有清一代，訓詁學之發展，成果蔚為大觀，舉凡理論之闡述、方法之運用乃至訓詁之實踐，無不超軼前代，彬彬大盛，論者莫不知之。然清代訓詁學之發展，其間是否有一指導思維以提供論述之基礎？又如何開展？如何落實至具體訓詁著作上？迄今並未有相關學者加以論述。細察清代訓詁學之發展，實以「訓詁之旨，本於聲音」為主要脈絡；其背後乃以〈繫辭〉「以簡馭繁」之思維為指導，乃清代訓詁學家研究之共相。本文以勾稽訓詁方法、理論背後所隱含之思維理路，藉以觀察清代訓詁學者如何結合〈繫辭〉之思維，而突出古漢語之訓詁以「聲音」為核心。旨在以宏觀之視野，考察清代訓詁學最重要之「以聲求義」法背後所隱含之基礎思維，及其對訓詁專著編撰之影響。

The development of historical semantics throughout the Qing dynasty has presented a splendid sight. The scholarly achievements in this field during that period transcended those of previous dynasties in terms of theory, method, and practice. These achievements inspired younger generations, brought great prosperity to the field, encouraged a diversity of views on this subject, and were therefore known to the intelligentsia. There is a majority of literature on the achievements of historical semantics in the Qing dynasty. However, there is little specific guidance on whether there was a guiding philosophy serving as the discursive foundation, how the philosophy was formulated, and how it was applied to related monographs. Reviewing the trajectory of historical semantics in the Qing dynasty, this article identifies a specific context, that is, “the quinta essentia of historical semantics lies in phonology.” The guiding philosophy behind the context was the idea of “coping with complex tasks in a simple and direct way” mentioned in Xi Ci. The studies conducted by the scholars of this field in the Qing dynasty have roughly outlined the theories, methods, and practices of historical semantics. Nevertheless, those studies shared a common deficiency in addressing the guiding philosophy behind this discipline. This article attempts to remedy the deficiency by accomplishing the following research objectives: (1) to reveal the quinta essentia and ideological foundation of historical semantics in the Qing dynasty by reference to the way in which the then iconic scholars applied the context of Xi Ci to their studies; and (2) to investigate how the development of the context influenced the formulation of related theories and the style of related monographs.