exegesis of ancient texts; philology
Meanings
2 senses · 6 examplesverb
to explain or interpret words and sentences in ancient books
formalRefers to the scholarly activity of glossing and interpreting classical Chinese texts, often involving the explanation of archaic vocabulary and grammatical structures.
Qing Dynasty scholars spent decades explicating and annotating this classic text.
Interpreting ancient characters requires a profound foundation in traditional Chinese scholarship.
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In his paper, he provided detailed exegesis for three difficult vocabulary items in the Book of Songs.
noun
exegetics; the study of exegesis or philology, especially of ancient Chinese texts
formalRefers to the academic discipline concerned with the interpretation of ancient texts, including phonetic and semantic analysis of classical vocabulary.
Exegesis is an important component of traditional Chinese philology.
He majored in exegetics at university and has done considerable research on the Shuowen Jiezi.
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Exegesis, together with phonology and character studies, are collectively called Xiaoxue (elementary learning).