摘要
本文主要討論《殷墟甲骨刻辭類纂》頁1263收為3262號字頭釋作「玉」的那個字（以下用△代替），其代表字形作 、 。研究者大都承認，△字在卜辭中當是表示「玉器」一類意思或是專指某一種「玉器」，但對其字形則有釋讀為「朋」、「寶」、「玉」、「珏」、「琮」和「賏」等多種異說。從近年所見甲骨論著看，似乎信從釋「玉」和釋「琮」兩說的研究者最多。
本文排比分析殷墟甲骨文中△字的不同形體，聯繫族氏金文中象形性更強的△字，通過跟殷墟甲骨文中「戚」字的象形字形和出土的商周「玉戚」實物之形仔細比較，論證了△是玉戚的象形字，其字形象鋒刃朝上放置的兩側有齒牙形扉棱的戚體之形。
接下來本文進一步梳理△及以它為偏旁的字在殷墟甲骨文裏的用法，指出義為「玉戚」的△在卜辭中或用為祭品，或用為臣下向商王等的獻納之物。以△為偏旁的字有些跟△用法也相同，當是其假借字或繁體。
最後本文結合「戈」與「圭」、「王」與斧鉞類武器「揚」在字形和讀音上相類似的平行關係，認為「玉戚」字△的讀音可能與「戚」相近，△是由武器「戚」轉化為禮玉，又將「戚」字讀音稍加改變而來。據此推測，「玉戚」字△就是《爾雅‧釋器》裏的「琡」字，其他古書和出土文獻裏或寫作「（璹）」、「」，或假借「」字為之。
The central topic of this article is the character identified as yù 玉 in the Yinxu jiagu keci leizuan, page 1263, entry 3262 (indicated below with the symbol △). Typical forms for this graph are and . The majority of scholars agree that the graph △ refers to a category of yùqì 玉器 (jade objects) or specifically denotes a particular type of jade object, and several different transcriptions have been suggested, for example péng 朋, bǎo 寶, yù玉, jué 珏, cóng 琮 and yīng 賏. On the basis of recent works on oracle-bone inscriptions, it seems that yù and cóng are the most commonly employed transcriptions.
The present work analyzes the different forms of the character △ found on the Yinxu oracle bones, along with the more pictographic forms of the character found on bronze inscriptions. This article makes a detailed comparison of these graphs with the oracle-bone script character qī 戚 and compares its form to that of excavated Shang and Zhou yù qī 玉戚 (jade-battle-axes). Extensive comparison demonstrates that △ is a pictograph depicting the head of such a yù qī. The graph shows the upwards-facing blade and its notched sides.
The paper then surveys the usage in the Yinxu oracle-bone script of △ and other graphs in which it appears as a component, showing that the character △ is used in the inscriptions to denote a sacrificial offering or an object presented by a subordinate to a superior, such as the Shang king. Among graphs which use △ as a component, some have the same usage as △ itself, suggesting that these are loangraphs or complex variant forms.
Finally this paper looks at the relationship between the character forms and ancient Chinese pronunciations of gē 戈 and guī 圭 on one hand, and between wáng 王 and the axe-type weapon yáng 揚 on the other, and parallels this with the △ and qī, suggesting that the pronunciation of the word denoted by △ (depicting the head of a yù qī) should probably be close to that of qī, or “battle-axe.” The character △ depicts a ceremonial jade which developed from the weapon qī, and its pronunciation is derived from that of the word qī. It is conjectured that the graph △ corresponds to the character chù 琡 found in section of the Er ya entitled Shì qì 釋器 (explanation of vessels). In other early transmitted texts and excavated materials, the word is written as (shú 璹), and sometimes the character 㕚 is borrowed to denote the word.
關鍵詞
殷墟甲骨文 古文字考釋 玉器 玉戚 琡
Yinxu oracle-bone script, paleographic analysis, jade objects, yù qī (jade-battle-axe), chù 琡