《尚书》名称源流考

Examination of Meaning and Origin of the Nomenclature of Book of Documents

作为“尚书”之名的主干,“书”字在先秦时期的指涉范围,广义上指一切书写记录的文本,而狭义上正是指《尚书》这一类的政治公文档案总集。“夏书”“商书”“周书”即夏、商、周三朝及其后代子孙保存、搜集的本国历代以君、臣训诰为主的记录档案。唐以前关于《尚书》的命名者有三种说法,即“欧阳氏先君说”“孔子说”“伏生说”,关于其名称的形成时间亦有不同说法。不断涌现的出土材料对考证《尚书》名称的含义与源流提供了重要凭证。通过对传世典籍、出土文献的考证可以推论出,《尚书》之名战国末叶已出现,汉初至汉中叶欧阳家族的《尚书》传人对这一名称之流行于世应有所助力。

During the Pre-qin Dynasty,the word“book”refers to all written documentation in general in its broad sense,while in its narrow sense,as the stem of Book of Documents,it refers specifically to political books of documents.For example,“Xiashu”,“Shangshu”and“Zhoushu”are documentation of monarch-to-minister speeches and commandsin Xia,Shang,and Zhou Dynasties,respectively,which are comprised of articles collected and maintained over time from these Dynastie stolater generations.There were three major opinions regarding the namer of Book of Documents before the Tang Dynasty,which included“ancestor of the Ouyangs”,“Confucius”and“Fusheng”.Different views were also presentabout when the title was finalized.With the constantly unearthed materials,new insights have been provided into the meaning and origin of the name of Book of Documents.Through careful examination of both classicedition and unearthed materials,it can be inferred that the nomenclature of Book of Documents appeared as early as the end of the Warring States period,and its spreading in the world should be partly attributable to the Ouyangs in the early and middle Han Dynasty.