Oracle Bone Inscriptions is one of the scripts of Chinese characters, and it is also the oldest mature script in China. Oracle Bone Inscriptions is also called Qiwen, Tortoise Shell or Tortoise Shell Animal Bone. After divining with tortoise shells and animal bones, the Shang people carved the divination time, the names of the diviners and the things they divined next to the divination with knives, and some even engraved the good and bad luck that came true several days later. However, the specific situation is different due to the stages of Oracle bones. Generally speaking, the inscriptions in Wuding period are the most complete, and it is also the period with the largest number of existing. Scholars call this kind of record Oracle, and this kind of writing is Oracle Bone Inscriptions. A large number of Oracle bones with Oracle inscriptions have been unearthed in Yin Ruins, which all have the basic structure of Chinese characters. A large number of Oracle Bone Inscriptions and inscriptions not only recorded the political, economic, military, meteorological and divination situation at that time, but also marked the maturity of the writing. The picture shows Oracle Bone Inscriptions carved on the tortoise shell.
Introduction
Oracle Bone Inscriptions was mainly found in Yin Ruins in Anyang, Henan Province. Up to now, about 154, written Oracle bones have been unearthed. Among them, there are more than 97,6 pieces collected in mainland China, more than 3,2 pieces collected in Taiwan Province and 89 pieces collected in Hong Kong, and more than 26,7 pieces have been scattered overseas to 12 countries such as Japan, the United States, Britain, Canada, France, the former Soviet Union, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, the Netherlands and Sweden due to war and commercial factors. Among them, when the Japanese invaded China, they systematically excavated in Yin Ruins, so they collected the most, with more than 12, pieces. At present, there are more than 5 scholars in the world who specialize in Oracle Bone Inscriptions and have published more than 2, monographs.
There are about 4,5 words in Oracle Bone Inscriptions, and about one third of them have been interpreted. According to research, pictographic, indicative, knowing and pictophonetic Chinese characters have been used in Oracle Bone Inscriptions. In the use of word meaning, we can clearly see the method of borrowing. Pictophonetic characters account for about 25%. Today, pictophonetic characters account for about 9%.
Oracle Bone Inscriptions harmony is a sign of the maturity of Chinese characters, which belongs to ideographic characters like cuneiform and hieroglyphics, and it is also the only precursor of ideographic characters used in the world at present. Its writing materials are generally tortoise bones, cattle shoulder blades, and can also be engraved on walls, woodwork, stone tools, etc., with knives, Zhu Shu and Mo Shu. China existed for a long time in ancient times. In the late Spring and Autumn Period, Chinese characters were separated from Oracle bones and gradually lost recognition, but they were generally sold as "keels" to drug dealers for medicinal purposes. It was not until 1899 (the 25th year of Guangxu reign in Qing Dynasty) that it was discovered by epigraphist Wang Yirong by chance and was verified as a relic of Shang and Zhou Dynasties.
Oracle Bone Inscriptions, mainly referring to Oracle Bone Inscriptions in Yin Ruins, is a writing carved (or written) on tortoise shells and animal bones by the royal family in the late Shang Dynasty (14th-11th century before) in China. It is the earliest and relatively complete ancient script found in China.
in the 25th year of Guangxu reign in Qing dynasty (1899), Oracle Bone Inscriptions was first recognized by epigraphist Wang Yirong and purchased at a high price. In the following ten years, Wang Xiang, Meng Dingsheng, Liu E, Luo Zhenyu and American Fa Lian successively searched for Oracle bones, British Ku Shouling and Jin Zhang, Japanese Lin Taifu, Canadian James Mellon Menzies, etc., and * * * got tens of thousands of pieces of Oracle bones. From 1928 to 1937, the Archaeological Group of the Institute of History and Linguistics of Academia Sinica excavated the Yin Ruins in a planned way for 15 times, and obtained about 25, pieces of Oracle bones. Since then, Oracle bones have been unearthed in Yin ruins. In 1973, the Institute of Archaeology of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences excavated more than 4, pieces of Oracle bones in the south of Xiaotun, Anyang, Henan. In addition to the Yin Ruins, in 1953 and 1954, two pieces of word Oracle bones were found in the ruins of the middle Shang Dynasty in Zhengzhou. Since 1954, about 3 pieces of Chinese Oracle bones have been unearthed in Hongdong, Shanxi, Changping, Beijing, Fenghao, zhouyuan site and Feng Chu, Qishan, Shaanxi.
Since Oracle Bone Inscriptions was first discovered, there have been more than 15, pieces of Oracle bones unearthed in Chinese mainland, Taiwan Province Province, Hong Kong and Macao, Japan, the United States, Britain, Canada, France, the Soviet Union, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Sweden and other countries, and there are also collections in South Korea.
Oracle Bone Inscriptions is a relatively mature character, and its main word-making methods are pictographs, loanwords and pictophonetic sounds. Today's Chinese characters are still pictographs based on pictographs, so Oracle Bone Inscriptions has the basic form of Chinese character structure for future generations. Grammatically, there are nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives and so on in Oracle Bone Inscriptions, and their sentence forms and structural orders are basically consistent with the grammar of future generations.
Oracle Bone Inscriptions generally carved vertical paintings first, then horizontal paintings, then signs, signs, auspicious words and words, and then divination, so it is also called Oracle. A complete Oracle bone inscriptions should include narration, destiny, occupation and verification, and most Oracle bones often omit occupation or verification. In Oracle Bone Inscriptions, some painted sand or ink, some wrote on Oracle bones with a brush, and some wrote first and then carved.