克罍・克盉における字体の異同と銘文の製作順序

抄録

  Ke Lei and Ke He are bronzewares excavated in 1986 from tomb No. 1193 at the Yan state in Western Zhou dynasty Cemetery, Fangshan District, Beijing, and they are from the early Western Zhou period. Both bronzewares have inscriptions on the cover and the inner surface. All four inscriptions contain the same text comprising 43 characters, with each inscription written in a different calligraphic style. Setting the diversified calligraphic style as a criterion for determining the calligraphic style in Jinwen, and assuming that the inscription calligraphers (craftspeople) produced the inscriptions by imitating inscription manuscripts written in a certain style, we compared the different calligraphic styles in the four inscriptions. As a result, the number of variant characters was: (1) 2 on the Lei vessel inscription, (2) 19 on the Lei lid inscription, (3) 23 on the He vessel inscription, and (4) 24 on the He lid inscription. Moreover, based on the circumstances that the unclear characters in (1) affected the variants in (2), (3), and (4), that there are variants in (2) that seem to have imitated (1), and that the same variants in (2) are found in (3) and (4), it is assumed that (1) is a primary inscription, (2) is a secondary inscription that imitated (1), and (3) and (4) are tertiary inscriptions that imitated (2).

  These results indicate the order of inscription production and suggest that there were multiple inscription calligraphers (craftspeople). Also, it is assumed that the differences in the calligraphic styles of the inscriptions reflect the differences in the craftspeople's ability to write and imitate.

  In addition to Ke Lei and Ke He, there are other variations in style in the same inscriptions. The details of such variations will be the subject of a future study.