禹鼎的年代及其相关问题

NOTES ON THE YU TING

此鼎於1942年出土於陕西岐山县任家村(距法门寺五里)。同时出土铜器一百馀件,下落不详;惟此鼎於1951年由收藏人献给政府,现存陕西省博物馆。宋代出土铜器有称穆公鼎者,著录於薛尚功历代钟鼎彝器款识及王俅啸堂集古录,与此鼎铭文全同。作器之人为禹,禹字叔向父亦见叔向父簋,薛王两书皆误作'成',故亦有称此鼎为成鼎者。此两禹鼎既同为禹所作器,当时或分殉两人,各瘗一地,故两器出土时间,竟相去千载。薛、王两书出於摹写,认误较多,且其器早已亡佚;此器出土後即可据以订正。金石之学,宋人开创之功固不可没,但其摹写不精,错误歧出,有待後人补苴者至多,此铭即其一例。

The Yü ting was cnearthed in 1942 at the village of Je Chai Ts'un, Ch'i Shan County,Shensi. In 1951, it was donated by the owner to the Shensi Provincial Museum at Sian, thusfurther enriching a collection which already boasted of one of the most important collections ofWestern Chou bronzes in China. The vessel bears an inscription of 205 words which is a valuable document regarding amilitary campaign conducted by the Western Chou against its neighboring tribes to the south. Since 1951, articles devoted to the study of this important inscription have already been publish-ed by several scholars.* In this paper, after first establishing the date of this vessel, the authorgoes on to expound some historical problems related to this inscription. The second section of this article deals with the gencalogy of Yu, and his date. Accordingto the author, this Yu was a feudal lord in the district of Hsin (井) who also made the Su HsiangFu kuei (叔向父簋) And he attributes Yu to the time of the Li Wang (厉王) of WesternChou. The third section is devoted to the problem of identity of the Prince Wu (武公) referred to inthe inscription. The author refutes the arguments of Chen Chin Yi that, thc Prince Wu was thePrince Wu of Wei(卫武公) mentioned in the 'Wei Shih Chai' (卫世家) of the Shih Chi.On the basis of a careful study of both the inscription itself and the records of Chinese annals,the author comes to the conclusion that this Prince Wu was contemporaneous with the Yung YiKung (荣夷公) in the time of the Li Wang. And like the latter he was probably also ahigh court official of the time, not to be confused with the Prince Wu of Wei who had servedfor sometime as the regent before the Hsuan Wang (宣王) ascended to the throne. The fourth section treats of the military campaigns conducted by the Western Chou againstits neighbors to the south, particularly the Southern Huai Yi (南淮夷) who were only secondto the people of Ch'u in bearing the brunt of the Western Chou's attacks. Both the texts of manyWestern Chou bronze inscriptions and the records of Chinese annals seem to suggest that thecampaign against the Southern Huai Yi mentioned in the inscription of the Yu ting took placein the reign of the Li Wang. Incidentally, reference to this same campaign is also found inthe inscription of the Wu kuci (敔簋). The fifth section discusses the problem of the geographical location of the state of Ngo (鄂)which was also referred to in many other classics as Ngo (噩). Before the rise of the state ofCh'u, Ngo had been a powerful state which played a vital role in the strategic plans of theWestern Chou against the Southern Huai Yi and the Eastern Yi. The inscription on the Yuting relates that the king of Western Chou ordered the Wu Kung to quell the rebellion ofthe Marquis of Ngo who had attacked the Western Chou with the help of these two tribes.in the end victory was, of course, won by the Western Chou but the loss of such a usefultool as the Ngo had always been to them also greatly weakened the position of the Western Chouin their dealings with the Southern Huai Yi and other tribes. The last section is devoted to a discussion of the military organization of the Western Chou.The author tries to show that the 'Western Six Divisons' (西六?) were equivalent to thegarrison forces of the capital which were under the direct command of the king himself. The'Eight Divisions of Ch'elng Chou' (成周八?) and the 'Eight Divisions of the Yin' (殷八?)were the garrison forces used respectively to control the Southern Huai Yi and the Eastern Yi.But about the time of the reign of the Yi Wang, or perhaps as early as in the reign of the MuWang, the 'Eight Divisions of the Yin' had already been withdrawn to the west. Hence,theinscriptions on the Yu ling referred to the use of both the 'Western Six Divisions' and the'Eight Divisions of Yin' against the Ngo.