Interpretations on Selected Characters in the Tsinghua Bamboo-Strip “San buwei” 參不韋 Manuscript and Preliminary Analysis of “Wuxingze” 五刑則

“Wuxingze” 五刑則 is the core thought of “San buwei” 參不韋 in the twelfth volume of the Tsinghua (Qinghua 清華) University Warring States bamboo strips. There are texts directly related to “Wuxingze.” Strips 1-6 start the manuscript with pointing out that “Wuxingze” is the essential principle of governance. Strips 7-18 elaborate the specific contents of wuze 五則 (five rules), wuxing 五行 (five elements), wuyin 五音 (five sounds), wuse 五色 (five colors) and wuwei 五味 (five tastes). Strips 27-30 discuss the concepts of xing 刑 (penalty) and fa 罰 (punishment). “Wuxingze” can be categorized into two dimensions, namely “laws of nature (ziran faze 自然法則)” and “legal system (falü zhidu 法律制度)” (Jia Lianxiang, 2022). However, the manuscript does not specify the meaning of “Wuxingze,” which has led to discussions among scholars, some of whom may have changed the interpretation of xing 刑 (penalty) to 型 (model) or 形 (shape). This study interprets the texts related to “Wuxingze” in the manuscript and to compare them with relevant early Chinese documents, such as “Wu ji” 五紀 in the Tsinghua bamboo strips and Shangshu 尚書, in an attempt to analyze the meaning of “Wuxingze.”