An Overview And Interpretation On The Inscriptions Of Chu Weapons Of Early Warring States Period

This is an overview and interpretation on the inscriptions of Chu weapons of early Warring States period.Among the numerous Chinese bronzes with inscriptions, Chu weapons of early Warring States period are of remarkable significance. In relation to pre-Qin scripts, writings of Chu and its vassal states, such as Zeng and Cai, are characterized by and famous for their diversified forms and local identities, with inscriptions on weapons of early Warring States period the as the best embodiment. Distinguished from sacrificial vessels, weapons are massively produced for practical purposes. Therefore, inscriptions on ancient weapons are less apt to function as narrative texts, yet more prone to serve as records of names of people, names of place, and official titles, which involves the disciplines of history, military issues, geography, and so on and so forth. However, the academia has paid little attention to weapon inscriptions. In spite of researches on a couple of weapons, there has been no systematic analysis on inscribed scripts and extrinsic features by far.Given the above, the author of this paper makes every endeavor to gather as much information as possible on Chu weapons of early Warring States period, give an overview on the available interpretations on weapon inscriptions, and construct a personal understanding of the scripts and their semantic meanings after verification. In the process of discussion, weapons with the same inscription, the same unearthed location, and the same unearthed time are categorized into one research entry. Each entry includes eleven parts, i.e., name, bibliographic data, unearthed location and unearthed time, extrinsic features, depository, word count, picture, overview on the available interpretations, comment, date, and script identification.Based on previous studies, the author analyzes the grammar of the inscriptions, re-identifies certain scripts and their interpretations, explores the extrinsic features of weapons, differentiates the definition of Ji, Shu, and Sha, systemizes relevant names of people, names of place, and official titles, and presents a personal opinion on the assembling way of weapons, for example, Ji from the State of Zeng. Meanwhile, the author of this paper aims to set up a resource platform on related interpretations, arouse the interest of academic community in weapon inscriptions, and provide reference value for concerned studies and comparative researches.