Oracle bone inscriptions are characters engraved or written on tortoise shells and animal bones. It was unearthed in the Xiaotun area of ??Anyang, Henan. Because it was the capital of Shang King Pan Geng to Emperor Xin in the late Shang Dynasty, it was called "Yin" in history. After the Shang Dynasty destroyed the country, it became a ruin, and later generations named it "Yin Ruins". Therefore, oracle bone inscriptions are also called "Yinxu inscriptions". Most of its contents are royal divination words, so it is also called "divination words" or "zhen divination words". This kind of writing is basically made of deeds, and is also called "Qi Wen" or "Yin Qi".
Oracle bone inscriptions date back more than 3,000 years. It is not only the earliest and systematic data for studying the origin of Chinese characters, but also an important asset for studying oracle bone calligraphy. From the perspective of calligraphy, oracle bone inscriptions already have the three basic elements of calligraphy: pen use, word knotting, and composition.
Judging from the characters on the oracle bones, they already possess the three elements of Chinese calligraphy: brush use, word knotting, and composition. The lines he used were strict and thin, with both straight and thick strokes, and his strokes were folded in many directions, which had an impact on the pen and knife used for seal cutting in later generations. Judging from the knots, the characters have changed. Although they are different in size, they are relatively balanced and symmetrical, showing a stable pattern. Judging from the composition, although it is affected by the size and shape of the bone fragments, it still shows the carving skills and the artistic characteristics of writing. "Oracle bone calligraphy" is now popular among some calligraphers and calligraphy enthusiasts, which proves its charm.
From the perspective of the pen, oracle bone inscriptions are carved on hard tortoise shells or animal bones with knives and carvings. Therefore, straight lines are mostly used for engraving, and curves are also carved by short straight lines. The thickness of the strokes is mostly uniform; since the starting and closing of the knife are straight, most of the lines are slightly thicker in the middle and slightly thinner at the ends, making them appear thin, solid, straight and sharp, and full of three-dimensionality.
As far as knot characters are concerned, the shape of oracle bone inscriptions is mostly rectangular with a few squares, which has the beauty of symmetry or the beauty of the variety of one character and multiple shapes. In addition, the oracle bone inscriptions also have a structural form of combining squares and circles, opening and closing, and some characters have more or less traces of pictographic pictures, showing the naivety and vividness of the initial development stage of characters.
From a organizational point of view, the entire inscription is clear and the text size is well-proportioned. Although there are changes in the density of each line up and down, left and right, the whole article can maintain a lively situation of flowing energy, large and small dependent on each other, corresponding left and right, and echoing from front to back. Moreover, those with a large number of words are compactly arranged throughout, giving people a dense feeling, while those with a small number of words appear sparse and ethereal. In short, they all present a simple yet romantic interest.