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.
Yinxu oracle-bone script, paleographic analysis, jade objects, yù qī (jade-battle-axe), chù 琡
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