西周金文中的“贾”

Character "贾" in Bronze Inscriptions of the Western Zhou Period

The author of the present paper deciphers the character “贾” in Western Zhou bronze inscriptions to be “gu贾”. He believes that its emergence was earlier than that of the character “zhu贮”,and that there was some relationship of inheritance between the “贾”in Warring States period writing and that in Western Zhou bronze inscriptions. In the Western Zhou, it was used mainly as a verb and meant trade and exchange. It could also be used as a noun, meaning officials in charge of commerce, such as “guzheng贾正” and “gushi贾师”.Sometimes it referred to a lcal state. During the early Western Zhou, there must have been traders specially engaged in long-distance transportation of goods for sale, but at present we have no evidence on the Dynastry's management of commercial activities. In the mid Western Zhou, high-ranking officials of the court interposed in trade. In the late Western Zhou, definite records about the Dynastry's sending officials to manage commerce appeared in bronze inscriptions and historical documents.

The author of the present paper deciphers the character '贾' in Western Zhou bronze inscriptions to be 'gu 贾 . ' He believes that its emergence was earlier than that of the character 'zhu PH,' and that there was some relationship of inheritance between the '贾' in Warring States period writing and that in Western Zhou bronze inscriptions. In the Western Zhou, it was used mainly as a verb and meant trade and exchange. It could also be used as a noun, meaning officials in charge of commerce, such as 'guzheng 贾正' and 'gushi 贾师 .' Sometimes it referred to a local state. During the early Western Zhou, there must have been traders specially engaged in long-distance transportation of goods for sale, but at present we have no evidence on the Dynasty's management of commercial activities. In the mid Western Zhou, high-ranking officials of the court interposed in trade. In the late Western Zhou, definite records about the Dynasty' s sending officials to manage commerce appeared in bronze inscriptions and historical documents.