What is Oracle

Introduction to oracle bone inscriptions

Oracle bone inscriptions mainly refer to Yin Ruins oracle bone inscriptions, also known as "Yin Ruins characters", "Wang Ba Dan" and "Yin Qi". They were carved on tortoise shells and animal bones during the Yin and Shang Dynasties. text. At the end of the 19th century, it was discovered in the capital ruins 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. 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 the 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 "Applied 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 dregs of the medicine. 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, 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".

There are more than 100,000 oracle bones with characters in total, including more than 5,000 different characters and graphics, of which about 1,000 characters have been identified.

The picophonetic characters account for about 27% of the oracle bone inscriptions, which shows that the oracle bone inscriptions are 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. Sometimes they are 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, and which sacrifices should be made to ghosts and gods, as well as whether there would be a disaster, whether it would rain, whether there would be a good harvest, whether the war would be won, and which sacrifices should be made to ghosts and gods, so as to prevent fertility, disease 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. These 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 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. Among them, 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 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.

[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 already have the three elements of calligraphy, namely, brush use, 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 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.

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.

Turtle belly armor used for divination by Wu Ding, King of Yin 1. Majestic period:

From Pan Geng to Wu Ding, about a hundred years ago, influenced by Wu Ding's prosperous period, 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. 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 autumn of the Yin Dynasty's literary style. 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.

In divination, "yes" or "no" are often engraved on both sides of the central longitudinal line of the tortoise shell, and written from the 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 small and large 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

King Wu Yizhen of the Yin Dynasty asked about the ox shoulder blade used for divination in sacrifice to the late king. The oracle bone calligraphy of the Yin Ruins in Anyang is the earliest systematic writing in my country known so far, and it is also a 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 it. The style of writing varied from person to person and from time to time. Generally speaking, in the time of Wu Ding, the writing style was more vigorous and powerful, while in the time of Emperor Yi, the writing style was more beautiful.

The sparseness of the lines, the structure of the words, the loops and echoes, and the orderliness... It is enough to know that the existing deed text is a genuine Dharma book of the generation, and the person who wrote the deed is 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 Later generations left behind a wealth of historical materials, as well as precious ancient calligraphy works. If you take a cursory glance at the form of oracle bone deeds, you will find that the early fonts were larger, such as Luo Zhenyu's "Yin Xu Script Jinghua". Many of the inscriptions collected during the Wu Ding period are very grand and eye-catching; by the time of Emperor Yi and Emperor Xin of the late Shang 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 inscriptions. Style types: the first is vigorous and vigorous; the second is beautiful and light; the third is neat and regular; the fourth is sparse and delicate; the fifth is plump and clumsy. In short, although the oracle bone inscriptions are carved characters, the writing style is rich and full of style. There are miscellaneous patterns, or the bones are open, showing a sense of relaxation; or the fine silk is beautiful, with the pattern of hairpins, and the beauty of calligraphy can be seen between the lines.

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 Shang and Zhou oracle bone inscriptions and are neatly copied. Such works can combine ancient characters into new sentences as needed, but the content is new, but the characters are the same as those three thousand years ago. The writing of the Yin people is generally full of elegance and interest. However, the total number of oracle bone inscriptions is only about 2,000 characters, and there are many strange characters that have not yet been released (especially names of people and places), and 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 first person to create this work was Luo Zhenyu. In 1921, he wrote the oracle bone inscriptions into couplets with a brush and published "Collection of Couplets from Yin Ruins". Later, Zhang Yu, Gao Dexin, Wang Jilie and others also followed suit. Collected calligraphy creation. Some ancient philology predecessors such as Dong Zuobin, Shang Chengzuo, Tang Lan, Yu Shengwu, etc. are also good at oracle bone calligraphy. This is the original meaning of oracle bone calligraphy works, which refers to their own creation by drawing on the characteristics of oracle bone inscriptions. Modern calligraphy works. They regard oracle bone inscriptions as an inspiration, just a hint in artistic creation, rather than pursuing "similarity". Therefore, they do not strictly follow the calligraphy characteristics of oracle bone inscriptions, but may be based on the combination of oracle bone inscriptions. Although this kind of calligraphy art is related to ancient philology, it is not the same as the discovery of oracle bone inscriptions.

[Edit this paragraph] p> The inscriptions on ancient oracle bones were confirmed to be Shang Dynasty characters, and were one of the third major archaeological discoveries in China at the end of the last century and the beginning of this century (Dunhuang Grottoes, Zhoukoudian ape-man ruins). However, the process of its discovery was complicated. It is very accidental and full of drama.

In the autumn of the 25th year of Guangxu in the late Qing Dynasty (AD 1899), Wang Yirong (equivalent to the highest official of the central educational institution) served as the imperial minister of the Qing Dynasty in Beijing. 1845-1900) got malaria and sent someone to Darentang Traditional Chinese Medicine Store at Caishikou outside Xuanwumen to buy back a dose of traditional Chinese medicine. 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 each. Later, he searched and purchased them through antique dealer Fan Weiqing and others. , a total of more than 1,500 pieces have been collected. Oracle Bone Inscriptions Unearthed in Anyang

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 is 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 and trimmed the tortoise shells and ox shoulder blades, 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 what 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, 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.