西周墙盘铭文笺释

NOTES ON THE INSCRIPTION OF THE P’AN-BASIN MADE BY CH’IANG OF THE WESTERN CHOU

墙盘于一九七六年十二月出土于陕西省扶风县法门公社周原宫庙遗址附近。周初东迁丰镐以后,其地仍为陪都重镇。此次出土的窖藏铜器共一○三件,有铭文的七十三件,而此盘文字秀丽工整,所述史事尤为重要(图一)。全文共二百八十二字,前一部分历叙西周前期文武成康昭穆六王的重要史迹,后一部分是作器者自叙其家世五代之事,对旧史既可相互印证,间亦可补苴其不足,是我们研究西周前期史一件十分重要的铜器。现将全文分为十二节笺释如次:

In December 1976, a hoard containing a total of 103 pieces of ancient bronzes was discovered in the vicinity of a recently excavated palace (or temple) remains as Chou Yuan 周原, an ancient name for the area of modern Fu-feng and Ch'i-shan Counties, in the Fa-men Commune of Fu-feng County, Shensi Province. The P'an-basin made by Ch'iang is one of the seventy-three inscribed bronzes from the group. Its inscription of 282 charac ters, written in a neat and very handsome script, throws much new light on the early history of the Chou people. Its first part enumerated the important events which took place during the reigns of the first six rulers (Kings Wen, Wu, Ch'eng, K'ang, Chao and Mu) of the Western Chou while the second part relates the history of the Ch'iang's family through five generations. It is, therefore, of utmost importance to the study of the early history of the Western Chou. For the convenience of his discussion, the author has divided the text of the inscription into twelve sections. The gist of his opinion may be summed up as follows: 1. During the reign of King Wu of the Western Chou, who took the Yin capital at Anyang and overthrew the Yin Dynasty, the Chou rule had not yet reached the area of modern Shantung. The establishment of the feudal fiefs of Ch'i and Lu there probably dates from after his reign. 2. King Ch'eng had promulgated some beneficial laws during his reign and King K'ang further promulgated new laws concerning the distribution of land and the levying of land tax. The author believes that these facts had much to do with the peace and prosperity enjoyed during these two reigns. 3. King Chao's campaign against the region of the Ch'u people (modern Hupei) dragged on for four years but ended in failure. Ch'iang was an offspring of the Yin royal clan and lived during the reign of King Mu. He served as a member of the latter's retinue and eulogized his king in the text of the inscription but refrained from making any reference to the change of the dynasty. He only referred vaguely to the surrender of his progenitor Chieh Wei to the Chou king while the fact of Ch'ieh Wei's son's being held as a hostage was euphemized as 'being sent to see King Wu'. The inscription is also of much value to the study of early Chinese scripts.