陳昭容
與青銅酒器、食器相比，水器並不是商周青銅器的主流。在商、西周、春秋、戰國的墓葬中，陪葬品的屬性，一般是商重酒器、西周前期重食器、西周後期開始逐漸重視水器，尤以南方長江中下游春秋戰國墓葬中水器大盛。
本文以考古報告和青銅器銘文中與盥洗相關資料為基礎，文獻、出土簡牘等資料為輔（基本上比較集中在西周晚期及春秋時期），解讀這些資料以及其背後的一些相關問題。由於淅川下寺墓地的墓葬年代清楚，出土的盥洗用具種類齊全且有自名，在入葬時的排列位置井然有序，這對於釐清盥洗用具之器類、名稱及用途都很有幫助，本文先由此展開討論。全文還包括：一、青銅水器的辨認及其功用（汲水或置水、盛水、注水和承水、溫水、舀水）。二、墓葬中的水器與墓主身份關係分析。三、討論水器作器者與使用者的關係——兼談媵器中特多水器的意涵。四、討論幾個與盥洗行為（沬和澮、盥和浣）和器用（匜和𣇈、卵缶和𥌓缶）相關的古文字及其區域性異寫。本文最後對《禮記•玉藻》記載的盥沐過程重做疏通，並以「重耳婚媾懷嬴」的故事，說明沃盥儀節在春秋時代的意義，除了日常生活的實際需要外，盥洗儀節的繁縟，及墓葬中配置井然的成套盥洗用具，說明「潔淨」不僅是乾淨的要求，而是禮節或宗教層面上的堅持。
關鍵詞：盥洗 潔淨 水器 媵器 古文字
A Discussion of Bathing and Washing Vessels and Related Issues Based on Bronze Inscriptions and Texts on Ch’u Bamboo Slips: Beginning with Inscriptions on Water Vessels from Ch’u Burials at Hsia-ssu, Hsi-ch’uan
Chao-jung Chen
Institute of History and Philology, Academia Sinica
Bathing and washing one’s hands and face to keep clean are indispensable activities in the daily lives of human beings. Yet it has been difficult to trace the history of these common activities, especially for ancient times, for which source materials are even more scarce.In recent decades, the vigorous growth of Chinese archaeology has brought to light many underground source materials, and the excavation reports from these sites contain much detail. Therefore, some clues concerning the position of water vessels in ancient burials can be gradually elucidated. Bronze toilet articles often have inscriptions on them to express a degree of solemnity. These inscriptions inadvertently shed some light on the history of early Chinese life. Based primarily on these bronze inscriptions, but supplemented by Ch’u bamboo slips, books and archaeological materials, this article discusses ancient Chinese toiletry vessels and the issues they raise for the historian.
There are seven sections in the article:
I. Introduction: Explanation of the source materials and the historical periods analyzed in this article
Compared to wine vessels and food vessels, water vessels were not mainstream bronze vessels during the Shang and Chou dynasties. In terms of burials, the Shang generally placed particular emphasis on wine vessels; early Western Chou prized food vessels; and water vessels gradually gained importance only in the late Western Chou. Water vessels are especially abundant in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States burials of the middle and lower Yangtze River Valley.Because the content of bronze inscriptions evolved in this broader era, inscriptions from the late Western Chou and the Spring and Autumn period provide more relevant information. Thus, our discussions primarily focus on this period of history.
II. The bronze bathing and washing vessels from the Ch’u tombs at Hsia-ssu, Hsi-ch’uan
The Hsia-ssu, Hsi-ch’uan 淅川下寺 cemetery was situated in Ch'u territory during the middle to late Spring and Autumn period. The dates of these burials are clear; the artifacts unearthed from these burials are numerous; the types of washing and bathing vessels are complete and contain inscriptions, and finally, their placement at the time of burial was unusually ordered. This facilitates the classification, nomenclature, and analysis of the original usage of these vessels. Among these bathing utensils at Hsi-ch'uan, the p’an 盤-shallow basin, i 匜-ladle and chien 鑑-basin are the same as their traditional Central Plains counterparts. However, the small-mouth ting 鼎-cauldron and the bathing fou 缶-urn are of the types found in sites in the middle and lower Yangtze River Valley, having spread there from their original center in the State of Ch'u.This article notes that the washing and bathing vessels unearthed from the Hsia-ssu, Hsi-ch’uan burials always include a p'an 盤-shallow basin and an i-ladle; a bathing urn was also essential, while a ho 盉-ewer and a tou 斗-jar were not. Only large-scale aristocratic tombs contain chien 鑑-basins, p’en 盆-basins and small-mouth ting 鼎-cauldron. In all burials, the toilet articles were concentrated together and neatly arranged: The ladle was placed in the p'an 盤-shallow basin, the bathing urn was beside the shallow basin, the fou 缶-jar placed next to the urn, and the small-mouth cauldron was immediately beside the urn. The ho 盉-ewer was always found together with the water vessels and not among the wine vessels, and, therefore, its function as a water vessel in these burials is clear and certain. The small-mouth ting 鼎-cauldron is a toilet article unique to the Yangtze River Valley during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, and was placed at the side of the bathing urn in the burials. The small-mouth, pottery cauldron unearthed from the Kingdom of Ch’u burial at Pao-shan 包山 has soot at its base, indicating that it was used to heat bathing water. The ‘tou-jar’ is always placed by the side of the bathing urn, and should be considered a related accessory.
III. The washing and bathing vessels among the bronzes
Washing and bathing utensils include containers for drawing water, holding (or storing) water, pouring water, collecting used water, heating water and for dipping up water. As accompanying sacrificial objects, these articles often appear in a set in the burials.In general, those categorizing bronze vessels classify the p'an-shallow basin, the i-ladle, the chien-basin, as well as the yu 盂-, pen 盆-, and tien 盦-basins as water-holding vessels, while the zhu-ladle and wan-bowl are classified as water-dipping vessels. However, based on a careful analysis of the adjectives that sometimes occur before the names for these vessels, the author believes that the p'an-shallow basin, the yu-basin, and the ting-cauldron might also be used for other purposes. In addition, the hu 壺-flask, which traditionally was classified as a wine vessel, could also be used as a toiletry utensil. Therefore, the identification of a specific water vessel must be based on the careful analysis of bronze inscriptions, as well as the other vessels that appeared together with the vessel, or its relative position in the burial, and the characteristics of the form of the vessel.
Based primarily upon bronze inscriptions, this section of the article describes and classifies the water vessels, according to their functions, into the following categories:
1. Water-drawing or water-pouring toilet articles: Mainly the hu-flask.
2. Water-holding vessels: Mainly the chien-basin, the yu-basin, the p’en-basin and the bathing urn.
3. Water-pouring and water-collecting vessels: Mainly the p’an-shallow basin and hu-flask set, the p’an-shallow basin and ho-ewer set, and the p’an-shallow basin and i-ladle set.
4. Water-heating vessels: Mainly the ho-ewer and the hot water cauldron.
5. Water-dipping vessels: Mainly the tou-jar.
IV. The relationship between entombed water vessels and the status of the burial occupant
According to the notion that “the Shang Dynasty emphasized wine vessels while the Western Chou Dynasty emphasized food vessels,” water vessels became an important component of sacrificial objects in the mid-Western Chou and reached their peak in the late Western Chou. In particular, the p’an-shallow basin and i-ladle set became a fixed style in the Western Chou, and continued well into the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods. In order to explore the relationship between the entombed water vessels and the status of the burial occupant, this section used the excavation reports of seven cemeteries that manifested unusual characteristics: a) the No. 1400 large tomb of Hsi-pei-kang 西北岡 at Hou-chia-chuang 侯家莊; b) the Kingdom of Yu cemetery at Pao-chi 寶雞; c) the Kingdom of Kuo 虢 cemetery at Shang-ts’un-ling 上村嶺; d) the cemetery at Shang-ma 上馬; e) the tomb of the Marquis Yi of Tseng 曾侯乙 in Sui County 隨縣; f) the Ch’u tomb at Mt. Yu-t’ai 雨台山, Chiang-ling 江陵; and g) the Eastern Chou burial at Chiu-tien 九店 Chiang-ling.In general, burial occupants with high social status used bronze toilet articles as sacrificial burial objects. Lower aristocrats, such as the shih and tai-fu, used a set of copper and a set of pottery water vessels, or a set of pottery water vessels made to resemble copper vessels, as sacrificial burial objects. Commoners used pottery yu-basins and hu-flasks (or p’en-basins and kuan-jars) as sacrificial burial objects. The poor did not use anything. During the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, lower-level aristocrats added pottery bathing urns and hot water cauldrons to their sacrificial burial water vessels. Higher status aristocrats added bathing urns and hot water cauldrons made of bronze. However, the custom of adding bathing vessels to the other water vessels as sacrificial burial objects occurred only in the Yangtze River Valley. It cannot be found in burials in the Yellow River Valley or in other regions of China. This relationship between the sacrificial burial washing and bathing vessels and the socio-economic status of the burial occupants reflects an orderly class society.
V. Those who commission and those who use water vessels, including a discussion of the significance of the large quantity of water vessels among the gift vessels in these burials
Generally speaking, bronze wine and food vessels were used in ceremonies at ancestral temples, while water vessels had more practical purposes. Makers of water vessels made most of their vessels for personal use or as gifts. Such gift vessels were often commissioned by fathers for daughters, while the next most common were husbands' gifts to their wives.This section uses the inscribed water vessels from the mid-Western Chou to the late Spring and Autumn period (excluding those clearly marked for special usage, such as the xiu plate 羞盤, si plate 𪅐盤, and sacrificial vessels for ancestral temples) for a statistical study in order to find out the relationship between those who commissioned and those who used these toiletry vessels. Results show that the vast majority of those commissioning the vessels were men: 91% of the total (65% of the vessels were for themselves, 24% for daughters, 10% for wives). Women's ability to cast the vessels was quite low: only 9% of the makers were women (76% of the vessels were for themselves, 24% for daughters). This phenomenon reflects early Chinese society where men were at the center of power and wealth. Women owned toiletry vessels mainly as items of their dowries and a few as gifts from their husbands after marriage. During the Spring and Autumn period, it was the fashion of the feudal kingdoms to use marriages to maintain political relationships, and toiletry utensils were the main articles in dowries. Based on these bronze inscriptions, the author points out that one of the reasons for the large number of gift items among the water vessels was the expectation that wives, who were responsible for sustaining political marriages, would be able to frequently use such toiletry articles to maintain their appearance, and thereby sustain the relationship with their husbands' relatives with a beautiful countenance. The use of toiletry vessels as part of such a wife's dowry reflects society's demand on a woman's appearance.
VI. Discussion of several ancient characters related to toiletry activities and artifacts
A. Characters for face-washing and their variations
In this sub-section, the author lists 4 characters found in historical documents, 1 oracle bone character, 8 bronze inscription characters, 5 regional usages (the southern regions during the Spring and Autumn period), and 1 Ch’u bamboo slip character. She also points out which of these are associative compounds, which are simplified associative compounds, which are picto-phonetic characters, and which are phonetic loan characters.B. Characters for hand-washing and their variations
Here the author lists 3 characters from historical documents, 1 bronze inscription character, 4 regional usages (the Ch’u system, as well as Hsu and Lu bronze inscription characters), and 1 Ch’u bamboo slip character.C. Special regional characters used for the i-ladle in the southern regions during the Spring and Autumn period
Four Kingdom of Ch’u bronze inscription characters, 1 Ch’u bamboo slip character, 1 Kingdom of Ts’ai bronze inscription character, and 2 Kingdom of Wu bronze inscription characters are discussed in this subsection. Based upon the evidence found in the inscriptions on the Wang Tzu Shen ladle, newly purchased by the National Palace Museum, and supplemented by characters seen in Ch’u bamboo slip texts, the author believes that all these characters have ‘yu’ as their initial consonant and are phonetically close, regional variations of the character ‘i’.D. Other names for the ‘fou-urn’ water vessel and the distinction between ‘bathing fou 浴缶-urn’ and ‘egg fou 卵缶-urn’
This subsection analyzes (and corrects) the various other names for the water vessel ‘fou-urn,’ including terms found in Ch'u bamboo slips. The author points out that the ‘bathing fou 浴缶-urn’ often formed a set of washing and bathing vessels together with the small-mouth hot water cauldron, whereas the ‘egg fou-urn’ appearing in the bronze inscriptions and the Ch’u bamboo slips should be the wine vessel, and often formed a set together with the food vessel chien-basin.VII. Conclusion
The author re-interprets the washing and bathing process recorded in the Yu Tsao 玉藻 chapter in the Li Chi 禮記, in accordance with the conclusions reached in this article. She also uses the story of “Ch’ung Erh 重耳 marries Huai Ying 懷嬴” to illustrate the significance of 'the ceremony of hand-washing,' which should not be restricted to a mere demand for cleanliness. Aside from the practical demands of daily life, the excessive ritual concerning the washing and bathing process, as well as the placement of toiletry vessels in the burials, shows that ‘cleanliness’ was not only a demand of daily life, but also an essential activity at the level of the ritual or religious.Keywords: washing of hands and face, cleansing, water vessels, dowry vessels, epigraphic material