What criteria did Dong Zuobin set in the study of dating and staging in Oracle Bone Inscriptions?
In the study of Oracle Bone Inscriptions's dating, Dong Zuobin put forward ten criteria as the basis, namely, the first generation, the second generation, the three sages, the four pits, the five kingdoms, the six images, the seven objects, the eight laws, the nine forms and the ten essays. Dong Shi's method is very comprehensive and is followed by later scholars. However, in the thirties and forties when Dong Shi lived, the research on Oracle Bone Inscriptions was not deep enough. Since then, many scholars have conducted more in-depth research on the basis of his achievements and corrected his mistakes and shortcomings in dating research. For example, the Oracle Bone Inscriptions in Yin Ruins discovered at present began in the Wuding period, so in the first phase of Dongshi, only Wuding I was king. Another problem of Dong Shi's dating is to divide a large-character work with the same style today into one phase and four phases. This has caused confusion in the dating of calligraphy. After a century's development, scholars have combed out a clear vein for the study of Oracle Bone Inscriptions's dating, especially the patient and meticulous arrangement of Zhen people, which makes the dating study more credible and corroborative.