The Research On The Numerals Of Weishu

Weishu, finished in AD554, is a history book complied by Wei Shou of the Northern Qi Dynasity, its numerals have significant historical inheritance and distinct characteristics of the times. But so far, there is no research article about the numerals of Weishu, so this paper focuses on its numerals, makes a comprehensive description and analysis, sorts out the overall numerals system of Weishu. This paper reveals the character of numerals and the replacement of the old and new elements in the numeration, so as to explore the development and evolution law of numerals.We use the combination of synchronic and diachronic research methods, through synchronic comparison of Weishu with Songshu of the same period, to understand the general picture of the use of numerals in this time, and try to reveal the differences of numerals in Northern and Southern Chinese. At the same time, we compare the numerals of Weishu with Ancient Chinese and Modern Chinese, to reveal the new changes of the numerals in Medieval Period and analyze its development track.Through analysis, we find that the usages of numerals in Weishu generally inherit the Ancient Chinese, but some new phenomena appear:the expression of Ordinal number is more agile,"di" complete the process of blur, turning into a pure number prefix, The full expression of Ordinal number:"di+numeral+center word" begin to form. The auxiliary word of Approximate number use a lot,"yu" replace "you yu", becoming the main expression of Approximate number. The form that two numerals connected together, repeating the noun or classifier appears."Shu si" as the Approximate number with distinct characteristics of the Medieval Period appears. The expression of Fraction is various.In Northern and Southern Dynasties, classifiers get remarkable development, the number of "numeral+classifier" structure enriches gradually,"noun+numeral+classifier" form develop quickly;"numeral+classifier+noun" form begin to rise, and gradually mature.By comparison, we find that the usage of numerals in Weishu and Songshu are generally quite, but the numerals of Weishu are more active, more in line with the development process of numerals. Some emerging usages of numerals in the Northern and Southern Dynasties are widely used in Weishu, which reflect the development of language. But some individual bud usages of numerals only appear in Songshu.