In order to understand Xǔ Shèn’s 許慎 contribution to the analysis of the Chinese writing system, it is important to clarify the terminology he uses in his Shuōwén jiězì 說文解字 (100 AD). In this paper I shall focus on the term shěng 省. Scholars who have studied the problem of shěng 省 in Shuōwén usually tried to reveal the mistakes either made by Xǔ Shèn or added later to the text, from different perspectives including the classification of the graphs in traditional liùshū approach, paleography, as well as phonological reconstructions. i Most of these authors may be right in their critical investigation of shěng 省, there are indeed many mistakes in Xǔ Shèn’s graphic analysis, but none of them considered the problem as a whole or tried to understand what was the real reason for Xǔ Shèn to use this term. Shěng 省is a rather complex term with different significations, such as ommission, abbreviation, fusion, etc. I shall first clarify the meanings and uses of shěng in Shuōwén, before trying to understand why Xǔ Shèn needed this special term. We will see that despite many mistaken graphic analysis, already described by Chēn Shìhuī 陳世輝 (1979), Qiú Xīguī 裘錫圭 (1988), and others, shěng 省was an important tool for Xǔ Shèn’s methodological approach to the Chinese writing system that also shows his deep knowledge of the evolution of the script.

这篇文章主要介绍《说文解字》中包含“省”字句式的研究。要理解许 慎在汉字及字形分析方面的独创性及其贡献，就需要研究他在《说文解字》中运用 的术语, 其中就有“省”这个涉及多种含义、用法非常复杂的术语。本文首先介绍 《说文》中“省”的特殊性和不同用法，然后介绍它在字形分析中所具有的重要意 义。“省”的概念不仅可以指某个偏旁或所谓字形“成分”的省略, 也可以指某个义 符或声符的简略形式，还可以指某些字形中公用的偏旁, 有时还可以指某字的异体。
“省”在《说文》中，是许慎汉字分析的一个极为重要的工具，它完善地解决 了那些古代流传下来的复杂、难解的字形问题。“省”的运用表明许慎对他分析的古 字、今字都有极为深入的了解。研究“省”在《说文》中的功用，对于我们理解许 慎的汉字分析法具有重要的价值。

Abstract
 1. Graphic analysis in Shuōwén
 2. The meaning of xǐng /shěng 省in Xǔ Shèn’s glosses
 3. The formulaic use of shěng 省 in Shuōwén
  3.1. The formula (从) X 省 (about 214 examples in DXB)
  3.2. The formula X 省聲 « it has an abbreviated form of X as a phonetic constituent »
  3.3. The formula bù shěng 不省 « not abbreviated »
  3.4. Double shěng formulae
 4. The particularities of shěng 省 (in the graphic analysis)
 5. The function of shěng 省
  5.1. Omission or absence of a constituent
  5.2. Merging of constituents or strokes
  5.3. Abbreviation of a constituent
 6. Why did Xǔ Shèn need to introduce the term shěng 省 ?
 Conclusion
 NOTES
 References
 <中文摘要>

• Françoise Bottéro(CNRS-EHESS-CRLAO) | 蒲芳莎