对段玉裁的训注“古今字”,目前已有不少研究成果,主要是围绕其古今字材料的具体内容进行字际关系的分类,或是对其“古今字”界定进行分析。其实段玉裁的“古今字”研究已经不限于单纯的训诂目的,而着重关注词语用字的历时变化,并从多角度探讨古今用字变化的理据和原因。可见段玉裁的“古今字”研究蕴含了字用学的某些理念,使“古今字”研究具有了理论研究价值。
"Gu Jin Zi" (古今字) is usually referred to the ancient and modem Chinese characters that people ever used. For now, there are already lots of works about Duan Yu-cai(段玉裁)' s "Gu Jin Zi" (古今字), most of them focused on the inter Chinese characters relation or the definition of "Gu Jin Zi" (古今字).In fact, Duan' s study on "Gu Jin Zi" (古今字) does not limited to purely exegetical purposes. The historical changes of words ' writing forms, and the justifications to these changes absolutely weighted more in Duan' s "Gu Jin Zi" (古今字) study. We can tell that Duan' s "Gu Jin Zi" (古今字) contained the theory of how words use Characters to record their meanings, which reflected his unique academic pursuits. The theory of the writing forms of a word are the reason why Duan were better than their predecessors in "Gu Jin Zi" (古今字) study . This article would discuss his theoretical achievements on the theory of words' writing forms.