Why did the Shang Dynasty people engrave words on turtle shells? What is the reason for this?

Shang Dynasty. Man in a turtle shell.

The reason for this is for divination.

01.The art of divination ** ancient people are very interested in various phenomena in the natural world, and many people have conducted a series of studies on this phenomenon, but they have been unable to find a suitable reason to explain it due to various limitations. At this time, the art of divination came into being.

People can use divination to speculate on a series of things such as whether it is dangerous to go out. Although this may not be popular now, people at the time believed it very much, believing that the gods would use it to tell them the right answer. This is the original divination technique**.

02.Since you have learned the art of divination, what is the use of divination? In ancient times, people thought that divination was a very sacred thing, and the things used should naturally be very sacred.

If they were done with ordinary things, people were afraid that the gods would think they were ungodly and would not tell them the answer to their questions. In ancient times, people thought that the use of turtle shells was the most suitable choice, and in their opinion, turtles were very spiritual animals. The turtle shell is relatively hard, and the shell of each turtle will be slightly different, which gives people a sense of mystery, and it feels that there is also a hidden mystery inside, and it is a suitable choice for divination.

03.As mentioned earlier, turtle shells have mysterious patterns, and ancient people used this to perform divination. Holes are punched in specific locations of the turtle shell by a specialized person, after which they are roasted over a fire for a while.

At this time, you will find that there are some strange patterns on the turtle shellSpecialized people will interpret these lines and come up with the results they want. This is the whole process of divination. Sometimes, you may write on the shell of the turtle that you need to divination.

To sum up, the Shang Dynasty people carved words on the turtle shell in order to carry out divination and to lead to the auspicious culprit of the event.

The people of the Shang Dynasty had to ask the gods for good luck and evil in everything they did, and when they asked about things, they would engrave words on the turtle shell, roast them with fire, and judge the good and bad things according to the cracks.

The turtle shell is a kind of material that can be stored for a long time, and the ancients engraved words on it in order to make the text content engraved on it can be stored permanently like the turtle shell, so that future generations can inherit this culture, and it is the good deeds of the ancestors to pass on this culture.

According to the documents that have been left behind, it is known that turtle shells were used for divination at that time. It was generally used by the royal family for divination and was engraved (or written) on tortoise shells and animal bones. There is a sentence in "Zuo Biography" that says: turtles and elephants are also, and the number of Zheng is also.

It is called oracle bone inscription, and this kind of writing stroke is relatively simple, the shape is very peculiar, it is written according to the real thing, and people today can't understand it.

The oracle bone inscription, which already has the basic form of the structure of Chinese characters, is a relatively mature script, and has a reliable history from the Shang Dynasty.

The oracle bone inscription is a script written by the kings of the late Shang Dynasty to ask for good fortune and evil. Since this type of writing is engraved on oracle bones, it is called oracle bone inscription. A refers to the tortoise shell, which is generally engraved on the part of the abdominal carapace, because the dorsal carapace is less likely to be engraved with words; Bone refers to animal bones, mainly the shoulder blades of cows, and this kind of writing engraved on oracle bones and tortoise shells is called oracle bone script or tortoiseshell script.

The oracle bone inscription is a text engraved on the tortoiseshell animal bones, also known as "divination script", "deed text" or "Yinxu script". Most of the contents are divination records, which are written from the 14th century BC to the 11th century BC, that is, the second half of the Shang Dynasty from the second half of the Shang Dynasty to the period of the 8th and 12th kings of the 8th Dynasty and the 12th King of the Emperor. At the end of the Qing Dynasty, it was dug out by farmers in Xiaotun Village, Anyang, Henan Province when they were digging ditches in their fields.

In the twenty-fifth year of Guangxu, it was brought to the capital by an antique dealer, and was judged to be a relic of Yin Shang by Wang Yirong, who was the prince of the country. and approved as the earliest paleograph. Since the discovery of the oracle bone inscription in 1899, it has a history of more than 100 years, and it is recognized by the academic community that it is Wang Yirong, a native of Fushan, Shandong.

Lv Weida, director of the Wang Yirong Memorial Hall in Yantai, Shandong, in his book "The Father of Oracle? Wang Yirong", a series of issues such as the excavation of Yinxu divination, the discovery and the martyrdom of Wang Yirong, and the inheritance of the oracle bone inscription by later generations have been explained in detail. Hu Houxuan, a famous oracle bone master, cited a large number of facts and detailed materials in his treatise "On the Problem of Oracle Bone Inscription Discovery" before his death, and made a conclusive summary of Wang Yirong's first discovery of the oracle bone inscription

Today, after nearly 100 years of the development of the oracle bone inscription, we can still say that the Yinxu oracle bone inscription was first recognized and purchased in 1899, that is, in the 25th year of Guangxu in the Qing Dynasty, by a native of Fushan, Shandong Province, named Wang Yirong. At the same time as Wang Yirong, there were also Meng Dingsheng and Wang Xiang in Tianjin."

In the Shang Dynasty in China, there was a popular script, which was oracle bone script. In fact, oracle bone inscriptions were already in use in China during the late Shang Dynasty and the Western Zhou Dynasty. It is inscribed on tortoise shells or cow shoulder blades, many of which are oddly shaped.

So far, people haven't I don't know what they mean. So what is the reason for carving words on tortoise shells or cow shoulder blades?

In fact, it can be known from the left literature that the Zhou Shang Dynasty at that time used tortoise shells for divination. Due to the feudal mentality at that time, people engraved the words on the tortoise shell, which can ** something is evil or auspicious. There is a saying in the left biography: turtles and elephants are also auspicious signs.

The so-called divination is divination according to the change of numbers, and it is recorded that people began to have this behavior during the Shang Dynasty. In addition, before King Wu of Zhou moved his capital, the use of turtle shells was considered obsolete luck. Therefore, at that time, not only the common people believed in divination, but the emperor also believed in tortoiseshell divination.

Imitation socks rot. In the process of modern archaeology, our archaeologists have found a lot of divination using tortoise shells and cow shoulder blades, leaving us a lot of oracle bone writing, and at the same time unearthing a lot. Fragments of oracle bone inscriptions have been unearthed in Shanxi, Shaanxi, Beijing and other places in China, which has also led to a strong interest in oracle bone inscriptions among many Chinese historians. According to the excavations, it can be found that the oracle bone inscriptions have a certain similarity.

This shows that the role of the oracle bone and the cow's shoulder blade is always the same, and the method of divination is also inherited and not changed from time to time. But there are still a lot of leaky bones that we don't I don't understand what it means. Hope to understand later.

The reason why King Wen of Zhou called Xibo: In order to resist the camp of the Zhou people, King Wen Ding of Shang summoned Ji Li (the originator of King Wen of Zhou) to Yindu in the name of reward, and was nominally named "Fang Bo", called "Zhou Xibo", the chief of the Western princes. In fact, after being detained for a period of time, he was mutilated on trumped-up charges, and the Zhou people were buried in Chushan.

After Ji Li's death, Ji Chang was proclaimed emperor for Xi Bochang.

King Ji Chang of Zhou Wen (c. 1152 BC - c. 1056 BC), surnamed Ji, was a native of Qizhou (now Qishan County, Shaanxi). The founder of the Zhou Dynasty, the grandson of King Tai of Zhou, the son of Ji Li, and the originator of King Wu of Zhou. Also known as Zhou Hou, Xibo, Ji Bo, Zhou Yuan oracle bone inscription as Zhou Fangbo.

He was originally a prince of Yin Shang and was named Xibo. Able to respect the old and the young, corporal courtesy. Taidian, Hong Yao, San Yisheng, Manezi, Xinjia Doctor and so on all took refuge in turn.

Shang was brutal, he knew and sighed, and was imprisoned in Jinli (now Tangyinbei, Henan). After being bribed by Hong Yao and others, he was released, and the land of Luoxi was sacrificed, and the punishment of cannon branding was abolished. After returning to the Zhou Dynasty, judging the dispute between Yu (now Pinglubei, Shanxi) and Rui (now Ruicheng, Shanxi), the princes supported them, so they cut down the dog Rong and Misu (now Lingtai West in Gansu), destroyed Chongguo (now the east of Huxian County, Shaanxi), created Fengyi (now Fenghexi, Chang'an, Shaanxi), and moved the capital here, so as to destroy the Kingdom of Yu (now Jiaozuo West, Henan), and destroy the Li Kingdom (now the southwest of Changzhi, Shanxi), and the princes returned to the public.

In the forty-fourth year of his succession, King Wen gave orders, hegemony, and changed the yuan. In the fiftieth year of King Wen of Zhou (about 1056 BC), he died of illness at the age of ninety-seven and was buried in Biyuan (the tomb of the king of the Western Zhou Dynasty is located at the southern foot of Phoenix Mountain in Qishan County, Shaanxi). During the Tianzhu period (690), Wu Zetian ascended the throne, claiming to be a descendant of Ji Chang, and posthumously honoring King Wen of Zhou as his ancestor Emperor Wen.

In fact, we can understand from the documents left behind that the people of the Zhou Dynasty and the Shang Dynasty used turtle shells to carry out divination at that time. Because of the feudal psychology at that time, people engraved the word on the turtle shell, and could ** a thing is fierce or auspicious, and there is a sentence in the "Zuo Biography" that says: The turtle elephant is also, and the number of Zheng is also.

In other words, divination is based on the change of numbers, and there are also documents that record that everyone did not start to have this behavior until the Shang Dynasty. And King Wu of Zhou used the turtle shell to calculate the auspiciousness of the time before moving the capital. Therefore, at that time, not only the common people believed in divination, but also the king believed in turtle shell divination.

In the process of modern archaeology, their archaeologists have found a lot of divination with turtle shells and cow collarbones, leaving a lot of oracle bone characters for everyone, thus unearthing a lot, in China's Shanxi, Shaanxi, Beijing and other places have been unearthed oracle bone fragments, but also caused a lot of historians in our country to form a strong interest in oracle bone inscriptions, according to the unearthed situation we can find that oracle bone inscriptions have a certain degree of sameness, This shows that the role of oracle bone and cow clavicle has always been the same, and the method of divination is inherited, not changed at any time, but there are still many oracle bones that we do not understand its meaning, and hope to understand it in the future.

Because before King Wen of Zhou established himself as king, his title was earl, and because Zhou was located in the west of China, it was called Xibo. The Shang Dynasty people carved words on the turtle shell for divination, and the ancients carved words on the turtle shell and then burned them to form lines, so as to ** the auspicious evil of the event.

The so-called "uncle of the East" means "the overlord of the East", which is also the legal basis for Gou Jian to be listed as one of the overlords of the Spring and Autumn Period. In fact, we can know from the documents left behind that the people of the Zhou Dynasty and the Shang Dynasty used turtle shells for divination at that time. Because of the feudal psychology at that time, people engraved the words on the turtle shell, and they could ** whether a thing is fierce or auspicious, there is a sentence in "Zuo Biography" that says:

The turtle elephant is also, and the number of the spoon is also.

He was appointed as the chief of the Western princes, and he had to be specially conscripted, so he was called Xibo. "This is very clear, it is the king of Shang who named King Wen of Zhou as the chief of the western princes, so he is called Xibo, and the Shang Dynasty people carved words on the turtle shell, and the reason for this is for divination.

Summary. Hello, it is the Yinxu oracle bone inscription, the oracle bone inscription is the earliest and more complete system of ancient writing that has been discovered in China. The oracle bone inscription mainly refers to the Yinxu oracle bone inscription, also known as "Yinxu script" and "Yin Qi", which is the text engraved on the tortoiseshell animal bone in the Yin Shang era.

Hello, it is the oracle bone inscription of Yinxu, which is the earliest and more complete text in the ancient script of the Bu Mo in China. The oracle bone inscription mainly refers to the Yinxu oracle bone inscription, also known as "Yinxu script" and "Yin Qi", which is the text engraved on the tortoiseshell animal bone in the Yin Shang era.

Hope it can help you and have a happy life! Thank you!

It depends on which dynasty. In the late Shang Dynasty (14th century BC, 11th century BC), inscriptions were carved on turtle shells, which were generally engraved (or written) on tortoise shells and animal bones for divination by the royal family, and would not be used by ordinary people.

Oracle bones, bronzes, bamboo and wood slips, silk, and paper have all been written, but if it is carved, there should only be oracle bones and bronzes, and it seems that the stone wall has also been carved.

The oldest Chinese script is "oracle bone inscription", "jia" is tortoise shell, and "gu" is ox bone.

The next thing that appeared was the "Jin Wen", also called "Zhong Dingwen", which was on the bronze.

Later, there were "bamboo slips", and the text was all engraved on the bamboo pieces.

Some symbols have also appeared on pottery dating earlier than oracle bone inscriptions, but they are generally not considered to be written yet.