What is the value of Oracle Bone Inscriptions's discovery?

Documents based on tortoise shells and animal bones in Shang Dynasty and early Western Zhou Dynasty in China (about 16 BC-0/0 BC). This is the earliest known form of Chinese literature. The characters carved on Oracle bones were previously called Wen Qi, Oracle Bone Inscriptions, Oracle Bone Inscriptions, Turtle Edition, Yin Ruins, etc. Now they are usually called Oracle Bone Inscriptions. Due to superstition, Shang and Zhou emperors used tortoise shells (common in tortoise shells) or animal bones (common in cattle scapula) for divination, and then carved divination related matters (such as divination time, diviner, divination content, divination result, verification, etc. ) in the Oracle Bone Inscriptions, and preserved by the royal historian as archival materials (see Oracle Bone Inscriptions archives). In addition to Oracle inscriptions, there are some unforgettable inscriptions in Oracle Bone Inscriptions's offerings. Oracle Bone Inscriptions's contribution covers astronomy, calendar, meteorology, geography, country, lineage, family, figures, officials, conquest, prison, agriculture, animal husbandry, hunting, transportation, religion, sacrifice, disease, birth and disaster. It is extremely precious first-hand information to study the social history, culture and language of ancient China, especially the Shang Dynasty. 1At the end of the 9th century and the beginning of the 20th century, after Oracle Bone Inscriptions's offerings were discovered, people copied them (ink extension, photography and description) and arranged them (splicing, conjugation and identification) one after another, and compiled them into a book, that is, transferred their contents to other carriers for use. Oracle Bone Inscriptions (ox bone) in Yin and Shang Dynasties was excavated from Oracle Bone Inscriptions, mainly from Yin Ruins and also from Joo Won?.

Oracle Bone Inscriptions in Yin Ruins is a relic of Shang Dynasty that moved from Pan Geng to Di Xin for more than 270 years. Most of them were unearthed in or near Xiaotun Village, Anyang, Henan Province. (See the lettering painted with Zhu Niu bone for sacrificial hunting in Shang Dynasty). Since the discovery in the 25th year of Guangxu (1899), a large number of inscriptions on Oracle bones have been excavated privately and collected by antiques, scholars and some foreign missionaries in China. It was not until the autumn of 1928 that the then Institute of History and Language of Academia Sinica organized a scientific excavation. On the eve of 1937 War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, the total excavation of Yin Ruins was 15 times, which was quite fruitful. After the founding of New China, the Institute of Archaeology of China Academy of Sciences and the Cultural Relics Team of Henan Provincial Cultural Bureau have successively carried out more than a dozen excavations. Among them, 1973 Xiaotun South gained the most, and * * * got more than 5,000 pieces of Oracle bones (mainly bones). In the past 90 years, the total number of unearthed Oracle bones is 154604. Among them, 98 units in 38 cities in Chinese mainland collected 95,880 pieces, 47 units collected 65,438+0731piece, 30,204 pieces in Taiwan Province Province and 89 pieces in Hong Kong. In addition, there are more than 20,000 pieces of Oracle bones scattered in Japan, Canada, Britain, the United States, Germany, the Soviet Union, Sweden, Switzerland, France, Singapore, Belgium, South Korea and other countries 12. Basically, they were privately excavated before 1928, and were stolen by the Japanese army during the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression period.

The earliest Oracle Bone Inscriptions was compiled by Liu E, a Jiangsu Dantu. In the 29th year of Guangxu (1903), with the help of Luo Zhenyu, Liu E compiled and published the first collection of Oracle Bone Inscriptions's "Tieyun Canggui". Since then, with the efforts of many scholars, books on Oracle bones have been published one after another. Luo Zhenyu, an engraver, made the greatest contribution in the early period. Roche single-handedly acquired more than 30,000 pieces of Oracle bones * *, and successively published Book Deeds of Yin Ruins (19 13), Book Deeds of Yin Ruins (19 14) and Book Deeds of Yin Ruins (65433) at home and abroad. For example, James Mellon Menzies's Book of Yin Ruins (1938), Roswell Sessoms Britton's Oracle Inscriptions "Two Stones in the Warehouse" (1935), Guo Moruo's Four Editions of Yin Qi (1937) and Jin Zutong's "Yin Qi Zhu Yi" (1937). After 1928, the Oracle Bone Inscriptions excavated by the archaeological team 15 times was edited by Dong Zuobin and compiled into Yin Ruins Series (1948,3942 pieces) and Yin Ruins Series (1948,1948). After the end of War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, Hu Houxuan, an Oracle bone scientist, completed the collection and sorting work presented by Oracle Bone Inscriptions, making the greatest contribution. Hu compiled Oracle Bones Records (1945), New Oracle Bones Records of Nanjing and Shanghai after World War II (195 1) and Oracle Bones Records of North and South after World War II (195 1). Scholars at home and abroad have successively edited and published some Oracle Bone Inscriptions contributions, among which the most important ones are Oracle Bone Inscriptions from the Institute of Humanities of Kyoto University (1959), Oracle Bone Inscriptions in Yin Ruins edited by Canadian and Canadian Chinese scholar Xu (1972), Oracle Bone Inscriptions Collection from Tibet (1972) and Oracle Bone Inscriptions in Yin Ruins written by Xu. American Oracle Bone Records by Chinese-American scholar Zhou Hongxiang (1976), English Oracle Bone Records edited by Sydney, Institute of History of China Academy of Social Sciences and School of Asian and African Studies of University of London (1986). Oracle bones unearthed after the founding of the People's Republic of China are mainly recorded in Xiaotun Nanjiagu compiled by the Institute of Archaeology of China Academy of Sciences (Volume I 1980, Volume II 1985), and * * * received 4,589 pieces. By 1990, more than 80 kinds of books have been dedicated to all Oracle bone inscriptions at home and abroad, and nearly 65,438+10,000 pieces of Oracle bones have been recorded. 1979 to 1982, The Collection of Oracle Bone Inscriptions, edited by Guo Moruo and Hu Houxuan, was published by Zhonghua Book Company. The Collection of Oracle Bone Inscriptions is hundreds of thousands of rubbings, photos or manuscripts of Oracle Bone Inscriptions recorded by various scholars and collected at home and abroad (excluding the Oracle bones in Xiaotun Nandi and the later published Oracle bones in Britain, which are planned to be included in the sequel of the Collection of Oracle Bone Inscriptions). After the finishing process of copying, identification, conjugation and extension, it was selected for more research. The Collection of Oracle Bone Inscriptions is a masterpiece contributed by Oracle Bone Inscriptions in the past 80 years, which has high academic value.

Joo Won? Oracle Bone Inscriptions is a relic of the early Western Zhou Dynasty (including the pre-Zhou Wenwang period), mainly unearthed in Feng Chu Village, Qishan County, Shaanxi Province (formerly known as Joo Won?). 1In the summer of 977, the archaeological team of Joo Won?, Shaanxi Province discovered during the excavation of architectural sites. More than 65,438 07,000 pieces of Oracle bones were unearthed from two pits in Feng Chu site, of which 289 pieces were Oracle Bone Inscriptions. In addition, Western Zhou Oracle bones have also been found in Qijia Village, Fufeng County, Shaanxi Province, Fangdui Village, Zhao Hong County, Shaanxi Province, and Baifu Village, Changping County, Beijing. 302 pieces of Western Zhou Oracle bones were unearthed in various places, totaling 104 1 word. Compared with the Oracle bones in Yin Ruins, the inscriptions on the Oracle bones in the Western Zhou Dynasty are small and scrawled, and also show a unique style in the renovation of Oracle bones, drilling forms, burning signs and so on. But generally speaking, the Oracle bones of the Western Zhou Dynasty and the Oracle bones of the Yin Ruins are in the same strain, and the characters also belong to the same system. The special book on Oracle bones in Joo Won? has not been published, and there are only sporadic copies and photos. The Collection of Essays on Ancient Philology in the 10 series of Journal of Sichuan University and Wang Yuxin's The Origin of the Western Zhou Oracle Bones are relatively complete manuscripts.

In addition to Oracle Bone Inscriptions's offerings unearthed in Yin Ruins and Joo Won?, in 1986 ~ 1989, there were more than 30,000 animal bones (mainly bovine bones) of the Western Han Dynasty found in Xi 'an, with a total word count of several hundred thousand. This shows that Oracle Bone Inscriptions's offerings were also used in the Western Han Dynasty.

Bibliography edited by Guo Moruo: Collected Works of Oracle Bone Inscriptions, Beijing, Zhonghua Book Company, 1978 ~ 1982.

Chen: Overview of Oracle Bone Inscriptions in Yin Ruins, Beijing, Science Press, 1956.

Wang Yuxin: General Theory of Oracle Bone Inscriptions, Beijing, China Social Sciences Press, 1989.