The earliest Chinese characters in China are the oracle bone inscriptions of the Shang Dynasty
The oracle bone inscriptions mainly refer to the oracle bone inscriptions of the Yin Ruins, also known as "Yin Ruins characters", "Wang Badan" and "Yin Qi". The words of the times are carved on the bones of turtle shells. At the end of the 19th century, it was discovered in the ruins of the capital of the Yin Dynasty in Xiaotun, Anyang, Henan Province today. It inherited the character creation method of Tao inscriptions. It is a text engraved (or written) on tortoise shells and animal bones that was used by the royal family in the late Shang Dynasty of China (14th to 11th century BC) for divination and recording events. After the demise of the Yin Shang Dynasty and the rise of the Zhou Dynasty, oracle bone inscriptions continued to be used for a period of time. 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 5,000 different characters and graphics, of which about 1,000 characters have been identified.
The number of pictophonetic characters in Oracle Bone Script accounts for about 27, which shows that Oracle Bone Script is already a quite mature writing system. A few animal oracle bones engraved with patterns and symbols (data photo)
Oracle bone inscriptions are an ancient Chinese script and are considered to be the early forms of modern Chinese characters. They are sometimes also considered to be one of the calligraphy styles of Chinese characters. It is also the oldest mature script in existence in China. 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.
At present, about 150,000 oracle bones and more than 4,500 single characters have been found. 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 (tortoise plastron is the most common) or animal bones (ox shoulder blades are the most common) 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 include 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. Oracle bone inscriptions are named after they are engraved on tortoise shells and animal bones. They are handwriting circulated by the Yin and Shang Dynasties. The content is an inscription that records the 270 years between Pan Geng's move to Yin and King Zhou, which is the earliest writing. The Yin and Shang Dynasties had three major characteristics, namely, trusting history, drinking alcohol, and worshiping ghosts and gods. Because of this, these tortoise shells, which determine many things such as fishing, expeditions, and agriculture, can be seen again in later generations and become important materials for the study of Chinese characters.
Exquisite pen and ink were already available in the Shang Dynasty. The calligraphy style was thin and sharp, with the interest of a knife edge. Affected by the rise and fall of writing styles, it can be divided into five periods, which are introduced below.
Turtle belly armor used for divination by King Wuding of Yin 1. Majestic Period:
From Pan Geng to Wu Ding, about a hundred years ago, influenced by the prosperous age of Wu Ding, the calligraphy style is grand and majestic , the ultimate form of 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. Instructions:
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. Jinqiao 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, without decadence, and lacks 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.
Excerpted from Baidu netizen, thank you.