谈云南少数民族记事木刻的文化内涵

On the Cultural Connotation of Keeping a Recordof the Minority Events on Notched Wood in Yunnan

契刻是文字产生之前的一种常见的记事方式,与文字的产生有密切的关系。云南许多少数民族都有刻木记事的习俗,广泛用来记日、记数,作为信函、通知,作债约凭证、婚姻会盟的信物,或记录重要事件等,蕴涵着丰富的文化内涵,既有民俗学价值,又有文字学意义。

Notching, which was closely connected with the beginning of characters, was a daily- wised method of keeping a record of event. In Yunnan, most minority nationalities had a custom of keeping record of events by notching wed, which was wed to keep a record of days and number or wood on letters, notice and taker of marriage or wood to keep a record of important events. The notching, which rich in its culture connation, has its own value of both folklore and philology.