“仓颉造字”传说与“刻画符号”之谜

The Legend of Cang Jie Inventing Chinese Characters and the Enigma of Inscribed Symbols

古史传说的“仓颉造字”即“史皇作图”,就是刻画各种“物象”。许慎《说文解字序》说:“文者,物象之本。”“物象”即事物的象征。我国史前器物上的“刻画符号”,就是中华先民刻“画物象”的产物。它们的含义应与其载体的名义和用途相符合,可称之为“物象文字”(即标识文字)。这种原始的纪事文字,大都刻画在祭祀神灵的礼器上,充当着人神沟通的媒介,具有浓厚的宗教色彩,在中国文字起源和形成过程中具有重要地位。

Legend has it that Cang Jie invented Chinese characters,which were symbols of things.Xu Shen wrote in his Shuowen Jiezi that“Characters are Wuxiang.”Wuxiang means symbols of things.The inscribed symbols on prehistoric objects are“drawings”of early humans.These symbols could be called“pictograms.”Such symbols,mostly inscribed on ritual vessels and acting as a medium between humans and deities,had played an important part in the formation of Chinese characters.