Some comrades spend a lot of time learning oracle bones, but they still can't master how to read the words on the oracle bones. The reason is that they do not know that the vast majority of oracle bones are buci, and in order to read through the buci, they must understand the procedures of bufa.
The material of the Yin Ruins oracle bone includes turtle belly carapace, turtle back carapace, and cattle (a few sheep and pigs) blades. The oracle bones were collected from all over the country or sent to the capital by Gona, and they had to go through a certain degree of repair. In particular, the dorsal nails should be cut into left and right halves, and some of them should be cut into the shape of a shoe sole. Processed and repaired oracle bones, have a fixed shape. Readers of Oracle should remember the outlines of several oracle bones, the location of textures on the plates, in order to identify the original part of the fragment.
Yin Xubu uses turtle belly armor
Yin Xubu used oxtail armor
The repaired oracle bones are dug out of round drills and fusiform chisels with sharp edges on the back, and some round drills are drilled with drills. The front of the blade fan is sometimes drilled. At this time, the preparation work is completed and the oracle bone can be used for divination.
Left: The back of the oracle bone of the Shang Dynasty (Song Zhenhao's "Fu Kaidong's Yin Ruins Oracle Bone" The first piece of Bu Ci Interpretation, Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House, 2018 edition)
Right: The front of the oracle bones of the Shang Dynasty (Song Zhenhao's "Fu Kaidong's Yin Ruins Oracle Bones" The first piece of Bu Ci Interpretation, Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House, 2018 edition)
The above process, including the source of the oracle bone, the person who repaired the oracle bone, and which person handed over to the oracle bone after the repair, must be recorded on the oracle bone. In order not to hinder divination, it is generally engraved in the parts that are not used for divination, such as the bone mortar of the mortar or the outer edge of the dorsal side, the back of the ventral nail bridge or the front corner of the tail nail, the top of the dorsal nail or the inner edge of the dorsal carapace, etc. This part of the inscription, we call it the signature.
During divination, the prophete burns the prepared drill with fire, causing the oracle bone to crack into a crack in the shape of a "Bu" character, named "Zhao". The situation and the gradation of the omen are inscribed next to the omen, which we call the omen. A word that represents a lamina, also known as a megamanence.
The time of divination, the name of the fortune teller, and the questions asked are inscribed near the relevant omens. Regarding the time of the question, there is sometimes a part of the place, which is called the preamble. The problem itself is called chastity. After receiving the omen, one should make a judgment of good fortune and misfortune according to the book of possession, which is called the divination. Finally, the situation of whether the divination is fulfilled after the fulfillment is also recorded, which is called the test.
There are Shang Dynasty oracle bones with signatures, zhaoci, former words, zhenci, zhanci, and examination
The above signatures, signs, pre-words, chastity, divination, and examination of words constitute the whole of oracle bones. However, not every version of the oracle bone can have these six parts, and more examples are more simplified.
The following takes the 7126 abdominal nail of the "Yin Xu Character B Edition" as an example, and analyzes it according to the above trial:
The front and right sides are facing Zhen, and the right side is seven signs, and the signs are "[one], two, small notices, three, four, no stoning, five, six, two accusations, seven". The six megabytes on the left are "[i], two, three, four, five, six, no sluggle.".
Associated with the right megabyte is the positive question, and the left side is associated with the negative question. Asking questions one by one is a common practice in this period. A pair of words in this edition is:
Peng Shu Bu, Yong Zhen, today's sunset wind? Zhen, is it not the wind today?
"Wu Shu" is the stem branch of the Ji Ri, and "Wu Shu Bu" is to divinate on the day of Wu Shu. "Yong", the name of the person who performs divination. "Virginity" means "to ask". "Wu Shu Bu Yong Zhen" is the previous word. The rhetorical question is simplified, using only a "virgin" word.
"Today's sunset wind" is a chastity, meaning: Is it windy at night today? The rhetorical question "Today is not the wind", which means: Isn't it windy at night today? Two questions and one positive and one negative.
This edition does not have a preamble and a testimonial.
To give another example of a word of possession and examination of words, this is the Yin Xu Script B Edition 6664 Abdominal A:
According to the ancient "Bamboo Book Chronicle", from the establishment of the capital by Pan Geng in the area of present-day Yin Ruins to the demise of Di Xin, there were 273 years. In the past two centuries, the shape and writing of the oracle bones have naturally changed a lot, and they need to be staged. In 1933, Dong Zuobin wrote "An Example of The Oracle Bone Dating", proposing to divide the Yin Xu oracle bone into five phases, namely:
Pan Geng to Wu Ding Phase I
Zu Geng, Zu Jia Phase II
Liu Xin, Kang Ding No. 3
Wu Yi, Wen Ding Phase IV
Di Yi, Di Xin Phase V
The five-stage method is based on the archaeological results of the time, so it is accepted by the academic community and is still used today. Dong's periodization now seems to have some shortcomings, and in recent years, some scholars have advocated replacing it with a grouping method that is more in line with archaeological principles, which has not yet been universally adopted, and will not be described in detail here. Readers who are interested may refer to the relevant treatises recommended in section 12 of this book.
In 1940, the first volume of "Academics" published in Shanghai published a short article by He Tianxing entitled "The Speculation of the Discovery of Oracle Bones in Shaanxi". Based on some records in ancient books, he speculated that a written oracle bone from the Zhou Dynasty might have been found in Shaanxi. The publication was not widely circulated, and Ho's opinion did not attract attention. By the 1950s, the Western Zhou oracle bones were discovered, and He's prediction was fulfilled.
The Western Zhou oracle bone with characters was first discovered in 1954 in Fangdui, Hongdong County, Shanxi. Up to now, the Western Zhou oracle bones have been excavated in four places, in addition to fangdui, there are Baifu in Changping County (present-day Changping District) in Beijing, the ruins of Fenghao in Chang'an County (present-day Chang'an District, Xi'an), Shaanxi, and the Ruins of Zhouyuan between Fufeng and Qishan Counties. Zhou Yuan produced the largest number, and more than 10,000 pieces of oracle bones were found in the Fengchi area of Qishan County, of which nearly 300 pieces were written. The discovery of the Western Zhou Oracle expanded the scope of research in oracle osteology.
Qishan Western Zhou Oracle
The Western Zhou oracle bones have many characteristics that are different from the Shang Dynasty oracle bones, such as round drills on the blades and square chisels on the tortoiseshell. The Zhou Li Bu Shi says that zhou's bu jia has a "square sign", which refers to this kind of square chisel. In Shaanxi, Henan and other places, there have also been some Western Zhou Bujia without inscriptions, and the chisel on it is also square, and it is clear at a glance that it is different from the Shang Dynasty.
The oracle bones of Zhou Yuan are not an era, preliminary research, the earliest belongs to King Wen of Zhou, and the late may be the time of King Zhao of Zhou and King Mu. The Western Zhou oracle bones in other locations are some later in age. As we all know, King Wen of Zhou was a prince of the Shang Dynasty, and the last king of the Shang Dynasty, Emperor Xin (纣), reigned at that time, so the Bu Ci of King Wen was the Bu Ci of the Shang Dynasty. In fact, in the several pieces of Wen Wang's Bu Jia found in Zhou Yuan, although the shape and system were different from those produced by Yin Xu, the examples of Bu Ci were similar.
Take a piece unearthed by the phoenix chicks as an example:
The phoenix belly is bucid
The "wang" in this passage refers to the Shang king Di Xin, Dajia was the first king of the Shang, and "Zhou Fangbo" was the King Wen of Zhou who was then serving as Xibo. Bu Ci is said to be able to receive blessings by offering sacrifices to the Great Armor of the Shang King, in the matter of Xi Bo, and with offerings such as Huang Ji, and the words used are very similar to the latest Bu Ci of Yin Ruins. It can be seen that although the Shang Zhou oracle bones are not the same system in the method, they still have influence on each other.
Some pieces of Western Zhou oracle bones are engraved with a series of numbers, and the numbers are grouped in groups of six, such as "681151" on a blade in Zhangjiapo, Chang'an. Similar numbers have also appeared on bronzes, pottery, etc., including from one to ten, which are the original forms of "卦". It turned out that the method of divination of people at that time, in addition to the method of using oracle bones, there was also the method of using yarrow, and "gua" was the record of the method of basketing. The ancients asked about major events, often first and then Bu, at this time will be the "gua" of the zheng descripted on the oracle bone of divination of the same matter, so as to compare references, so the number symbol used in the zheng method is preserved on the oracle bone.
The Western Zhou Oracle is a new discovery, and some of the problems are not yet clear and need to be explored in depth.
*Articles and pictures are selected from the "Elementary Stage of Paleography" (illustrated version), published by Zhonghua Bookstore in 2019
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"Primitive Paleography" (illustrated version)
By Li Xueqin
Simplified horizontal
32 open paperback
9787101139273
RMB28.00
Mr. Li Xueqin's "Primitive Paleography" provides a simple way to learn paleography. The book introduces paleography from the aspects of the morphology and phonology of Chinese characters, the origin of characters, oracle bone science, as well as the study of Jin and Warring States scripts, and puts forward the methods and precepts for the study of ancient characters, which is of great guiding significance for beginners. To enhance the book's readability, it is accompanied by more than 180 beautiful related images.