There are also four pictographic deer names in Oracle Bone Inscriptions, namely, Deer? Musk deer? Elk? Hey? Although their overall images are different, some have horns and some have no horns; Some corners are short, others are long and branched; Some have fragrant glands under the abdomen, while others don't.
But these pictographs, as animal names, all have an pictograph "deer" as the basic form? In fact, it includes the meaning of grouping some animals with similar personalities?
Deer were the most important hunting objects in ancient times, so ancient people were familiar with their living habits? There is a word "foot" in Oracle Bone Inscriptions, which looks like a deer in the forest?
Deer like to live in the forest, and deer's favorite forest habitat represents the foothills. This is the original intention of ancient artificial words, which reflects the ancient people's understanding of the relationship between biology and environment?
In Oracle Bone Inscriptions, dragons have four legs and tattoos? Giant mouth? A long tail like a crocodile? The Chinese alligator is called "catfish" in history books, and the catfish in Oracle Bone Inscriptions is written like an open crocodile skin? Crocodiles have a big mouth, rows of huge teeth, hard scales, four-legged tail ornaments, amphibians and thunderous calls, all of which conform to the characteristics of "dragons"? In our traditional culture, the dragon is power? Noble? A symbol of honor, but also a symbol of luck and success?
Elephant is an important theme of artistic creation in Shang dynasty, which is often shown in bronze and jade decoration in Shang dynasty. In the archaeology of the tombs of Shang capitals, it was found that people used elephants or young elephants as sacrificial pits more than once?
There is also a record of "Yin people serving elephants" in Lu's Spring and Autumn Annals and Ancient Music? In Oracle Bone Inscriptions, there is such an inquiry: "It's raining tonight, can you catch elephants?" Another sentence said: "Yin founded the country in Chu and got two elephants?" There are a lot of elephants in Oracle Bone Inscriptions, which shows that the wild elephants in Shang Dynasty, like other animals, were the main targets of hunting in Shang Dynasty?
It is precisely because Henan was the main habitat of elephants at that time that Henan got another name "Yu", which is a graphic representation of the image of Yin people?
"Shuo Wen Jie Zi" says: "Long nose and long teeth, a big beast in southern Guangdong, with milk in three seasons, like ears, teeth and four feet?" Later, the word "image" was extended to refer to the specific shape, but also to the external form of things, such as image? Sight? Astrology? The weather? Phenomenon, etc?
Tiger, keep the most primitive graphics in Oracle Bone Inscriptions? With protruding teeth and claws? This fierce animal is difficult to catch, so in the large-scale hunting activities mentioned in Oracle Bone Inscriptions, tigers often only get one or two?
Tong is a kind of wild Daqing cattle that once lived in the Yellow River valley. Another way of saying it is rhinoceros, because the bones of rhinoceros have been found in the ruins of Yin Ruins, but a lot of them are the bones of bison?
In addition to the above words, there are many words about animals in Oracle Bone Inscriptions, such as: insects? Fish? Bird? Dogs? Hey? Horse, etc? These figures also have rich historical value?