一切經音義 87.6

87.6

窅冥（上𦝫晈反說文云窅深目也從穴中目今文筆之土每有製作皆用此字但取深義殊不知於理甚乖也失之遠矣或從幼作窈毛詩傳云幽靜也說文云深遠也於義猶未為得合從[自/七]作[穴/自/匕]此正[穴/自/匕]冥之字時多不用蓋謂不見本字也說文云[穴/自/匕]冥也從穴[自/匕]聲[自/匕]音同上亦作杳）。

Dark and deep (窅冥; the first character is pronounced with the fanqie 𦝫晈. The Shuowen says: "窅 means deep-set eyes; it takes the radical 穴 with 目 inside." Contemporary literati always use this character in their writings, taking only the meaning of depth, totally unaware that it is deeply contrary to proper principles and goes far astray. Sometimes it is written with 幼 as 窈; the commentary to the Mao Classic of Poetry says: "Quiet and secluded." The Shuowen says: "Deep and far-reaching." Regarding the meaning, this is still not quite correct. It properly should take [自/七] as [穴/自/匕]; this is the correct character for deep [in deep and dark]. People nowadays seldom use it, probably because they have never seen the original character. The Shuowen says: "[穴/自/匕] means dark and obscure; it takes 穴 with [自/匕] as phonetic"; [自/匕] has the same sound as above. It is also written as 杳).