“言”与商周礼仪及其歌咏——汉文化歌唱传统探源

Speech,Rituals and Chanting in the Shang and Zhou Dynasties: An Exploration into the Tradition of Chanting in Han Chinese Culture

本文以卜辞、周代铭文材料的训释解读为依据,对商代、周初礼仪及其歌咏情况作了梳理,得出如下观点或推断:甲文"言"之初义取象于"口簧说话",口簧用以表情达意,说话交流的功能是后世"言"字派生出"言语"之义的根据;口簧乐器演奏所具有的"以乐传语"、"以语定乐"之特点,正是后世"歌永言"传统"以乐传辞"、"以文化乐"的原初范型。以口簧说话为造字背景的同源异构字言、舌、告,在卜辞时代其语言学意义和人文内涵已渐分化,其字指义始有所偏重而各有不同。先秦文献所谓飨、食、燕则是由卜辞告、舌、言三礼进化而来。口簧演奏的"以乐传语"、"以语定乐"之特点确曾影响了商周仪式歌咏,进而促进了汉文化"歌永言"这一歌唱传统的形成与建构。

Based on the critical interpretation of oracle bone scripts and bronze inscriptions from the Zhou Dynasty,the paper attempts to delineate the rituals and chanting in the Shang and early Zhou Dynasties. The paper proposes that the original meaning of'word'(言 yan) in the oracle bone script was imaged from the buccal reed talk,and that the communicative function of the buccal reed was the basis for the derivation of the meaning'speech'(言语 yanyu) from the character'yan'. The features of'conveying language in music'and'confirming music with language'in the buccal reed performance were the primary forms of'rhetoric in music'and'language into music'in the later tradition of'chanting as speech. 'The etymological paronyms of'word'(言 yan),tongue(舌 she),tell(告 gao),had already taken on different linguistic and cultural meanings in the oracle bone scripts. The paper concludes that the features in the buccal reed performance had influenced the ritual chanting in the Shang and Zhou Dynasties and helped to promote the formation and construction of the'chanting as speech'tradition in Han Chinese culture.