论史墙盘及其意义

THE BRONZE P’AN-BASIN MADE BY THE COURT HISTORIAN CH’IANG AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE~*

陕西省岐山、扶风两县交界处的周原遗址,是现已发现的最重要的西周遗址之一,也是西周青铜器的一个主要出土地点。西汉时张敞考释的尸臣鼎,大约即出于此地。清代中叶以来,这里发现青铜器的记录连续不绝,一些著名重器,如天亡簋、大小盂鼎、毛公鼎等,都是周原出土的。遗址范围内曾多次发现青铜器窖藏,最有价值的有1890年任家村的膳夫克器群,1933年康家村的函皇父器群,1942年任家村的膳夫梁其器群,还有解放后1960年在齐家村,1974年在强家村,1975年在董家村发掘的三处窖藏。这些窖藏各为一家奴隶主贵族的礼器,器物成组成套,铭文互有关联,有特殊的意义。

The text of the inscription found on the bronze p'an-basin made by the court historian Chiang of the Western Chou gives an account of the accomplishments of the first six rulers of the dyansty from King Wen through King Mu. It then goes on to say that the 'Son of Heaven' further brought peace and stability to the land, indicating that this Son of Heaven was apparently not the same ruler as King Mu. The author belives that the vessel must have dated from the reign of King Kung, which fact is also borne out by the shape of the vessel and the script style of the inscription. The inscription is of great importance to the study of the history of the Western Cbou as the establishment of the Chou rule by King Wu and his various military campaigns, as well as the vain attempt of King Chao to conquer Ch'u (modern Hupei) related in it supplment details to other documentary sources of ancient China. The two hundred eighty-four characters of the text form an integal whole in context. Apart from eulogizing the early Chou rulers, the first part of the inscription stresses the role played by their various ministers. The second part contains a brief history of Ch'iang's family. Thus, we know that the founder of the family originally resided in the Wei a vassal state, of the Yin kings located to the north of modern Lu-ch'eng County in Shansi Province. He did not come to the Chou court to do obeisance to King Wu until the latter conquered the Yin but from then on he settled in the Chou capital where both he and the successive generations of his descendants served as the court historians. It is interesting to observe that the customs related in the inscription still attest to the influence of the Yin people.