摘要

《说文解字》是东汉经学家、文字学家许慎所撰写的一部影响深远的字典，其在收录和训诂古文字的过程中，“远取诸物，近取诸身”的造字方法巧妙而完整地保存了当时人们生活创造性活动和成果的基本面貌，亦成为承载遥远古代社会生活中宝贵造物设计信息的重要载体。本文把《说文解字》中涉及造物内容的相关汉字作系统性、多角度、定性定量分类考析，从文字的形、音、义方面考察《说文解字》字系中上古社会先民在“服饰、饮食、居住、交通、工具、农具、兵器、乐器”等生产生活方面的设计内容，并作有条理的梳理、归纳。以《说文解字》中的文字构形、字音和经史典籍的印证为基础，探讨造物产生的背景、形态的演化、工艺的制作、材料的拓展、功能的兼容，以及因经验积累、宗教信仰、等级礼法等因素影响而造成的造物设计的规范、禁忌与演进，以尽力还原上古社会与人们日常生活息息相关的造物内容的真实设计状况，试图透析出这种原生态设计中所渗透着的宝贵的造物思想与观念。

《说文解字》汇总的文字主要来源秦代“书同文”后的整理，其所勾画的社会造物图景为上古时期，或者说最晚不超过汉代、最早更可追溯到原始社会。而在今天物质极大丰富、各种创造大爆炸的时代，久远年代的造物水平对当代人来说可能是不屑一顾的，或者说是粗糙的、原始的和难以理解的。但是，起源是一个值得所有人重视的问题，包括设计也是如此。“读史可以使人明智，鉴以往可以知未来”，如果我们不知道从哪里来，就不会知道应到哪里去，无论当今的科学技术有多么发达。如今，那些被时间掩埋的历史通过《说文解字》中语言和文字的传承奇迹地延续下来，为上古时期造物生活提供更为扎实的佐证的同时，亦如一面镜子照射着未来造物设计前进的道路。

值得注意的是，从古至今，《说文解字》一书都是被当作工具、字典使用，黄帝之史苍颉初造书契时，就曾明言文字是为了“宣教明化于王者朝廷，君子所以施禄及下，居德则忌也”,“文者，物象之本；字者，言孳乳而浸多也”（《说文解字·第十五上》），后来文字的写法、形体式样虽也多有变化，自近似图画的甲骨文、金文、篆书后又出现了隶书、草书、行书、楷书等字体，字音语调也有所调整，文义表述发生变化，但其竭力描绘物形、传递思想的基本功能一直延续至今。因此，自始至终，文字的创造都处于“形而下”的应用层面，受到多重因素影响。在相对封闭的字书文字平台中，字系的前后排序、具有规范性和体系化的相应文字归类、系部有序的结构演变、文字上的形义互证、象形表意的构形方式、以字音加注文字源始、文字在各部首分布的疏密不等……这些表现的最终呈现都不是单一一种条件就能造成的，当中交错着时代发展的先后顺序、先民认识世界的程度和方式、造物水平的逐级递进、整个社会发展的必然倾向、实际造物情况……全如文字仿象构形的对象——上古造物，亦有着与之相同的“器（形而下）”层面的特性，注重实践应用，其“道（形而上）”之形成，只能依赖其他学科的知识输入，就连设计面貌的更新升级似乎也遭受到来自各领域思潮的冲击。本文从《说文解字》提炼出来的古代诸多设计思维：象形仿生、人本思想、一物多用、和谐自然、系统规范等都显示出当时多元造物方法交叉介入的状态。用当代西方设计理论理解，其中杂糅了后现代主义、仿生设计、高技派、生态主义、地方主义等多样思潮，涉及到工业设计的标准化理念，以及政治、经济、宗教、艺术、制度等多学科研究层面。

不过，从《说文解字》文字间流露出的中国传统设计又与由西方传来的设计，特别是造物设计的切入方式有很大不同。至今设计课堂上讲授的是全然西化的、主观思想主导一切的设计方法，即完全以设计者的设计意图或目的为宗旨，经过人为着意的，对形式、装饰纹样、材料等方面的精细修饰、处理，实现设计作品的个性或主题体现。在这里，个人的思想观念和主观能动性把控整个设计过程和成品最终形态。但在中国上古传统造物来看，除了开始时圣人模拟自然宇宙之象创造性制作“衣”“裳”,“器”“皿”,“巢”“穴”,“舟”“车”等物之原始形态外，其后的继承者们都会遵循着前人总结的规律、积累的经验，依据当时现有的造物条件，顺天造物。这是一种与西方强调主观造物截然不同的被动式造物，虽然同样包含了思想与设计两部分，尤其在“思想”上都充满着人们的智慧与巧思，但中国上古传统设计在不断健全的造物规范中，始终顺应前人的知识与经验指导，从创意到制作，再到成品检验，都统一于“规”“矩”“权”“衡”等标准的框架下有序运行。而且，在上古先民造物之初会首先考察需要用到的材料本身的特性、形态、质感、色彩等固有内容，并权衡现阶段能够达到的工艺技术，再通过巧妙的设计将所要制作的物品与原材料之间建立连接，以使物尽其用。如：许书中指向小鼎的文字“鼒-镃”部首演化体现出受材料、技术影响而发生的造物形态上的拓展和突破；从原始测量工具人手“寸”部得到的，展现由造物制度化要素干预下的“冠”“尊”“射”“寻”“专”等；在象形“车”之形态，包含其基本构造轮、舆、辕、轴的基础上，衍生出“轩”“辎”“軿”“辒”“辌”“轈”等因服务于不同人群、行业、功能而表现出的各色面貌。生活经验总结下的规范准则、原材料的形态特性、现阶段工艺水平、社会等级制度对人们用器的束缚、天人和谐的环境关怀……都成为上古传统造物时极度依赖的设计前提，也反映出自古制器活动就受多元因素介入而呈现的被动性设计特征。

另外，《说文解字》中累积的文字是在前代不同地域、不同时期造字叠加、筛选的基础上，受当时社会生活造物影响形成的，所以许书中存在的大量同义词有相当一部分蕴含着礼制规范的内容，以“宣教明化于王者朝廷”，反映着当时与等级、礼制紧密挂钩的造物设计思维。当然，指向生活用造物设计类的文字也占有一定比例，而随着社会的发展，这一比例大幅提升，现代富有强力生活气息的高频字的使用流露出当代造物自然属性发达的现状与趋向，即强调造物设计的实用性，而非品级制度。可见，上古传统造物设计发展的一个很重要的参考系数就是与当时所处社会的进化程度紧密挂钩的实用性，而且它的设计之道不是笔直的单行道，而是灵活交错的交叉变行道。古时人们看到空木浮于水上，于是刀劈火烧、刳木为“俞”，后併木为“泭（筏）”，设计出制作更为简单高效的渡水工具，当经济、工艺上升到一定水平后，自“舟”义又分离出併船的“方”、方舟“斻”、江中大船“欚”、海中大船“橃”等体积更为庞大、安全、稳定的水上交通工具，为人们的日常生活提供便利。“山不转路转，路不转人转”，随时随地都能巧妙地寻找到走下去的道路，不盲目固守传统、机变地解决现实问题，显然是《说文解字》反映出的又一个上古造物特征。

而当社会等级界限不断松动，原本服务于上层贵族阶级的衣、食、住、行、用各方面的严格造物等级设定，逐渐演变为世俗生活所需的丰富多彩，如：原本单纯上衣下裳的服装制式随着生活经验的不断累积和技术的进步，变种出从《说文解字》解析的上下连缀的深衣、一通到底的袍服、分而设之的套装襦裙、绔装等多样衍生款式，并以其顺应社会发展的实用功能和博人眼球的优美剪裁，自下而上地扩展开来，日益赢得众人的认同与追捧。这似乎类似于今天主流设计与非主流设计之间的关系，开始官方认可的造物内容，包括各种规定的标准样式、制作工艺、最为繁琐耗时的材料色彩、具有深刻政治寓意的吉祥纹样等都成为统治阶级垄断的对象，而百姓平时所用物品无论在形式的设计、工艺技术的精巧、色彩的多样、纹样的装饰方面明显是无法与之匹敌的，虽多仿效上层阶级人们生活的模样，却又因为等级地位的限制而显得粗陋许多，又如贵者“冠”与庶人“巾”的差别。可是这种“上行下效”的关系并非一成不变，毕竟，一切造物的源头仍然肇始于普通生活中无意的创造。非官方、非主流的民间造物经过适当的加工、打磨会上升成为贵族追捧的目标，之前令人仰望的主流造物也会因时代的演进、观念的改变、技术的革新而“飞入寻常百姓家”。所谓的主流设计与非主流设计不过是相对而言的、暂时性的表现，二者的关系可以相互转换、流动，其变化的依据就是造物产生的社会背景，其中，有工艺材料的升级换代、有礼教等级的人为约束、有文化融合后的审美转变。通过对生活真实场景需要的研判和造物熟能生巧后的灵活变通，设计甚至能够在一定程度上作用、引导时人的生活、审美习惯，推动造物的损益与进化，以及时动态适配实际生活需要。

虽然《说文解字》是东汉时期编撰完成的，当中的文字仿象成形于更久年代，文中的载录释解难免会有一些不当之处，也受到后人的反复疏正、考辨，然而其闪烁的，尊重现实环境，不拘一格做出有效变通的设计精神，即使跨越千年，在文明和造物技术高度发展的今天依然并不落伍。

当今世界众所周知的著名设计或产品：有法国的时装，有日本的相机、汽车，有美国的手机、电脑等各种高科技产品，也有欧美各国的瓷器、家具及房屋建筑等等，但如张道一先生所说，与他们之间的距离不过是“五十步与一百步的关系”。由本文前面五章的《说文解字》古文字形、音、义中归纳出的实现造物艺术设计的几个基本要素来看，形式、功能、材料、工艺、规范等即使在高度发达的今天依然不可或缺。在这些相互交织作用着的影响因子中，除了我国因没有进行长达上百年的设计现代转型进程而在新材料、新技术的开拓，以及生产管理体制的系统化、规范化方面显得先天不足外，造物设计中所主要展现的丰富形式与各式功能，即当中透露着的设计思维的运行轨迹较之当代设计思维，实已不输什么了。而关于设计思维这一点，上古先民们的智慧即使放到今天复杂变幻的造物艺术生产大环境中，无疑仍有许多值得借鉴之处。如此看来，尽管今天中国设计的声音还很小，甚至连原本引以为傲的传统瓷器、特色建筑等造物设计也在过去时间的流逝中被他国悄然赶超，抛诸身后；也有不时显现的“崇洋媚外”一词提醒着我们西方外来设计在一定程度上占据的绝对优势与先锋，但毋庸置疑我们的设计核心力量（思维、思想）并不落伍，更有无限潜力需要进一步开发，只是在外在的工艺技术进步、能源材料换代、程序步骤规范等方面有待加强。而面对当今全球化，尤其是西方文化的剧烈冲击，如何才能在绚丽多彩的世界中建立起独属于自己的特色设计，这一直是一个值得每一个设计者认真思考的问题。

古代唐朝时极度开放，吸收了大量外来文化与造物形态，却没有被纷繁的景色迷花眼睛，失去自己的方向，反而开创出中国历史上空前的盛世，无论在衣、食、住、行、用等各方面都攀升到一个崭新的高度。原因何在?关键在于对精华的提取和对糟粕的摒弃，在于对“道”与“器”、“汤”与“药”关系的精准把握，在于对美好生活的热切追求，在于紧随时代脚步的大胆变革，也在于对人、物、环境之间合理的统筹配置。如“天人合一”的概念对于艺术设计来讲或许太过宽泛和老生常谈，人们已听了太多遍而对此变得十分麻木，但它当中包含的对环境的关照、人的关怀直至今天仍具有进步意义。当房地产开发日益兴隆的时候、当盲目追求经济利益而忽视其他一切存在时，毫无地方特色的高层住宅楼、商品房光秃秃地平地而起，好似一个个烟囱般鳞次栉比地排列于城市之中，再加上LED灯五光十色的闪烁、装饰，表面上的确烘托出现代化的时尚气息，实际上却既没有对人文历史的谦卑、传承，也没有考虑到如何与自然环境和谐相处。“天人合一”的设计实质在于满足人们的需要，这种需要不仅仅是生理上的基本生存需要，还有更高层次上的精神需求，人文环境的文脉装饰和自然环境的植物景观，都是人们心理需要的重要组成部分，亦作用着人在空间设计中的满足度。又比如《说文解字》文字训诂中经常引用的《易经》内容，显示出文字的创造、应用，和其背后所代表的造物设计同先民对自然宇宙规律的认识间有着密切的关系。《易经》的生发始于人对自然万物的感悟，更难得的是，它不只单纯地用于卜筮未来，还广泛渗透于上古造物的方方面面，掺杂着朴素生活的经验总结，以及对顺应自然天道的“无为”观念的秉持。正因如此，当氏族部落一次次聚合、交融，外来文化、宗教信仰与本土思想相互碰撞时，造物设计的外在形式、功能等会产生似乎难以预测的拆解、突变、搅拌情况，实则始终围绕造物内在固有思维而规律运行，使之得以与时俱进地将这一极具民族文化特色的造物精神实质通过新造型、新材料、新功能的再重组、再包装，以新的面貌继续发扬光大。

关键词：说文解字；设计解读；造物思想；设计规律；造物方法；设计审美

Abstract

Shuowen Jiezi is a far-reaching ancient Chinese etymological dictionary written by Xu Shen,ascholar-official and philologist of the Eastern Han Dynasty（25-189）.In his process ofcollecting and interpreting Chinese characters,he discovered the coinage method of“simulating the surroundings and their bodies（远取诸物，近取诸身）”,smartly and totally keeping the basic picture of people's creative activities and achievements at that time.Ever since then,this method has become an important carrier for the valuable design information of the ancient social life.This dissertation completed a systematic,multi–dimensional,qualitative and quantitative classification and analysis on the Chinese characters of creation contents involved in Shuowen Jiezi.Studied from the form,sound and meaning aspects of the Chinese characters were the contents of the ancient design regarding the clothing,food,housing,transportation,tools,weapons,instruments,and other production and life fields.Based on the text configuration,pronunciation and the proof of history books in Shuowen Jiezi,a series of items wereexplored,such as the background of the creation,the evolution of the form,the production of technology,material development,functional compatibility,and design specification,taboo and evolution caused by the experience accumulation,religious beliefs,rank etiquette and other factors,in order to restore the real content of the creation in the daily life of the ancient society and to analyze the precious creative ideas and concepts in the original ecological design.

The texts summarized inShuowen Jiezi mainly originate from the collation of“standardized legal written（书同文）”in Qin Dynasty.The social creation picture it draws is from the ancient times,in other words,no later than the Han Dynasty,the earliest can be traced back to primitive society.However,in today's era of material abundance and all kinds of creation explosion,the creations of ancient times may be dismissive,or rough,primitive and incomprehensible to contemporary people.But,origin is an issue worthy of everyone's attention,including design.“Reading history can make people wise,learning from the past can tell the future”.If we do not know where we come from,we won't know where to go,no matter how advanced science and technology are.Today,those time-buried histories survive miraculously through the inheritance of language and words in Shuowen Jiezi,providing more solid evidence for the creation life in ancient times,while also illuminating the way forward for future creation design.

It is worth noticing that Shuowen Jiezi has been used as a tool and dictionary since ancient times.When Cang Yun,the historian of the Yellow Emperor,first created the text,he had stated clearly that“promote education and enlighten education in the king's court.Kings utilize words to give favor to the people who can understand words,and they should have good virtue,and must not take the opportunity to seize titles and salaries（宣教明化于王者朝廷，君子所以施禄及下，居德则忌也）”,“calling it‘word'means that it comes from the breeding of‘text',which increases the number of words（文者，物象之本；字者，言孳乳而浸多也）”（“Shuowen Jiezi · Volume 15 · Syria”）.Later,although the writing and form of the text also changed a lot，from the hieroglyphs of inscriptions on bones or tortoise shell and inscriptions on bronze and seal character,to fonts such as official script,cursive script,running script,and regular script,the tone of the words have also been adjusted,and the meaning has changed,but the basic function of trying to describe the shape and conveying the idea has continued to this day.Therefore,from the beginning to the end,the creation of words is at the“Physical”application level,which is affected by multiple factors.In a relatively closed text platform,the sequence of the word system,the corresponding text classification with standardization and systematization,the orderly structural evolution of the word system,the mutual proof of form and meaning of the text,the pictographic ideographic configuration,annotate the source of the text with the pronunciation,the sparseness of the distribution of the characters in the radicals...the final presentation of these performances is not caused by a single condition.It intersects the order of the development of the times,the degree and manner of the ancestors' understanding of the world,the progressive progression of the creation level,the inevitable tendency of the development of the entire society,and the actual creation situation...all as the object of the imitative configuration of words-“ancient times creation”.The creation also has the same characteristics of the“Qi（physical）”level,focusing on practical application,and the formation of its“Dao（metaphysical）”can only rely on the knowledge of other disciplines.Even the update of the design appearance seems to be suffered from the impact of thoughts from various fields.Many ancient design thoughts extracted from Shuowen Jiezi in this article:pictographic bionics,humanistic thinking,multi-purpose use,harmonious nature,and system specifications all show the state of cross-intervention of multiple creation methods at that time.Understanding with contemporary Western design theory,which is mixed with post-modernism,bionic design,high-tech,ecologicalism,localism and other diverse trends of thought,involving multidisciplinary research levels in the standardization of industrial design,and politics,economics,religion,art,and regime.

However,it is very different between the traditional Chinese design revealed in the text of Shuowen Jiezi and the Western design,especially the way of creation design.So far,what has been taught in the design class is completely westernized,subjective thought-driven design,that is,completely based on the designer's design intent or purpose,through the artificial modification of the form,decorative patterns,materials,etc.,to achieve the personality or theme of the designs.At this point,personal ideology and subjective initiative control the entire design process and the final form of the finished product.However,from the perspective of ancient Chinese traditional creations,in addition to the original form of the sage who imitated the image of nature to produce“Yi（衣）”“Shang（裳）”,“Qi（器）”“Min（皿）”,“Chao（巢）”“Xue（穴）”,“Zhou（舟）”and“Che（车）”,subsequent heirs will follow the rules summarized by their predecessors and accumulated experience,and according to the existing conditions of creation at that time,adapt to nature and creating.This is a passive creation that is completely different from the Western emphasis on subjective creations.It also includes two parts of thought and design,especially the“ideology”is full of people's wisdom and ingenuity,but the traditional design of ancient China always complies with the guidance of the predecessors' knowledge and experience in the everimproving creation norms.From creativity to production,to inspection of finished products,they are unified under the framework of“Gui（规）”“Ju（矩）”“Quan（权）”“Heng（衡）”and other standards.Moreover,at the beginning of the ancient ancestors'creations，the materials,characteristics,forms,textures,colors,and other inherent content of the materials to be used are first examined,and the technology that can be achieved at this stage are weighed,and then the items to be made are designed by ingenious design,to establish connections with raw materials to make the best use of them.For example,the radical evolution of the text“Zi-Zi（鼒-镃）”in Shuowen Jiezi pointing to small tripod reflects the expansion and breakthrough of the morphology of the creation that is influenced by materials and technology; obtained from the Radical“Cun（寸）”,manpower of the original measurement tool,showing the creation system“Guan（冠）”“Zun（尊）”“She（射）”“Xun（寻）”“Zhuan（专）”,etc.under the intervention of the elements of transformation; based on the form of the pictographic“Che（车）”,including its basic structural wheels,carriages,cowls,axles,it has various appearances such as“Xuan（轩）”“Zi（辎）”“Ping（軿）”“Wen（辒）”“Liang（辌）”“Chao（轈）”,etc.,which serve different people,industries,and functions.The norms and guidelines based on the summary of life experience,the morphological characteristics of raw materials,the current level of craftsmanship,the restraint of people's utensils by the social hierarchy,and the environmental care of harmony between human and nature...These have become the design premise of extreme reliance in ancient traditional creations,and also reflect the passive design characteristics that have been involved in the involvement of multiple factors from ancient creation activities.

In addition,the accumulated text in Shuowen Jiezi was formed on the basis of superimposition and selection of characters in different regions and periods of the previous generation,and was influenced by the creation of social life at that time.Therefore,a large part of the synonym in Shuowen Jiezi contains the content of etiquette rules.Through the“propaganda and education in the royal court（宣教明化于王者朝廷）”,it reflects the creation design thinking closely linked to the hierarchy and etiquette at that time.Of course,the text that refers to the design of daily life creations also occupies a certain proportion,and with the development of society,this proportion has increased significantly.The use of modern high-frequency words with powerful life atmosphere reveals the current status and trends of the natural attributes of modern creation,which emphasizes the practicality of creation design,rather than hierarchy.It can be seen that a very important reference factor for the development of ancient traditional creations design is the practicability that is closely linked to the degree of evolution of the society at the time,and its design is not a straight one-way,but a flexible crossing way.In ancient times,people saw empty wood floating on the water,so they imitated cutting with a knife,burning with fire,hollowing out the wood and making it into a“Yu（俞）”,and the later wood was“Fu（泭）”.It was designed to make simple and efficient water crossing tools.After rising to a certain level,the larger,safer and more stable water transport separated from the meaning of“Zhou（舟）”provides convenience for people's daily life,such as the“Fang（方）”of the boat together,the“Hang（斻）”of the ark,the“Li（欚）”of the big ship in the river,and the“fa（橃）”of the big ship in the sea,etc.“Mountains don't turn around,roads don't turn around,people turn around（山不转路转，路不转人转）.”They can ingeniously find the way to go anytime，anywhere,and needn't blindly stick to tradition and solve real problems with flexibility.This is obviously another ancient reflection of Shuowen Jiezi Creation characteristics.

And when the boundaries of the social hierarchy continue to loosen,the clothing,food,housing,transportation,and strict creation hierarchy that originally served the noble class gradually evolved into the colorful needs of mundane life.For example,the original clothing style of simple tops and skirts,with the continuous accumulation of life experience and technological advancement,has been transformed into a style of“Shenyi（深衣）”,a kind style of robe,and a suit skirt and pants separate from top.The diverse derivative styles have expanded from the bottom to up with their practical functions in line with social development and the attractive and graceful tailoring,which have increasingly gained approval and follow.This seems to be similar to the relationship between mainstream design and non-mainstream design today.The content of the officially recognized creations includes a variety of prescribed standard styles,production processes,the most tedious and time-consuming materials and colors,and auspicious patterns with profound political implications.All have become the object of the ruling class's monopoly,and the items that the common people usually use are clearly unmatched in terms of form design,exquisite craftsmanship,diverse colors,and decorative patterns.Although they often imitate the life of upper-class people,because of the limitation of the status rank,it seems a lot rougher,just like the difference between hats worn by nobles and civilians.However,this relationship of“follow the example set by the superior（上行下效）”is not static,after all,the source of all creations still begins with unintentional creation in ordinary life.Non-official and nonmainstream folk creations will rise to become the target sought after by the nobles after proper processing and polishing.The mainstream creations that have been looked up to before will also“enter the lives of civilians（飞入寻常百姓家）”due to the evolution of times,changes in concepts,and technological innovation.The so-called mainstream design and non-mainstream design are only relatively temporary design expressions.The relationship between the two can be transformed and exchange.The basis of the change is the social background of the creation.Among them,there are upgrades of craft materials,and artificial constraint of etiquette level,aesthetic change after cultural integration.By studying the needs of real life scenarios and the flexibility of creations,the design can even act and guide people's life and aesthetic habits to a certain extent,promote the profit and loss and evolution of creations,and dynamically adapt to the needs of actual life.

Although Shuowen Jiezi was compiled during the Eastern Han Dynasty,and the text in it was formed in an older age,interpretations in the book will inevitably have some improprieties,and it has been repeatedly rectified and examined by posterity.However,its flashing design spirit of respect for the real environment and effective adaptability,even if it spans the millennium,it is still not outdated today in the highly developed civilization and technology of creation.

Famous designs or products that are well known in the world today:there are French fashion,Japanese cameras and cars,various high-tech products such as mobile phones and computers in the United States,as well as porcelain,furniture and building in Europe and the United States.Mr.Zhang Daoyi said that the distance to them was nothing but“the relationship between fifty steps and one hundred steps”.Judging from the basic characters,sounds,and meanings of the first five chapters of this article to realize the basic elements of design creation,such as form,function,materials,technology,and specifications are still indispensable today.Among these interweaving influence factors,in addition to the fact that China has not been continually developing new materials,new technologies,and the systemization and standardization of the production management system because China has not carried out the modern transformation process of design that lasted for hundreds of years,the rich forms and various functions mainly displayed in the design of creation,that is,the running track of design thinking revealed in it is not worse than contemporary design thinking.On this point of design thinking,the wisdom of ancient ancestor still need to be learnt undoubtedly,even in today's complex and changeable environment of creation art production,From this point of view,although the sound of Chinese design today is still very small,even the original design of traditional ceramics,characteristic buildings and other original designs that are proud of them have been quietly overtaken by other countries in the past,leaving them behind; there are also occasional idioms“have a servile attitude to foreign things（崇洋媚外）”reminding us of the absolute advantages and pioneers of Western design to a certain extent,but there is no doubt that our core strength of design（thinking,concept）is not outdated,and there is infinite potential for further development,only it needs to be strengthened in external process technology advancement,energy material replacement,and procedure step specification.In the face of today's globalization,especially the severe impact of Western culture,how to build a unique design to itself in a colorful world has always been a question that every designer should seriously consider.

The ancient Tang Dynasty was extremely open,absorbing a large number of foreign cultures and creations,but was not blinded by the complicated scenery and lost its direction.Instead,it created an unprecedented prosperity in Chinese history,regardless of clothing,food,housing,transportation,use and other aspects have climbed to a whole new level.What is the reason?The key lies in the extraction of the essence and the abandonment of the dross.It lies in the precise grasp of the relationship between“Dao（道）”and“Qi（器）”,“Tang（汤）”and“Yao（药）”.It lies in the eager pursuit of a better life,the bold change that follows the pace of the times,also lies in the reasonable overall allocation of people,things,and the environment.For example,the concept of“heaven and man are united as one（天人合一）”may be too broad and ordinary for art design.People have heard it too many times and become very numb.There is still progress today.When real estate development is booming,when blindly pursuing economic benefits and neglecting somehing else,high-rise residential buildings and commodity houses with no local characteristics stand up on the ground,barely like chimneys lined up in a row in the city.Coupled with the colorful flashing and decoration of LED lights,the surface does indeed show a modern and stylish atmosphere.In fact,it has neither humility or inheritance of human history,nor consideration of how to live in harmony with the natural environment.The design of“heaven and man are united as one（天人合一）”is essentially to meet people's needs.This kind of demand is not only a basic need for survival,but also a higher level of spiritual needs.cultural context decoration of human environment and plant landscape of natural environment,are an important part of people's psychological needs,and also affect people's satisfaction in space design.Another example is the content of Yi Jing,which is often quoted in the texts of Shuowen Jiezi.It shows that the creation and application of the text and the design of the creations behind it have a close relationship with the ancestors'understanding of the laws of the natural universe.The birth of Yi Jing began with the perception of nature.What's more rare is that it is not just a simple religious superstition,but also widely penetrates into all aspects of ancient creations,mixed with the experience of simple life,and upholding the concept of“Wuwei（无为）”that conforms to the natural way of nature.Because of this,when clans and tribes converge and blend again and again,foreign cultures,religious beliefs,and local thoughts collide with each other,the external form and function of creation design will produce dismantling,mutation,and agitation that seem unpredictable.It revolves around the inherent thinking of the creation,making it possible to keep up with the times.The essence of the creation spirit with great national cultural characteristics has been reorganized and repackaged with new shapes,new materials,and new functions to continue with a new look.

Key words:Shuowen Jiezi;design study;creation concept;design law;creation method;design aesthetic