The Meaningand Function of the Word zhen 貞 on the Genealogy of Ni Lineage Patriarchs

饒宗頤在《華學》第三輯中曾經説:'大英博物院所藏的唯一殷代家譜記録的《兒氏家譜刻辭》上面開頭便記下一個‘貞’字,懷疑派的人們反致疑於這片的可信性,是由於不明白貞的涵義。'但是饒先生當時没有展開討論。爲此,筆者想趁這個機會給饒公之文加個注解,並且提出《兒氏家譜刻辭》(或可稱《兒氏宗子譜》)不但是'真品',而且是'正品'的新看法。一般學者對於'貞'字在商代占卜語言中的作用,多采'小學説'(即《説文解字》'卜問也'之定義),以爲是卜問的意思。不過也有學者認爲'貞'作'卜問'解是後起之義。通過對午組、子組,及花園莊東地等非王卜辭使用'貞'字的考察與比較,筆者認爲采用吴其昌、饒宗頤、高本漢、司禮義等人的'繫聲説'(即其與鼎、正、當、定、證之字源關係)來考定它的意義,確實要遠勝於被廣泛接受的'小學説'。所以本文提出'貞'有驗證、公證、正當、正確之類的含義,當名詞(Certificate/certification/verification)、動詞(To certify;to verify)或形容詞(Certified/verified)用均可。既然商代占卜刻辭中'貞'字有正、當、定、證等意思,我們可以推論'貞'字這樣的用法也同樣不例外地適用於《兒氏家譜刻辭》。换言之,《兒氏家譜刻辭》的第一個字'貞'表示'確定'及'公證',意即公證或宣示兒氏的家譜。本文第二部分討論爲什麽需要宣示公證家譜?筆者認爲作爲一個家族的宗子來説,不管是爲了表現在祭祀活動或大宗會的平臺上,還是做主決斷宗族時有的若干問題(比如財産、房地産、繼承遺産等等)時,最能够證明他是正當的宗子的,就是這麽一個備用'證'。最後本文論證這一個家譜的持有者應該是名單上的最後一個宗子'商'。

This paper addresses the meaning and function of the word heading the genealogy,zhen貞,and is intended to serve as an annotation to an earlier,unqualified statement by Rao Zongyi which stressed that its correct rendering was the key for both its appraisal as a genuine artifact,and by extension,its comprehension as a coherent document.Here,I take the position that as the meaning of the word zhenin the oracular inscriptions means“to verify,to certify”,its function on a document of this kind was to validate that its current possessor was the rightful patriarch of a nonroyal family whose recorded ancestry of 11generations ascending confirms an elite pedigree going back to the founding of the Shang dynasty.I conclude that not only is the genealogical inscription of the Ni lineage authentic,it is also?(?a certified copy.