一组甲骨卜辞中“翌” 之意义推论

提要:

中国商代甲骨《小屯南地甲骨》 2106、214 及《甲骨文合集》 6054、 9615、11215、13878、20656、21579记载有反映当时农耕、天象、狩猎、战争情况的卜辞，但其中“翌”的意义很特别，用以往的考释成果无法通读卜辞。本文着眼于甲骨卜辞作为文化镜像的系统性特征，从时间的语言表达、农业耕作传统、祭祀周期、天文历法等多个子系统多角度推进，深入研讨该组卜辞中“翌”的意义。我们认为：该组卜辞中的“翌”源于“翌祀”活动，“翌祀”与黍禾类庄稼的生长收获周期时间和周期位置重叠，所以可以用前者来转喻后者。“翌”可以表示“翌祀”周期的大约四个月时间，也可以表示处于“翌祀”周期中的时日。该研究解释了该组卜辞中“翌”的释义疑惑，并且希望其体现的语言学价值和文献意义对理解同时期的铜器铭文、祭祀和农耕制 度、补充卜辞中有关时间的文献资料提供积极的帮助。

The oracle-bone inscriptions of the ancient Shang dynasty of China recorded on XiaoTunnandi Jiagu 小 屯 南 地 甲 骨 (ZKY 1980) 2106, 214, and Jiaguwen Heji 甲骨文合集 (Guo and Hu 1978–1983) 6054, 9615, 11215, 13878, 20656, 21579 are of great academic values for studying the farming, weather, hunting and war of 3000 years ago. However, the meanings of one critical character yi 翌 in these oracle-bone inscriptions is still unclear, and it is difficult to accurately understand the oracle-bone inscriptions following the existing research achievements that yi 翌 means ‘one kind of sacrificing activity’ or ‘the second day’. Based on the systematic property of oracle-bone inscriptions as a cultural image, this paper has studied the meanings of yi 翌 in these oracle-bone inscriptions from such cultural subsystems as the expressions of time, the tradition of farming and the sacrifice circle. This paper has concluded that yi 翌 in this group of oracle-bone inscriptions derived from the yi-form (yi si 翌祀) sacrificing activities, indicating an around 4-month cycle of a yi-form sacrificing activity or the time of the yi-form sacrificing activity, which has the same cycle and location as the plant he 禾 growing and harvesting. So yi 翌 in this group of oracle-bone inscriptions is a metonymy of the yi-form sacrificing activities. These meanings of yi 翌 are helpful to interpret the related oracle inscriptions and the bronze inscriptions of the same period. They along with the article are also present in strong linguistic value and documentation significance for learning about the ancient culture of farming and hunting and for investigating the time expressions in the oracle-bone inscriptions and bronze wares’ inscriptions of the Shang dynasty.