see each other late feeling. Although Dai Zhen year after year, and for the powerful forced to avoid entering the capital, living in Shexian Hall, but the Beijing celebrities such as Ji Yun, Wang Ming Sheng, Qian Daxin, Wang Chang, etc. have paid a visit to the door, "knocking on its learning, listen to its words, view its books, all sighed with admiration, and so the sound of the capital," Duan Yucui's meet Dai Zhen, the admiration and admiration of the heart when you can imagine. Dai Zhen's academic achievements, its wisdom and insight, for Duan Yucai's life has had a significant impact. Duan Yucai had the intention to worship Dai Zhen as a teacher, hoping to be listed under his door, but Dai Zhen out of modesty, politely refused Duan Yucai's request.

Duan Yucai returned to his hometown at the end of his apprenticeship at the Temple of Wanshan, and began his career as a scholar by studying ancient phonetics with his younger brother, Duan Yucheng. The founder of the ancient phonetics is Gu Yanwu. He analyzed the Tang rhymes and divided the ancient rhymes into 10 parts, which were later subdivided into 13 parts by Jiang Yong. Duan Yucai studied it carefully and thought that it was not perfect, so he "proved that it was not perfect and made up for it", and went one step further on the basis of Gu and Jiang, dividing it into 17 parts. The results of his research are reflected in his books Rhymes of Poetry and Rhymes of Qunjing. Duan Yucai's achievements were well received by the academic circles at that time, and Qian Daxin called it "chiseling through the chaos" and wrote a preface to his book, saying, "This book will be a guideline to be followed by the sects that talk about scriptures at home and abroad." Dai Zhen also said, "The seventeen ancient sounds can be carried forward for a thousand years."

Thirty-four years of Qianlong (1769) spring, Duan Yucai again visited Dai Zhen, requesting that must be called master and brother. Dai Zhen realized that it is not appropriate to refuse to say, finally accepted the disciple. Dai Zhen not only y influenced Duan Yucai with his simple materialistic philosophical thinking and rigorous attitude, but also tried his best to help him in his life. At that time, Duan Yucai was poor and struggling to make ends meet. Dai Zhen lent him half of his yearly salary to help him get through the difficult years. Duan's respect for this teacher, so much so that in his eighties, every mention of Dai Zhen, but also "will be hanging hands arching," and "the first day of the month will be solemn recitation of handwritten notes," the grace of the meeting, in this for the full!

This year's test, Dai, Duan and failed. Subsequently, Dai Zhen should be Shanxi Buzheng Zhu Wenzheng's employment to Jin, Duan Yucai accompanied. Dai compiled and repaired the Fenzhou County Records, and Duan lectured at the Shouyang Academy. The following year, Duan Yucai was ordered to go to Yuping County in Guizhou to serve as governor. Because he was not well versed in official courtesies, two years later, he was transferred to the Sichuan border area, and with the qualification of alternate governor, he served as the acting governor in several counties successively. At that time, although the government is busy, but still do not forget the academic research, every day will be dealt with after the official business, often night and day, hard work and study, and thus have "official status Qing Zhuo, writings rich" reputation. During his tenure in Sichuan, he wrote "six books rhyme table", put forward the "ancient four different rhymes today", "on the ancient have flat on the into and no go sound" important argument. He also found that the rhymes of Zhi, Lip and Zhi, which had been mixed together before, were three different rhyming parts in the ancient times, thus solving a major mystery in the past eleven hundred years. However, the sound value of the three rhymes can no longer be known, and therefore can not read the actual pronunciation, Duan's twilight years are still thinking about: "If I hear the day and die, death is not hate! This shows the seriousness and seriousness of its governance.

Duan Yucai always felt tired of being an official, so he was always looking for an opportunity to resign from his official position and concentrate on his studies. In the forty-fifth year of the Qianlong era (1780), when Duan's father became ill, Yucai was able to leave his post and return to Jintan, where he remained for more than thirty years without questioning the world, and devoted himself to his writings. During this period, he successively wrote nearly 30 kinds of academic monographs, such as Mao Poetry and Poetry, Zhou Li and Han Reading, Guwen Shangshu, Jingyunlou, Yili and Jiyun, and formally began to write the masterpiece Shuowen jiezi ziqi zhi (Commentary on the Explanation of the Characters of the Shuowen Language). The preparatory stage of this monumental work, actually from the forty-first year of Qianlong (1776). Started 19 years to compile a long compilation of the nature of the "Shuowen Jiezi read" began. Just as he was about to make further efforts, illness, poverty, and litigation came upon him. He had rheumatism and arm pain, and then he hurt his foot and suffered from sores, which made him suffer from three diseases. In his later years, he was repeatedly tortured by lawsuits, and had to move to Zhenzhou, Suzhou and other places. He said in a letter to a friend: "can be called old, poor, sick both of the three, in the past ashamed to say poor, at this time can not be hidden." In a letter to Wang Niansun, said: "brother more than seventy years old, is as dim as eighty or ninety," but still "private fear" Shuowen "and other books can not be". After 13 years of hard work, finally "Shuowen Jiezi read" condensed and refined into "Shuowen Jiezi Note". Book into, he repeatedly revised eight years, until the Jiaqing twenty years (1815), before and after the publication of the press, after a period of forty years.