再論王賓卜辭中「賓」的含義

Abstract

本文討論了「王賓」卜辭中從「止」的「□」，賓組一類卜辭中的動詞「□」以及典賓類卜辭中的動詞的「□」等，它們都有「往、各」一類的行動義，這個意義應該就是「賓」的原始意義。「賓」的造字本義表達的是去往祭祀場所，但在具體卜辭中，占卜主體所處的位置不同，體現出來的方向性也不同，有時候所要表達的是「往、去」的意思，有時候卻是「來、各、至」的意思，具體含義要視占卜主體所處的位置來判斷。「賓」的這個意義還可以與「即宗」的「即」相對照，二者有許多相似點。甲骨文中動詞「賓」的這個行動義，雖然在西周金文中有「斷層」，但是這種「斷層」並沒有影響它流傳下來，楚簡裡的「賓」，包括許多傳世文獻中的「賓」都可以用這個原始意義來理解，這就需要我們對文獻中的許多「賓」字進行重新解讀。

The character ＂□＂ was often written with the ＂止＂ radical in ＂wangbin＂ inscriptions, i.e., ＂□,＂ while it was written as ＂□＂ in the ＂binzu＂ inscription group, and ＂□＂ in the ＂dianbin＂ inscription group. However, they all had two inter-related meanings of ＂to go＂ and ＂to come,＂ which should be the original meanings of ＂bin＂ (賓). The character ＂bin＂ was initially created to indicate that the kings of the Shang dynasty ＂went＂ to sacrificial sites. However, it also meant that the kings ＂came＂ to sacrificial sites in other inscriptions. The specific meaning was determined based on the diviners` locations. We can also compare the meanings of ＂bin＂ with the meanings of ＂ji＂ in ＂jizong＂ inscriptions and find that they were similar. The meaning of the character ＂bin＂ as a motion verb in oracle bone scripts came down in history despite the ＂chasm＂ in the bronze inscriptions of the Western Zhou period. The character ＂bin＂ that appeared on Chu Bamboo Slips and on inscriptions on ancient bronze objects carried the original meaning. We therefore reexamine the meanings of the many ＂bin＂s in ancient texts.