Institute of History and Philology, Academia Sinica

Abstract

The character □ occurs in Yin Dynasty's oracle bone inscriptions. It may also be written as 龜.  This character has often been used in'connection with Yi-Yin, the famous prime minister who helped the founding of the Shang Dynasty. Through an analysis of the formation of the character's components and their pronunciation, we may be certain that either □ or 龜 should be pronounced as chiu (舅 Father in law or brother in law).  People in Yin Dynasty called Yi-Yin chiu, just as people in Cho Dynasty called Chiang Tai Kung (姜太公) chiu. The term 'T'a-Shih (它示) occurs in Yin Dynasty's oracle bone inscriptions.  In the past this term was generally believed to refer to the silkworm deity.  Recently, however, some scholars have maintained that 'T'a-Shih refers to deceased kings indirectly related by blood to the ruling dynasty (旁系先王)-in other words, it refers to Er Shih which is also found in the oracle bone inscriptions.  But when we closely examine the oracle bone inscriptions perfectly strung up, we find that Ta Shih and Er Shih are often juxtaposed side by side, and therefore we may conclude that Ta Shih cannot be identical with Er Shih.
The term □示 occurs in the fourth-period oracle bone inscriptions, but another term, 求示 occurs in the first-period inscriptions, listed between 大示 and 它示. Since the term 旬亡求 in oracle bone inscriptions should be pronounced as 旬亡咎, it may be inferred that 求示 should also be pronounced as 舅示.  Some scholars hold that 'T'a-shih refers to deceased kings indirected related, and therefore is identical with Shiao-Shih (小示). However, when analyzed in terms of semantics, we see that Ta (它) is an indefinite pronoun, meaning "other" of "the rest". Consequently, 'T'a-Shih is not Shiao-Shih.
Traditional literature generally denerally designated Yi Yin as a Ying-Chen (媵臣)-a court offical who accompanied the princess when she was married.  But in the oracle bone inscriptions he was called Fu (奭). From this title we see that he once served as 傅 (Fu).  Since 傅 means the same as Ah (阿) and Pao (保), and the latter two terms refer to Nu-Shih (女師) -girl's teacher, it is understandable why later generations mistakenly considered him a Ying-Chen.
The name Yi Yin occurs in the fourth-period oracle bone inscriptions, whereas the name Huang-Yin occurs in the first period. Whether the two names refer to the same person remain a controversial issue, with different scholars holding completely different views. Now, by comparing and contrasting the various examples of the oracle inscriptions, and by analyzing data on Huang-Yin, we may conclude that the two are the same persou, given different names in different ages.  Moreover, traditional literature and oracle bone inscriptions concur that Yi-Yin accompanied Cheng-Tang (成湯) in the ancestral rites.  But from theo racle bone inscriptions we know that Yi-Yin may also accompany Sang-Chia (上甲) in the ancestral rites. This is because people of the Yin Dynasty, when worshipping their deeased kings, traed the lineage further up.  In the oracle bone inscriptions. Sang-Chia and Chiou (求) were listed together, so it is clear that Chiou refers to none other than Yi-Yin, and that Chiou accompanied Sang-Chia in the rites. Because Yi Yin was included in the Yin Dynasty's system of rites in honor of the deceased kings, it becomes clear that the term Yi Wu Shih (伊五示) refers to Yi-Yin and five deceased kings-Sang-Chia, Ta-Yi, Ta-Ting, Ta-Chia, and Chen-Yi.  Likewise, the term Yi Yo Chio (伊又九) refers to Yi Yin and the nine deceased kings from Ta-Yi to Tsu-Ting in a direct lineage. The term Yi Er Shih San Shih (伊廿三示) refers to Yi-Yin and twenty three deceased kings beginning with Ta-yi and ending with Chu Chia.