Overview of Research on the Chronology of the Oracle Bone Inscriptions of the Shang Dynasty——Oracle Bone Calligraphy Emerging from the Chaotic Mass of Archaeological Material
Overview of Research on the Chronology of the Oracle Bone Inscriptions of the Shang Dynasty——Oracle Bone Calligraphy Emerging from the Chaotic Mass of Archaeological Material
If the oracle bone inscriptions of the Shang dynasty(ca.1600-1046 BCE)are to be used as historical evidence,it is essential that the era of each oracle bone should be determined,to avoid the scientific value of the more than 100,000 fragments of oracle bone being lost in a worthless heap.In 1933,Dong Zuobin(1895-1963)established the five-period method,whose shortcomings,however,became apparent over time.Significantly,it tied the classification of the writing script of the oracle bones to speculation about the genealogy of the ruling clan.The Complete Collection of Oracle Bone Inscriptions,edited by Guo Moruo(1892-1978)and published from 1978 to 1982,was arranged according to the five-period method and,therefore,fails to meet the needs of modern jiaguology.For research into the periodization of oracle bone inscriptions to progress and to foster other relevant disciplines,it is imperative that a new collection of tracing copies of oracle bone inscriptions should be compiled.This work should adopt the two-system approach to periodization,put forward by Li Xueqin(1933-2019),which follows the new method of"classifying first and then periodizing."The Compendium of Tracing Copies of Oracle Bone Inscriptions,edited by Huang Tianshu and published in 2022,is the first work of jiaguology to be compiled according to the two-system theory and further information about the classification and periodization of the oracle bones of the Shang dynasty can be found in its preface.Nearly a hundred years of research on the chronology of oracle bone inscriptions has allowed them to emerge from a chaotic mass of archaeological material,to reveal a wide variety of calligraphic styles.
关键词
殷墟甲骨文/斷代研究/概况
Key words
oracle bone inscriptions of the Shang dynasty/periodization/overview
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