Introduction to Oracle Bone Inscriptions
A few animal oracle bones with patterns and symbols (data photo). It is a relatively complete system of ancient characters discovered in China. Oracle bone inscriptions were identified by antique dealers and epigraphers in 1898. Afterwards, large-scale excavations were carried out in Yin Ruins (Xiaotun Village, Anyang, Henan Province). A large number of tortoise shells and animal bones were unearthed. Together with sporadic collections from other places, hundreds of thousands have been collected so far. The film, in which the longest single article is more than a hundred words long, shows the prototype of practical writing. (Excerpted from "The Prototype of Practical Writing—Oracle Bone Inscriptions" from the 1992 issue 3 of the monthly "Application Writing")
There is another story about the discovery of oracle bone inscriptions: During the Guangxu period of the Qing Dynasty, there was a man named Wang Yirong. The official in charge of the Imperial College, the highest academic institution at that time. One time, he saw a traditional Chinese medicine called dragon bone. He felt strange and looked through the residue. Unexpectedly, there was a pattern that looked like words on it. So he bought all the keels and found that each keel had a similar pattern. He was convinced that this was a kind of writing that was relatively complete and should be from the Yin and Shang dynasties. Later, people found the place where the dragon bones were unearthed - Xiaotun Village, Anyang, Henan Province, where a large number of dragon bones were unearthed. Because these keel bones are mainly the oracle bones of turtles and beasts, people named them "oracle bone inscriptions", and the discipline that studies them is called "oracle bone inscriptions".
Among the total of more than 100,000 oracle bones with characters, there are more than 4,000 different characters and graphics, of which about 2,500 characters have been identified.
Phytophonetic characters account for about 27% of the oracle bone inscriptions, which shows that the oracle bone inscriptions are already a quite mature writing system.
Oracle bone inscriptions are an ancient Chinese writing system and are considered to be the early forms of modern Chinese characters. Oracle bone inscriptions are also called deed inscriptions, tortoise shell inscriptions or tortoise shell and animal bone inscriptions. Oracle bone inscriptions are a very important ancient Chinese character material. Most of the oracle bone inscriptions were found in the Yin Ruins. Yin Ruins is a famous site from the Yin and Shang Dynasties, covering Xiaotun Village, Huayuanzhuang, Houjiazhuang and other places in the northwest of Anyang City, Henan Province. This place was once the location of the capital of the Central Dynasty in the late Yin and Shang Dynasties, so it is called Yin Ruins. These oracle bones are basically divination records of the rulers of the Shang Dynasty. 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 the war would be won, which sacrifices should be made to ghosts and gods, and whether fertility, disease, etc. Divination is needed to understand the will of ghosts and gods and the good or bad luck of events. The materials used for divination are mainly the plastron and carapace of tortoises and the shoulder blades of cattle. Usually, some small holes are dug or drilled on the back of the oracle bones that are to be used for divination. Such small holes are called "drilling" by oracle bone scientists. During divination, heating these small pits will cause cracks on the surface of the oracle bones. This kind of crack is called a "sign". The word "divination" in oracle bone inscriptions for divination looks like a omen. People who engage in divination judge good or bad fortune based on the various shapes of divination signs. Judging from the oracle bone inscriptions of the Yin and Shang Dynasties, Chinese characters at that time had developed into a writing system that could be complete and used in the Chinese language. In the oracle bone inscriptions of the Yin Ruins that have been discovered, the number of single words that appear has reached about 4,000. There are a large number of characters referring to things, pictographic characters, knowing characters, and many pictophonetic characters. There is a huge difference in appearance between these characters and the characters we use today. But from the perspective of word formation methods, the two are basically the same.
Currently, about 150,000 oracle bones and more than 4,500 single characters have been discovered. The contents recorded in these oracle bone inscriptions are extremely rich and involve many aspects of social life in the Shang Dynasty, including not only politics, military, culture, social customs, etc., but also science and technology such as astronomy, calendar, medicine, etc. Judging from the approximately 1,500 single characters that have been identified in oracle bone inscriptions, it already possesses the character creation methods of "pictogram, meaning, pictophonetic, referring to things, annotation, and borrowing", showing the unique charm of Chinese characters. Documents based on tortoise shells and animal bones from China's Shang Dynasty and early Western Zhou Dynasty (approximately 16th century BC to 10th century BC). It is the earliest known form of Chinese literature. The characters engraved on armor and bones were previously called deeds, oracle bone inscriptions, oracle inscriptions, tortoise edition inscriptions, Yinxu inscriptions, etc., and are now commonly known as oracle bone inscriptions. Due to superstition, the emperors of the Shang and Zhou dynasties used tortoise shells (the most common ones were tortoise shells) or animal bones (the most common ones were the ox shoulder blades) for divination. The omen results, verification status, etc.) were engraved on the oracle bones and kept as archival materials by the royal historian (see Oracle Bone Archives).
In addition to the inscriptions on divination, there are also a few inscriptions on oracle bones to record events. The contents of the oracle bone documents involve astronomy, calendar, meteorology, geography, country, lineage, family, characters, officials, conquests, prisons, agriculture, animal husbandry, hunting, transportation, religion, sacrifices, diseases, fertility, disasters, etc. It is extremely precious first-hand information for studying the social history, culture, language and characters of ancient China, especially the Shang Dynasty.
[Edit this paragraph] Characteristics of oracle bone script
Judging from the number and structure of fonts, oracle bone script has developed into a more rigorous system of writing. The "six books" principle of Chinese characters is reflected in oracle bone inscriptions. However, the traces of the original picture text are still quite obvious. Its main features:
(1) In terms of character structure, some pictographic characters only focus on highlighting the characteristics of the physical object, but the number of strokes, forward and backward are not uniform.
(2) Some ideographic characters in oracle bone inscriptions only require that the radicals be combined to have a clear meaning, but not fixed. Therefore, there are many variant characters in oracle bone inscriptions, and some characters can have more than a dozen or even dozens of ways of writing.
(3) The shape of oracle bone inscriptions is often determined by the traditional or simplified version of the object represented. Some characters can occupy the position of several characters, and they can be long or short.
(4) Because the characters are carved on harder animal bones with a knife, the strokes are thinner and mostly square.
Since oracle bone inscriptions are carved with knives, and the knives can be sharp or blunt, and the bones can be thin or thick, hard or soft, the strokes carved out are of varying thicknesses, and some are even as thin as a hair. , the joints of the strokes are peeling off again, and they are thick and heavy. Structurally, the length and size are not certain, they may be sparse and intricate; or they may be densely layered and very solemn, so they can show a simple and colorful infinite interest.
Although the oracle bone inscriptions vary in size and vary intricately, they already have a symmetrical and stable pattern. Therefore, some people believe that Chinese calligraphy, strictly speaking, began with oracle bone inscriptions, because oracle bone inscriptions have already prepared the three elements of calligraphy, namely the use of pens, word knotting, and composition.
[Edit this paragraph] Development of oracle bone inscriptions
Oracle bone inscriptions are named after they are engraved on tortoise shells and animal bones. They are handwriting circulated by the Yin Shang Dynasty; the content records Pan Geng's move to the Yin Dynasty. The inscriptions written in the 270th year of King Zhou's reign are the earliest writings. The Yin Shang Dynasty had three major characteristics. The tortoise shells used by King Wuding of the Yin Dynasty for divination were for keeping history, drinking wine, and worshiping ghosts and gods. Because of this, these tortoise shells, which determine many things such as fishing, conquest, and agriculture, can be seen again in later generations and become important for the study of Chinese characters. information.
The Shang Dynasty already had sophisticated pen and ink, and the calligraphy style was thin and sharp, with the edge of a knife. Affected by the rise and fall of writing styles, it can be divided into five periods, which are introduced below.
1. The Majestic Period:
From Pan Geng to Wu Ding, about a hundred years ago, influenced by Wu Ding's prosperous period, the calligraphy style was grand and majestic, which was the ultimate in oracle bone calligraphy. Generally speaking, the starting point of the pen is round and the ending point is sharp. The straight and straight strokes are staggered and full of variety. Regardless of whether they are fat or thin, they are all very powerful.
2. The following period:
From Zu Geng to Zu Jia, about forty years. Both of them can be regarded as conservative and virtuous kings. The calligraphy of this period generally inherited the style of the previous period, abided by the conventions, and created very few new things, but it was no longer as vigorous and bold as the previous period.
3. Decline period:
From Linxin to Kangding, about fourteen years. This period can be said to be the decline of the literary style of the Yin Dynasty. Although there are still many neat calligraphy styles, the paragraphs are scattered and uneven, and they are no longer so regular, but a bit childish and chaotic. In addition, there are many typos.
4. The peak period:
From Wuyi to Wenwuding, about seventeen years. Wen and Wu Ding were determined to restore ancient times and strive to restore the majesty of the Wu Ding era. The calligraphy style became vigorous and powerful, showing the atmosphere of the ZTE. In the thinner strokes, there is a very strong style.
5. The strict period:
From Emperor Yi to Emperor Xin, about eighty-nine years. The calligraphy style has become more rigorous, slightly closer to that of the second issue; the length has been lengthened, but it is more rigorous, and there is no decadence or majesty.
The thin handwriting on the oracle bones is also affected by the knife carving. When doing divination, "yes" or "no" is often engraved on both sides of the longitudinal line in the center of the tortoise shell, and written from this center line to the left and right, so the two sides are symmetrical and harmonious, and have the beauty of symmetry. After the deed is carved, the large and small characters are filled in ink and ink, or the front and back are filled in ink and ink, which is more artistic and can be called a miracle in the history of calligraphy.
[Edit this paragraph] Contents of Oracle Bone Inscriptions
Most of the contents of Oracle Bone Inscriptions are divination records of the Yin and Shang royal families. People in the Shang Dynasty were superstitious about ghosts and gods, and they had to ask for fortune-telling on big and small things. Some of the divination contents were about the weather, whether it was good or bad, some were about the harvest, some were about illness, or asking for children. Major events such as hunting, war, and sacrifices required divination. Asked! Therefore, the contents of oracle bone inscriptions can provide a vague understanding of the living conditions of the people of the Shang Dynasty, and can also learn about the historical development of the Shang Dynasty.
Oracle Bone Calligraphy
Anyang Yin Ruins oracle bone inscriptions are the earliest known systematic writing in my country and are also relatively mature writing. The dots, horizontal strokes, and dense structure of ancient characters, viewed from today's perspective, have indeed begun to take shape in the key points of calligraphy such as brushwork, structure, and composition. They nurture the beauty of calligraphy art, which is worthy of appreciation and taste. As far as oracle bone inscriptions are concerned, Guo Moruo praised its calligraphy in the preface of "Yin Qi Cui Bian" published in 1937: "The inscriptions are inscribed on the tortoise bones. The precision of the inscriptions and the beauty of the characters have impressed our generations for thousands of years." Later generations were fascinated by the style of writing, which varied from person to person and from time to time. Generally speaking, in Wu Ding's time, the writing style was more vigorous, while in Emperor Yi's time, the writing was sparse and dense, and the structure of the writing was well-organized. The existing text of the deed is actually a calligrapher of the first generation, and the person who wrote the deed was Yanliu, the king of the Yin Dynasty."
"Zhongwang Yanliu" refers to the four great calligraphers in ancient times. The "Zhongwang Yanliu" of the Yin Dynasty were the historians and diviners who wrote and carved inscriptions. It was they who left behind rich historical materials and precious ancient calligraphy works for future generations. If you take a cursory glance at the form of oracle bone deeds, you will find that the early fonts were larger. For example, many of the inscriptions from the Wuding period included in Luo Zhenyu's "Yin Xu Shuqing Jinghua" were very grand and eye-catching; During the Xin Dynasty, the characters became small and cumbersome; as for the oracle bone inscriptions of the Western Zhou Dynasty, they were as thin as a millet hair.
Oracle bone inscription style types: the first is strong and powerful; the second is beautiful and light; the third is neat and regular; the fourth is sparse and delicate; the fifth is plump and ancient. In short, although the oracle bone inscriptions are words carved out of a contract, the writing style is full of meaning, and the various styles are mixed, or the bones are open, and have a relaxed interest;
The so-called "oracle bone calligraphy" generally has two meanings.
The first refers to calligraphy works that are based on the font structure and calligraphy characteristics of oracle bone inscriptions of the Shang and Zhou dynasties and are neatly copied. This type of work can collect ancient characters and combine them into new sentences as needed. The content is new, but the characters are as elegant and interesting as those written by the Yin people three thousand years ago. However, the oracle bone inscriptions only have more than 2,000 characters in total, and there are still many strange characters that have not yet been released (especially names of people and places). Not many of them are really useful. Therefore, once you encounter a character that is not in the oracle bone inscriptions and cannot be replaced in the written couplets or inscriptions, you have to dismantle the characters and splice them together yourself; if you still can't spell them out, you have to seek help from other ancient characters such as bronze inscriptions. The main person who carried out this creation was Luo Zhenyu. In 1921, while doing research, he wrote the oracle bone inscriptions into couplets with a brush and published "Collection of Yinxu Characters and Couplets". Later, Zhang Yu, Gao Dexin, Wang Jilie and others also followed suit in creating calligraphy. Some predecessors in paleography such as Dong Zuobin, Shang Chengzuo, Tang Lan, Yu Shengwu, etc. are also good at oracle bone calligraphy, which is a work of oracle bone calligraphy in the true sense.
Another meaning refers to modern calligraphy works that draw on the characteristics of oracle bone inscriptions and create their own. They regard oracle bone inscriptions as a kind of inspiration, just a hint of inspiration in artistic creation, rather than pursuing "likeness". Therefore, they did not strictly follow the calligraphy characteristics of oracle bone inscriptions, but may have combined the characteristics of various ancient characters such as oracle bone inscriptions, bronze inscriptions, and Warring States characters. Although this kind of calligraphy art is related to ancient philology, it does not follow the same trend.
[Edit this paragraph] The discovery of oracle bone inscriptions
The inscriptions on ancient oracle bones were confirmed to be Shang Dynasty characters, which was the third piece of Chinese archeology at the end of the last century and the beginning of this century. One of the great discoveries (Dunhuang Grottoes, Zhoukoudian ape-man ruins). However, the discovery process of the oracle bone inscriptions unearthed in Anyang was very accidental and full of drama.
In the autumn of the 25th year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu (1899 AD) in the late Qing Dynasty, Wang Yirong (1845-1900), who served as the imperial minister of the Imperial Academy (equivalent to the highest official of the central educational institution) in the Qing court in Beijing, got malaria and sent someone to Xuanwu Wang Yirong bought a dose of traditional Chinese medicine from Darentang Traditional Chinese Medicine Store at the entrance of the vegetable market outside his door. Wang Yirong accidentally saw some symbols engraved on one of the medicines called Dragon Bone. Dragon bones are the bones of ancient vertebrates. How could there be symbols carved on such bones that were hundreds of thousands of years old? This aroused his curiosity. Wang Yirong, who was well versed in ancient epigraphic inscriptions, took a closer look and felt that this was not an ordinary engraving. It was very similar to ancient inscriptions, but its shape was neither a large seal script nor a small seal script. In order to find more dragon bones for in-depth research, he sent people to Darentang and bought all the dragon bones engraved with symbols in the drugstore at a high price of two taels of silver per piece. Later, he searched and purchased them through antique dealer Fan Weiqing and others. , a total of more than 1,500 pieces have been collected.
After careful study and analysis of these dragon bones, he concluded that they were not "dragon" bones, but tortoise shells and animal bones from thousands of years ago. From the carvings on the oracle bones, he gradually identified the words "rain", "sun", "moon", "mountain", "water", etc., and later found out the names of several kings of the Shang Dynasty. From this, it was confirmed that these were ancient characters carved on animal bones. From then on, these oracle bones engraved with ancient characters caused a sensation in all walks of life, with scholars and antique dealers competing to search for them.
Someone once questioned the theory that Wang Yirong found dragon bones with characters in traditional Chinese medicine. They believed that Wang Yirong did not record this in his relevant writings, and believed that the dragon bones that Wang Yirong ate had been processed into fine particles in pharmacies. , you can’t see the engraved text. Moreover, there was no Darentang Pharmacy in the Caishikou area at that time. In this regard, Zhou Shaoliang, a scholar who later studied oracle bone inscriptions, said that at that time, dragon bones were sold in blocks and pieces in traditional Chinese medicine stores. This was still the case until the 1930s when he went to a traditional Chinese medicine store to buy dragon bones. As for Darentang Pharmacy, it was true that it was not in Caishikou at that time, but there was a famous Xiheniantang Chinese Medicine Store in Caishikou. People at that time were very superstitious about Xiheniantang, and they had to go to Xiheniantang Pharmacy to buy traditional Chinese medicine. This may also be the case. The result of misinformation at the time.
Before the oracle bones were confirmed, farmers in Xiaotun Village, Anyang City, Henan Province, kept digging out ancient oracle bones in their farmland while farming. It is said that the first person who sold oracle bones as medicinal materials in traditional Chinese medicine shops was a barber named Li Cheng. Once he suffered from abscesses all over his body and had no money to seek medical treatment and buy medicine, so he crushed these oracle bones into powder and applied it to the abscesses. Unexpectedly, the pus that flowed out was absorbed by the bone powder, and he found that the bone powder also had the effect of stopping bleeding. From then on, he collected them, said they were dragon bones, and sold them to Chinese medicine shops.
After research by many scholars and experts, the so-called dragon bones were actually tools used for divination in the Shang Dynasty. Before divination, people first sawed the tortoise shells and ox shoulder blades neatly, and then drilled circular deep and shallow grooves on the back of the oracle bones. When divination, they first prayed to the ghosts and gods about the things they wanted to ask, and then used burning pots. The wooden branches are burned on the side of the deep cavity or groove. When burned to a certain extent, cracks will appear on the corresponding parts of the oracle bone. Therefore, fortune tellers judge the good or bad luck, success or failure of things based on the length, thickness, straightness, and appearance of the cracks. After the divination, the contents and results of the divination are carved near the divination with a knife. This is the divination. The oracle bones with inscriptions on them were properly stored in caves as archival materials and passed down to later generations. The story of the discovery of oracle bone inscriptions was later known as the miracle of "a piece of oracle bone that shocked the world" and wrote a legendary chapter in the archaeological history of China and the world.