A Commentary and Interpretation of “Juan Jian” in the Piece “Shuo Ming” of the Bamboo Slips at Qinghua University                                                    Yu Wanli

   The word “juan jian” (cuckoo shoulder) was used to describe the appearance of Fu Yue in the piece “Shuo Ming” of the bamboo slips at Qinghua University, and there have been various interpretations of the word. Through the comparative demonstration of “” and “yuan” (kite) from the scriptures on tortoise shells, bronze, and bamboo slips, as well as the phonological relation between the two, it can be confirmed that “juan jian” is just “yuan jian” (kite shoulder) in ancient documents. To compare the appearance of a person to the kite shoulder lies in the image of the kite’s wings getting higher that its cervical vertebra while folding, which is the same as Xunzi describing Fu Yue that “his body is like erect fins”. The word “yuan jian” was used to describe a kind of greedy and evil countenance in the pre-Qin period, but was used to describe the appearance of the sage in physiognomy and by historians after the Qin and Han Dynasties. The word emerging in the bamboo slips at Qinghua University makes us finding the source of describing the special appearance of the sage as “kite shoulder”, and then, interpreting series of words formerly mistaken more smoothly and clearly.