释■北■南

The Explanation of Qi Bei Sang Nan(■北■南)

怀特氏等收藏甲骨文集有"于新■北■南"一辞,释文颇多争议。本文依同类辞例,推论"■""■"皆地名,前者释"其"读为"杞",后者释"桑",为空桑之地专用字。辞句意为"在杞之北(空)桑之南打柴"。

There are widespread controversies about the explanation of the yu xin qi bei sang nan(于新■北■南)which is in the Oracle Bones from the White and Other Collections(《怀特氏等收藏甲骨文集》).Based on some similar oracle-bone inscriptions,this paper deduces that qi(■)and sang(■)are place names.Both of them are special characters of the place kongsang(空桑).The former is qi(其)which is read as qi(杞),and the latter is sang(桑).The meaning of the sentence is collecting firewood at the north of qi(杞)and the south of sang(桑).