揭示若干組商代的樂歌樂舞——從甲骨卜辭「武湯」說起

Revelation of Several Groups of Songs and Dances of the Shang Dynasty: Starting with the Oracle-Bone Inscriptions “Wu Tang”

殷人尚聲，商代社會當存在不少祭祀樂歌、樂舞，以滿足祭祀娛神的需要。前輩學者已經揭示出一些祭祀樂歌、樂舞的名稱。本文以已經刊布的甲骨卜辭材料為依據，通過眾多相關卜辭辭例的比勘，認為主要見於出組、賓出類甲骨卜辭的「今日（翌日）益某某」格式中的「某某」，都表示殷代的祭祀樂歌或樂舞名稱，「益」在這種格式中有「演奏」、「編排」一類的語義。如此，本文揭示出了「武湯」、「節」、「鞀」、「筦」等十餘種商代樂歌、樂舞的名稱，豐富了我們對商代祭祀禮樂的認識，對上古樂歌樂舞的相關研究當有所助益。同時，本文對各種樂歌、樂舞名稱進行了詳細疏證，總結出商代樂歌、樂舞命名有三種方式：一是以祖先為名，如本文揭示出的「武湯」；二是以所持舞具為名，如本文揭示出的「節」以及文獻習見的「戚舞」、「鉞舞」等；三是以所奏樂歌的主導樂器為名，如「鞀」、「庸」、「筦」等。除此以外，本文還對不少甲骨文字的形體和語義進行了探索，提出一些新見。比如把過去釋作「祗」的形體「」，按照馬薇廎先生的「旌節說」重新說解，把它釋作「旌節」之「節」；通過相關辭例的對比和字形系聯，把甲骨文「」分析作从「樂」、「」省聲；認為「益萈」之「萈」當讀作「筦」，「學黃」之「黃」當讀作「皇舞」之「皇」。又如推定「益某某」之「益」有演奏一類語義，推定甲骨文「」具有「卒」、「遂」一類語義，等等。

Music and songs were highly esteemed in the Yin dynasty (i.e. the Shang dynasty). As such, sacrificial songs and dances were in abundance in the society of the Shang dynasty so as to carry out sacrificial and entertainment rituals to gods. Previously, the names of certain numbers of songs and dances were revealed by earlier scholars. In this paper, I use the published materials on oracle-bone inscriptions as the basis to compare and examine a multitude of relevant examples. I argue that the “so and so” (某某) in the patterned phrase “today (the next day) Yi (益) so and so,” are indicative of the names of the sacrificial songs or dances of the Yin dynasty. And Yi (益) in the above phrase conveys meanings associated with “performance” and “choreography.” It should also be noted that this patterned phrase is found mainly in the groups “Chu” (出) and groups “Bin Chu” (賓出) oracle-bone inscriptions. Accordingly, this paper reveals the names of more than ten types of the Shang dynasty songs and dances, such as “Wu Tang” (武湯), “Jie” (節), “Tao” (鞀), and “Guan” (筦). The revelation will enrich our understanding of Shang dynasty’s ritualistic music and etiquette, and it in turn will also benefit subsequent research on songs and dances of ancient China. In addition, this paper carries out an elaborate examination of the names of the known types of songs and dances. It is found that there are three ways of naming Shang dynasty songs and dances: firstly, ancestral names such as “Wu Tang”; secondly, names of hand-held dance instruments such as “Jie” (節) as revealed in this article, as well as “Qi Dance” (戚舞) and “Yue Dance” (鉞舞) in ancient literatures; and thirdly, names of dominant musical instruments, such as Tao (鞀), Yong (庸), and Guan (筦). Moreover, in exploring the word form and meaning of many oracle-bone scripts, this article proposes the following interpretations. The oracle-bone inscription “ ,” previously interpreted as “Zhi” (祗), may be reinterpreted as “Jie” (節) of “Jing jie” (旌節), which is in accordance with Mr. Ma Wei Qing’s (馬薇廎) theory on “Jing jie” (旌節). Through lexical comparison and association of word forms, I argue that the oracle-bone inscription “ ” may be analyzed as follows: its semantic element is “Le” (樂) and its phonetic element is “ .” Also, “Huan” (萈) of “Yi Huan” (益萈) and “Huang” (黃) of “Xue Huang” (學黃) should be respectively pronounced as “Guan” (筦) and “Huang” (皇) of “Huang Wu” (皇舞). Still more, “Yi” (益) of “Yi so and so” ( 益某某) denotes performance and the oracle-bone inscription “ ” denotes “complete” (卒, Zu) and “finish” (遂, Sui).