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A Paleographic Analysis of the “Yù qī”(Jade-battle-axe) found in the Yinxu Oracle-bone Script

  • Author:

    Jian Chen

  • Page Number:

    78.2:407-434

  • Date:

    2007/06

  • Cite Download

Abstract

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.

Keywords

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

Cite

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Citation Text

Footnote
Jian Chen, “A Paleographic Analysis of the ‘Yù qī’(Jade-battle-axe) found in the Yinxu Oracle-bone Script,” Bulletin of the Institute of History and Philology, Academia Sinica 78.2 (2007): 407-434.

Bibliography
Chen, Jian
2007 “A Paleographic Analysis of the ‘Yù qī’(Jade-battle-axe) found in the Yinxu Oracle-bone Script.” Bulletin of the Institute of History and Philology, Academia Sinica 78.2: 407-434.
Chen, Jian. (2007). A Paleographic Analysis of the “Yù qī”(Jade-battle-axe) found in the Yinxu Oracle-bone Script. Bulletin of the Institute of History and Philology, Academia Sinica, 78(2), 407-434.
Chen, Jian. “A Paleographic Analysis of the ‘Yù qī’(Jade-battle-axe) found in the Yinxu Oracle-bone Script.” Bulletin of the Institute of History and Philology, Academia Sinica 78, no. 2 (2007): 407-434.
Chen, Jian. “A Paleographic Analysis of the ‘Yù qī’(Jade-battle-axe) found in the Yinxu Oracle-bone Script.” Bulletin of the Institute of History and Philology, Academia Sinica, vol. 78, no. 2, 2007, pp. 407-434.
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