况盆铭文与周伐淮夷的史地背景

Inscriptions on the Bronze Kuang Basin and the Historical Geographical Context of the Zhou Expedition against the Huaiyi

2010年,山西翼城大河口西周墓M6096出土1件铜器“况盆”(M6096∶21),发掘简报已对器物的形制、纹饰及铭文作了详细介绍,并据类型特征将其年代推定为西周中、晚期之交[1]。该盆下腹内壁有铸铭8行46字,记载器主随应伯征伐“淮南夷”的经过,有关内容不仅为重新审视淮夷名称及其分布地域等问题,提供了具有关键意义的新线索,而且有助于揭示西周王朝边域经营重心的转变过程。故笔者不揣鄙陋,对此新刊铜器资料试作谫论,未安之处,敬祈方家郢正。

Inscriptions on the kuang basin unearthed from tomb No.6096 at Dahekou in Yicheng,Shanxi record the historical fact that the state of Ying campaigned against the Yi of Southern Huai,who in fact were the Huaiyi people,a tribe of southern Yi origins living along the Huai River.The battlefield near Mount Wei,corresponding to the land of Wei in the northern borderlands of the Chu state recorded in the Zuozhuan,was adjacent to the upper Bi River between the Fangcheng and Tongbai mountains.Due to its strategically important location,the state of Ying was long responsible for protecting the royal house from the Huaiyi people.During the reigns of King Li and Xuan during the late Western Zhou,the campaign against the Huaiyi people mainly happened within and east of the lower-middle Huai River region.This reflects a diachronic shift in the royal house’s management strategy to a focus on the frontiers.It also demonstrates that the Zhou people already had some control over the upper Huai River,as well as the Ru and Ying rivers,due to some degree to the battle of Mount Wei at the beginning reign of King Li.