配儿钩鑃铭文新考

A New Explanation of Inscriptions on Two Eastern Zhou Bronze Musical Instruments

20世纪70年代绍兴出土了两件有铭东周青铜乐器"配儿钩鑃",其铭文残损较严重,铭中第二行中有旧释"冢"或"犬"之残字,实际应为"元"字残划。此字与下文连读为"元子",这里应是一种美称,而并非嫡长子之意。第二行残存的"余"形笔划,本应属某左右结构文字的右半或右上部分,从各方面迹象分析,原字左半当是"邑"旁,是徐国的国名用字。东周时期南方青铜器中"元子"的称谓和人名加"儿"现象等用语用字特征,是有一定分布规律的。"元子"不见于吴、越王室铜器,而极常见于徐国铜器,"儿"字后缀的分布与从南襄盆地向东到淮河流域这片地区有较紧密的联系。再参照其他特征可以推知,该器很可能为徐国灭亡后依附于吴国羽翼之下的徐国贵族所作,是研究灭国后徐国遗民去向和活动的重要史料。

In the 1970s, two Eastern Zhou dynasty bronze musical instruments inscribed with ＂配儿钩鑃＂ were unearthed in Shaoxing, Zhejiang province. Of the already illegible inscription, an incomplete character in the second column, which was formerly read as ＂冢＂ or ＂犬＂; should be ＂元＂. Therefore, ＂元子＂ in the second column is a complimentary appellation, not meaning ＂wife＇s eldest son＂. The remaining part of a character in the second column resembling ＂余＂ is the right component; the left component is probably ＂邑＂; their combination refers to the Xu [徐] state. In inscriptions on Eastern Zhou bronzes from south China, ＂元子＂ as a title is not found on royal bronzes of the Wu and Yue states but common to Xu state vessels, while personal names with the suffix ＂儿＂ are often seen on vessels from the region of the Nanxiang basin to Huai river basin. The current author argues that the owner of these two goudiao can not be a member of the Wu state royal family. They were probably commissioned by a Xu noble man after the Xu state was destroyed by the Wu.