《史记》“闾左”发覆                                                                          孟彦弘

《史记》所见“闾左”，既非依附民或贱民，也非流民或浮浪人，更不是指闾佐，而是“闾五”之讹。“闾五”即“闾（里）士五”的简称。士五，是指傅籍至免老、没有爵的普通百姓。汉人对“闾五”这一简称已较陌生，加之“闾左”更可彰显秦之暴政，故不加深究而致误。后代注释家望文生义，不足为据。

A Review of “Lüzuo” Recorded in Records of the Grand Historian                               Meng Yanhong

   The name “Lüzuo” seen in the “House of Chen She” of Records of the Grand Historian refers not to the subordinated people, the untouchable, the refugee, the vagrant, or the Village Assistant, but the error of “Lüwu”, which is the abbreviation of “Lüli (Village) Shiwu”. “Shiwu” refers to ordinary people without any ranks from age of corvee cabor to age being exempted from taxes and corvée. People of the Han Dynasty had been unfamiliar to the abbreviation, and additionally, the name “Lüzuo” could more show Qin’s tyranny, so they did not make further investigation, and such an errow was then caused. Commentators of later ages just took the name literally, and their conclusions were insufficient.