甲骨文“■”字新释

New Interpretation of the Character “■” in Oracle Bone Inscriptions

以往有学者将甲骨文的"■"字释为"■",认为此字从(即今之"帽"字)从虎,描绘了古代作战时,武士身披虎皮为伪装,逞其凶猛的情形。"■"实际应分析为从网从(某种有别于老虎的动物),表示用网抓捕,是"网"的合文或专字。殷商时期,将士是否真的披戴虎皮以恐吓敌人,尚无法从甲骨文中得以证实。

Previous scholars used to transcript the character "■" in the oracle bone inscriptions to be"■", arguing that this character was made up of "mao ■"(cap) and"hu 虎"(tiger). Their interpretation is that this character structure describes a warrior wearing tiger skin to demonstrate his courage in com bat. However, this character consists of " "(moder character wang 网, which means net), and"(an ani mal which is not tiger)". The interpretation of this character should be to catch with net. It is unable to prove whether warriors during the Shang wore tiger skins to threaten their enemies from Oracle bone inscriptions.