释"弔"

殷人游牧,逐草而居,家庭成员或有死亡,随地草葬.草葬之俗,"不封不树",既不能防止禽兽对尸体的撕毁,又没有死者安葬地的明显标记.故草葬后,生者将随身带的牧鞭插在死者身边.高竖的牧鞭风吹飘动,既能殴赶威慑禽兽的逼近,又能标记死者的安葬地.这种取象牧鞭飘动的文字,殷人叫做"弔"."弔"像悬挂于细长的竹木竿上的牧鞭摆动之形,其作用是"殴禽"和"标墓".唐代以后演变为"灵旛".

An Interpretation of "Diao"

People in the Yin dynasty lived as a nomad. If one of the family members died, he or she was buried in any place, which could not prevent the corpse being destroyed by the birds or beasts, and there was no clear sign to mark the tomb. Therefore a whip was stuck in the place where the dead were buried. The whip fluttered in the wind, which not only drove away the beasts and birds, but also indicated the tomb. The people in the Yin dynasty named the character that derived from the image of the fluttering whip "Diao". In the Tang dynasty, it turned into funeral streamer.