一切經音義 93.177

93.177

帝系 [Genealogy of the Thearchs]: The Shuowen jiezi says: 'A Thearch (dì) is the title of one who rules the world as king. It is composed of the ancient form of the character shàng (上) and the sound cì (朿).' The ancient form was written as 帝. The second character is read with the fanqie xi + ji (xì). The Shiben contains a chapter 'Genealogies of the Thearchs' (Dixì pian); it means that sons and grandsons succeed one another, continuously without break. The Shuowen jiezi says: 'Xì (系) means to tie (繫). It is composed of the [semantic] radical 'silk thread' (糸) and the sound [必-心]; [必-心] is pronounced yè.'