Research on Wang Shan Chu Bamboo Slips

Scholars such as Luo from the Palace Museum and Shang Chengzuo from the Ancient Characters Research Office of the Chinese Department of Sun Yat-sen University were invited to the Hubei Provincial Museum to copy, interpret and study bamboo slips. Some manuscripts copied by Luo were published in the 5th issue of Cultural Relics Monthly (1966). Unfortunately, due to ten years of turmoil, the research on bamboo slips was interrupted and its results were not announced as soon as possible.

1In the early 1970s, when Hubei Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology arranged cultural relics and began to compile archaeological excavation reports, three scholars from the Chinese Department of Peking University, Zhu, Qiu Xigui, were invited to re-examine bamboo slips and agreed to include their achievements in archaeological reports. 1976, all the sorting work of these two batches of bamboo slips was completed, and the first draft of Interpretation of Bamboo Slips at Wangshan was written. The final version was completed in 1987. Before the excavation report was published, Bamboo Slips at Mountain Wang was published, and the research results of three scholars, Zhu, Qiu and Li, were provided for academic use. The format of divination prayer seen in Wang Shan's M 1 bamboo slips usually records the time of divination first, then the tools of divination, then the matters asked and the results of divination, and finally the many divination measures and prayers of the tomb owner for seeking happiness and eliminating diseases.

Among the names seen in bamboo slips, the name "Mourning the Ancient" appears the most frequently, reaching 14 times, and sometimes it is also "Mourning the Ancient Town", so there is no doubt that Mourning the Ancient is the owner of this tomb. This set of brief essays also records that the tomb owner prayed for the ancestors of Cambodian kings, holy kings and princes of Zhao, as well as ancestors such as Dong Zhaigong and Wang Sunsui. The first three kings are the King of Bamboo Slips of Chu, the King of Sound and the King of Sorrow recorded in historical books. It can be seen that the owner of the tomb is the Chu royal family, taking Ai as his surname, and he is the great-grandson of Wang Ai of Chu.

There are more than one Zhen people recorded in bamboo slips, and their ages are different.

According to the content of Wen Zhen's affairs, the contents of these divination records can be roughly divided into three categories: one is to ask the king and the doctor whether they can "get things"; One is to ask "the king of access"; There is also a kind of essay that asks about the good and bad luck of the disease, and the number of such essays is the largest. Gu's death should be related to Zhen Wen's illness, and his death year should be very close to the period recorded in this batch of Oracle.

Chu people "believe in witches and ghosts, and attach importance to obscenity and sacrifice" (Geography of Hanshu). Wang Shan M 1 is a good evidence. Wangshan M2 1-44 records chariots and horses, 45 and 47 records lacquered wood, 48-50 records various costumes, bedding, bamboo containers, wooden figurines, etc., 5 1-56 records pottery, and 57-66 records various remnants. Ancient nobles usually recorded their divination for exams. The records of Oracle bones can be written directly on the bones of tortoise shells and beasts used for divination (mostly in Oracle Bone Inscriptions of Shang and Zhou Dynasties) or on bamboo and silk. All tools, such as yarrow, are not suitable for writing, and the record of occupation should be written on bamboo and silk.

Zhou Li Chun Guan Zhan Ren: "Any divination is a fact. Then match the currency with its life. At the end of the year, is it counted as the middle of the year? " Du Zichun, a Confucian scholar in the Han Dynasty, thought that "tying coins" meant tying divination results to turtles, while Zheng Xuan thought that "coins" meant coins dedicated to gods, and recorded "killing turtles" and good or bad omens in a simple book, which were combined with coins. In Historical Records, Duke Zhou begged for illness for King Wu and was willing to take the place of King Wu for divination. After divination, "the public is classified as the book of the golden chamber." Zheng believes that the book accepted by Duke Zhou is the Book of Shougui.

Judging from the divination tools such as "Baozi" and "Chou Xiao" recorded in the bamboo slips of Tomb Wang Shan 1, it seems that at that time, divination or similar methods were mainly used to divine the bones. Turtle divination is not used much, but sometimes it is repeated with "Huang Ling" after divination. Zheng Xuan notes that the Book of Rites only mentions the book of tortoise divination. Jia's Zhou Li added: "Even if it is divination, there are divination words and divinations. It goes without saying. " This is correct. The bamboo slips of tomb Wang Shan 1 mainly record the fate and the good or bad fortune of divination.

The general format of Oracle bones is usually to record the date of Oracle bones, such as "the year when Wang Yuga left the city, the month when he was buried, and the day when he returned". But not every time. After the date, as usual, I remember that someone used some kind of divination tool to "strengthen Shao's chastity." Below the word "true" is the word to remember the matters, which is the so-called life word. After living, judging the good or bad according to the embarrassing results can be called professional words. In the 1930s, Hu Xiaoshi wrote A Table of Qi and Chu Jinwen, and began to study the schools of Chu Jinwen. He said: "Qi and Chu are both from Yin, and the pen is vigorous and long, and the knot is vertical." The difference is that Shu Qi is broad and broad, its season is good, and its pen is tall and solemn; Chushu is beautiful, and its season is also beautiful. The brushstroke twists and turns, flowing into strangeness. "Later, in" On the Changes of China's Ancient Literature ",he said:" There are round pens in China's ancient literature, and Qi and Chu are both round pens. Qi and Chu are generally gentle, and they turn around, either vertically or horizontally. The two schools of Qi and Chu are very different. " Hu pointed out that the writing, structure and evolution of Chu characters are generally credible, but only limited to bronze inscriptions. Since the 1940s, a large number of cultural relics have been unearthed in Chu, among which bamboo slips and silk characters are the most in calligraphy and ink, which has attracted the attention of scholars. However, relatively speaking, there are not many works on the study of bamboo and silk calligraphy. In 65438+early 1980s, Ma Guoquan wrote A Brief Description of Chu Bamboo Slips in Warring States Period, which described in detail the characters of Chu bamboo slips unearthed in Changsha, Xinyang and Wangshan: Xinyang bamboo slips are slender and the strokes are even and neat; Lue Wang is slightly flat and its structure is basically symmetrical; Changsha bamboo slips are flat and flat, and the strokes are generous and sloppy. He also pointed out that the characters on bamboo slips are consistent with the structural style of Chu silk books.