A Study On The Reasons of Using "惟" Instead Of "懷" In Cursive Script—An Analysis Based On Traditional Chinese Linguistics

Abstract

Since the time of Suo Jing in the Western Jin Dynasty, the phenomenon of using the cursive script "惟" to represent "懷" has become widespread in cursive writing. This phenomenon is exclusive to cursive script, and when Huaisu of the Tang Dynasty used the cursive form of "惟" to write his monastic name, it further reinforced the misconception that the cursive "惟" is equivalent to "懷". No reverse instances of using "懷" to represent "惟" have been found in cursive script, indicating that the two are not the same character in cursive form but rather a unique ancient phonetic homonym phenomenon in cursive writing. Given that calligraphy studies itself cannot explain this phenomenon, this article is written to trace its origins and clarify the one-directional homonym relationship between  "惟" and "懷" in cursive script from the perspective of traditional philology.