What is Oracle? What period does it mainly appear in?

I know that more than 3,000 years ago, the writing that served as a record was what we now call oracle bone script.

Why is it called Oracle? It is because in the last years of the Qing Dynasty, someone found that the oracle bones unearthed in Xiaotun Village, Anyang, Henan Province, there are already written records, so it is inferred that this place is the site of Yinxu, the late Shang capital 3,000 years ago. Because these words were engraved on oracle bones, it was given a name, called oracle bones.

Modern research defines oracle bone inscription as the earliest systematic script in China, and together with other early civilizations in the world, such as the papyrus of Egypt and the clay tablets of ancient Babylon, it has contributed to the development of world civilization.

I remember when I was in elementary school, I was told that our ancestors would remember things in the form of knotted ropes very early on, and later in the form of pictures, so I thought that was our earliest writing.

When I grew up, I realized that in fact, those forms that are ideographed by pictures cannot be recognized as a kind of writing, and although our Chinese characters are developed with pictograms, they really cannot be called words. Because when encountering some abstract and non-concrete things, the pictorial expression will obviously be very difficult, and it will not be able to express the meaning correctly. Only words that can be ordered, one word after another, and a complete expression of a meaning, can be called words.

According to this concept, the earliest time when our Chinese characters became a systematic script should be in the late Xia period, when it began to gradually take shape, and was perfected in the Shang and Zhou dynasties, that is, more than 3,000 years ago.

This statement has been further confirmed by the oracle bone inscription unearthed in Xiaotun, Anyang, Henan Province, so it has also become a theoretical basis recognized by the world.

Oracle bone inscriptions mainly appeared in the Shang Dynasty. The oracle bone inscription is the earliest and most complete script found so far, and it is particularly valuable for historical research.

In fact, it is an early kind of writing, which appeared in the Shang and Zhou dynasties, and should also be the earliest kind of written record, which already has the rudiments of writing.

The oracle bone inscription is a relatively ancient script, mainly carved on the tortoiseshell animal bones, and the oracle bone inscription generally appeared in the Shang Dynasty.

The oracle bone inscription is a way to record writing from turtle shells in China, long ago. Oracle bone inscriptions mainly appear from the 17th century BC to the 11th century BC.

This is an ancient script, which mainly appeared in the Shang and Zhou dynasties, and developed very prosperously.

It is an ancient script that appeared in 1898. It is also one of the oldest scripts in the world.

Mainly the Xia Dynasty, after the Xia was destroyed, the merchants burned the oracle bones of the Xia, and the jade zhang grinded off the deeds of the rewriting merchants.

The oracle bone inscription was written on the tortoise shell or ox bone by the Shang kings with divination records.

The oracle bone inscription appeared in the Shang Dynasty of China, and is a very ancient Chinese script, also known as "Qiwen", "Oracle Bone Bu Ci", Yinxu script or "tortoiseshell beast bone inscription", which was first unearthed in Yinxu, Anyang City, Henan Province.

The shape and structure of the oracle bone inscription has tended to be combined with independent bodies, and a large number of morphophonetic characters have appeared. It inherits the original carved symbols on the top and the bronze inscriptions on the bottom, which is the key form of the development of Chinese characters and is known as the "earliest Chinese character". Modern Chinese characters evolved from oracle bone inscriptions.

In a total of more than 100,000 pieces of oracle bones with characters, there are more than 4,000 different characters and graphics, of which about 2,800 characters have been recognized.

Oracle style type: one is vigorous and vigorous, the second is beautiful and lightweight, the third is neat and regular, the fourth is sparse and delicate, and the fifth is plump and clumsy. In short, although the oracle bone inscription is a carved text, it is full of meaning, mixed with all kinds of bodies, or the bones are open, and there is a sense of relaxation; Or fine silk show, with the style of hairpins, between the lines, there is the beauty of calligraphy.

Excavations and collections of oracle bones

The oracle bone inscription was first identified in 1898 by antique dealers and epigraphers, and then in Yinxu (Xiaotun Village, Anyang, Henan) Wang Yirong, the father of Chinese oracle bone inscriptions, excavated on a large scale, and a large number of tortoiseshell animal bones were unearthed, coupled with sporadic collection in other places, more than 100,000 pieces have been collected so far, of which the longest single article reaches more than 100 words, which can be seen in the prototype of applied literature.

The National Museum of China has the largest collection of oracle bones in China and even in the world, with a total collection of 35,651 pieces. Many of them are donated by famous artists and acquired from private individuals and markets. Among them, Mr. Liu Tizhi's collection has the largest number, packed in 150 boxes, with a total of more than 28,000 pieces.

The oracle bones in the National Library have also been recorded in Luo Zhenyu's "Yinxu Book Deed", Hu Houxuan's "Collection of Oracle Bones Newly Obtained in Beijing and Tianjin after the War", Guo Moruo's "Yin Qi Cui Edition", and Guo Ruoyu's "Yin Qi Collection".

The National Library of China is also rich in oracle bone rubbing, in addition to the "Oracle Bone Collection Collection" that is being spread, there are also 18 volumes and four letters of "Shanzhai Shuqi Series Compilation of Oracle Bone Rubbing", a total of more than 28,000 sheets. In the "Oracle Bone Collection" edited by Guo Moruo, there are also more than ten kinds of oracle bone rubbings in the museum's collection.

The above content is reference: Encyclopedia - Oracle Bone Script (Ancient Chinese Script).

It was prevalent in the Yin Shang period.

The oracle bone inscription is also known as the "deed inscription", "oracle bone inscription", Yinxu script or "tortoiseshell beast bone inscription". The oracle bone inscriptions recorded and reflected the political and economic conditions of the Shang Dynasty, mainly referring to the inscriptions on tortoise shells or animal bones used by the royal family in the late Shang Dynasty (14th and 11th centuries BC) in China for divination.

After the fall of the Yin Shang dynasty and the rise of the Zhou Dynasty, the oracle bone inscription was also used for a period of time, which is an important material for studying the social history of the Shang and Zhou dynasties.

The original oracle

The people of the Shang Dynasty were good at divination, and they burned the "zhao" (small vertical and horizontal cracks) of the oracle bones with fire. The carapace includes the ventral carapace and dorsal carapace of the turtle, and the bones are mostly the shoulder blades and ribs of the cow. The oracle bone inscription was first discovered in the area of Xiaotun Village, Anyang County, Henan Province, about 3,000 years ago, and was identified as an earlier script than the seal script and the Zhou script.

Twenty-four years ago (1898) of Guangxu in the Qing Dynasty, when the local farmers harvested peanuts, they accidentally picked up some tortoise shells and animal bones, which were sold as traditional Chinese medicine to the pharmacy.

However, later generations have verified that Wang Yirong is not the first person to discover the oracle bone inscription, and there are still Wang Xiang, Meng Dingsheng, Liu He, Duanfang, Hu Shicha and others. Originally, scholars were misled by the artificial monopoly of the oracle bone inscriptions by profiting from the antiquities, deliberately describing the excavation site as Tangyin or Weihui.

1. The formation time of the oracle bone inscription is a cultural product of the Shang Dynasty, with a history of about 3,600 years. The oracle bone inscription was found in Yinxu, Anyang City, Henan Province, China. The oracle bone inscription is an ancient Chinese script, also known as "Qiwen", "oracle bone Bu Ci", Yinxu script or "tortoiseshell beast bone inscription".

2. The oracle bone script is an ancient Chinese script, which is considered to be an early form of modern Chinese characters, and is sometimes considered to be one of the scripts of Chinese characters, and it is also the oldest mature script in China, but it is not the germ of Chinese characters.

3. The oracle bone inscription is named because it is engraved and written on tortoise shells and animal bones, which belongs to the divination inscriptions and chronicle inscriptions of the royal family and nobles in the capital of the Yin Shang dynasty from the 14th to the 11th century BC, and is also the earliest written ancient writing document heritage in China. The inscription carriers are mainly cow shoulder blades and tortoise shells, but also the bones of other animals. Its content provides a unique and valuable first-hand historical material for the study of China's long and splendid civilization history and the inheritance of the early state and humanities and society.

The bone inscription mainly refers to the oracle bone inscription of Yin Ruins, which is the text engraved on the tortoise shell or animal bone for divination by the royal family in the late Shang Dynasty (14th century BC) in China, after the fall of the Yin Shang Dynasty and the rise of the Zhou Dynasty, the oracle bone inscription also continued to be used for a period of time, which is the earliest known systematic writing form in China, which inherits the original carved symbols and the bronze inscription under the Qi, which is the key form of the development of Chinese characters, and is called "the earliest Chinese character".

The oracle bone inscription was first identified in 1898 by antique dealers and epigraphers, and then in Yinxu (Xiaotun Village, Anyang, Henan) Wang Yirong, the father of Chinese oracle bone inscriptions, excavated on a large scale, and a large number of tortoiseshell animal bones were unearthed, coupled with sporadic collection in other places, more than 100,000 pieces have been collected so far, of which the longest single article reaches more than 100 words, which can be seen in the prototype of applied literature.

Significance of the appearance of oracle bones:

Since the oracle bone inscription is already a mature script, it can be guessed that there was writing in China in an earlier period, but the Xia script has not yet been discovered.

The same era as the oracle bone inscription also has the golden script, which is mainly found on ritual vessels such as bells and tripods. After the oracle bone inscription, it entered the text seal of the era of the nations, there are large seals, small seals, bird seals and other fonts, and then as early as the late Warring States period to the early Western Han Dynasty, there was a Lishu, our current fonts, most of them are evolved from the Lishu.

The oracle bone inscription is the script of the Yin Shang period in China, also known as the "deed text", "oracle bone inscription" or "tortoiseshell beast bone inscription". Most of the oracle bone inscriptions are the divination records of the royal family of the Shang Dynasty, the ancients believed in the gods, big and small things need to be divined, farming, sacrifice, hunting, weather all need to be divined, and recorded on the oracle bones. Therefore, the oracle bone inscription is conducive to understanding the life situation of Yin merchants and the historical development.

Judging from the characters on the oracle bones, they already have the three elements of Chinese calligraphy: brushwork, knots, and chapters. From the perspective of structural fonts, the text not only changes, although the size is different, but it is relatively balanced and symmetrical, and it also shows a stable pattern. Therefore, from the point of view of the chapter, although affected by the size and shape of the bone fragment, it still shows the technique of engraving and the artistic characteristics of writing.

The fact that oracle bone calligraphy is now popular among some calligraphers and calligraphy enthusiasts is a testament to its charm.

The oracle bone inscription is a cultural product of the Shang Dynasty (about the 17th century BC - the 11th century BC), with a history of about 3,600 years.

The oracle bone inscription is an ancient Chinese script, also known as "Qiwen", "oracle bone Bu Ci", Yinxu script or "tortoiseshell beast bone inscription". It is an early form of Chinese characters, and it is the oldest mature script in the existing Chinese dynastic period, which was first unearthed in Yinxu, Anyang City, Henan Province. It belongs to Old Chinese, not Ancient or primitive languages of other language families.

Oracle, with a symmetrical, stable pattern. The three elements of calligraphy are the use of the pen, the knot, and the chapter. Judging from the number of fonts and the way they are structured, oracle bone inscriptions have developed to a more rigorous and systematic script.

The principle of "six books" of Chinese characters is reflected in the oracle bone inscriptions. However, the traces of the original pictorial text are still relatively obvious.

On November 24, 2017, Oracle successfully passed the review of the International Advisory Committee of UNESCO's Memory of the World Programme and was successfully inscribed on the Memory of the World Register.