Oracle bone inscriptions, mainly popular in the Shang and Zhou dynasties, also known as" Contract letter "," Oracle bones "," Yin Ruins Text "or" Tortoiseshell Animal bone Words ", It is the earliest mature writing system found in China so far, and it is the source of Chinese characters Fine traditional Chinese culture Root vein of ^[7] . Oracle bone inscriptions were issued in 1899 now ^[9] , Shang Dynasty The early remains of oracle bone inscriptions were mainly found in Zhengzhou Mall In the late Shang Dynasty Yin Ruins of Anyang Be represented. ^[6]

Oracle bone inscriptions are the most important characters in the late Shang Dynasty divination A large number, a total of more than 100,000 pieces, the content is mainly the fortune-telling records of the Shang royal family, but also can be seen in many states of the tribe Clan insignia Say your name. The oracle-bone inscriptions (oracle-bone inscriptions) have about 4,000 characters, reflecting the basic composition of the writing symbol system. With... Shuowen Jiezi Compared with the traditional symbol system of ancient Chinese characters established by "The Oracle Bone Script", it already has various types of Chinese character configuration, and also has the "four bodies" in the traditional "six books", that is, pictographic, pointing, understanding, and shape and sound, indicating that in the late Yin and Shang Dynasties, the Chinese characters represented by oracle bone script have basically established the way of configuration, and the configuration system has gradually developed and matured. From the aspects of font formation, symbolization degree, writing form and use function, it can be seen that oracle bone inscriptions in the late Shang Dynasty are a character symbol system with mature structure and complete function after a long period of development, and can be identified as a complete text sample of Chinese characters entering the mature stage. ^[6]

In October 2017, Oracle was selected to the" Memory of the World Register ". ^[8] As of November 2022, China A total of about 150,000 pieces of oracle bone inscriptions have been found, and more than 35,000 pieces have been excavated by scientific archaeology, and the number of single characters has exceeded 4,000 ^[4] .

They say

Why is Oracle worth so much money? 2022-12-12 19:00

As an ancient and difficult to read script, Oracle bone script has been found to date about 4,500 characters, nearly two-thirds of which are still undecipherable. It is like a "passcode" left to us by our ancestors, as long as we solve it, we can listen to their "voice" across time and space, and uncover the mystery of that distant era. ... details

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Chinese name: Inscriptions on tortoise shells and bones
Foreign name: Oracle Bone Inscriptions
alias: Contract letter , Oracle bones , Tortoise shell and animal bones

age: Shang Dynasty
Location of discovery: Zhengzhou Mall (Oracle bone inscriptions in early Shang Dynasty), Yin Ruins of Anyang (Oracle bone inscriptions in the late Shang Dynasty) ^[6]
nature: The earliest mature writing system found in China so far ^[7]

catalogue

Birth background

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EDITOR

The Shang royal family and aristocrats were involved in state affairs from top to bottom Private life Such as sacrifice, climate, harvest, expedition, field hunting, sickness, fertility, going out, etc., all ask God to ask, in order to know the good fortune and bad fortune to decide to stop. Thus, divination became a major event in the country's political life, and the court set up special agencies and officials. There are inscription All of the bones were kept in the national archives and stored in the vaults. Therefore, the inscriptions on the oracle bones became the study of Shang Dynasty history Primary material It reflects the period from 1300 BC to 1000 BC Social life Every aspect.

" The record of Rites and lists "Yin people respect God, lead the people to do God, first the ghost and then the ceremony." As you know, Yin and Shang Dynasties Before dealing with large and small affairs, the king would use the oracle bones to divinate, ask the ghosts and gods, and afterwards engrave the things asked on the oracle bones. After the death of the Shang Dynasty, divination gradually disappeared in the Zhou Dynasty, and its characters were gradually unknown. ^[3]

The rulers of the Shang Dynasty were very superstitious, such as whether there would be disaster within ten days, whether it would rain, whether there would be a good harvest of crops, whether a war could be won, and which ghosts and gods should be fought against sacrifice So much so that fertility, disease, dreaming and so on have to be divined in order to understand the will of ghosts and gods and the good or bad of things. The materials used in divination are mainly Tortoise Abdominal armor, tergite wagyu scapula . Usually, some small pits are dug or drilled on the back of the oracle bone prepared for divination. This small pit is called "drilling" by the oracle bone scientists. These pits were heated during divination to create cracks in the surface of the oracle bones. This crack is called a "sign." The divination "Bu" character in oracle bone inscriptions looks like an omen. People who are engaged in divination judge good or bad luck according to the various shapes of the signs.

Development history

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EDITOR

Inscriptions on tortoise shells and bones (12 photos)

Oracle bone inscriptions are engraved and written in Tortoise shell It is named after the animal bones and is a book of the Shang Dynasty. ^[1] Content for record Pan Geng moved Yin to King Zhou of Zhou The inscriptions of two hundred and seventy years are the earliest written works. The Shang Dynasty has three major characteristics, namely True history Drink alcohol and worship ghosts and gods; Because of this, these tortoiseshell, which determines many things such as fishing, harvesting, and agriculture, can be seen again in the future and become research Chinese characters Important information. The Shang Dynasty already had excellent ink and calligraphy style due to classics Checke The style is thin, strong and sharp, with the interest of a blade. Influenced by the rise and fall of literary style, it can be roughly divided into five periods, which are introduced below. The late Shang Dynasty moved from Pangeng to Yin King Zhou of Shang A total of about 273 years, experienced 8 Kings and 12 Kings, this period of oracle bones should also be divided into sooner and later. right Armour bones of the Shang Dynasty There are a variety of arguments in the study of the staging of the period, and now the main use is Dong Zuobin's five phases divided according to ten criteria such as lineage, appellation, Zhen people, that is, the first phase: Pan Geng , Xiao Sing , Xiao Yi , Vouding ; Phase 2: Sukeng , ancestral armour; The third phase: rinsing , Conding ; Phase 4: Wu Yi , Vendin ; Issue 5: Emperor B , Disin .

Development history
Development period	introduce
Grand stage	Since the Pan Geng to Vouding About one hundred years, influenced by the prosperous era of Wuding, the calligraphy style is grand and majestic, the ultimate of oracle bone calligraphy, in general, how round the pen is, how sharp the pen is, and the curve is wrong, rich in changes, regardless of fat or thin, are extremely vigorous.
Cautionary period	Since the Sukeng To the ancestral armor, about 40 years. Both can be considered permanent Worthy monarch The calligraphy of this period was cautious, mostly inherited the wind of the earlier period, adhered to the rules, and there were very few new innovations, but it was not as vigorous and bold as the earlier period.
slump	Since the rinsing To Contin, about 14 years. This period can be said to be the autumn of Yin Dynasty style, although there are a lot of neat style, but the disordered sections are not so regular, and some naive, confused, plus mistakes are not uncommon.
Peak stage	Since the Wu Yi to Vendin About 17 years. Wen Ding is keen to restore the grandeur of the era of Wuding, and the calligraphy style turns to be vigorous and powerful, showing the weather of rejuvenation, and has a very vigorous style in the more slender strokes.
Critical period	Since the Emperor B to Disin About eighty-nine years. The calligraphy style tends to be rigorous, which is slightly closer to the second phase; Length (of a document) Lengthening, careful too, no decadent disease, also lack of vigorous posture. Thin on the bones handwriting Be also affected by cutter The impact of... Divination is often engraved with "yes" or "no" on both sides of the central longitudinal line of the tortoise shell, from the middle line to the left and right, so both sides are symmetrical and harmonious, with the beauty of symmetrical lines. And after the inscription, the size of the characters are filled with Zhu ink, or the front and back are filled with zhu ink, which has a deeper artistic meaning, and can be called a miracle in the history of books.

Recorded content

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EDITOR

There are four main ones:

(1) The tortoise shell and animal bones that have been processed and scraped shall be kept by a specially responsible officer. On the edges of them, Bu Guan wrote a note describing the origin and storage of these bones, saying," Remember things and write words ";

Oracle bone on an animal bone

(2) Bu Guan divination When, the burning bauhinia wood column is burned to drill the nest groove, so that the front of the bone cracks out the shape of "Bu", this crack is called "Bu sign", which is the basis for inferring the good or bad luck of things. Under the oracle bones of an earlier era, the numbers of the order of divination are inscribed, which is also called "the order of the omen";

(3) The main part of oracle bone inscriptions is the inscriptions that record the progress and results of divination activities after the completion of divination activities. Most of them are inscribed on the front of the oracle bone, and some are inscribed on the back;

(4) With the celestial stem (A, B, C, D, E, Hexi, Geng, Xin, Ren and GUI) and the earthly branch (Zi, Chou, Yin, MAO, MAO, Qi, Jin, Jin, Ren and GUI) Chen" It can be said that the list of sixty branch names, which is composed of, Si, Wu, Wei, Shen, you, Xu and Hai, is the earliest in China calendar .

In addition, there are some inscriptions that people who learned to write inscriptions at that time practiced writing works, called "learning" or "learning contract."

Engraved deer skull

The contents of oracle bone inscriptions are mostly records of divination by the imperial family of the Yin and Shang dynasties. Most people in the Shang Dynasty believed in ghosts and gods, and asked questions about big and small things. Some of the contents of divination were about the weather, some were about the harvest of farming, some were about illness, early birth of a child, and hunting, fighting, sacrifice and other big things needed to be asked. So Oracle's content can be vaguely understood Shang Dynasty People's lives can also be known History of Shang Dynasty The state of development.

At the same time, oracle bone inscriptions are very close to the shape of ancient buildings, and it can be said that architectural records are also a big origin of oracle bone inscriptions. China can be understood from many architectural glyphs in oracle bone inscriptions Ancient times The structural form of the building and its development context.

Oracle bone "high" word. From its glyphs, it can be inferred that there was a kind of construction in the Shang Dynasty Earth table On the building. The lower part should be seen as a dig in the earth cellar , this is Private ownership A way of building after the appearance of the head up and home. The upper part can be seen as a building with both a roof and walls. The appearance of the wall in China Ancient times It's an amazing creation. The interior space enclosed by the wall is much taller than that of the roof only, which is exactly the meaning of "high, Chong also".

Oracle bone inscriptions "palace" character. It can be seen as a house with two (or more) interior Spaces under a large roof. This is a special offer Ruling class The use of very elegant tall buildings.

character

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EDITOR

Bujia Shang King Wuding period

Oracle bone inscriptions are engraved or written on Tortoise shell and Animal bone On the text. Be unearthed in Anyang, Henan Province Xiaotun Village area, because here was the late Shang Dynasty Shang king Pan Geng to Di Xin capital, history is called "Yin". Shang destroyed the country and became a ruin, and later generations called it" Yin Ruins "The name of it. Therefore, oracle bone script is also called "Yin ruins script". Most of its contents are the sayings of the royal family, so it is also called "fortune-telling", or "fortune-telling". Zhenbu script ". This kind of writing is basically made from the inscription, also known as" Contract letter ", or" A surname "Wait.

Oracle bone script has a history of more than 3,000 years. It is not only the earliest and systematic data for the study of the origin of Chinese characters, but also an important wealth for the study of oracle bone script calligraphy. From the perspective of calligraphy, the oracle-bone inscriptions already have three basic elements of calligraphy: the use of a pen, the formation of characters, and the method of composition.

Text

According to the inscription on the oracle bone, they already have Chinese calligraphy The three elements of writing, writing and writing. Its lines are clean and thin, straight and thick, and the strokes are folded in many ways, which has an influence on the use of pen and knife in seal cutting in later generations. From the perspective of structural fonts, the text not only changes, although the size is different, but more balanced and symmetrical, but also shows a stable pattern. Therefore from Technique of composition Look at it, though sclerite The influence of size and shape still shows the skill of engraving and writing Artistic characteristics . "Oracle bone calligraphy" has now become popular among some calligraphers and calligraphy enthusiasts, which proves its charm.

With pen

From the point of view of the pen, oracle-bone inscriptions are carved on hard tortoise shells or animal bones with knives, so straight lines are used when carving, and curves are also carved by short straight lines. The stroke thickness is also more uniform; Due to the lifting and folding of the knife straight down Stand up Therefore, most lines show the characteristics of slightly thick in the middle and slightly thin at both ends, which is thin and solid, tall and crisp, and rich Three-dimensional sense .

lettering

it lettering In terms of shape, oracle bone inscriptions are mostly rectangular or a few squares, with the beauty of symmetry or the change of the shape of a word. Moreover, the oracle bone inscriptions also have the structural form of combining square and square, opening a collection, and some characters also have more or less pictographic traces, with the original text Development stage Naive and vivid.

Technique of composition

From the point of view of the chapter, the lines of the whole text are clear, and the size of the text is scattered. Each line up and down, left and right, although there are density changes, but the whole text can Promoting circulation of qi Through the string, size dependent, left and right corresponding, before and after echo lively situation. Moreover, the number of words, the whole arrangement is compact, giving people a sense of dense, and the number of words is small and empty, in short, showing a simple and romantic interest.

Archaeological excavation

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EDITOR

Oracle bones were first discovered in 1899, according to scholars Hu Houxuan According to statistics, a total of more than 154,600 pieces of oracle bone were unearthed, of which more than 97,600 pieces were collected in the mainland. Taiwan Province With a collection of more than 30,200 pieces, Hong Kong There are 89 pieces in the collection, totaling more than 127,900 pieces in China, in addition, Japan , Canada More than 26,700 pieces have been collected in the United Kingdom, the United States and other countries. There are about 4,500 words engraved on these bones, and about 2,000 words have been deciphered so far.

When Oracle found out, litterologist Antique dealers and foreigners began to search and buy in large numbers. these non-science Excavation, often only take the bones, and ignore the burial of the bones, so that the value of the bones lost. According to statistics, from 1889 to 1928, private excavations unearthed more than 100,000 pieces of oracle bone.

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

From the fall of 1928 to the summer of 1937, as it became clear Oracle bone The site of the excavation, when the Anti-Japanese War broke out, Institute of History and Language, Academia Sinica Archaeological group, famous in archaeologist Dong Zuobin , Li Ji , Liang Siyong Under the auspices of others, 15 archaeological excavations were carried out in the area of Xiaotun Village for 10 years, which not only found a total of more than 24,900 pieces of oracle bone, but also found the palace, temple site and royal mausoleum area in the late Shang Dynasty, unearthed a large number of precious bronze, jade and pottery Material culture Provided on Yin Ruins Evidence of the capital of the Shang Dynasty. Yin Ruins became world famous Ancient cultural site Once again shook the academic circles at home and abroad. The site of the fourth excavation is Little Village North, from March 21 to May 12, 1931, the excavation was still conducted by Li Ji. This excavation is due to Liang Siyong The participation and improvement of field excavation techniques, began to really stratigraphy Apply theory to Field archaeology In this excavation, 782 pieces of oracle bones with characters were unearthed, and a deer skull with inscriptions was also found.

The discovery of oracle bone inscriptions triggered a boom of private excavation of oracle bone among local people, and antique merchants, collectors and scholars from all over the country came to buy a large number of them. According to statistics, by the seventeenth year of the Republic of China (1928), tens of thousands of pieces of oracle bone had been dispersed throughout the country.

In the same year, the Institute of History and Language of the Academia Sinica was established and soon put forward Excavation of Yin Ruins Plan. In August, the archaeologist Dong Zuobin Under the leadership, the first scientific excavation of the Yin ruins was carried out until the 26th year of the Republic of China (1937). War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression Before the outbreak, a total of 15 excavations were carried out, and 24,918 pieces of inscribed tortoise bones were obtained. Japanese occupation Anyang During the period, the Japanese side organized Japanese scholars to excavate tortoise 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 After that, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and other departments continued to carry out excavation work, and a total of more than 5,300 pieces were obtained. In addition, Henan (Province) Huixian County , A surname , Luoyang Zhengzhou Erligang and Hebei Gaocheng Other sites of the Shang Dynasty have also been unearthed. Shanxi (Province) Hongdong , Peking Chambinh And other places also found Zhou Dynasty There is an oracle bone.

The originator of Chinese characters -- oracle bone script (40 photos)

As of 2012, about 150,000 pieces of oracle bone were found, with more than 4,500 words. The content recorded in these oracle bones is extremely rich, involving the Shang Dynasty Social life Not only political, military, cultural, Social custom And related to astronomy, calendar, medicine and other science and technology. Judging from the about 2,500 characters that have been identified by Oracle, it has already possessed the method of "pictographic, understanding, shape and sound, pointing, transliteration, and false borrowing", showing the unique charm of Chinese characters. The Chinese Shang Dynasty The Western Zhou Dynasty (206 B.C.) Early (about the 16th ~ 10th century BC) Tortoise shell , Animal bone As the carrier of the literature. It is the earliest form of known Chinese literature. The inscription on the oracle bone had earlier been called Contract letter , oracle bone inscriptions, We find Tortoise version text, Yin Ruins text, etc., now commonly known as oracle bone scripts.

On October 16, 2014, Member of the Department of Science, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences , China Oracle bone study And pre-Qin history research Song Zhenhao On the 16th, in" An oracle bone in the Lushun Museum Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and other departments and agencies from the experts Lushun Museum In the collection of more than 1,800 rare skeletons that have never been published before, 34 new characters and bones have been found New font . Experts believe that this achievement is a major breakthrough since the discovery of Chinese oracle bones more than 110 years ago, not only provides important historical materials for the study of Chinese Yin and Shang history, but also plays an important role in promoting the development of oracle bones and oracle bones.

After more than three years of careful research, evaluation and summary, the number of new characters and characters discovered increased from 6 discovered two years ago to 34, involving sacrifices, Fang Guo The name, place name, personal name and modal particle, etc. At the same time, it was discovered and confirmed Yin and Shang Dynasties There were punishments such as cutting off the nose and ears. The discovery of 34 new characters and new characters will have a profound impact on the study of oracle bone inscriptions and will leave an extremely precious copy to future generations Historical and cultural heritage .

As of November 2022, a total of about 150,000 pieces of oracle bone inscriptions have been found in China, and more than 35,000 pieces have been excavated by scientific archaeology, and the number of single characters has exceeded 4,000 Data sorting , staging, textual interpretation, business history research, compilation and publication of reference books, Personnel training Fruitful results have been achieved. ^[4]

Excavation site

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EDITOR

Oracle bone inscriptions in the early Shang Dynasty

The remains of oracle bone inscriptions in the early Shang Dynasty were mainly found in Zhengzhou Mall. April 1953, Zhengzhou Erligang Site 1 section unearthed Beef rib On the inscription of 3 lines 11, "Yi Chou Zhen: from receiving... July is モ soil sheep ", and some people interpret it as "soil sheep Yi Zhen from October". This text is functionally the same as the oracle bone inscriptions "Jia Shen Bu Tu" in Yin Ruins. There is no remains of the late Yin Dynasty in the unearthed area, which should belong to the Early Shang Erligang period. Archaeological excavations in Zhengzhou Mall in the past half century also show that no remains of the late Shang Dynasty have been found in this area. In September 1954, another bone relic was unearthed in the CIT30 trench of Erligang Site, inscribed with an incomplete equilateral triangle and a "like" in the middle. The repeated discoveries of oracle bone inscriptions at the Erligang site in Zhengzhou demonstrate the importance of the area in the social life of merchants. Erligang Site in Zhengzhou is located in the realm of the king of Shang. The site where the bones were unearthed should be the remains of the early king society of Shang Dynasty. ^[6]

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

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

Oracle bone inscriptions in the late Shang Dynasty

The vast majority of oracle bones are found in China Henan (Province) province Anyang City Yin Ruins . The ruins of Yin Dynasty are famous ruins of the Yin and Shang Dynasties Henan Province Anyang Northwest of the city Little Village , Garden farm , Hou Jiazhuang Etc. It was once the capital of the Central Dynasty in the late Yin and Shang Dynasties, so it was called the Yin Ruins. These bones are basically the divination records of the rulers of the Shang Dynasty.

The archaeologists carried out many investigations and excavations, and generally clarified the scope and layout of the Yin ruins. Located in the northwest suburbs of Anyang city, Henan Province, Yin Ruins, it is centered on Xiaotun village, about 6 kilometers east and west, 5 kilometers north and south, with a total area of 30 Square kilometer Around. The main River The little village on the south bank is Yin King Living in the palace area, excavated Palace site Dozens of them, the largest one with an area of 5,000 square meters. North of the main river is the Yin Royal Mausoleum area, where more than a dozen large tombs and more than 1,000 tombs have been excavated tomb And a large number of sacrificial pits. Two oracle archives were found near the palace and Cast copper Jade, bone, pottery and so on Handicraft industry The remains of the workshop. Excavation of Yin Ruins The long duration, large scale and abundant harvest are rare in the history of Chinese archaeology.

In memory of Yin Ruins Great archaeological discovery, in the autumn of 1987, Anyang City built a Yin ruins museum in the northeast of the palace site area, restoration and reproduction of 3000 years Former Yin Dynasty The palace and some of the buildings.

Turtle belly armor used for divination by King Wuding of Yin

In the spring of 1976, it was excavated near the palace area, 100 meters to the west of Xiaotun Village Chinese history The first female general Good woman The tomb of. According to the oracle bone inscriptions, Fu Hao was the queen of the Shang king Wuding. One summer, there was a war on the northern border, and the two sides were locked in a stalemate. Fu Hao volunteered and asked to lead the troops there. Wu Ding hesitated and decided to send Fu Hao to start the army after divination. After that, Wuding made her commander-in-chief, and from then on, she invaded the east and west and defeated more than 20 people around her Fang Guo (Small independent country). A slice Oracle bones According to the above, when Fu Hao fought against Qiang Ji, she commanded a huge force of 130,000 people, which was the largest number of external troops in the Shang Dynasty known so far. Fuhao Tomb is a well-preserved royal tomb of the Yin Dynasty excavated in the ruins of Yin Dynasty. Many artifacts unearthed are engraved with inscriptions, which can be verified with oracle bones and historical documents to determine the identity and age of the tomb owner.

For the 70 years of Yin Ruins archaeology, it is especially important to mention three important research and discovery of oracle bone inscriptions:

The first time was on June 12, 1936, an oracle-bone pit was excavated in the north palace area of Xiaotun Village, which preserved 17,096 pieces of oracle-bone with characters, recording many activities during the Wuding period of the Shang King. It seems that this is the oracle bone database of the Wuding royal family, and the excavation of this batch of oracle-bone pieces is of great value to research the social politics, culture and life of the Wuding period. Excavations in the pit also found buried a body curled, lying on the side of the skeleton, most of its body pressed on the Oracle bone, experts believe that may be the caretaker of the archive.

The second time, in 1973, in the south of Xiaotun Village, 7,150 pieces of oracle bone were excavated, of which 5,041 pieces of oracle bone were engraved. At the same time, the pottery products were also unearthed. The coexistence of the pottery and the oracle bone provided valuable information for the stages of oracle bone and Yin Ruins culture.

The third time was in the autumn of 1991, an oracle bone pit of only 2 square meters was excavated in the east of Huayuanzhuang, but its superposition thickness was 0.8 meters, and 1583 pieces of oracle bones were unearthed, of which 579 were inscribed oracle bones, and the contents were rich, and the inseers were all members of the royal family and senior nobles in the Wuding period. This shows that during this period, divination activities are not limited to the supreme ruler king, royal nobles and nobles can use divination to predict good and bad luck.

The discovery of oracle bone inscriptions and the resulting excavations of Yin ruins, yes Chinese archaeology It has epoch-making significance.

Before that, scholars only studied inscriptions and inscriptions in their study rooms Bronze inscriptions Never go to the field and explore. Sino Field archaeology The first was in 1921 against Henan Mianchi County Yangshaocun Site The excavations then began in Beijing in 1927 Zhoukoudian ape man site The early excavations. However, the excavation of these two sites was not undertaken by Chinese academic departments alone, but by foreign scholars hired by the government at that time, or by Chinese and foreign academic institutions in cooperation. The real field archaeology carried out independently by Chinese academic institutions began with the first excavation of Yin ruins by the archaeological team of the Institute of History and Language of the Academia Sinica in 1928. It's against China Field archaeology The generation and development have played a foundational role. Most of China's older generation of archaeologists grew up on the archaeological site of Yinxu, The founding of New China Later, a new generation of archeologists was basically trained by them. Therefore, it is well deserved to call Yin Ruins the birthplace of Chinese field archaeology.

Inscriptions on tortoise shells and bones

Yin ruins oracle bones The discovery of inscription also provides the most reliable information for the study of the Shang calendar First-hand information In recent decades, there have been more research results in this area. In 1945 in Sichuan lithography published Yin Lipu Dong Zuobin spent 12 years studying the Yin Dynasty calendar and Zhou sacrificial music by using oracle bone inscriptions and other materials. In the first volume of this book it is proposed that businessmen adopt A surname , has been continuous, without interruption; The Merchant's month is the Lunar month, yes size-month The system of the (Little 29th, A lunar month 30 days), 14 or 16 months after two consecutive months; He believed that the yin-yang combined calendar year was adopted at that time, so there were intercalation The law of the month, 19 years and 7 intercalations, and according to its view of the difference between the old and new schools, pointed out that the old school (such as Wuding) placed intercalations at the end of the year (13 months), and the new school (such as Ancestral armor ) is a mid-year intercalation. In Book III he also discusses the date of prophecy, Lunar eclipse In an attempt to prove that at that time there were ancient quarters and the system of building ugly in the first month. Chen Mengjia's "Summary of Yin Ruins Inscriptions" further affirmed some of Dong's views, and made amendments at the same time, arguing that the end of the year or the middle of the year is placed in a period ( Sukeng , Zujia) once parallel. but Chans Dong's criticism of the Yin Dynasty calendar as the ancient quarter and the first month of the construction of ugly, that "is completely wrong". A 1981 book by the astrohistorian History of astronomy in China It affirms Dong and Chen's views on the Yin-yang calendar and the big and small months, and Dong's view that the Gan Zhi calendar has never been interrupted since the Yin Dynasty, and affirms the year-end intercalation, but denies the possibility of mid-year intercalation in the Yin Dynasty.

Yin Dynasty to Taiyin month, governing oracle scholars such as Dong Zuobin Used to think so The first day of the lunar month Headed. The History of Chinese Astronomy and 1984 Zhang Peiyu The published papers all agree that the appearance of a new moon should be the first. Same opinion, Japanese scholar Tsuyoshi It was proposed in 1957. But in 1990 Feng Shi The publication of the "Study of the First Lunar month" still believes that the Yin people took the Shuoshi as the first lunar month, because the relatively wide new moon can still be obtained by observation. So the debate on this issue will continue in the future.

Knowledge about the geography of the Shang Dynasty Social history The study of culture is very important, but before the discovery of oracle bone inscriptions in Yin Ruins, there were few related records in the literature, so Yin ruins inscription The place names that appear in the book have particularly attracted the attention of scholars. The forerunner of the geographical research on the inscriptions of Kaiyin Ruins is Wang Guowei In 1914 (or 1915), he wrote a short article "A Survey of the names of places seen in Yin Ruins Inscriptions", from the 200 names that could be seen at that time, he selected 8 place names that were relatively close to Anyang and were also found in the literature, and analyzed their location. At this time there is no connection between place names. Guo Moruo is the scholar who really established an effective and scientific method for the study of Boci geography. In his 1933 book, A compilation of divinations In "(Japanese Wenqiu Hall), the study object is the field hunting inscriptions of the king of Shang (such inscriptions are mostly attached to the day's divination place names, that is, the field hunting station), and the distance between the places is calculated by the day difference of the branches of several inscriptions in the same edition, and then the other place names are linked by the same names of different editions, so as to establish a geographical area framework combined with the literature records. Since then, although many scholars continue to explore the study of Shang Dynasty geography, the methods adopted are based on Guo's branch Linkage method . By the end of the 1980s, there were Dong Zuobin, Chen Mengjia, Li Xueqin Shima Kunio, Matsumaru Michio and Chung Kasai. Dong's achievement lies in systematically collecting and linking the Yellow Group's divinations by place, so as to interpret their location and draw them out Route map . Chen discussed the late Shang species in a more comprehensive way Geographical structure For example Dayi merchant Where the King Gi region and Qinyang Hunting area In this paper, the network of the names of the characters is sketched, and Dong's theory is revised on the route of the destruction of people. Lee The monograph of Qinyang Field Hunting Area made a more detailed regional division, corrected Guo Moruo's mistake of interpreting the "yi" of "Yi" as a place name, and pointed out that "yi" should be read as "Yin" and "tong" or "he". Matsumaru Michio's work theoretically discusses the method of presuming the distance between fields, which he exceeds other families. Zhong Baisheng Collected papers This paper classifies the names of the divination places, including field geography, agricultural geography, tribal country geography, etc. He analyzed the achievements, methods and points of view of the previous studies in detail, although the main method is still used in the field of geographical names, but the conditions of the words are strictly stipulated.

The latest research on the geography of Yin ruins is Zheng Jiexiang's Introduction to the Geography of the Shang Dynasty, published in 1994. First of all, it is characterized by a detailed textual research on the name of the place in order to identify the characters accurately. Secondly, the information of the inscriptions is more complete, not only using the" Oracle bones collection "And there is" Small tun south tortoise bone "And other new materials, which were not used in his book; Third, the book makes full use of the latest field archaeological data.

Although there are many achievements in the study of the geography of the Shang Dynasty, due to the limitation of the data of the inscriptions, the views on the place names in the inscriptions are still quite different. One of the most obvious such as the king of the Shang field hunting inscriptions reflected in the main field hunting areas where, now there are Henan Qinyang, Shandong Mount Taishan Puyang, Henan (and east of Xinxiang, west of Shandong) three areas three views.

Remember things and write words

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EDITOR

The oracle bone inscriptions were mainly fortune-telling inscriptions, and the complete size of the oracle bone varied according to the status of the divination subject. King Budo is a large turtle that pays tribute everywhere, in general Nobleman Using the smaller size of the turtle produced near the Wangdu, the size of the turtle is a sign of rank, power and status. The biggest turtle plastron 44cm long, 35cm wide, with 204 drills behind it, it is now housed in the Historical Language Institute of Taiwan's "Research Institute of China" Vouding Time. At present, the maximum number of words on the complete tortoise shell is 404 words, and 71 inscriptions are engraved in total, see "Collection" 974, which is now stored in the historical language Institute of Taiwan "Academia Sinica", which belongs to the first phase of Wuding. Beef shoulder blade divination There are also large and small, the largest one is now in the National Library, for a cow right Scapular bone It is 43.5 cm long and 24 cm wide, with 35 inscriptions and one on the front and back Remember things and write words ", a total of 218 words, belongs to the fourth issue Wu Yi Time. In addition, there are very rare scapular bones, and some unrelated to divination, including Human skull inscription , tiger-bone Inscription, 兕 bone inscription, deer skull inscription, cow inscription talus Inscription, and some Bone object On the memorizing words and so on. Oracle-bone inscriptions are also written with soft ink. Some of the oracle bones found in archaeological excavations were excavated in whole batches and intentionally buried at that time pit In the bury site is also different, the Oracle bone group Class attribute It also varies accordingly, and can be dated and identified as a certain king's inscriptions according to the whole nor The king's words. ^[2]

Study history

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EDITOR

It is not clear when the oracle bone inscriptions were first unearthed. Anyang, Henan Province Yin Ruins One belt, from The Northern Song Dynasty (960-907) Shang Dynasty bronze artifacts have been discovered since then, and it is entirely possible that local oracle bones were unearthed thousands of years ago. But until the end of the Qing Dynasty, scholars of all dynasties did not notice the existence of oracle bones.

In the Qing Dynasty Guang Xu He was an antique dealer and a philosopher Wang Yirong It was the highest at the time Institution of higher learning Guozijian sacrifice wine (equivalent to a headmaster) Once he saw a traditional Chinese medicine called keel, saw the inscription on it, it felt very strange, looking at the residue of the medicine, did not expect that there was actually a pattern that looked like text. So he bought all the keels and found every piece keel They all have similar patterns on them. He drew these strange patterns, and after a long study he was convinced that it was a kind of writing, and that it was quite perfect Yin and Shang Dynasties Yes. Later, people found the place where the keel was unearthed Anyang, Henan Province Xiaotun Village, where a large number of keels have been unearthed. Because these keels are mainly chelonian beasts The oracle bone is named "oracle bone" by people, and the discipline studying it is called "Oracle bone bone". Oracle bone study ". (This claim is now in doubt, see Baidu Wang Xiang Entry.) On the other hand, the "keel" in the pharmacy at that time had regulations, and did not have words, so it could not be seen in the medicine. Fan Shouxuan will first sell keel to Wang Xiang, Wang Xiang unable to buy all, the rest of the fan to Beijing to sell with Wang Yirong .

Since the shop owner refused to accept the keel with marks on it, the farmers of Xiaotun village scraped the marks off with a knife and sold the dug up keel to the shop at the price of 6 yuan per jin. So many historical materials of the Shang Dynasty were ground into powder and eaten as medicine, which is the so-called" History of people swallowing business ".

Oracle bones on tortoiseshell (22 photos)

The academic circles basically agree that Wang Yirong, an official and philosopher in the late Qing Dynasty, is the earliest oracle bone script discoverer . There are two theories about the specific discovery process.

The first is derived from Liu E The record of... Qing Guangxu twenty-five years (1899), Henan Anyang unearthed turtle version after the Shandong Weixian County Antique dealers Fan Shouxuan, Fan Weiqing and others bought, and shipped to Beijing for sale. then Guozijian sacrifice wine Wang Yirong has always been fond of collecting antiquities and knowing them well Stone writing Purchased the bones at a high price from an antique dealer.

Another said widely spread, and Chinese medicine "keel" is inseparable. Keel usually refers to ancient times mammal Chinese medicine believes that it can be used as medicine, and has the effect of treating cough, diarrhea, and blood in the stool. Later, oracle bones replaced keel bones for medicinal purposes, and some people in Anyang, Henan Province, even took it for generations. In this process, oracle data suffered inestimable losses. The 25th year of Guangxu. Wang Yirong disease medicine, accidentally found on the keel in Chinese medicine Ancient writing .

Wang Yirong was an imperial scholar in the late Qing Dynasty. Born as a scholar , with profound epigraphy Distinguished attainments. After he obtained the oracle bone, he decided that the writing on it was more than 籀文 The more ancient relics of the Yin Shang Dynasty, and began to heavily purchase the bones, to the 26th year of Guangxu (1900) spring, a total of 1508 pieces. However, Wang Yirong had not yet made an in-depth study of this script, that is, in July of the same year Eight-nation allied forces He committed suicide during the capture of Beijing.

Wang Yirong's acquisition of oracle bones gradually attracted scholars' attention, and antique dealers deliberately concealed the land of Oracle bones to monopolize the supply of goods and profit from it. Wang Yirong's good friend Liu E and others sent people to Henan many inquiries, all thought that the oracle bone came from Henan Tangyin. afterwards Luo Zhenyu After many inquiries, it was finally confirmed that the oracle bone was unearthed in Anyang, Henan Province The main River coastal Little Village Here with ancient documents recorded in the late Shang Dynasty Yin capital The location matches.

From the end of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century, the symbols carved on ancient oracle bones were identified as the writing of the Shang Dynasty. Dunhuang grottoes One of the remains of Homo sapiens in Zhoukoudian. But its discovery was both accidental and dramatic.

The 25th year of Guangxu of Qing Dynasty (AD 1899) autumn, Beijing Qing Dynasty Appointment by the emperor Guozijian sacrifice wine Wang Yirong (1845-1900), who was equivalent to the highest official of the central educational institution, got it malaria . Send someone outside Xuanwu Gate Caishikou Tat Ren Tang Bought a dose of Chinese medicine. Wang Yirong inadvertently saw some symbols on the traditional Chinese medicine called keel. The keel is ancient vertebrate How could there be carved symbols on bones that are hundreds of thousands of years old? This aroused his curiosity. Against antiquity Stone writing Wang Yirong, who has a reputation for research, looked at it carefully and felt that this was not a general notch, much like an ancient script, but its shape was not 籀 (big seal) Small seal style ). In order to find more keels for further study, he sent his men Tat Ren Tang At the high price of two silver per piece, he bought all the keels engraved with symbols in the pharmacy, and later searched and purchased them through antique dealer Fan Weiqing and others, and collected a total of more than 1,500 pieces.

The father of oracle bone inscriptions -- Wang Yirong

Wang Yirong, who first confirmed the oracle bone inscriptions, has not had time to make an in-depth study and Write books The eight-nation coalition approached Beijing City He was appointed Minister of Tuanlian of the Capital.

In July 1900, the invading army reached the city, Empress Dowager Cixi The queen mother led the royal family to flee in panic, Wang Yirong was completely disappointed. He said to his family: "I will not live!" Then he wrote a song deathword He fell into a well and died at the age of 56.

The man who first discovered the oracle bone inscriptions, Wang Yirong, was later called the "Father of Oracle bone inscriptions", in his hometown of Yantai, Shandong Province, in the autumn of 1989, the 90th anniversary of the discovery of oracle bone inscriptions Fukuyama ward establish Wang Yirong Memorial Hall In honor of his achievements.

After the martyrdom of Wang Yirong, his son sold the antiquities in his home in order to pay the old debts, and most of his oracle bones were transferred to his friends in 1902 Liu E (i.e. Lao Can's travels "By Liu Tieyun. In addition, Liu E Also from Beijing Glazed shop He received more than 300 pieces from his friend Fang Ruo, and sent his son to Henan to buy more than 1,000 pieces, increasing his collection to more than 5,000 pieces, becoming the most famous oracle bone collector at that time. In Friends Luo Zhenyu With the advice and help of Liu E, in November 1903, he printed a copy of" Iron cloud hide turtle This book uses 1058 pieces of oracle bone from Liu E's oracle bone collection, which is selected by Luo Zhenyu himself, including 5 pieces of false engraving, 3 pieces of self-weight, 12 inverted pieces, 40 pieces of oracle bone with characters on the reverse side but not recorded, and 4 pieces of bone bone with characters but not recorded. Soon, scholar Sun Yirang According to the data of Tieyun Canggu, he wrote the first monograph of oracle bone inscriptions. Example of deed ".

The discovery of oracle bone inscriptions caused a stir in the academic world. In order to monopolize financial resources, antique dealers kept secret the source of the oracle bones, and later falsely claimed that they came from Henan Tangyin, Wei Hui Etc. It was not until 1908 that scholar Luo Zhenyu first visited Xiaotun Village in Anyang, Henan Province, where the oracels were unearthed, so he sent his relatives to Anyang to buy them, and went to Anyang himself Field trip . In 1910, Luo Zhenyu read out the 10 digits Yin King It proves that these bones are indeed relics of the Yin royal family, and further concludes that Anyang Xiaotun Village is the ruins of Yin ruins contained in ancient documents. A total of nearly 20,000 pieces of oracle bone were collected, and more than 2,000 pieces were selected for compilation in 1913. Yin Ruins deed Later, he edited and published "Yin Xu Book Qi Jing Hua" (continued), 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 , Donlan , Chen Mengjia , Yung Kyung In introspection, Hu Houxuan And so on have carried out fruitful interpretation and research, formed a special knowledge - oracle bone study. Luo Zhenyu (No Xue Tang), Wang Guowei (Noguantang), Dong Zuobin (Yi Yantang), Guo Moruo (No Ding Tang) and called" The four bones of the Oracle ", known as a generation of oracle bone research master, which to Luo Zhenyu The longest age, the earliest contact with oracle bone inscriptions, and ranked first in the "four halls".

Oracle bone inscriptions are the earliest documentary records found in China. Today, oracle bone inscriptions have become a spectacular worldwide discipline, with more than 500 Chinese and foreign scholars engaged in research and more than 3,000 monographs and papers published. It is important to history, philology , archaeology And other aspects have extremely important significance.

Historical record

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EDITOR

Historical record
author	Relevant historical data
Luo Zhenyu	1914 edited "Interpretation of the Book of Yin Xu"
Luo Zhenyu	1916 Book of Letters to Be Asked
Wang Xiang	1920 "Yinqi Jiao" (Tianjin Museum)
Shang Chengzuo	1923 A compilation of Yin Xu characters "(decided not to move xuan self-engraved copy)
	The school was deleted in 1927
	Reprinted by Taipei Art and Culture Press, China, 1971
Tadajo Takata, Japan	1925 "Ancient 籀 article" (ancient 籀 article publication meeting)
Sun Haibo	1934" Oracle script "( Harvard-yenching Institute )
Zeng Yigong	1939 "General Inspection of Onychological Names" ( Institute of Chinese Studies, Qilu University )
Jin Xiangheng	1959 "Continued Jiaguwen Compilation" (Taipei Art and Culture Press, China)
	Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Sciences Oracle script Revised Edition by Sun Haibo ( Zhonghua Book Company )
	The year 1979 Hong Kong Zhonghua Book Company version
Lee Hyo-ding	1965 "Collection of Oracle Bone Scripts" ( Institute of History and Language, Academia Sinica )
Japan Shimabono	A Comprehensive Collection of Yin Ruins Inscriptions, 1967 (published by Kidu Academy, 1971) Enlarged and revised volume )
Japan Hidemasa Nagata	1968 book Institute of Human Sciences, Kyoto University Index of Tibetan Oracle Bones (Institute of Human Sciences, Kyoto University)
Akai Kiyomi of Japan	1974 Book Dictionary (Tokyo Do)
Akai Kiyomi of Japan	1976 "Small Book Dictionary" (Tokyo Do)
Kobayashi, Japan	(1977) Compilation of ancient Chinese characters "(Mu Ear Society)
wise	The 1980 book Compilations of ancient characters "(Zhonghua Book Company)
Xu Zhongshu	1981 editor-in-chief of "Chinese Ancient Characters Font Table" ( Sichuan People's Publishing House )
Xu Zhongshu	1989 Oracle Oracle Dictionary ( Sichuan Dictionary Publishing House )
Ishizu Kobayashi of Japan	1985 "Exhibition of the Essence of Oracle Bones" (Muer Society)
	1987 "Tuo Film Exhibition Big Turtle Bone Character Dictionary" (Muer Society)
	1988 "Five-Character Seal Character Dictionary" (Mu 'er Society)
Canada Xu Jinxiong	1981-1988 "Index of Oracle Bones in the Collection of the Royal Ontario Museum" (Volume 1-9 "Chinese Characters" New 4-12 series)
Kenichi Takashima of Japan	(1985) Yin Xu text C through the inspection (Institute of History and Language, Academia Sinica)
Meng Shikai	(1987) Oracle bone small dictionary "( Shanghai Dictionary Publishing House )
Zhao Cheng	1988 "A Concise Dictionary of Oracle Bones and Inscriptions" (Zhonghua Book Company)
Japanese division spring wonderful stone	1988 Classical Chinese Dictionary (Oriental Bookstore)
Yao Xiaosui	1988 editor-in-chief Yin ruins oracle bone inscription and interpretation collection "(Zhonghua Book Company)
Yao Xiaosui	1989 "Yin Xu Oracle Bone Inscription" (Zhonghua Book Company)
Jao Tsung-i	1989-1999 Oracle bone code inspection (Five volumes have been published: the deceased, the deceased, the deceased, the deceased, the deceased, the deceased, the deceased, the deceased, the deceased, the deceased, the deceased, the deceased. The Chinese University of Hong Kong Publishing house)
Japan Matsumaru Michio and Takashima Kenichi	1993 Co-edited "An Overview of Characters and Characters on Oracle Bones" ( University of Tokyo Press Association )
Japanese water Shizuo	1995 "Oracle Bone Jinwen Dictionary" (Xiongshan Pavilion)
A surname	In 1996, he edited "Jiaguji Guilin" (Zhonghua Book Company) and so on.

character

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EDITOR

The oracle bones record and reflect Shang Dynasty The political and economic situation of the Shang Dynasty mainly refers to the late Chinese Shang Dynasty (14th ~ 11th century BC) used by the royal family for fortune-reading Tortoise shell or Animal bone Up. Checke The content of the text is usually the question or result of the divination. Collapse of Yin and Shang dynasties Zhou Dynasty After the rise, Oracle bone scripts were also used for a period of time and were studied Shang and Zhou Dynasties period Social history Important information. oracle Physical structure There have been independent bodies tending to combine, and there have been a large number of phonogram . It bears the original engraved symbol above and opens below Bronze inscription It is the key form of the development of Chinese characters and is known as "the earliest Chinese characters". Modern Chinese character Evolved from oracle bone inscriptions. In a total of more than 100,000 pieces of inscribed orchards, there are more than 4,000 different characters and graphics, of which about 2,800 words have been identified.

Oracle bone script is the earliest systematic script in China, and it is also a relatively mature script. In the ancient Chinese characters, the point and horizontal strokes, the dense structure, indeed began to use the pen, the knot, the composition and other calligraphy gist, gestate Calligraphy art The beauty is worth appreciating and savoring. In the case of oracle bones, Guo Moruo's 1937 book Edited by Yin Qixun In the preface, he appreciated the calligraphy:" We find The essence and beauty of the words attached to the turtle bones have fascinated us for thousands of years. Writing style and vary from person to person, probably Vouding In the world, the words are strong, Emperor B The world is beautiful and salty. The density of the line, the structure of the word, the circular reference, well organized...... Known to exist Contract letter Real generation Pattern calligraphy And the deed of the book is the Yin world The bell king and the willow Aye."

The bell king and the willow It refers to the four great calligraphers of ancient times. The "Zhong Kings Yan Liu" of the Yin Dynasty were those who carved inscriptions on these books historiographer To predict a person. It is they who have left a wealth of historical materials for later generations, but also left a precious ancient Calligraphy works . If you take a cursory glance at the form of oracle letters, you will find that the early font is larger, like Luo Zhenyu Compile" Yin Xu wrote to the elite Many of the inscriptions of the Wuding period included in the book are very atmospheric and eye-catching; But to the end of the Shang Emperor Yi, Di Xin era, the character became small and trivial; As for The Western Zhou Dynasty (206 B.C.) Oracle bone inscriptions are as fine as the corn.

Oracle bone inscriptions style type: one is strong and vigorous type, two is beautiful and light type, three is neat and regular type, four is clear and beautiful type, five is rich and old. In short, although the oracle bone inscriptions are engraved characters, they are full of meaning and miscellaneous, or skeleton Open, have the fun of relaxation; Or fine silk show, with Head-pinned flowers Between the lines, there are many calligraphic beauty.

The so-called" Oracle bone script calligraphy ", basically has two meanings.

The first refers to the calligraphy works that are neatly copied by taking the structure and calligraphy features of oracle bone inscriptions of Shang and Zhou Dynasties as the original. Such works can be collected as needed archaism Take combinations as new sentences. The content is new, but the words are as elegant as the words Yin people wrote three thousand years ago. However, the Oracle bone script has a total of more than two thousand words, among which there are many strange words (especially names and place names) that have not yet been released, and there are not many that are really useful. Therefore, once there is no word in oracle bone inscriptions, and the written couplets and inscriptions can not be replaced, they have to be torn apart and splicing themselves; If I can't spell it again, it's coming Inscriptions on ancient Chinese characters Et al Ancient writing Go inside and ask for help. The principal person who carried out this creation was Luo Zhenyu. In 1921, in his spare time, he used a brush to write the oracle bone inscriptions into couplets, and published the book "Jiyin Ruins Text Column". Zhang Yu, Gao Dexin, Wang Jilie and others followed suit Collective word Create. some Paleography Predecessors such as Dong Zuobin , Shang Chengzuo , Donlan Yu Shing-Wu is also good at oracle calligraphy, which is the true sense of oracle calligraphy works.

Another meaning refers to the modern calligraphy works created by drawing on the characteristics of oracle bone inscriptions. They regard the oracle bone inscriptions as an inspiration, just a bit of inspiration in the creation of art, rather than the pursuit of "likeness". Therefore, they did not write strictly according to the calligraphic characteristics of oracle bone inscriptions, but may have integrated oracle bone inscriptions, gold inscriptions, Warring states script And other ancient characters of the characteristics of creation. Although such calligraphy art is related to the study of ancient Chinese characters, it does not follow closely.

Some scholars believe that the "writing style" of oracle bone inscriptions "plays a decisive role" in the dating and assembling of the fragments of oracle bone. The shape of calligraphy depends on the skills and techniques of the writer. Its popularity is supported by habit timeliness . To measure the cultural and artistic fashion of a certain period by the style of writing, one can generally get a glimpse. And states that:

The calligraphy in the period of Wuding was magnificent and magnificent. Even the small and medium-sized fonts are neat and beautiful, but no matter the large and medium-sized fonts, they all show the proficiency and profound attainments of calligraphy in this period; Sukeng During the period of the ancestral armour, it was mainly in the aspect of strict order Put in effort Compared with later generations of calligraphers, quite Ouyang rate more interesting; abundant Conding In the era, some followed the neat style of Zu Gengzu Jia, but most of them gradually declined and tended to be sloppy; Wu Yi The characters of the period are crude and primitive, with a violent atmosphere; Vendin Wuding's works, is a variety of, a hundred bodies of miscellaneous, in calligraphy quite a hundred flowers blooming, contention of the scene, some bones open, have the interest of relaxation, some small beautiful, there are hairpin flowers.

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

The word "ding" of oracle bone inscriptions

In addition, oracle bone script has some characteristics of its own. It is generally engraved directly with a knife, and some are filled with cinnabar after engraving, and some are not cutter It's written directly in cinnabar. Therefore, the knife method of Oracle bone script reflects its brushwork. From the incisive lines, the knife is also very skilled. The line has a degree of start and end, the turning point is appropriate, and there are thick and thin, long and short, indicating that it is useful single-broadsword It also works with two knives. The font structure is generally thin and long, with the difference of size, length and circumference; The arrangement of various long and short lines is dense and orderly, and the combination of various horizontal and vertical oblique lines is also appropriate, which not only maintains a balanced and symmetrical structure, but also shows a rich and varied brushwork. At the same time, Oracle also has pictograms, pointing, understanding, false borrowing, transfer, form and sound." The six Categories of Chinese characters The structure of Chinese characters is not only a mature text, but also a high-level calligraphy art.

Oracle bone has complete Content and form . It generally includes descriptive words (for the date and name of the Zhen Bu), life words (asked things), accounting words (for the Shang king personally see signs to ask good or bad), verification words (engraved divination results) and other items, so it is also called oracle words. The arrangement of inscription is also very regular, or from the top down, or from the bottom up; Or from right to left, or from left to right, but generally horizontal before vertical. There are as few numbers on an oracle bone as hundreds of words. Its layout without affectation gas, scattered natural, integrated, infinite changes, a piece of natural opportunity. No matter from which point of view, it reflects the height of Yin Zhen people Artistic skill And artistic ingenuity, worthy of the earliest Chinese calligraphy art.

Since the 1980s, with the rise of calligraphy fever, oracle bone script calligraphy has been paid attention to by the majority of calligraphers. However, since the creation of oracle script calligraphy is only a hundred years old, there is no very mature practice and practice Creation method Can be used for reference. How to study this ancient writing style has become an urgent problem for the creators of oracle bone script calligraphy. Chamanvon The master said, "Write the bones with a light pen, Wield the pen To live, to learn 'rice' Brush type . A surname Flank front Interuse, not only to write the charm of the brush, but also to have the feeling of a knife." It's a brilliant insight. Although the oracle bone inscriptions are made of cheese, the traces of writing still exist. Therefore, we should reflect the feeling of cheese inscriptions and the taste of writing when we practice the oracle bone inscriptions. Start the pen slightly reverse into the paper, pick up the pen center running, standing pen flat out empty. When writing, the method of stopping regular script should be avoided, and the writing should be simple, straight and smooth. In particular, it is necessary to achieve a quick pen that is ready, so that it is urgent and moderate. Although it is mainly center forward, it should be supplemented with flanks occasionally to increase its rhyme. The turning point of oracle bone script should generally be broken and renewed, and should not be carried over in one stroke, forming a circular shape, and losing the character of oracle bone script square.

Finally, it is still necessary to point out that in addition to mastering the above brushwork, it is usually necessary to read more oracle rubbings and taste their lines. lettering And the smell of antiquity. At the same time, stick to temporary writing Small seal style and Inscriptions on ancient Chinese characters , read more philology Books, which are very helpful for learning Oracle.

Historical value

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EDITOR

Sima Qian In... Shih Chi There is an article in" Yin Benji ", detailing the lineage and history of the Shang Dynasty. Many historians in the past doubted these records, because there were no written records and no surviving records Physical data Can be confirmed.

At the beginning of this century, Luo Zhenyu found in the oracle bones he collected that were engraved with the names of the former princes and Kings of the Shang Dynasty, which confirmed that the small tun of the land where these oracle bones came from was the "Record of the Grand Historian". The Huan River Nan, on the ruins of Yin "the site of the ruins of Yin.

Since then, the scholar Wang Guowei on Oracle bones The Kings and princes of the Shang dynasty seen in the Book of the Grand Historian have made detailed research against the records in the Book of the Grand Historian, confirming the Yin Benji in the book of the Grand Historian credibility . The Yin ruins were established in 1318 BC by Pangeng, the 10th king of the Shang Dynasty, who made the capital from Elech (now Shandong Province) Qufu Nearby) moved to Yin (around Xiaotun Village), and since then, it has gone through 8 generations and 12 Kings, and it has been established here for 273 years. The results of these studies put China's verifiable history a thousand years ahead of schedule.

From the discovery and identification of the writing on a piece of Yin-Shang oracle bone, the development of the affirmation of a dynasty dating back more than 3,000 years and more than 600 years is a very important discovery. In this way, some scholars in the 1920s believed that the credible history of China began in the Western Zhou Dynasty.

Oracle bone inscriptions picture (3 photos)

The philological value of oracle bone inscriptions

Oracle bone inscriptions have an extremely important position in the long development history of Chinese characters Modern Chinese character The originator is well deserved. The germination of Chinese characters appeared around Neolithic age From late pottery Marking symbol . However, although these characters have the rudiments of writing, they are all simple symbols and words, without a complete system and law. Really have a certain system and a relatively strict law of the text, the earliest to be considered Oracle. According to research, there are about 4,500 unrepeated characters in the Oracle bone script, and about 1,700 characters have been recognized, and these words are not all the characters in use at that time. Oracle bone inscriptions are valuable materials for the study of ancient characters. Chinese writing sprouted earlier, in the Neolithic Age Yangshao culture Various engraved symbols were found on the pottery, which became the prototype of Chinese writing. After two or three thousand years of gestate and development, by the Shang Dynasty, Chinese writing had reached its basic level Mature stage . Oracle bone inscriptions have a certain system, strict rules and rich 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 Shang and Zhou bronzes The inscription on it, Yudon han Xu Shen 's Shuowen Jiezi ". The oracle bone script predates Shuowen Jiezi by 1,500 years, and is derived from direct excavation Unearthed cultural relic Higher degree of credibility, to study the origin and development of Chinese characters, correct the "Shuowen Jiezi" negligence, to solve the Qing Bronze inscriptions The outstanding issues in China are of great value.

Before the Oracle bone inscriptions, archaeological materials showed that there were many that were not yet fully mature in China Literal symbol Appear. From the historical records," Xunzi "," Lu's Spring and Autumn Annals "," Han Feizi "," Sebon It's all documented Cang Jie The legend of making words. Xu Shen 's Shuowen Preface to copulative The saying of the biography combined with the legend of Cang Jie, said: "And the Shen family knot rope to rule and regulate its affairs, the prosperity of its numerous, decorative false growth." Yellow Emperor The history of Cang Jie see the track of the hooves of birds and beasts, know the difference can be different also, the first creation deed A hundred works are to be reaped and ten thousand fruits to be observed." The time of the Yellow Emperor was about 2500 BC, and the earliest oracle bone inscriptions were not more than 1300 BC.

On December 26, 2017, Oracle was selected to the" Memory of the World Register The press conference was held at the Palace Museum. The press conference was organized by the Ministry of Education, the State Language Commission, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, the State Archives Administration, the Palace Museum, China The United Nations Co-sponsored by UNESCO National Commissions. The participants are mainly from the host organization, UNESCO in China Representative office Representatives of cultural and cultural institutions, as well as relevant universities and research institutes.

Collection identification

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Oracle bone inscriptions carved on shoulder blades

The descendants of the oracle bone collections are not clever, and the following points should be noted when identifying them:

First, look divination Old and new. The oracle bones have been buried in the ground for more than 3,000 years, and are called by some scholars. subfossil Naturally, there is a sense of simplicity. Forgers often use large plates of fresh cow bone for engraving (because tortoise shell is more difficult to carve, and easy to break), so all large plates of cow bone engraving should be cautious. As British Anyang Presbytery priest A righteous person with a sense of justice James Mellon Menzies began collecting oracle bone inscriptions in 1914, and the first large bone plates he purchased were all imitations of fresh cow bone, which soon began to rot and stink. (Some fake products are re-engraved on an oracle bone unearthed in the Shang Dynasty, for example, on the original piece, there is only one word, and he adds seven or eight, so pay attention to the real oracle bone may not be)

Second, if you can inspect the object, you can see the old and new incision. Even if the excavated oracle bones are newly carved, because the incision is new, the forger often smears with sticky soil. Soon after the oracle bone is soaked in water, the dirt can be brushed away with a brush, and the incision is clear. The real product is deep in the score because of the soil color, generally can not be washed off. (This practice of using water can be very harmful to cultural relics, especially those that are not well preserved and are already somewhat rotten when unearthed. Try to get an expert. If you can't, use one Magnifying glass Zoom in enough to see the difference clearly.)

Third, to see whether the content is in line with the text of the poem. Because the counterfeiters do not understand the content of the oracle bone scripts, most of them copy the text on the real film at random, piecing together, and even write backwards and engraved wrong. Therefore, in the identification, we should pay attention to whether the inscription is connected into a sentence. A complete oracle, from the previous ci (also known as the narrative, written divination dates, to indicate the branch, while writing diviner The name is usually that of the Shang king historiographer It consists of four parts: questioning Ci (also called life Ci, which is the thing to ask), Zhanci (the conclusion of right and wrong made by the king of Shang after reading the omen), and checking Ci (the fulfillment of the result after divination), but many of the oracle Ci are incomplete, and generally only have a few parts of them.

Fourth, look at the format of words. The inscriptions on the tortoiseshell are divided into two styles: those engraved on the left and right edges are read from the outside in; specifically, those engraved on the left side of the nail are read from left to right; those engraved on the right side of the nail are read from right to left. The other is the turtle plastron The text on both sides of the middle seam is engraved from the inside out, that is, the text on the left side of the middle seam is read from left to left, and the text on the right side is read from right to right. Inscriptions on cow bones, usually carved on the edge of the bone, are read from the outside in. Several inscriptions are inscribed together, usually arranged from the bottom to the top.

Fifth, look at the font. Shang Oracle has spanned since Pan Geng to Disin Twelve Shang Kings total more than 270 years, the age of the inscription can be clearly judged to be Wuding to Di Yi 8 Shang Kings. During this period, there were some changes in writing. Some scholars based on these changes and other archaeological findings will Yin ruins inscription It is divided into five periods, the first period is the Wuding period, the font is relatively large, the fifth period is smaller, some of them are different in writing strokes, you can start from Oracle bone study Reference books (such as Gao Ming's" Compilations of ancient characters The 1980 edition of Zhonghua Book Company).

Sixth, look at the names of the privates. The Zhen man, that is, the man who was the king of Shang at that time, was historiographer . Virginity lived in a certain period, virginity name is one of the basis of dating. It is impossible for the early and late chessmen to share the divination, so it should not appear on the same piece of oracle bone. Many monographs have studied this, and the list of comparison, at a glance (e.g Chen Mengjia Summary of Yin Ruins Oracles).

In general, Oracle Distinguish between false and false Compared with other cultural relics, the identification is simpler, but the use of unearthed bones without words on the imitation of all the real pieces or a piece of oracle bone must be careful. The predecessors have made gratifying achievements in the research of this work. Generally, there are many false engravings in the oracle bones books written by Westerners, such as "Kufangii's Oracle bones Inscriptions", "Bergen's old Oracle Bones inscriptions", "Jin Zhang's Oracle bones inscriptions", etc., should be noted when quoting. For example, "Jin Zhang hid the Oracle bone inscriptions" 668 pieces on the left of the upper part of the "GUI Chou King Buzhen ten no disaster King Zhan Yue Ji" and other three inscriptions are authentic, while the lower part of the word is large and clear, but not in the text, the system is false. Some forgers are lettering Born, was the antique dealer, specializing in fake inscription business. Such as Dong Zuobin "bone study fifty years" mentioned in the blue treasure light, it can imitate the complete true film, its fine degree can be real. Fortunately, this person does not understand the text, otherwise the "creation" on the oracle bone will add a lot of trouble to the work of false detection.

In addition to the Shang Dynasty inscriptions, a large number of them have been discovered since 1954 Western Zhou oracle bone Many of them have characters, since the discovery of Yin ruins has been half a century, there is no wind of falsification, of course, it is not to mention the differentiation of falsifications.

Collecting institution

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EDITOR

National Library of China It is the largest collection of oracle bones in China and even in the world, with a total of 35,651 pieces. ^[5] It was donated by many famous people and acquired from private and public institutions. Among them, Mr. Liu Tizhi's collection is the largest, which is packed in 150 boxes, with a total of more than 28,000 pieces. The National Library of the collection of Oracle bones was also recorded in Luo Zhenyu's" Yin Ruins deed Hu Houxuan's New Collection of Bones from Beijing and Tianjin After the War, Guo Moruo's Edited by Yin Qixun ", Guo Ruoyu In "The Pick Up of Love".

National Library of China In addition to the Collection of Oracle Bone Collection, which is being extended, there are 18 volumes and four letters of the Shanzhai Book Contract Collection of Oracle Bone rubbings, totaling more than 28,000 pieces. The Oracle bone Collection, edited by Guo Moruo, also contains the oracle bone in the museum rubbings More than a dozen species.

Historical evaluation

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EDITOR

Guo Moruo The Central Plains culture was founded by Yin, which is better than reading ancient books. A piece of armour shocked the world, a city shock the world. ^[10]

Xi Jinping Oracle bone script is the earliest mature writing system found in China so far, and is the source of Chinese characters Fine traditional Chinese culture It is worth cherishing and inheriting and developing better. ^[10]

Important exhibition

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EDITOR

"Oracle Bones Memory" exhibition at the National Museum of Classics

Entering the exhibition "Memory of Oracle Bones", the 10 Chinese characters written with oracle bones on the screen are particularly eye-catching. These ten words are dragon, phoenix, drum, soli, shun, Zhi, book, drink, ceremony, history. From the perspective of the development of characters, the writing method of "book" in oracle bone inscriptions shows that there were wooden slips in the Yin and Shang Dynasties. The characters above the "Canon" of a classic book are the same as the "book", meaning an exemplary and important book, so it needs to be held with both hands. Some experts also believe that the two horizontal lines below the word "Canon" represent a short case, which means that the book held by both hands is too heavy and can be read on the table Read. ^[9]

In the exhibition case, this piece of Oracle bone in the collection No. 6006 is a group of rubbing pieces, which are conjured together by three oracle bones. The two above pieces are conjured together by Mr. Wang Guowei. Through his research, he found that the above text records the lineage of the Shang King, which corresponds to the name of the Shang King in the Shi Ji · Yin Benji. The lower piece was conjured up by the later scholar Dong Zuobin, and the supplement of this piece of oracle bone further perfected the lineage of the king of Shang. There are 150,000 pieces of oracle bone found in the world, and the National Library has the largest collection of 35,651. ^[9]

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