Oracle

[jiǎ gǔ wén]

Ancient Chinese Characters

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Oracle bone inscriptions, also known as“ characters carved on oracle bones ”、“ oracular inscriptions on tortoise shells and bones ”、“ Yin ruins Text "or" tortoise shell animal bone Text ", It is the earliest mature writing system discovered in China so far, and is the source and Excellent Chinese Traditional Culture Root vein of^[7] 。 Inscriptions on oracle bones were published in 1899 present^[9] ， Shang dynasty The remains of early oracle bone inscriptions are mainly found in Zhengzhou Shopping Mall In the late Shang Dynasty Yin Xu Is representative.^[6]

Oracle bone inscriptions are the most important characters in the late Shang Dynasty. Archaeological discoveries Divination bone A large number, more than 100000 pieces in total, mainly including the divination records of the royal family of the Shang Dynasty, as well as the tribal clan insignia Name. The oracle bone inscriptions are about 4000 characters, reflecting the basic composition of the character symbol system. And《 Analytical Dictionary of Characters 》Compared with the established stereotypical ancient Chinese character symbol system, oracle bone inscriptions already have various types of Chinese character configurations, as well as the "four bodies" in the traditional "six books", namely, pictographs, pointing things, understanding, and phonograms, which indicates that in the late Shang Dynasty, the Chinese characters represented by oracle bone inscriptions have basically established their configuration patterns, and the configuration system has gradually developed and matured. From the aspects of font composition, symbolization degree, writing form and use function, it can be seen that the oracle bone inscriptions in the late Shang Dynasty are a kind of character symbol system that has experienced a long period of development, mature structure and complete functions, and are complete character samples that can be determined that Chinese characters have entered the mature stage.^[6]

Oracle was selected in October 2017《 Memory of the World Directory 》。^[8] As of November 2022, China A total of 150000 pieces of oracle bone inscriptions have been found, and more than 35000 pieces have been excavated by scientific archaeology, with the number of single characters exceeding 4000 words^[4] 。

TA said

Why is Oracle Bone Inscription a golden word? 2022-12-12 19:00

As an ancient and difficult to recognize character, oracle bone inscriptions have been found about 4500 words, and nearly 2/3 of them are still unreadable. It is like a "pass code" left by our ancestors. Once solved, we can listen to their "voice" across time and space, and uncover the mystery of that remote era. ... Details

Content from

Chinese name: Oracle
Foreign name: Oracle Bone Inscriptions
Alias: characters carved on oracle bones 、 oracular inscriptions on tortoise shells and bones 、 Tortoiseshell animal bone script

Times: Shang dynasty
Location of discovery: Zhengzhou Shopping Mall (Oracle bone inscriptions in the early Shang Dynasty) Yin Xu (Oracle bone inscriptions in the late Shang Dynasty)^[6]
Nature: The earliest mature writing system discovered in China so far^[7]

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Birth background

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The royal nobles of the Shang Dynasty went from state affairs to Private life Such as sacrifice, climate, harvest, expedition, field hunting, patients, childbirth, going out, etc., they all ask the gods to know whether it is good or bad and decide to stop. As a result, divination became a major event in the country's political life, and the court set up special institutions and divination officials. yes Engraved words The oracle bones of are preserved as national archives and stored in pits. Therefore, the oracle inscriptions on the oracle bones become the research object of Shang Dynasty history First hand materials , which reflects the civil life All aspects of.

《 Book of Rites · Notation 》According to the record, "Yan people respected God, led people to serve God, and ghosts came first, then rites.", Shang Dynasty Before dealing with big and small affairs, the king used oracle bones for divination, praying for ghosts and gods, and later engraved the questions on the oracle bones. After the demise of the Shang Dynasty, divination gradually disappeared in the Zhou Dynasty, and its characters became unknown.^[3]

The rulers of the Shang Dynasty were very superstitious, for example, whether there would be disasters in ten days, whether it would rain, whether there would be a good harvest of crops, whether they could win a war, and what ghosts and gods should be dealt with sacrifice So that fertility, disease, dreams and other things must be divined to understand the will of ghosts and gods and the good or bad luck of things. The materials used for divination are mainly tortoise Abdominal armor Dorsal armor Bovine Scapula 。 Usually, some small holes are dug or drilled on the back of the oracle bone for divination, which is called "drilling" by oracle bone experts. When divining, heat the small pits to make cracks on the surface of the oracle bones. This kind of crack is called "Zhao". The word "Bu" in oracle bone inscriptions is like an omen. People engaged in divination judge good or bad luck according to various shapes of divination omens.

Development history

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Oracle (12 sheets)

Oracle bone inscriptions are inscribed on Tortoiseshell It was named after the animal bones, and it was a script handed down by the Shang Dynasty;^[1] The content is recorded Pan Geng moved to Yin to King Zhou The oracle script of 270 years is the earliest script. The Shang Dynasty has three characteristics, namely Credibility history , drinking and worshiping ghosts and gods; Because of this, these tortoise shells that decide on fishing, logging, agriculture and many other things can be seen again in the future and become research Chinese characters Important information. In the Shang Dynasty, there were excellent writing and ink, and the style of calligraphy was based on classics Engrave The style is thin, vigorous and sharp, with the interest of blade. Influenced by the rise and fall of literary style, it can be roughly divided into five periods, which are introduced respectively below. From Pan Geng to Yin in the late Shang Dynasty King Zhou of Shang Dynasty About 273 years in total, there were 8 generations and 12 kings. The oracle bone inscriptions of this period should also be divided into early and late. yes Oracle bones of the Shang Dynasty There are many versions of the research on the periodization and chronology of Dong Zuobin, which is divided into five phases according to ten standards, namely, the first phase: Pan Geng 、 Xiao Xin 、 Xiaoyi 、 Wuding ； Phase II: Zu Geng Zujia; Phase III: Linxin 、 Condin ； Phase IV: Wuyi 、 Wen Ding ； Phase V: Diyi 、 Dixin 。

Development history
Development period	introduce
Magnificent period	since Pan Geng to Wuding For about a hundred years, influenced by the flourishing age of Wuding, the calligraphy style is grand and magnificent, which is the acme of oracle bone calligraphy. Generally speaking, the starting strokes are more round, the ending strokes are more sharp, and the curves and straights are wrong. It is full of changes. It is extremely vigorous regardless of fat or thin.
Cautious period	since Zu Geng To Zujia, about forty years. Both can be regarded as successful A virtuous monarch In this period, the calligraphy was cautious, mostly following the previous trend, strictly abiding by the rules, and creating few new things, but it was not as vigorous and bold as the previous period.
Decadent period	since Linxin It took about fourteen years to Kangding. This issue can be said to be the autumn of the decline of the literary style in the Yin Dynasty. Although there are many neat books, the sections are scattered and uneven, which is not so regular, and some are childish, confused, and the number of wrong words is not uncommon.
Vigorous and precipitous period	since Wuyi to Wen Ding , about 17 years. Wending is determined to return to the ancient times, trying to restore the majesty of the Wuding era. His calligraphy style has changed into a vigorous and vigorous style, presenting a thriving atmosphere. In the thinner strokes, it has a very vigorous style.
Strict period	since Diyi to Dixin , about 89 years. The calligraphy style tends to be rigorous, slightly close to the second issue; length Lengthened, cautious, no decadent disease, also lack of momentum. Bony Handwriting , also received Knife carving Impact. When divining, "Yes" or "No" is often carved on both sides of the vertical line in the center of the tortoise shell. Since the line is written from the left to the right, the two sides are symmetrical and harmonious, with the beauty of symmetry in style. After the engraving, the large and small characters are filled with ink, or the front and back are filled with ink, which is more artistic and can be called a miracle in the history of books.

Recorded content

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There are four main items:

（1） The processed and scraped tortoise shells and animal bones are kept by the divining officer in charge. The divination officer carved on their edges a record of the origin and preservation of these oracle bones, saying“ Memorial inscriptions "；

Oracle inscriptions on animal bones

（2） The diviner is here Otsuge Uranainandesu The burning bauhinia wood pillar was used to burn and drill the nest slot, so that the front of the bone was cracked into a "Bu" shaped crack, which was called "Bu Zhao", and was the basis for inferring good or bad luck. Under the oracle bone augury in the earlier era, the number of the order of divination was engraved, which is also called "augury sequence";

（3） The main part of oracle bone inscriptions is divination, which records the progress and results of divination activities after the end of divination activities. Most of the inscriptions are on the front of the oracle bones, and some are on the back;

（4） Take Tiangan (A, B, C, D, Wu, Ji, Geng, Xin, Ren, Gui) and Dizhi (Zi, Chou, Yin, Mao Chen The list of 60 trunk and branch names, which is composed of, Si, Wu, Wei, Shen, You, Xu, Hai), can be said to be the earliest in China calendar 。

In addition, there are also some works of oracle bone inscriptions that were practiced by people who learned to write divination at that time, called "Xike" or "Xiqi".

Carved Deer Skull

Most of the oracle bone inscriptions are records of divination by the royal family of the Shang Dynasty. Most people in the Shang Dynasty were superstitious about ghosts and gods, and they had to ask questions about big things and small things. Some of the contents of divination were about weather, some were about agricultural harvest, and some were about sickness, early childbirth, and even more important things such as hunting, war, and sacrifice. So the content of oracle bone inscriptions can be vaguely understood Shang Dynasty People's living conditions can also be known History of the Shang Dynasty The state of development.

At the same time, the shape of oracle bone inscriptions is very close to that of ancient buildings. It can be said that architectural records are also one of the origins of oracle bone inscriptions. From the shapes of many buildings in oracle bone inscriptions, we can understand China remote date The structural form of the building and its development context.

The word "high" in oracle bone inscriptions. From its shape, it can be inferred that in the Shang Dynasty, there was a Earthen platform The building on the. Its lower part should be regarded as a hole dug in the earth platform cellar , this is private ownership An architectural style after the appearance of the head and family. Its upper part can be seen as a building with both roof and wall body. The emergence of walls in China remote date It's a great creation. The interior space enclosed by the wall is much larger than that enclosed by the roof, which also fits the meaning of "the taller, the more respected".

The word "gong" in oracle bone inscriptions. It can be seen as a house with two (or more) indoor spaces under a large roof. This is a special offer ruling class The tall buildings used with great care.

Character feature

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The period of Wang Wuding of the Bujia Shang

Oracle inscriptions are engraved or written on Tortoiseshell and animal bone Text on. Unearthed in Anyang, Henan The area around Xiaotun Village was called "Yin" because it was the capital of Pan Geng, the king of Shang Dynasty, to Dixin in the late Shang Dynasty. When Shang Dynasty destroyed the country, it became a ruin“ Yin ruins ”Name it. Therefore, oracle bone inscriptions are also called "Yin Ruins Characters". Most of its contents are royal divination words, so it is also called "divination words", or“ oracle bone characters ”。 This kind of writing is basically carved by a deed, also known as“ characters carved on oracle bones ”, or“ oracle-bone writing ”Etc.

Oracle inscriptions have a history of more than 3000 years. It is not only the earliest and systematic data to study the origin of Chinese characters, but also an important treasure to study the calligraphy of Oracle inscriptions. From the perspective of calligraphy, oracle bone inscriptions have three basic elements of calligraphy, namely, the use of pen, the formation of characters, and the composition.

written words

From the words on the oracle bones, they have Chinese calligraphy There are three elements of "writing", "writing" and "organization". Its brush lines are strict, thin, strong, straight, thick and thin, and the strokes are folded in many ways, which has had an impact on the use of brush and knife for seal cutting in later generations. From the perspective of structure and font, the characters are not only changing, although they are different in size, but are relatively balanced and symmetrical, showing a stable pattern. So from Constitution Look up, though Bone slice The influence of size and shape still shows the skill of engraving and writing artistic characteristics 。 "Oracle bone calligraphy" is now popular among some calligraphers and calligraphy lovers, which proves its charm.

Use a pen

From the perspective of pen, because oracle bone inscriptions are carved on hard tortoise shells or animal bones with knives, straight lines are often used in carving, and curves are also carved from short straight lines. The strokes are mostly uniform; Due to the straight drop of tool lifting and closing Straight up Therefore, most lines are slightly thick in the middle and slightly thin at both ends, which is thin, firm, straight, crisp and rich Stereoscopic feeling 。

Knot

Just Knot As far as the shape of oracle bone inscriptions is concerned, most of them are rectangular or a few are square, which has the beauty of symmetry or the beauty of variety of one word and many shapes. In addition, oracle bone inscriptions also have the structure form of combining square and circle, opening and combining, and some characters also have more or less pictographic traces, with the original characters Development stage And vivid.

Constitution

From the perspective of organization, the oracle inscriptions are clear and the size of the characters is well proportioned. Each line is up and down, left and right, although there are density changes, the whole article can Promoting qi It is a lively situation that runs through, depends on size, corresponds to left and right, and echoes back and forth. In addition, if the number of words is large, the whole article is arranged in a compact way, giving people a sense of density, while if the number of words is small, it seems sparse and empty. In a word, it presents a simple and brilliant interest.

archaeological excavation

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From the first discovery of oracle bone inscriptions in 1899, according to scholars Hu Houxuan According to statistics, more than 154600 pieces of oracle bones were unearthed, including more than 97600 pieces collected on the mainland, Taiwan Province More than 30200 pieces have been collected, Hong Kong There are 89 pieces in total, more than 127900 pieces in China. In addition, Japan 、 Canada The United Kingdom, the United States and other countries have collected more than 26700 pieces. There are about 4500 words carved on these oracle bones, and about 2000 words have been read and interpreted so far.

After the discovery of oracle bone inscriptions, Gemologist Antique merchants and foreigners began to search and buy in large quantities. these ones here Non scientific In the excavation, only oracle bones are often taken, and the burial of oracle bones is ignored, which makes the value of the unearthed oracle bones greatly lost. According to statistics, from 1889 to 1928, private excavations unearthed more than 100000 pieces of oracle bones.

"Deer skull with inscription" A 3940 "is a deer skull with inscriptions on oracle bones

From the autumn of 1928 to the summer of 1937 Oracle bone The site of the excavation, when the Anti Japanese War broke out, Institute of History and Language, Academia Sinica Archaeological team, in the famous archaeologist Dong Zuobin 、 Li Ji 、 a leading archeologist Under the leadership of others, they carried out 15 archaeological excavations in Xiaotun Village for 10 years. They not only found a total of more than 24900 pieces of oracle bones, but also found palaces, ancestral temple sites and royal tombs in the late Shang Dynasty, and unearthed a large number of precious bronze, jade and pottery material culture Is available on Yin ruins It is the evidence of the capital of the Shang Dynasty. Yin Ruins became world famous Historical Cultural Site , shocked the academic circles at home and abroad again. The fourth excavation was carried out at Xiaotun Village In the north, from March 21 to May 12, 1931, the excavation was still presided over by Li Ji. This excavation is due to a leading archeologist With the participation of stratigraphy Theory applied to field archeology In this excavation, 782 pieces of oracle bones with characters were unearthed, and a deer skull with inscription was also found.

The discovery of oracle bone inscriptions triggered a wave of private excavation of oracle bones among local people. Antique businessmen and collectors and scholars from all over the country came in one after another to buy a large number of oracle bones. According to statistics, by the 17th year of the Republic of China (1928), tens of thousands of oracle bones had been scattered all over the country.

In the same year, the Institute of History and Language of the Academia Sinica was established and soon proposed Excavation of Yin Ruins Plan. In August, the archaeologist Dong Zuobin Under the leadership, the first scientific excavation of Yin Ruins was carried out until the 26th year of the Republic of China (1937) Counter-Japanese War On the eve of the outbreak, fifteen excavations were carried out before and after the outbreak, and 24918 pieces of inscribed oracle bones were obtained. Japanese occupation Anyang During this period, the Japanese side organized Japanese scholars to excavate oracle bones and other cultural relics in the local area, and shipped the proceeds to Japan.

In 1949, The People's Republic of China was founded Later, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and other departments continued to carry out the excavation of oracle bones, obtaining more than 5300 pieces. In addition, Henan Huixian County 、 Yanshi 、 Luoyang Zhengzhou Erligang and Hebei Gaocheng Some oracle bones with Chinese characters were also unearthed from Shang Dynasty sites in other places. Shanxi Hongdong 、 Beijing Changping They also found Zhou dynasty It has characters and oracle bones.

Oracle bone inscriptions, the ancestor of Chinese characters (40 sheets)

By 2012, about 150000 pieces of oracle bones and more than 4500 words had been found. These oracle bone inscriptions are very rich, involving the Shang Dynasty civil life In many aspects, including politics, military, culture Social customs It also involves astronomy, calendar, medicine and other science and technology. Judging from the 2500 characters that have been recognized in Oracle, it has possessed the method of creating characters of "pictographic, understanding, pictophonetic, pointing, re annotating, and borrowing", showing the unique charm of Chinese characters. He in the Shang Dynasty of China Western Zhou Dynasty In the early period (about 16-10th century BC) Tortoiseshell 、 animal bone Literature as a carrier. It is the earliest form of known Chinese literature. The inscriptions on oracle bones were called characters carved on oracle bones , inscriptions on oracle bones Oracle inscriptions , tortoise shell inscriptions, Yin Ruins inscriptions, etc., are now commonly known as oracle bone inscriptions.

On October 16, 2014, Member of the Academic Department of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences , China Onychology And the study of pre Qin history Song Zhenhao On the 16th《 Oracle bones in Lushun Museum 》Experts from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and other departments and institutions Lushun Museum 34 new characters and New Font 。 Experts believe that this achievement is a major breakthrough since the discovery of Chinese oracle bone inscriptions more than 110 years ago. It not only provides important historical data for the study of the history of Yin and Shang Dynasties in China, but also plays an important role in promoting the development of oracle bone inscriptions and oracle bone studies.

After more than three years of careful textual research, evaluation and summary, the number of new characters and new characters found has increased from six two years ago to 34, involving sacrifice feudal princes who pay allegiance to a common sovereign The names, place names, person names and modal particles of. At the same time, it is also found and confirmed that Shang Dynasty There are punishments such as cutting nose and ears. The discovery of 34 new characters and new forms will have a profound impact and a major role in promoting the study of oracle bone inscriptions, leaving an extremely precious Historical and cultural heritage 。

As of November 2022, about 150000 pieces of oracle bone inscriptions have been found in China, and more than 35000 pieces have been excavated through scientific archaeology, with the number of single characters exceeding 4000 Data sorting . Periodization, textual research, research on business history, compilation and publication of reference books personnel training And other aspects.^[4]

Excavation site

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Oracle Bone Inscriptions in the Early Shang Dynasty

The remains of oracle bone inscriptions in the early Shang Dynasty were mainly found in Zhengzhou Shangcheng. Zhengzhou, April 1953 Erligang Site Unearthed section 1 Smoked Beef Ribs There are 3 lines and 11 characters engraved on it, "Yi Chou Zhen: From receiving...... In July, I will return to the local sheep", and some people have interpreted it as "From receiving the local sheep in October, I will return to the local sheep with Yi Zhen". The function of this text is the same as that of the oracle bone inscriptions in Yin Ruins, "Jia Shen Bu Youtu". The unearthed area of oracle bones has no remains of the late Yin Dynasty, which should belong to the Erligang period of the early Shang Dynasty. Archaeological excavations of the Shang City in Zhengzhou in the past half century also show that no late Shang remains have been found in this area. In September 1954, another bone wreckage was unearthed in the CIT30 trench of Erligang site, with an incomplete equilateral triangle engraved on it and a "ㄓ" in the middle. The multiple discoveries of oracle bone inscriptions at the Erligang site in Zhengzhou show that this area plays an important role in the social life of businessmen. The Erligang site in Zhengzhou is within the territory of the Shang king, and the site where divination bones were unearthed should be the site of the early Shang dynasty royal society.^[6]

In addition to Erligang, oracle bones were occasionally found in other areas of Zhengzhou City. In the autumn of 1989, a piece of aggregate processed with animal limb bones was found in the ash pit on the upper layer of Erligang, the project site of Henan Water Conservancy First Engineering Bureau, with two inscriptions on the front, or interpreted as "E". In the summer of 1990, when the archaeologists were cleaning the H10 rammed earth pit on the upper layer of Erligang, Zhengzhou Electric Power School, they found a piece of bone fragment in the fill. There were two inscriptions in the middle of the upper part of the front of the aggregate, which were interpreted as "弜弜".^[6]

These oracle inscriptions found in the early cultural sites of the Shang Dynasty are the earliest oracle bone inscriptions found in China so far, and also find the origin of the oracle bone inscriptions in the late Shang Dynasty.^[6]

Oracle Bone Inscriptions in the Late Shang Dynasty

Most oracle bone inscriptions were found in China Henan province Anyang City Yin ruins 。 Yin Ruins is a famous site of the Shang Dynasty, covering Henan Province Anyang Northwest of the city Xiaotun Village 、 Garden Villa 、 Houjiazhuang Etc. It was once the capital of the central dynasty in the late Shang Dynasty, so it was called Yin Ruins. These oracle bones are basically divination records of the Shang Dynasty rulers.

Archaeologists have carried out many investigations and excavations, and generally made clear the scope and layout of the Yin Ruins. Yin Ruins is located in the northwest suburb of Anyang City, Henan Province. Centered on Xiaotun Village, it is about 6 kilometers from east to west, 5 kilometers from north to south, with a total area of 30 square kilometre about. Huan River Xiaotun Village on the south bank King Yin Living palace area, excavated Palace site Dozens of them, the largest of which covers an area of 5000 square meters. The northern part of the Huan River is the tomb area of the King of Yin, where more than a dozen tombs and more than 1000 tombs have been excavated Small tomb And a large number of sacrificial pits. Two oracle bone inscriptions archives and Cast copper , jade making, bone making, pottery burning, etc handicraft industry Workshop site. Excavation of Yin Ruins The long duration, large scale and abundant harvest are rare in Chinese archaeological history.

In memory Yin ruins A great archaeological discovery, in the autumn of 1987, Anyang City built a Yin Ruins Museum in the northeast of the palace ruins area, which has been restored and reproduced for 3000 years Ante Yin The style and features of the palace and some buildings.

Turtle belly armor used by King Wuding of Yin for divination

In the spring of 1976, near the palace area, 100 meters north by west of Xiaotun Village Chinese history The first female general Good women Tomb of. According to oracle bone inscriptions, Fuhao was the queen of King Wuding of the Shang Dynasty. One summer, a war broke out on the northern border, and the two sides were in a stalemate. Fu Hao volunteered to lead the troops. Wu Ding hesitated. After divining, he decided to send Fu Hao to take up the war, and the result was a big victory. Since then, Wu Ding has asked her to be the commander in chief. Since then, she has gone from place to place and defeated more than 20 people around her feudal princes who pay allegiance to a common sovereign (a small independent country). There is one piece oracular inscriptions on tortoise shells and bones It was said that when Fuhao was fighting Qiang Ji, she commanded a huge team of 13000 people, which is the largest number of foreign troops ever used in the Shang Dynasty. Fuhao Tomb is a well preserved royal tomb of the Yin Dynasty excavated in the Yin Ruins. Many unearthed objects are engraved with inscriptions, which can be verified with oracle bone inscriptions and historical documents, so as to determine the identity and age of the tomb owner.

For the 70 year archaeology of Yin Ruins, three important textual researches and discoveries of oracle bone inscriptions should be put forward in particular:

The first time was on June 12, 1936, an oracle bone pit was excavated in the north palace area of Xiaotun Village, where 17096 pieces of oracle bones with characters were preserved, recording many activities during the Wuding period of the Shang Dynasty. It seems that this is the archive of oracle bone inscriptions of the Wuding royal family. The discovery of these pieces of oracle bones has extremely valuable value for the research of social politics, culture and life during the Wuding period. During excavation, a body curled up and lying on its side was also found buried in the pit. Most of its body was pressed on the oracle bone, which experts believe may be the keeper of the archive.

The second time, in 1973, 7150 pieces of oracle bones were excavated in the south of Xiaotun Village, including 5041 pieces of inscribed oracle bones. Along with these oracle bones, pottery products were also unearthed. This coexistence of oracle bones and pottery provides valuable information for the staging of oracle bone inscriptions and Yin Ruins culture.

The third time was in the autumn of 1991, a 2 square meter oracle bone pit was excavated in the east of Huayuanzhuang, but its stacking thickness was 0.8 meters. 1583 pieces of oracle bones were unearthed, of which 579 pieces were inscribed with inscriptions. The records were rich, and the inquirers were all members of the royal family and senior nobles in the Wuding period. It shows that divination activities in this period were not limited to the supreme ruler king, and royal nobles could use divination to predict good or bad luck.

The discovery of oracle bone inscriptions and the resulting excavation of Yin Ruins Chinese archaeology It has epoch-making significance.

Before that, scholars only studied inscriptions and Bronze inscription Never go to the field to investigate and explore. Chinese field archeology , the first one was in Henan in 1921 Mianchi County Yangshao And then in 1927 in Beijing Zhoukoudian Ape Man Site Early excavation. But at that time, the excavation of these two places was not undertaken by Chinese academic departments alone, but by foreign scholars invited by the government at that time, or by Chinese and foreign academic units. The field archaeology really carried out independently by Chinese academic institutions began with the first excavation of the Yin Ruins by the Archaeological Group of the Institute of History and Language of the Central Research Institute in 1928. It is important for China Field Archaeology The emergence and development of both played a foundation role. Most of the older generation of Chinese archaeologists grew up on the site of Yin Ruins, New China was founded The next generation of archeologists are basically trained by them. Therefore, it is well deserved to call Yin Ruins the birthplace of Chinese field archaeology.

Oracle

Oracle Bone of Yin Ruins The discovery of inscriptions also provides the most reliable First hand information There have been many research achievements in this field for decades. In Sichuan in 1945 Lithography Published《 Yin Calendar 》It is Dong Zuobin's great work on studying the calendar of the Yin Dynasty and the sacrificial rites of the Zhou Dynasty, which was written with oracle bone inscriptions and other materials for 12 years. In the first volume of this book, it is proposed that businessmen adopt Gan Zhi Ji Ri , continuous without interruption; The merchant's moon is the lunar month Size Month System (on the 29th of the month, Big Moon 30 days), after 14 or 16 months, two consecutive months; He believed that the year of the combination of Yin and Yang was adopted at that time, so Intercalation The method of the month is 19 years and 7 leap years. According to the opinion of the old school and the new school, it is pointed out that the old school (such as Wuding) has a leap at the end of the year (set in 13 months), and the new school (such as Zujia ）Is the mid year leap. In the third volume, he also discussed the divination lunar eclipse , in an attempt to prove that there was a system of ancient quartering and the first month of the lunar calendar. Chen Mengjia's "Review of Inscriptions in Yin Ruins" further affirmed some of Dong's statements, and made amendments, believing that the leap was placed at the end of the year or in the middle of the year at a time（ Zu Geng Zujia). but Chen Shi Criticize Dong's theory that the Yin calendar was an ancient quadrant and the first month was ugly, and that it was "totally wrong". Published in 1981 by astronomer historians《 History of Chinese Astronomy 》It affirms Dong and Chen's views on the combination of the Yin and Yang calendar and the big and small months, and Dong's view that the trunk and branch dates have never stopped since the Yin Dynasty, and affirms the leap at the end of the year, but it denies the possibility of the leap in the Yin Dynasty.

In the Yin Dynasty, scholars who used the lunar calendar to treat oracle bone inscriptions were as follows Dong Zuobin I used to think it was New day to be led by. The History of Chinese Astronomy and 1984 Zhang Peiyu The papers published by, etc. all believed that the appearance of the new moon should be the first. The same view, Japanese scholars Souneiqing It was proposed in 1957. But in 1990 Feng Shi The article "Research on the Beginning of the Moon in the Yin Calendar" still believes that the Yan people took the new moon as the beginning of the moon, because the relatively broad new moon can still be obtained through observation. This shows that the debate on this issue will continue in the future.

Knowledge about geography of the Shang Dynasty Social history Cultural research is crucial, but before the discovery of the oracle bone inscriptions in Yin Ruins, there were few records in the literature, so Inscriptions from Yin Ruins The place names appearing in the book have attracted the attention of scholars. The pioneer in the geographical study of oracle inscriptions at the opening of Yin Ruins is Wang Guowei In 1914 (or 1915), he wrote a very short article, "Research on the Place Names Found in the Inscriptions of Yin Ruins", and selected 8 place names from the more than 200 place names that could be seen at that time, which are closer to Anyang today and can be found in documents, and explained their geographical outlook. At this time, there is no connection between place names. Guo Moruo is the scholar who really created an effective and scientific method for the study of divination geography. He published it in 1933《 Brainwork 》In (Wenxuetang, Japan), the research object is the TanLie divination of the Shang king (this kind of divination mostly records the place name of the day, that is, the TanLie station), and the distance between places is calculated by the daily difference of several stems and expenditures in the same version of the divination, and then it connects other place names through different versions of the same name, so as to establish a geographical regional framework in combination with the literature records. Since then, although many scholars have continued to explore the field of geographical research in the Shang Dynasty, the methods they adopted are all based on the trunk and branch of the Guo family Linkage method 。 By the end of the 1980s, Dong Zuobin, Chen Mengjia Li Xueqin , Shimbun, Matsumaru and Chung Bosheng. Dong's achievement lies in systematically collecting the inscriptions of Huang Zu's recruiter side through locations, linking them by trunk and branch, so as to explain their geographical position and draw road map 。 Chen discussed all kinds of the late Shang Dynasty Geographical structure , such as Dayi Merchants Wang Ji Region and Qinyang Hunting area , sketched the network of oracle inscriptions and place names, and revised Dong's theory on the route of the expedition. Li's His monograph made a more detailed regional division of Qinyang Hunting Area, corrected Guo Moruo's mistake in interpreting the "Yi" of "Yi Zhuo" as a place name, and pointed out that "Yi" should be read as "Yin", and "Tong" or "He". Matsuwara Daoxiong's works theoretically discussed the method of inferring the distance between hunting fields, which is what he surpassed other scholars. Zhong Bosheng's proceedings The place names of oracle inscriptions are classified into Tianyou geography, agricultural geography, tribal and national geography, etc. He made a detailed analysis of the achievements and methods of previous studies, as well as the problems existing in their viewpoints. Although the trunk branch method was still mainly used in the study of hunting place names, the conditions for examples were strictly stipulated.

The latest achievement of the geographical research on the inscriptions of Yin Ruins is Zheng Jiexiang's "Introduction to the Geography of the Shang Dynasty" published in 1994, which is characterized by the detailed textual research of place names in order to achieve accurate word recognition; Secondly, the oracle inscriptions are more complete, not only《 Collection of Oracle and Bone Inscriptions 》, and there are《 Xiaotun Nandi Oracle 》Such new materials are not used in his book; Third, the book makes full use of the latest field archaeological data.

Although there have been many achievements in the study of geography in the Shang Dynasty, due to the limitations of the oracle inscriptions themselves, there are still great differences of views on the geographical names in the oracle inscriptions. The most obvious one is where the main hunting areas are, as reflected in the inscriptions of the King of Shang Dynasty on hunting in fields. Now there are Qinyang in Henan Province and Shandong Province Mount Tai , Puyang, Henan (east of Xinxiang and west of Shandong).

Memorial inscriptions

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Oracle bone inscriptions are mainly used for divination, and the size of complete oracle bones varies according to the identity of the divining subject. Wang Bu is mostly a big turtle paid by various places noble Use the smaller tortoises produced near the capital of Wangdu. The size of the tortoise is a sign of rank, power and status. The Largest Turtle Abdominal concha It is 44 cm long and 35 cm wide, with 204 drills on the back. It is now collected by the Institute of History and Language of the "Chinese Academy of Sciences" in Taiwan Wuding When. The largest number of characters on the complete tortoise shell is 404, and 71 oracle inscriptions are engraved on the front and back. See Collection 974. It is now collected by the Institute of History and Language of the "Chinese Academy of Sciences" in Taiwan, and belongs to the first Wuding period. Cattle scapula Divination bone There are also large and small pieces. The largest one in the National Library is one piece of Niuyou shoulder blade It is 43.5 cm long and 24 cm wide, with 35 oracle inscriptions and one Memorial inscriptions , 218 words in total, belonging to the fourth phase Wuyi When. In addition, there are rare divination bones like scapula, and some other inscriptions unrelated to divination, including Carved Words on Human Head and Bones 、 Tiger bone Carving words, Si bone carving words, deer head bone carving words, cattle Talus Carving words, and some bone implement The inscription on the. Oracle bone inscriptions can also be written in soft ink. Oracle bone inscriptions found in archaeological excavations, some of which were found in whole batches intentionally buried at that time Soil pit The burial place is also different in the Jiagu group Class Properties It is also correspondingly different. It can be used to date and identify the oracle inscriptions of a certain king as a whole Or not Wang's oracle inscriptions.^[2]

Research History

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When the oracle bone inscriptions were first unearthed has not been determined. Anyang, Henan Yin ruins One belt, from Northern Song Dynasty Since the discovery of Shang bronze ware, it is entirely possible that oracle bones were unearthed thousands of years ago. However, until the end of the Qing Dynasty, scholars of all dynasties did not pay attention to the existence of oracle bone inscriptions.

In the Qing Dynasty Guangxu reign period During the reign of Wang Yirong , was the highest at that time University Sacrificial Wine of the Imperial College (equivalent to the principal). Once he saw a traditional Chinese medicine called keel, and saw the words engraved on it, he felt very strange. Looking at the dregs of medicine, he did not expect that there was a pattern that looked like words on it. So he bought all the keels and found that each piece keel They all have similar patterns on them. He drew these strange patterns. After a long time of research, he was convinced that it was a kind of writing, and it was relatively perfect. It should be Shang Dynasty Of. Later, people found the place where the keel was unearthed—— Anyang, Henan A large number of keels have been unearthed in Xiaotun Village. Because these keels are mainly Chelonian Mammals The oracle bones are named "Oracle Bone Inscriptions" by people. The discipline of studying them is called“ Onychology ”。 (This statement is questionable now. See Baidu for details Wang Xiang Entry.) In addition, there was a regulation in the pharmacy that "keel" was not allowed, so it was impossible to see it in the medicine. Fan Shouxuan first sold the keel to Wang Xiang, who was unable to buy all of it. The rest Fan brought to Beijing to sell Wang Yirong 。

Since the drugstore owner refused to accept the keel with traces on it, the farmers in Xiaotun Village scraped the traces off with a knife and sold the excavated keel to the drugstore at a price of 6 wen per kilogram. So many historical materials of the Shang Dynasty were ground into powder and eaten as medicine, which is called“ History of People Swallowing Commerce ”。

Oracle on tortoise shell (22 sheets)

Academics basically agree that Wang Yirong, an official and epigraphy scholar at the end of the Qing Dynasty, was the earliest oracle bone inscriptions Discoverer 。 There are two points about the specific discovery process.

The first is from Liu E Records. In the 25th year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu in the Qing Dynasty (1899), after the tortoise version was unearthed in Anyang, Henan, it was Weixian County Antique merchants Fan Shouxuan, Fan Weiqing and others purchased and shipped to Beijing for sale. Current position Sacrificial Wine of the Imperial College Wang Yirong, who likes collecting antiques, knows inscriptions on ancient bronzes and stone tablets , bought these oracle bones at a high price from antique dealers.

Another theory is widely spread, which is inseparable from the traditional Chinese medicine "keel". Keels generally refer to ancient times mammal Chinese medicine believes that it can be used as a medicine to treat cough, diarrhea and bloody stool. Later, oracle bones were used for medicine instead of keels, and some people in Anyang, Henan Province even took this as a career for generations. In this process, oracle bone inscriptions have suffered immeasurable losses. Twenty fifth year of Guangxu. Wang Yirong was sick and took medicine. He accidentally found it on the keel of traditional Chinese medicine Ancient writing 。

Wang Yirong was a scholar in the late Qing Dynasty, Scholarship background , with profound Epigraphy Achievements. After he got the oracle bone, he decided that the characters on it were Zhou wen More ancient relics of the Shang Dynasty, and began to purchase Youzi oracle bones with heavy money. By the spring of the 26th year of Guangxu (1900), a total of 1508 pieces had been obtained. However, Wang Yirong has not yet conducted an in-depth study of this kind of writing, that is, in July of the same year Eight-Nation Alliance He killed himself and died for his country when he captured Beijing.

Wang Yirong's purchase of oracle bones gradually attracted the attention of scholars, while antique merchants deliberately concealed the land from oracle bones to monopolize the supply of goods and profit from it. Liu E, Wang Yirong's friend, and others sent people to Henan to inquire about the oracle bones. They all thought that the oracle bones were from Tangyin, Henan. later Luo Zhenyu After many inquiries, it was finally determined that the oracle bone was unearthed in Anyang, Henan Huan River Waterfront Xiaotun Village , which is similar to that recorded in ancient documents in the late Shang Dynasty Yindu The location matches.

From the end of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century, the carved symbols on the ancient oracle bones were identified as the Shang Dynasty characters, which were the three major discoveries of Chinese archaeology（ Dunhuang Grottoes Zhoukoudian ape man relic). However, its discovery was very accidental and dramatic.

Autumn in the 25th year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty (AD 1899), Beijing Qing Dynasty Tingren Sacrificial Wine of the Imperial College Wang Yirong (1845-1900) (equivalent to the highest officer of the central educational institution) got malaria 。 Send someone to Xuanwu Gate Caishikou Da Rentang I bought a dose of Chinese medicine. Wang Yirong accidentally saw some symbols carved on the traditional Chinese medicine called dragon bone. The keel is ancient vertebrate How can there be carved symbols on the bones hundreds of thousands of years ago? This could not help but arouse his curiosity. For ancient times inscriptions on ancient bronzes and stone tablets Wang Yirong, who has studied it for a long time, carefully looked at it and found that it was not an ordinary scratch, but rather like ancient characters, but its shape was not a Zhou (big seal), not a seal（ Xiaozhuan ）。 In order to find more keels for in-depth research, he sent people to Da Rentang At the high price of two taels of silver per piece, he bought all the keels engraved with symbols in the drugstore. Later, he collected more than 1500 pieces through antique dealer Fan Weiqing and others.

Wang Yirong, the father of oracle bone inscriptions

Wang Yirong, who first confirmed the oracle bone inscriptions, has not had time to make an in-depth study and become an author And the Eight Power Allied Forces will approach Beijing City , he was appointed as the Minister of Youth League Training in Beijing.

In July 1900, the invading army came to the city, Cixi Wang Yirong was completely disappointed when the empress dowager led the royal family to flee. He said to his family, "My righteousness is not to live!" Then he wrote a song testament He fell into a well and died at the age of 56.

Later, people called Wang Yirong, the first person to discover oracle bone inscriptions, "the father of oracle bone inscriptions". In the autumn of 1989, the 90th anniversary of the discovery of oracle bone inscriptions, in his hometown of Yantai, Shandong Province Fushan District Completed Wang Yirong Memorial Hall To commemorate his achievements.

After Wang Yirong's martyrdom, his son sold the antiques in his home to pay back the old debts. Most of his oracle bones were returned to his friends in 1902 Liu E (i.e《 The Travels of Lao Can 》Author Liu Tieyun). In addition, Liu E Also from Beijing Glass Street The antique dealer bought more than 3000 pieces of oracle bones, received more than 300 pieces from his friend Fang Ruo, and sent his son to Henan to buy more than 1000 pieces. The collection of oracle bones increased to more than 5000 pieces, becoming the most famous oracle bone collector at that time. In friends Luo Zhenyu With the advice and help of Liu E《 Iron Cloud Hidden Turtle 》It is the first book to publish oracle bone inscriptions. This book uses 1058 pieces of oracle bones from Liu E's collection, and Luo Zhenyu personally selects and develops them. Among them, 5 pieces are forged, 3 pieces are self weight, 12 pieces are inverted, 40 pieces are inscribed on the reverse side of the oracle bones but not recorded, and 4 pieces are inscribed on the bone socket but not recorded. Even so, there are still many flaws. Soon, scholars Sun Yirang According to the data of "Iron Cloud Hides the Tortoise", he wrote the first monograph on oracle bone inscriptions《 Deeds Examples 》。

The discovery of oracle bone inscriptions caused a sensation in the academic world. In order to monopolize the financial resources, antique merchants kept secret about the origin of oracle bones, and later lied that they came from Tangyin, Henan Wei Hui Etc. It was not until 1908 that Luo Zhenyu, a scholar, first visited Xiaotun Village in Anyang, Henan Province, where the oracle bones were unearthed. So he sent his relatives to Anyang to buy them, and then went to Anyang in person on-the-spot investigation 。 In 1910, Luo Zhenyu read out 10 King Yin It is proved that these oracle bones with characters are indeed relics of the Yin royal family, and it is further inferred that Xiaotun Village in Anyang is the site of Yin Ruins in ancient documents. A total of nearly 20000 pieces of oracle bones were collected, and more than 2000 pieces were selected and compiled in 1913《 Shang oracle-bone writing 》(former edition) was published, and then compiled and printed the Book of Yin Ruins (continued edition), which laid the foundation for the study of oracle bone inscriptions.

After Luo Zhenyu, many famous scholars, such as Wang Guowei Guo Moruo Dong Zuobin 、 Tang Lan 、 Chen Mengjia 、 Rong Geng , Yu Shengwu Hu Houxuan They have conducted fruitful textual research and research, and formed a special knowledge - Oracle Bone Science. Luo Zhenyu (No. Snow Hall) Wang Guowei (Hao Guan Tang) Dong Zuobin (No. Yantang) Guo Moruo (No. Ding Hall) and called“ Four Oracle Bones Hall ”, known as the great master of oracle bone study Luo Zhenyu He is the oldest and the first to contact oracle bone inscriptions, and ranks first in the "four halls".

Oracle bone inscriptions are the earliest literature records found in China. Today, Oracle bone science has become a spectacular worldwide discipline, with more than 500 Chinese and foreign scholars engaged in research and more than 3000 monographs and papers published. Its impact on history Philology 、 archaeology And other aspects are of great significance.

Historical records

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Historical records
author	Relevant historical materials
Luo Zhenyu	Textual Research on the Book of Yin Xu in 1914
Luo Zhenyu	In 1916, he compiled "Yin Xu Book Title to Be Asked"
Wang Xiang	1920 Fu Shi Yin Qi Lei Bian (Tianjin Museum)
Shang Chengzuo	1923《 Yin Xu Characters 》(Decided not to move the self carved version of Xuan)
	The school edition was deleted in 1927
	1971 reprint of Yiwen Printing House, Taipei, China
Tadao Takata, Japan	1925 Guzhou Chapter (Guzhou Chapter Magazine Guild)
Sun Haibo	1934《 Oracle bone inscriptions 》（ harvard-yenching institute ）
Zeng Yigong	General Inspection of Oracle Bone Names in 1939（ Institute of Chinese Studies, Qilu University ）
Jin Xiangheng	In 1959, "continued Jiagu Wenbian" (Yiwen Printing House, Taipei, China)
	Edited by Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1965《 Oracle bone inscriptions 》Sun Haibo's revised edition（ Zhong Hua Book Company ）
	1979 Hong Kong Zhonghua Book Company edition
Li Xiaoding	1965 Collection of Oracle and Bone Characters（ Institute of History and Language, Academia Sinica ）
Japan Island male	In 1967, "Comprehensive Classification of Inscriptions in Yin Ruins" (from Jigu Academy in 1971 Addendum ）
Japan Yongtian Yingzheng	1968《 Institute of Humanities, Kyoto University Tibetan oracle bone character index (Institute of Humanities, Kyoto University)
Kimi Akai, Japan	1974 Calligraphy Dictionary (Tokyo Hall)
Kimi Akai, Japan	1976 Small Book Style Dictionary (Tokyo Hall)
Kobayashi, Japan	1977《 Collection of Ancient Chinese Characters 》(Agaric Society)
Clever	1980《 Ancient Characters 》(Zhonghua Book Company)
Xu Zhongshu	In 1981, he edited the Table of Ancient Chinese Characters（ Sichuan People's Publishing House ）
Xu Zhongshu	1989 Oracle Bone Inscription Dictionary（ Sichuan Dictionary Press ）
Shishou Kobayashi, Japan	1985 Exhibition of the Essence of Oracle Bone Characters (fungus society)
	1987 Tuo Film Exhibition Large Oracle Bone Inscription Dictionary (Muer Society)
	1988 Five Body Seal Script Dictionary (Muer Society)
Canada Xu Jinxiong	1981-1988 Index of Oracle Characters Collected in the Royal Ontario Museum (one to nine volumes, new four to twelve issues of Chinese Characters)
Kenichi Takajima, Japan	1985《 General inspection of Yin Xu characters 》(Institute of History and Language, Academia Sinica)
Meng Shikai	1987《 A small dictionary of oracle bone science 》（ Shanghai Lexicographical Publishing House ）
Zhao Cheng	1988 A Concise Dictionary of Oracle Bone Inscriptions, A Classified Book of Oracle Oracle Inscriptions (Zhonghua Book Company)
Japanese Shichun Miaoshi	Classic Character Dictionary (Oriental Bookstore), 1988
Yao Xiaosui	Editor in chief in 1988《 A collection of descriptions of inscriptions on oracle bones in Yin Ruins 》(Zhonghua Book Company)
Yao Xiaosui	1989 Compilation of inscriptions on oracle bones of Yin Ruins (Zhonghua Book Company)
Rao Zongyi	1989~1999《 Oracle general inspection 》(Five volumes have been published, including the first emperor, the first king, the first man, the first man, the place name, the astronomy and meteorology, the official figures, the hunting and sacrifice, The Chinese University of Hong Kong Press)
Matsumaro and Kenichi Takajima in Japan	In 1993, he co edited the Overview of Interpretations of Oracle and Bone Inscriptions（ University of Tokyo Press ）
Shizuo Shuishang, Japan	1995 Oracle Bone Inscription Dictionary (Xiongshange)
Yu Shengwu	In 1996, he was the editor in chief of Oracle Gulin (Zhonghua Book Company), etc.

Character characteristics

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Oracle bone inscriptions record and reflect Shang Dynasty The political and economic situation of, mainly refers to the late Shang Dynasty (14-11th century BC) in China, when the royal family was used for divination Tortoiseshell or animal bone upper Engrave The content of the text is generally the matter asked or the result obtained by divination. The demise of the Shang Dynasty Zhou Dynasty After its rise, oracle bone inscriptions were also used for a period of time Shang and Zhou Dynasties period Social history Important information. Oracle bone inscriptions fractal structure There has been a trend towards integration, and a large number of Pictophonetic characters 。 It inherits the original carved symbols and starts from the bottom Bronze Inscription , is the key form of the development of Chinese characters, known as "the earliest Chinese characters". Modern Chinese Characters That is, it evolved from oracle bone inscriptions. Among the more than 100000 pieces of oracle bones with characters, there are more than 4000 different characters and graphics, of which more than 2800 characters have been recognized.

Oracle bone inscriptions are the earliest systematic characters in China, and also relatively mature characters. However, the ancient Chinese characters, with their vertical and horizontal strokes and dense structures, have indeed taken on the essence of calligraphy, such as brushwork, composition, and organization, and are pregnant with The art of calligraphy It is worth appreciating and tasting. In terms of oracle bone inscriptions, Guo Moruo published《 Edited by Yin Qicui 》In his preface, he praised his calligraphy:“ Oracle inscriptions The essence of the contract and the beauty of the words on the tortoise bone have fascinated us for thousands of years. The style of writing varies from person to person Wuding In the world, there are many powerful words, Diyi In the world, literature is beautiful. The density of the lines, the structure of the characters, the echo of the words, and the orderliness characters carved on oracle bones , real generation model calligraphy Yin Shizhi is the one who wrote the contract Zhong Wang Yan Liu Also. "

Zhong Wang Yan Liu It refers to the four great ancient calligraphers. The "Zhong Wang Yan Liu" in the Yin Dynasty were those who carved divination Historiographer Bu Ren. It is they who left behind a wealth of historical materials for future generations, as well as a precious share of ancient times Calligraphy works 。 If you take a cursory glance at the form of oracle bone inscriptions, you will find that the early characters are large, like Luo Zhenyu Edited《 The essence of Yin Xu's deeds 》Many oracle inscriptions of the Wuding period are very grand and eye-catching; At the end of the Shang Dynasty, in the era of Diyi and Dixin, the characters became small and cumbersome; as for Western Zhou Dynasty Oracle inscriptions are as thin as millet hair.

The style types of oracle bone inscriptions: one is vigorous and vigorous, the other is beautiful and light, the third is neat and regular, the fourth is sparse and elegant, and the fifth is plump and clumsy. In a word, although oracle bone inscriptions are carved words, they are full of brushwork, with various styles, or Bones The opening is fun to relax; Or fine silk show, with Zan hairpin flower There is much beauty in calligraphy between lines.

The so-called“ Oracle bone inscription calligraphy ”, which has two meanings.

First, it refers to the calligraphic works that are neatly copied based on the font structure and calligraphy characteristics of the Shang and Zhou oracle bone inscriptions. Such works can be collected as required ancient writing Make new sentences with combinations. The content is new, but the characters are as elegant as those written by the people of Yin three thousand years ago. However, oracle bone inscriptions only have a total of more than 2000 words, among which there are many strange words (especially people's names and place names) that have not yet been released, and not many of them really come into use. Therefore, once encountering words that are not found in oracle bone inscriptions, but cannot be replaced in the couplets and inscriptions written, we have to take apart the side parts and splice them by ourselves; If you can't spell it again, you will arrive Inscriptions on bronze Others Ancient writing Go to ask for help. Luo Zhenyu is the first person to carry out this creation. In 1921, in addition to his research, he wrote oracle bone inscriptions into couplets with a brush and published the Collection of Characters and Couplets in Yin Ruins. Zhang Yu, Gao Dexin, Wang Jilie and others followed suit Word set a literary creation. some Ancient philology Senior, such as Dong Zuobin 、 Shang Chengzuo 、 Tang Lan Yu Shengwu and others are also good at oracle bone inscription calligraphy, which is a genuine calligraphy work of oracle bone inscription.

Another meaning refers to modern calligraphy works created by drawing on the characteristics of oracle bone inscriptions. They regard oracle bone inscriptions as a kind of inspiration, just a hint in artistic creation, not in pursuit of "similarity in form". Therefore, they did not strictly follow the calligraphy characteristics of oracle bone inscriptions. They may be a combination of oracle bone inscriptions, bronze inscriptions Warring States characters And other ancient characters. This kind of calligraphy art has something to do with ancient philology, but it does not follow suit.

Some scholars believe that the "script" of oracle bone inscriptions "plays a decisive role" ① in the dating of oracle bones and the combination of fragments. The shape of calligraphy depends on the skill and technique of the writer. Its popularity is respected by habits Timeliness 。 It can be seen from the book style to measure the culture and art fashion of a certain period. And pointed out that:

The calligraphy of the Wuding period is magnificent and magnificent. Even small and medium-sized fonts are neat and beautiful, but no matter large, medium and small fonts, there is nothing that does not show the proficiency and profound attainments in calligraphy during this period; Zu Geng During the Zujia period, it was mainly strict and neat Work hard Compared with later generations of calligraphers, Ouyang is more interesting; Endowment Condin In the era, some of them followed the neat style of Zu Geng Zu Jia, but most of them gradually declined and tended to be sloppy; Wuyi The large characters of the period are crude, primitive, vigorous and with a violent atmosphere; Wen Ding Wu Ding's works are also diverse and diverse. In calligraphy, a hundred flowers bloom and a hundred schools of thought contend. Some of them have open bones and a sense of relaxation. Some of them are small and beautiful and have the style of hairpin flowers.

It can be seen that the calligraphy art of oracle bone inscriptions is recognized by scholars.

The word "ding" in oracle bone inscriptions

In addition, oracle bone inscriptions also have some characteristics of their own. It usually uses a knife to carve characters directly. Some of them are filled with cinnabar after carving, and some of them are not Knife carving It was written directly in cinnabar. Therefore, the sabre technique of oracle bone inscriptions reflects its brushwork. Judging from the sharp and vigorous lines, the sabre technique is also very skilled. The line starts and ends moderately, turns appropriately, and is thick and thin, long and short, indicating that it is useful Single knife It also has double blades. The font structure is generally thin and long, with different sizes, lengths and squares; The arrangement of various long and short lines is dense and orderly, and the combination of various horizontal and vertical oblique lines is appropriate, which not only maintains a balanced and symmetrical structure, but also shows rich and varied brushwork. At the same time, oracle bone inscriptions also have pictographic, referential, understanding, borrowing, re annotation, pictophonetic“ Six Books ”The principle of Chinese character construction is not only a mature character, but also a high level of calligraphy art.

Oracle bone inscriptions are complete Content and form 。 It generally includes narrative words (for the date of divination and the name of Zhenren), destiny words (for the matter asked), divination words (for the king of Shang himself to look at the omen and ask for good or bad luck), and verification words (to record the divination results), so it is also called oracle bone inscriptions. The arrangement of inscriptions is also very regular, either from top to bottom or from bottom to top; Or from right to left, or from left to right, but generally horizontal first and then vertical. On a piece of oracle bone, there are few numbers and many hundreds of characters. The layout of its structure is not artificial, and it is scattered naturally. It is an integral whole with endless changes. In all respects, it reflects the high level of Artistic Skills And artistic ingenuity, worthy of being the earliest calligraphy art in China.

Since the 1980s, with the rise of calligraphy craze, oracle bone inscription calligraphy has received the attention of the majority of calligraphers. However, since the calligraphy creation of oracle bone inscriptions has a history of only a hundred years after all, there is no mature practice and mode of artistic creation It can be used for reference. How to study this ancient calligraphy style has become an urgent issue for the creators of oracle bone inscriptions calligraphy. Salmon The teacher thought: "The pen for writing oracle bones should be light, Transport pen To live and learn from 'rice' Brush words 。 To middle Lateral front Mutual use requires both the charm of the brush and the feeling of a knife. " It is an extremely incisive insight. Although inscriptions on bones and tortoise shells are made of carved inscriptions, the traces of writing still exist. Therefore, when we learn inscriptions on bones and tortoise shells, we should not only reflect the feeling of carved inscriptions, but also show the taste of writing. Start the pen slightly backward into the paper, run the center of the pen lifting, and stop the pen flat out and empty. When you write, you should avoid the regular script's faltering method. The strokes should be simple, straight and fluent. In particular, it is necessary to use the pen in a fast and moderate way. Although learning oracle bone inscriptions mainly focuses on the center, it should be supplemented by the side edge occasionally to enhance its rhyme. The turning point of oracle bone inscriptions should generally be broken and re emerged, and should not be taken over in a single stroke to form a round shape, thus losing the square and upright nature of oracle bone inscriptions.

Finally, it is necessary to point out that, in addition to mastering the above brushwork, one should read more rubbings of oracle bone inscriptions, taste their lines Knot And the ancient flavor. At the same time, adhere to the temporary writing Xiaozhuan and Inscriptions on bronze , read more Philology Works, which is very helpful for learning Oracle.

historical value

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Sima Qian On《 Redords of the Grand History of China 》There is an article in《 Yin Benji 》, which recorded the lineage and history of the Shang Dynasty in detail. In the past, many people in the history circle were skeptical of these records, because there was no written record and retained Physical data It can be verified.

At the beginning of this century, Luo Zhenyu found the names of the former dukes and kings of the Shang Dynasty engraved on the oracle bones he collected, which confirmed that Xiaotun, the place where these oracle bones were unearthed, is what the Records of the Historian said“ Huan River South, the location of Yin Ruins.

Since then, the scholar Wang Guowei oracular inscriptions on tortoise shells and bones The former kings and dukes of the Shang Dynasty, as seen in, have made a detailed textual research against the records in the Records of the Historian, which confirms the Credibility 。 The Yin Ruins was built by King Pan Geng of the 10th generation of the Shang Dynasty in 1318 BC Qufu ) moved to Yin (around Xiaotun Village), and since then, it has experienced eight generations and 12 kings, and has been the capital for 273 years. These research results advance China's credible history by a thousand years.

It is a very important discovery that from the discovery and identification of the characters on a piece of Shang oracle bones to the affirmation of a dynasty more than 3000 years ago and more than 600 years ago. In this way, some scholars in the 1920s thought that the credible history of China began with the "suspicion of the ancient" trend of thought in the Western Zhou Dynasty, and completely denied it.

Oracle pictures (3 sheets)

The Philological Value of Oracle Bone Inscriptions

Oracle bone inscriptions play an extremely important role in the long history of the development of Chinese characters Modern Chinese Characters Our ancestors are well deserved. The rudiments of Chinese characters appeared around Neolithic Age Late pottery Engraved symbol 。 However, although these carved characters have the rudiments of characters, they are all simple symbols and words without complete system and laws. Oracle bone inscriptions are the earliest characters with a certain system and strict rules. According to research, there are about 4500 unique words in Oracle bone inscriptions, and 1700 known words, which are not all words used at that time. Oracle bone inscriptions are valuable materials for studying ancient characters. Chinese characters sprouted earlier in the Neolithic Age Yangshao Culture On the pottery of the Shang Dynasty, various carved symbols were found, which became the rudiments of Chinese characters. After two or three thousand years of gestation and development, Chinese characters reached the basic level in the Shang Dynasty Maturity stage 。 Oracle bone inscriptions have a certain system and relatively strict laws, rich in content, and play an important role in the study of ancient Chinese characters. In the past, the main basis for the study of ancient characters was Bronzes of the Shang and Zhou Dynasties Inscription on, Rudong Chinese Xu Shen Of《 Analytical Dictionary of Characters 》。 Oracle bone inscriptions are 1500 years earlier than Shuowenjiezi, and they are derived from direct excavation unearthed relic It is more reliable to study the origin and development of Chinese characters, correct the negligence of Shuowenjiezi, and solve the problem of Bronze inscription The outstanding issues in are of great value.

Before oracle bone inscriptions, according to archaeological materials, there were many immature Text symbols appear. From historical records《 a pre-Qin philosopher 》、《 Lu's Spring and Autumn Period 》、《 Han Feizi 》、《 Shiben 》All recorded Cang Jie The legend of word making. Xu Shen Of《 Shuo Wen 》Preface《 Copula The statement in the Biography is combined with the legend of Cang Jie, which says: "He Shenjia tied a rope to govern his affairs, and the common people were busy, playing the role of hypocrisy. Yellow Emperor History Cang Jie saw the trail of birds and animals' hoof sailing, and knew that the reason could be different Deed We should mow with every effort and check with every product. " The age of the Yellow Emperor was about 25600 BC, and the earliest oracle bone inscriptions were no more than 1300 BC.

On December 26, 2017, Oracle was successfully selected“ Memory of the World Directory ”The press conference was held in the Palace Museum. The press conference was held by the Ministry of Education, the State Language Commission, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, the State Archives Bureau, the Palace Museum, China the United Nations Co sponsored by the whole UNESCO Committee. Attendees of the conference are mainly from the host organization and UNESCO in China representative office , cultural and museum institutions, as well as representatives of relevant universities and research institutes.

Collection identification

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Oracle bone inscriptions carved on the scapula

The posterity of oracle bone inscriptions is not good at counterfeiting, so the following points should be noted during identification:

First, look Divination bone The old and the new. Oracle bones have been buried for more than 3000 years, which is called by some scholars“ Subfossil ”, naturally, there is a sense of ancient simplicity. The counterfeiter often carves words with fresh beef bones in large version (because the tortoise shell is difficult to carve and easy to break), so he must be careful when encountering large beef bones. For example, the British Anyang Presbyterian minister A righteous man in the Ming Dynasty (James Mellon Menzies) began collecting oracle bone inscriptions in 1914. As a result, the large bone version purchased for the first time was all imitation of fresh cattle bones, which soon became rotten and smelly. (Some fakes were engraved on oracle bones unearthed in the Shang Dynasty. For example, there was only one character on the original piece, and he added seven or eight characters. Therefore, it should be noted that the real oracle bones are not necessarily oracle bone inscriptions.)

Second, if you can see the real object visually, you can see the new and old incisions. Even if the newly carved characters on the unearthed oracle bones are used, the counterfeiters often use sticky clay to smear them because of the new incision. After the oracle bone is soaked in water for a short time, the soil can be brushed away with a brush, and the incision will be clear at a glance. But the authentic ones are deep into the nicks due to the soil color, which can't be washed away. (This method of using water will do great harm to cultural relics, especially those oracle bone inscriptions that are not well preserved, and those that are rotten when unearthed. Try to invite experts, if not, you can use magnifier , the difference can be clearly seen when zoomed in to a certain extent.)

Third, see whether the content conforms to the rules and grammar of divination. Because the counterfeiters do not understand the content of oracle bone inscriptions, most of them are indiscriminately copying the words on the real film, piecing together, even reverse writing and engraving errors are also unaware. Therefore, when identifying, we should pay attention to whether the engraved words are connected into sentences. A complete divination is composed of the preceding divination (also called recitation), the divination date, the stem and branch, and the Diviner First name, usually of Shang Wang Historiographer ）It consists of four parts:.

Fourth, look at the format of engraved words. There are two types of inscriptions on the tortoise shell: inscriptions on the left and right edges are read from outside to inside; specifically, inscriptions on the left edge of the tortoise shell are read from left to right, and inscriptions on the right edge of the tortoise shell are read from right to left. The other is tortoise Abdominal concha The characters on both sides of the middle seam are engraved from the inside out, that is, the characters on the left side of the middle seam are read from left to left, and the characters on the right side are read from right to right. The inscription on the cow bone is usually engraved on the edge of the bone and is read from outside to inside. Several oracle inscriptions are carved together, usually arranged from bottom to top.

Fifth, look at the font. Oracle Bone Inscriptions of the Shang Dynasty leaped from Pan Geng reach Dixin The 12 Shang kings have a history of more than 270 years. The age of the oracle inscriptions can be clearly judged as the 8 Shang kings from Wuding to Diyi. During this period, the writing style changed. According to these changes and other archaeological achievements, some scholars will Inscriptions from Yin Ruins It is divided into five periods. The first period is the Wuding period. The font is relatively larger, and the fifth period is smaller. Some of them have different writing styles Onychology Reference book (such as Gaoming《 Ancient Characters 》Zhonghua Book Company, 1980).

Sixth, look at the name of Zhen people (divination people). Zhen Ren, who was divining for the King of Shang at that time Historiographer 。 Zhen people lived in a certain period, and their names are one of the bases for dating. It is impossible for early and late Zhenren to jointly master divination, so they should not appear on the same piece of oracle bone. Many monographs have been studied on this, and the list comparison is clear at a glance (such as Chen Mengjia Summary of Inscriptions in Yin Ruins).

In general, Oracle Discrimination of forgery The identification is simpler than that of other cultural relics, but when encountering the imitation carving of all real pieces or a piece of oracle bone with no characters unearthed, one must be more careful. The predecessors have made gratifying achievements in the research of this work. Generally, there are many false inscriptions in the oracle bone inscriptions recorded by westerners, such as the Oracle Bone Inscriptions Collected by Kufang Ershi, the Oracle Bone Inscriptions Collected by Bergen, and the Oracle Bone Inscriptions Collected by Jin Zhang, which should be noted when quoting. For example, the three inscriptions in the upper left part of the 668 piece of Oracle Oracle Inscriptions in Jin Zhang's Collection, "Bu Zhen, the King of Kui Chou, is a disaster free king, Zhan Yueji", are authentic, while the characters in the lower part are large and clear, but they are not in the sense of the text, and they are pseudo inscriptions. Some counterfeiters are Lettering Born, he was favored by antique dealers and specialized in fake divination. For example, the Lan Baoguang mentioned in Dong Zuobin's Fifty Years of Oracle Bone Study can imitate and engrave complete real films, and the level of detail is almost unreal. Fortunately, this person does not understand the rules and grammar. Otherwise, he would add a lot of trouble to the work of identifying forgeries by "creating" on oracle bones.

In addition to the inscriptions of the Shang Dynasty, a large number of inscriptions have been found since 1954 Western Zhou Oracle There are many characters in it. It is half a century since the discovery of the oracle inscriptions in the Yin Ruins. There is no such thing as forgery. Of course, there is no way to distinguish forgeries.

Collections

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National Library of China It has the largest collection of oracle bones in China and even in the world, with 35651 pieces in total.^[5] Most of them are donated by famous families and purchased from private and market enterprises. Among them, Mr. Liu Tizhi has the largest collection of over 28000 pieces in 150 boxes. The oracle bones in the National Library were also recorded in Luo Zhenyu《 Shang oracle-bone writing 》Hu Houxuan, Collection of Newly Obtained Oracle Bones in Beijing and Tianjin after the War, Guo Moruo《 Edited by Yin Qicui 》、 Guo Ruoyu In "Yin Qi Picks Up".

National Library of China There are also a lot of rubbings of oracle bones in the collection. In addition to the Collection of oracle bones in the collection being spread, there are also 18 volumes and four letters of the Collection of oracle bones in Shanzhai Books, totaling more than 28000 pieces. The oracle bones in the museum are also included in the Collection of Oracle Bone Inscriptions edited by Guo Moruo a book of rubbings There are more than ten kinds.

Historical evaluation

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Guo Moruo : Yin, the founder of the Central Plains culture, sees this better than reading ancient books. A piece of oracle bone shocks the world, and a small town shocks the world.^[10]

Xi Jinping Oracle bone inscriptions are the earliest mature writing system discovered in China so far, and are the source and source of Chinese characters Excellent Chinese Traditional Culture It is worth cherishing and better inheriting and developing.^[10]

Important exhibitions

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"Memory of Oracle Bone Inscriptions" Exhibition of National Museum of Classical Books

When entering the exhibition of Memory of Oracle Bone Inscriptions, the 10 Chinese characters written in Oracle Bone Inscriptions on the screen are particularly eye-catching. These ten words are dragon, phoenix, drum, kuo, wade, zhi, book, drink, code and history. From the perspective of character development, the writing method of 'volume' in oracle bone inscriptions shows that there were bamboo slips in the Shang Dynasty; The characters on "Dian" of ancient books are the same as those on "Book", which means a typical and important book, so it needs to be held by both hands. Some experts also believe that the two horizontal lines below the word "Dian" represent a short table, which means that the book held by both hands is too heavy and can be read on the table Read.^[9]

In the display case, the oracle bone numbered 6006 in the museum collection is a group of rubbings, which are joined together by three pieces of oracle bone, and the two pieces above are joined together by Mr. Wang Guowei. Through his research, he found that the above text records the lineage of the King of Shang, which can correspond to the name of the King of Shang in Records of the Historian · Yin Benji; The lower part was joined by the later scholar Dong Zuobin. The addition of this piece of oracle bone further improved the lineage of the King of Shang. There are 150000 pieces of oracle bones found in the world, and the National Library has the largest collection of 35651 pieces.^[9]

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