The Analysis Of Formulae In The Poems Of Tsinghua Bamboo Manuscripts

Three documents in the Tsinghua bamboo manuscripts are in the style of poem.With the original forms of poem in pre-Qin era, they provide clues for the research inhistory, rituals and the relationship between poem and music.The foundation of those researches is the analysis of texts, as well as its connectionwith existing pre-Qin documents. This thesis adopts the text-analyzing method of the“oral-formulaic” theory-a theory originated in the study of western epics like Iliad andOdyssey–and explores these poem’s relationship with other texts, including passed-down documents and bronze inscriptions, based on which we summarize the poems’characteristics of specific period and make judgments about their origins. Then severalproblems in the category of history, literature are re-examinated.Through the analysis of “Qiye”耆夜, we compare the formulaic proportions in itsfive poems with that in the “Xishuai”蟋蟀of “Tangfeng”唐风. The difference showsthat the first four poems were not created in the same era with the last one. Based on therhythms of “Xishuai” and several specific features, we hold that the text of “Qiye” wascompiled in the early Warring States period. Then we clarify the confusion about “theeighth year under King Wu’s reign”, the attack of Qi耆and ritual problems.Through the analysis of “Ruiliangfu bi”芮良夫毖, we summarize four types offormulae: the type of Shi诗, the type of Shu书, the type of scholars’ work in EasternZhou, and the type of bronze inscriptions, by which the close relationship of“Ruiliangfu bi” with “Ya”雅poems is proved. It is also found that the proportions ofprose formulae surpasses that of poem formulae, which shows the Bi毖is both in thestyle of poem and in the style of prose. According to the comparison with “Sangrou”桑柔of “Daya”大雅and other records, we suppose that “Ruiliangfu bi” is a work ofremonstrance under the poem-presenting system in late Western Zhou period.Through the analysis of “Zhougong zhi Qinwu”周公之琴舞, we realize that nearlyhalf of the verses are in formulaic style, which can be also divided into four types as“Ruiliangfu bi”. We compare the proportions of these four types of formulas in“Zhougong zhi Qinwu” and “Ruiliangfu bi”, and find the “Zhou” is much more close tothe “Zhoushu”周书of Shang Shu尚书, especially those chapters believed to berecorded at the beginning of Zhou Dynasty, as well as the bronze inscriptions of Western Zhou. Regarding its irregular rhythms and symmetrical forms, we believe thatthe “Zhou” is a collection and re-organization of early-Zhou poems by later people.Under this assumption, we also explain the forms of King Cheng成’s poems, anddiscuss the formal ritual music “Dawu”大武in passed-down documents.