楚文字“砫”字补说

On the Complimentary Notes of‘Zhu’Character in the Chu Writing System

关于楚文字中“砫”字构形问题,学界一般认为从石主声是“重”字异构。汉语中的“重”,有“古代丧礼中在虞祭之前,用木制成暂代主牌以依神之物”之义。我们结合相关文献及考古资料,认为“砫”当看作从石从主,主亦声的字。我们认为“砫”为“重”字异构,与古代丧礼中虞祭之前暂代“主”用来依附死者灵魂之“重”密切相关。秦灭六国,“重”行而“砫”废。但是,“砫”的一些义项则保留在“重”字中。

Regarding the configuration of the character‘zhu’(主)in the Chu writing system,it is generally suggested that this character consists of the radical‘shi’(石)with the component‘zhu’(主)serving as the phonetic indicator,which is considered a variant of the character‘zhong’(重).In Chinese,‘zhong’refers to“the wood used to make a temporary memorial tablet for the soul of the deceased to attach in ancient funeral rites before the Yu sacrifice.Based on relevant literature and archaeological data,this paper proposes that both‘shi’and‘zhu’are radical components of this character,with‘zhu’also serving as the phonetic component.Additionally,the‘zhu’in the Yu ritual had a close relationship with‘zhong’referring to the tablet for the descendant’s spirit to attach.After the Qin Dynasty’s annexation of the Six Kingdoms,‘zhong’became widely used,while‘zhu’was abolished.However,some of the meanings of‘zhu’have persisted in the definition of the character‘zhong’.