釋殷卜辭的(符號略)（籫）字

殷卜辭有一個「(符號略)」字，又可寫作「(符號略)」，後代的兩周金文及戰國文字均未見此字形，是一個死掉的古文字。它出現在卜辭中有幾種用法，一是在「王事」、「事」之前，或「朕事」、「我事」之前，有時候也可以把「王事」或「事」省略，只單言「(符號略)」。分析它出現的地方，和農事、勞役、工事、田獵、征伐有關，大體上是商王命令臣下去「(符號略)王事」，「(符號略)」也有作「人名」的用法，學者們已有人推測此字和佐助的意義有關。現在我們利用綴合後較完整的卜辭，發現它有一種用法和「攸雨」（脩雨）相對，從而推測它應可讀為「驟雨」，表示短暫的雨，因而提出卜辭的「(符號略)」應是後來表示「籫」的「箸筩」的象形字，在「(符號略)王事」的地方讀作「贊王事」，表示佐助王事。

關鍵字

古文字；甲骨文；卜辭；考釋文字；籫

並列摘要

In the oracle bone inscriptions of the Shang dynasty there is a character written (The symbol is abbreviated) or (The symbol is abbreviated) which soon became obsolete since it is not met with in the bronze incriptions of the Zhou dynasty nor among the inscriptions of the Warring States. It can be used before the binome 王事 or the single character 事, or before the binomes 朕事, 我事. Sometimes it appears simply as (The symbol is abbreviated), with 王事 or 事 implied after it. An analysis of its conditions of occurrences shows that it appears in agricultural, penal servitude, fortifications, hunting and punitive expeditions contexts, generally meaning that the Shang ruler ordered his officials to go and (The symbol is abbreviated)王事(The symbol is abbreviated) or that it is used as a name, which is why some scholars have suggested that this character may have a signification akin to ”help, assist.” With the help of oracle bones almost completely rejoined, we have been able to show that it also appears in paired inscriptions where it is opposed to 攸雨 (脩雨), whence we first suggested that it can be read as 驟雨 describing a sudden spell of rain, and further that the character (The symbol is abbreviated) must be the original pictograph of the character 籫 meaning 箸筩 ”chopsticks' bowl.” The expression (The symbol is abbreviated)王事(The symbol is abbreviated) can therefore be read as 贊王事 ”to assist in the King's affairs.”