原文

铅一名连，徐广说：连，是铅没有冶炼之前的状态。以前王莽铸造钱币都用铜，掺杂连和锡。孟康说：连，是锡的别名。李奇说：铅，是锡的原矿，名叫连。应劭说：连像铜。许慎说：链，是铜一类的金属。连州有铅锡冶炼工场，所以用这个字命名州。然而现在广东的锡多从广西贺县运来，贺县出产锡，所以名叫贺。贺，就是锡的意思。俗话说：羊脂能软化铜，公羊角能使贺（锡）收缩。然而广东的长乐、兴宁、河源、永安都产锡，质地坚硬色泽洁白超过西洋锡，有马蹄、蜈蚣、门限这些名称，贫苦百姓依靠采锡为生，天启末年以来非常兴盛。另外韶州也产锡，余靖说，韶州地处岭南要塞，出产各种金属，四方的民众聚集在这里无所事事，诉讼纠纷常常比其他郡县多一倍，都是因为争夺锡矿洞穴的缘故，那么宋代时韶州确实有很多锡了。

白话

中文

铅的另一个名称是“连”。徐广说：“连”是没有经过冶炼的铅。以前王莽铸造钱币都用铜，并掺杂连和锡。孟康认为，“连”是锡的另一种叫法。李奇则说：铅，是锡的原矿石，名字叫“连”。应劭说：“连”看起来像铜。许慎说：“链”是铜的一种。连州因为有铅和锡的冶炼工场，所以以此命名。不过，现在广东的锡大多是从广西的贺县运来的，贺县因为出产锡，所以取名为“贺”，“贺”就是锡的意思。有句俗话说：“羊脂能使铜变软，公羊角能使贺（锡）收缩。”然而，广东的长乐、兴宁、河源、永安等地也都出产锡，其质地坚硬、色泽洁白，品质超过进口的西洋锡，有“马蹄”、“蜈蚣”、“门限”等不同的名称。贫苦的百姓依靠开采锡矿维持生计，从明朝天启末年以来，采锡业非常兴盛。此外，韶州也出产锡。余靖曾说，韶州地处岭南要塞，出产多种金属，四方的游民聚集于此，诉讼纠纷常常比其他郡县多一倍，这都是因为争夺锡矿洞穴引起的。由此可见，宋代时韶州的锡矿资源确实非常丰富。

英文

Lead has another name, "Lian" (连). Xu Guang said: "Lian is lead before it is smelted." In the past, when Wang Mang minted coins, he used copper mixed with Lian and tin. Meng Kang believed that "Lian" was another name for tin. Li Qi, however, stated: Lead is the raw ore of tin, named "Lian". Ying Shao said: "Lian" resembles copper. Xu Shen said: "Lian" (链, a different character but potentially related in ancient context) is a type of copper. Lianzhou was named so because it had lead and tin smelting workshops. However, nowadays, most of the tin in Guangdong comes from He County in Guangxi. He County is named "He" because it produces tin, as "He" (贺) means tin. There is a saying: "Sheep fat can soften copper, and ram's horn can shrink He (tin)." Nevertheless, areas in Guangdong such as Changle, Xingning, Heyuan, and Yong'an also produce tin. Its quality, being hard and white, surpasses that of imported foreign tin. It comes in different forms known as "horse hoof," "centipede," and "door sill." The poor rely on mining tin for their livelihood, and this industry has flourished since the end of the Tianqi reign (late Ming Dynasty). Furthermore, Shaoguan also produces tin. Yu Jing once mentioned that Shaoguan, located at a strategic pass in Lingnan, produced various metals. Idle people from all directions gathered there, and lawsuits and disputes were often double those in other prefectures, all due to conflicts over tin mines. This indicates that Shaoguan was indeed rich in tin resources during the Song Dynasty.

文化解读/分析

此条目首先探讨了“连”字的古义，通过引述多位汉晋学者的观点，揭示了“连”在古代既可指未提炼的铅，也可能是锡的别名或原矿，反映了古人对铅、锡这两种性质相近的金属在认识和命名上的演变与混淆。其次，条目将语源考证与地理、经济相结合，说明了广东“连州”和广西“贺县”的地名来源与其丰富的铅锡矿产资源直接相关，体现了矿产在地方命名和区域经济中的重要性。条目详细记述了明末清初广东本地（长乐、兴宁、河源、永安、韶州）锡矿的分布、开采盛况、锡的种类（马蹄、蜈蚣、门限，可能指锡锭的不同形状或品质等级）及其优良品质（“坚白甲于洋锡”），凸显了锡矿开采在当时广东地方经济和底层民生中的支柱作用（“贫民采者赖以生”）。同时，通过引述余靖关于宋代韶州因争夺锡矿导致社会纠纷频发的记载，反映了矿产资源开发可能引发的社会矛盾与治理问题。引用的“羊脂耎铜，牡羊角缩贺”谚语，则可能蕴含了当时民间关于金属物理性质的朴素认知或某种加工技艺的经验总结，具有一定的民俗学和科技史研究价值。总体而言，该条目不仅是关于“连”字和锡矿的博物志记录，更折射出明清时期广东的矿产经济、地方社会、民俗认知及历史变迁。

关键词

连、铅、锡、矿产、广东、连州、贺县、长乐、兴宁、河源、永安、韶州、屈大均、广东新语、货语、明末清初、经济史、地名、民俗、冶炼、锡矿、王莽、徐广、孟康、李奇、应劭、许慎、余靖