殷墟 黃組卜辭 驗辭 硏究

Abstract

This study extracted Yanci (驗辭) from the Huang group (黃組) among the 4,134 oracle bone fragments included in Volume 12 of the Jiaguwen Heji (『甲骨文合集』). Based on this, it classified the types of divinatory inscriptions (卜辭) where Yanci were recorded and analyzed the content of the Yanci themselves. Furthermore, by comparing these findings with those of the early Bin group (賓組), it presented the unique characteristics of the Huang group’s Yanci. The achievements of this paper are as follows. First, it was demonstrated that approximately 140 oracle bone fragments in the Huang group contain Yanci, and that the majority of these Yanci are concentrated in hunting divinations (田獵卜辭). It was also shown that, in addition to the hunting divinations, Yanci were recorded on fewer than 10 fragments related to the king’s travels and were also confirmed in two fragments of weather divinations (氣象卜辭). Second, by analyzing the content of the Huang group’s Yanci, it was pointed out that, with the exception of the weather divinations that recorded rain, all Yanci records were concentrated on the results of hunting. Third, it was demonstrated that the Huang group’s Yanci were generally recorded along with Zhanci (占辭) or Fuci (孚辭). It was also explained that the limited presence of Yanci in the Huang group is presumed to have stemmed from the unique characteristics of the Huang group’s Zhanci. That is, it was assumed that since the Zhanci of the Huang group recorded only positive prophecies, the recording of Yanci would have been concentrated in the hunting divinations that could practically reflect these positive outcomes.