Shuo-wen jie-zi 説文解字, compiled by Xu-Shen 許愼 in A.D.100, is one of the immortal masterpieces of scholarship of ancient China. "Zhou-wen"籀文 characters and "Gu-wen"古文 characters which were preserved in Shou-wen jie-zi 説文解字 are quite important materials to survey of Chinese characters' archaic forms. Shi-zhou 史籀 is regarded as the compiler of Shi-zhou-pian 史籀篇 from which "Zhou-wen" 籀文 characters were derived and his name written as 史留 appears in the inscription on the Ma-Ding [マ]鼎, a newly unearthed Western Zhou bronze. This article analyzed Ma-Ding [マ]鼎 with special emphasis on the function of 史留 in the Western Zhou Royal Court. Examining this bronze inscription of the last years of Western Zhou, it proves that Shi-Zhou 史籀 actually existed as a technocrat during the time of Xuan-Wang 宣王 and that the orthography of bronze inscriptions was established by those bureaucrats through this era.
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