西周金文における字体の多様化について

抄録

In this article I shed further light on the periods of the diversification and stabilization of character forms in bronze inscriptions of the Western Zhou 周 and consider the period of the shift to the universalization or universality of character forms. My material is based on the Shang-Zhou qingtongqi mingwen xuan 商周青銅器銘文選, vol. 1, which presents the bronze vessels by regnal period, and I generally follow it with regard to periodization. As regards sample characters, I selected characters of which more than forty examples are given in the Jinwen bian 金文編 (although characters of which the majority of examples are from the Yin 殷, Chunqiu 春秋, and Warring States periods were excluded). The total number of characters selected was eighty. I drew the following three conclusions.
  In bronze inscriptions of the Western Zhou the periods of the diversification and stabilization of characters differ depending on the character, and the characters can be classified into five types: early-middle period, middle period, late-middle period, variable type, and unchanging type. A careful examination of these reveals that the period when the greatest variation in character forms can be recognized, that is, the period when many different character forms were used concurrently, was the middle period, and this tendency was especially pronounced during the reigns of King Mu 穆 and King Gong 恭. Furthermore, character forms in bronze inscriptions experienced their greatest turning point during the reigns of these two kings, and the three early-middle-period, middle-period, and late-middle-period types, in which diversification is to be seen, exhibit diversification and stabilization around this time. In connection with the above, I also take up the character cai 才 and touch on the shift to universalization in character forms. Of course, differences arise in the time when universalization occurred depending on which of the above five types the character in question belongs to.
  Although I have not been able to clarify everything about the diversification and stabilization of character forms during the Western Zhou, I was able to show the importance of the reigns of King Mu and King Gong in the diversification of character forms, and in the future it should be possible to undertake a more detailed examination of changes in character forms with a focus on this period.