Is Oracle Bone Inscriptions the oldest mature script in China?

Oracle Bone Inscriptions wrote it on tortoise shells and animal bones in Shang Dynasty. Oracle Bone Inscriptions was mostly unearthed in Xiaotun Village, Anyang, Henan Province, and was first discovered in 1898. After 1928, after many excavations, more than 654.38+ten thousand pieces have been unearthed, mainly related to Oracle Bone Inscriptions and divination documents. The total number of words is about 4600, and the number of recognizable words is above 1700. The structure of characters has changed from a single body to a combined body, which basically has the characteristics of pictograph, reference, cognition, borrowing, annotation, pictophonetic characters and phonology. Six books? Oracle Bone Inscriptions is a mature Chinese character, because its characters are simple and ancient, vigorous and beautiful.

Before Oracle Bone Inscriptions appeared, did China have written language? The earliest time in Oracle Bone Inscriptions is no more than 1300 BC. According to archaeological data, there were many immature characters and symbols in China before Oracle Bone Inscriptions. Some symbols were found in Longshan culture pottery unearthed in Ziya, Zhangqiu, Shandong Province in 1930s. Xi 'an Banpo painted pottery also has written symbols, which are composed of geometric lines, and most of them are relatively simple. Guo Moruo said that the symbols on Banpo painted pottery have the nature of words.

Symbols were also found on Dawenkou cultural pottery in Shandong Province, and some symbols were painted in color. These symbols are depicted in a very prominent position on the surface of pottery. Some symbols are like the sun or the moon rising from the mountain. In addition, symbols were also found in pottery of Majiayao culture in Qinghai, early Shang culture in Zhengzhou and middle Shang culture in Hebei.

Some of these symbols are combined with patterns, and some are obviously different from painted pottery patterns. Although these symbols are simple, sporadic and irregular, they are all the rudiments of China characters. It can be said that the birth of China characters has a history of at least five or six thousand years. Therefore, Oracle Bone Inscriptions can only be said to be the oldest and most mature script in China, not the earliest script in China.

Wen Tao is the earliest writing prototype in China.

In the prehistoric period and early historical period of China, before the appearance of Chinese characters, the symbol that most resembled characters was Wen Tao. Wen Tao has unearthed a lot of materials, but it has no writing space like Oracle Bone Inscriptions's, only a single symbol. From the Neolithic Age to the late Shang Dynasty, the earliest unearthed Wen Tao was Banpo, Wen Tao, about 4800 BC? Between 4300 years. In addition, Wen Tao also exists in Dawenkou culture, Longshan culture and Liangzhu culture. Tao Wen is mostly engraved on the black wide band pattern and black inverted triangle pattern on the outer edge of the pottery bowl, and a few are engraved on the outer wall and the bottom of the pottery bowl. Generally speaking, there is only one Wen Tao on the vessel. Academic circles have different views on the nature of these Wen Tao.