《天問》“徹彼岐社”與文王事殷史述考

“The Removal of the Qi Shrine” in “Heavenly Questions” and the Historical Narrative of King Wen’s Submission to the Shang Regime

Abstract

LANGUAGE NOTE | Document text in Chinese; abstract also in English.

《天問》述商周之際的史事，言及“何令徹彼岐社”，一般釋爲“通岐社而爲太社”，認爲事在武王之時。此與所述史事順序不合，歷來未能定詁。若將此事置於季歷被囚殺、姬昌事殷、西伯受命諸事中考察，可知文王繼位之初曾率伐殷而大敗，不得不徹除岐社而奉殷祀，與殷王室通婚，再次服事商王。被任命爲西伯後，重啓岐社並受命於此，上告天帝，公开伐殷。武王即位於商太社，周公營周太社於雒，文王、武王時並無通岐社爲太社之事。從社祀制度的視角來看，《天問》中所言的廼立冢土、徹彼岐社、遷藏就岐、受命岐社，是周人遷岐、服商、自立、反商的標誌性事件。

The poem “Heavenly Questions” (“Tianwen”) tells of the history of the Shang and Zhou dynasties and mentions “why the order to remove the Qi shrine was given.” The line is usually interpreted as “changing the Qi shrine to the highest shrine [of the Zhou],”and is believed to refer to what happened in the time of King Wu of the Zhou (d. 1043 BCE). However, this reading is not in accordance with the chronology of history and has yet to be resolved. The content of this line may make more sense if it is dated to the time when Jili was imprisoned and put to death, and Ji Chang (posth., King Wen of the Zhou, ca. 1152-ca. 1056 BCE) submitted himself to the Shang regime to later accept the heavenly mandate and become ruler of a new dynasty. This dating shall lead to a new interpretation: at the beginning of his succession, King Wen revolted against the Shang but was defeated. As a result, he was forced to remove their Qi shrine, resume their sacrificial service to Shang’s ancestors, and marry his clan members to the Shang’s to show subordination. After Ji Chang was appointed Earl of the West, he reopened the Qi shrine, where he accepted heaven’s mandate, appealed to the thearch of heaven, and began his expeditions against the Shang. As King Wu ascended to his throne in the Shang’s highest shrine, the Duke of Zhou built the Zhou’s highest shrine in Luoyi. Therefore, in the time of Kings Wen and Wu, they would not have used the Qi shrine as the highest shrine. From the perspective of the shrine sacrifice system, we find that the “Heavenly Questions” relates a series of historical events: the establishment of the shrine, its replacement and recommencement, and acceptance of heaven’s mandate. These events are hallmarks of the history of the Zhou people’s settlement, their submission to the Shang, independence, and revolt against the Shang.