On the dark-toned Yong Road, there are jumps of different fonts of "rabbit" characters, from the oracle bone script of the Yin Shang period, the seal book of the Spring and Autumn period, and the affiliation book of the Qin and Han dynasties... Until simplified Chinese characters, take the audience into the ancient Shang Dynasty and into the world of Yinxu oracle bones. This is the scene from the "Exhibition of Four Great Discoveries of Chinese Ancient Documents in the Early Twentieth Century".
Rabbit character projections of different fonts in the Yinxu oracle bone exhibition area. Photo by reporter Cooley
On January 13, the reporter visited the National Museum of Classics. The "Four Great Discoveries of Chinese Ancient Documents in the Early 20th Century" is guided by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage and co-sponsored by China's First Historical Archive, Dunhuang Academy, Gansu Jianmu Museum, and National Library (National Museum of Classics).
The oracle bone script is by far the earliest mature script in China, and the discovery of the Yin Wu oracle bone has made the Shang Dynasty, which only exists in the classics, recognized by the world. In the more than 120 years since Oracle's discovery, researchers have traveled to dozens of countries; In 2017, Oracle was inscribed on the Memory of the World Register. The National Library has a collection of 35,651 oracle bones, accounting for about a quarter of the total number of oracle bones in existence, and is the largest unit in the world, including 34,783 oracle bones.
The theme of "Oracle Bones of Yinxu" in this exhibition takes the discovery of oracle bones in the late Qing Dynasty as a starting point, showing the results of many archaeological excavations in Yinxu, and kicking off the study of oracle bones. Through the display of oracle bones, archaeological data and scene reproduction, and collection of research achievements, this paper takes stock of the course of Chinese and foreign scholars who have worked tirelessly to study oracle bones over the past hundred years, explores the development context of Chinese civilization, and highlights the great significance of oracle bones in the history of the development of Chinese civilization and even human civilization. The most attractive thing is naturally the 54 actual oracle bones.
Oracle zodiac hieroglyphs on display. Photo by reporter Cooley
The exhibition combines interactive technology, through diversified innovative design for scene restoration, set up oracle bone "three-dimensional picture scroll", oracle bone "surname forest" and "simulated divination scene area", etc., using the combination of spatial three-dimensional restoration and sound and optoelectronics, presenting shocking and gorgeous visual effects, bringing the audience a new experience, so that audiences of different ages can understand the cultural knowledge contained in oracle bone and inherit cultural memory from ancient times.
The Yinxu oracle bone shows the mysterious and profound culture of the Shang Dynasty. Photo by reporter Cooley
In addition to holding a grand exhibition at the National Museum of Classics, the National Library also combined with the theme of the exhibition, and jointly sponsored the M Metro Library with BJMTR to launch the public welfare cultural project "Exploring the Imprint of Civilization" activity in several subway stations in Beijing. The National Library subway station is a hub station for the transfer of three subway lines, and the reporter entered the station from Exit E and saw 11 kinds of imitations of cultural relics with the four themes of Yinxu oracle bones, Juyan Hanjian, Dunhuang suicide note, and Ming and Qing archives.
The big gold list of 20 years of Qing Guangxu. Photo by reporter Cooley
Source: Greater Wuhan client, People's Daily client
Responsible editor: Huang Lu
Editor: Sharan Mei
Final judge: Zhou Jianjun