自從羅振玉和王國維考出卜辭中殷先公先王的名號，使《史記‧殷本紀》所記載的商王世系得到證明之後，學者紛紛以卜辭中出現的人名來附會〈殷本紀〉中的先公，但是卻忽略《史記》材料來源的可靠性。本文從文獻上的材料的比對與出土資料的配合來作探討，試圖說明《史記‧殷本紀》所記殷先公「契卒，子昭明立」之誤，並修正歷來對《荀子‧成相篇》：「契玄王，生昭明。」所作的誤釋。

Ever since Luo Zhenyu and Wang Guowei elucidated the appellations of the ancestors of the Yin royal lineage, thus confirming for its most part the authenticity of the Shang genealogy as recorded by Sima Qian in his殷本紀, scholars have endeavoured to match the names appearing on oracular bones with those of the royal ancestors recorded in the殷本紀, without paying attention to the authenticity of the sources of the史記. This paper attempts to prove that the sentence 「契卒，子昭明立」originates from the世本, whose own source is to be found in the sentence 「契玄王，生昭明」 of the《荀子、成相 篇》. It is shown that the latter sentence has been misread as meaning “Qi gave birth to a son named Zhaoming”, while its original meaning should read 「契是殷人玄王，天生英明」 ie “Qi was an ancestor of the Yin royal lineage, endowed with great virtues”, thus adding to the 殷本紀 a non existent royal ancestor..