<Articles>Bronze Inscriptions Recording Ceming 冊命 in the Western Zhou Period

DOI HANDLE Web Site Open Access

Bibliographic Information

Other Title
  • <論説>西周冊命金文考
  • 西周冊命金文考
  • セイシュウ サツメイ キンブン コウ

Search this article

Description

Because of recent developments in the dating of bronze vessels, the ideas of chronology of bronze inscriptions have improved greatly. This article is an attempt to analyze bronze inscriptions recording ceming by these newest archaeological achievements. There are many examples of ceming bronze inscriptions, they have a certain regular style, and are easy and effecient to analyze by comparison with each other, so they have been studied witn some success and are noted as important materials for studying the government organization of the middle and later Western Zhou period. Because of the lack of documentation studies, however, definition, or even style and documentation requirements of ceming bronze inscriptions have not been clarified. So their material characters have not been reflected enough in using them as historical material. Therefore, in the first part of this article the author defines ceming bronze inscriptions, limits their coverage as the objects to analyze, and then confirms their documentation requirements. In the second part he analyzes several of their constituents, such as ceming ceremony, official roles, and royal bestowals, and clarifies some aspects seen directly in them of the government organization of the middle and later Western Zhou period. In the third part, hased on the fruits of the second part, he expands the objects to analyze to bronze inscriptions of the Western Zhou period in general, and examines the character of the authority structure of the Western Zhou dynasty. The above results confirm that each official role commanded by ceming was individual and the bureaucracy of the middle and later Western Zhou period occupied only a subordinate part in the authority structure at that time.

Journal

  • 史林

    史林 74 (5), 644-672, 1991-09-01

    THE SHIGAKU KENKYUKAI (The Society of Historical Research), Kyoto University

Keywords

Details 詳細情報について

Report a problem

Back to top