曾侯乙墓车軎铭文新释

A New Interpretation of the Axle-cap Inscription from Marquis Yi of Zeng’s Tomb

曾侯乙墓北室出土的车軎铭文第二个字形当释为“之軝”二字合文,“軝”指车軎。最后一字疑释为从金、毌声,读为“键”,指车辖。包山简竹牍1、竹简276号“[金氏]”字应读为“軝”,指车軎;简文中的两个“釱(轪)”字,前一个指车輨,后一个指车辖。

The second character in the inscription on an axle-cap,unearthed from the northern chamber of Marquis Yi of Zeng’s tomb,should be interpret at ed as a compound character combining zhi 之 and qi 軝,the second of which refers to axle-cap.The last character in the inscription is possibly comprised of signific jin金,with guan 毌 as phonetic,and could be read as jian 键 "linchpin".The character [金氏] in the Baoshan bamboo tablet no.1 and slip no.276 should be read as qi 軝,referring to axle-cap.Of the two occurrences of dai 釱(轪) found on slip no.276,the first one refers to the axle-case and the second to the linchpin.