上古时称大采、小采命名之义初探

On the Reason for Naming Da Cai and Xiao Cai in Remote Ages

殷卜辞中使用过的时间术语-大采、小采,大约在战国末至汉代以前失传了。因此,后人长期不得其解,或知其然而不知其所以然。鉴于古文献中保留下来的相关资料十分稀罕,本文首先通过逐一考察自古及今有关的各种解说,梳理出问题之脉络与症结;进而,运用文化语言学的阐释方法,对诸如本义采摘、采集的“采”为何被用作了时间术语?大采、小采相对时序位置后面蕴藏着什么样的自然背景和人文习俗等问题逐层予以探索和考证,初步揭示了大采、小采作为时称的“命名之义”。

Da Cai and Xiao Cai, two time terminologies which appeared in the divinations of the Yin Dynasty, prob-ably haven' t been used after the period from the late stage of the Vanquished Nations to the Han Dynasty. So thelater generations didn' t understand their original meanings and made wrong explanations. In l945, Dong Zuo Bin,the famous scholar, first confirmed that Da Cai and Xiao Cai in the divinations of the Yin Dynasty were two time ter-minologies. This paper has made further revelation on the reason for naming the two ancient time terminologiesthrough research from varied angles.