和“廿”同一个办法:一道竖是一个十,三道竖连底就是三十。《说文》说“卅,三十并也”。四十写作“卌”,四道竖连底,再往上就少见了。这个数目在卜辞里很顺手,因为商人用旬计日:一旬十天,三旬正好卅日,问远处的事、算行军的路程,常常按旬和卅日来说。另有一件事值得分清:甲骨上还有一类小小的数目字,刻在兆纹的旁边,一、二、三这样一路排下去,通称兆序。这些数目为什么刻、按什么次序刻、和占问的结果有没有关系,都是后人根据它们在甲骨上的位置推出来的,卜辞自己没有说明,说法至今不止一种。兆序用的是小数目,和“廿”“卅”这种记数的合文不是一回事。
和「廿」同一個辦法:一道豎是一個十,三道豎連底就是三十。《說文》說「卅,三十并也」。四十寫作「卌」,四道豎連底,再往上就少見了。這個數目在卜辭裡很順手,因為商人用旬計日:一旬十天,三旬正好卅日,問遠處的事、算行軍的路程,常常按旬和卅日來說。另有一件事值得分清:甲骨上還有一類小小的數目字,刻在兆紋的旁邊,一、二、三這樣一路排下去,通稱兆序。這些數目為什麼刻、按什麼次序刻、和占問的結果有沒有關係,都是後人根據它們在甲骨上的位置推出來的,卜辭自己沒有說明,說法至今不止一種。兆序用的是小數目,和「廿」「卅」這種記數的合文不是一回事。
The same device as 廿: one upright is a ten, and three uprights joined at the foot are thirty. 說文 says “卅 is three tens put together.” Forty is 卌, four uprights joined; above that the spellings grow rare. Thirty falls easily to hand in the divinations, because the Shang counted by 旬, the ten-day week: three weeks make exactly 卅 days, and distances, campaigns and matters at a remove were often reckoned that way. One thing to keep separate: the bones also carry small numerals cut beside the cracks themselves, running one, two, three and on — the 兆序, or crack numbers. Why they were cut, in what order, and whether they bear on the outcome are all inferred by modern scholars from where the numerals sit on the bone; the divinations say nothing about it, and more than one account is still in the field. Crack numbers use small numbers, and are not the same thing as counting spellings like 廿 and 卅.