英文摘要
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This study aims to analyze the culture of using jade in the oath of alliance in Zuo zhuan. The discussion content includes: cultural factors in the Spring and Autumn Period to use jade for oath of alliance, jade presentation for oath of alliance in Zuo zhuan, types of jade used in the ceremony of oath of alliance in Zuo zhuan and the origin to use jade for oath of alliance in Spring and Autumn Period, including the prehistoric period and Shang Dynasty. This study is mainly based on recording of oath of alliance in Zuo zhuan, with the support of Pre-Qin literatures and ancient books and comparison with archaeological studies. Four conclusions obtained are shown below: (1) oath of alliance shows extreme respect of people in Zhou Dynasty to the spirits and their personal inferiority. Moreover, "divinity" is one of essential elements of oath of alliance and it reveals that contract of alliance is the nobles' spiritual agreement in the Spring and Autumn Period; (2) the nobles of Zhou Dynasty presented jade for oath of alliance and it means to present "gifts" to deities. Jade presented for oath of alliance recorded in Zuo zhuan refers to "Chen jade" and it was associated with the wish for the victory of battles. It shows the ancestors' respect and fear of the Yellow River and the "wish for river god's blessing for the victory of war"; (3) among the jade objects for the rites of oath of alliance recorded in Zuo zhuan, the jade tablet was the most precious. The pattern of the jade tablet was derived from the shape of the dagger-axe and it was associated with the ancestors' civilization development. Doughnut-shaped flat jade was second-class jade for oath of alliance and other types of jade which were not jade tablets or doughnut-shaped flat jade were for flexible use. The phenomenon shows the importance of the "meaning of rites" for the people of the Zhou Dynasty; (4) original forms of implements of jade for oath of alliance were living instruments in the prehistoric period. Afterwards, by "abstraction", they became the origin of forms of rite implements. The form of the jade tablet was derived from the dagger-axe which was shown in oracle scrip. Besides, according to archaeological data, in the Shang Dynasty, influence of the dagger-axe was expanded to the South. It shows the importance of the said weapon in the Shang and Zhou Dynasties and it is the origin of the form of the "jade tablet", the most precious jade implement in Zhou Dynasty.
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