囊橐辨

A Study on the Distinction Between the Chinese Characters Nang(囊)and Tuo(橐)in Early China

囊橐詞義之别自漢以來至少有五種主要意見,其中尤以囊橐孰爲有底、孰爲無底爭議爲巨。晚商、早周金文中釋囊橐的兩組字存在有底、無底之别,而天王簋中據押韻情況釋作囊者,其字形無底、兩端束口,與僕麻卣等銘文中一端束口、當釋作橐者不同。其時應是無底曰囊、有底曰橐。甲骨文中亦有這樣兩組字以有底、無底爲區别特徵,文例區别顯然,亦是無底者爲囊、有底者爲橐。故知故訓無底曰囊、有底曰橐是正確的,或者説至少符合晚商、早周文字之基本情況。

There are five main arguments on the semantic distinction between the Chinese characters Nang(囊)and Tuo(橐)in early China.The primary debate is on which one refers to the beg with a bottom.In the late Shang and early Western Zhou bronze inscriptions,there are two sets of graphs that refer to begs,and their formal distinction is whether the graphs have a bottom.Focusing on the Tianwang(天亡)Gui inscription,the paper demonstrates that the graph that looks like a beg,tied on two sides without a bottom,must be read as Nang.It suggests that in the bronze inscriptions,the graph Nang refers to the beg without a bottom,whereas the graph Tuo means the beg with a bottom.In the oracle bone inscriptions,there are two similar sets of graphs.Based on a semantic examination of their context,it is clear that their semantic distinction is similar to bronze inscriptions.Therefore,the paper concludes that in early China,the graph Nang refers to the beg without a bottom,whereas the graph Tuo means the beg with a bottom.