Concerning the dating of inscriptions on animal bones and tortoise shells, many debates have not been solved in academic circles. Among them the date of the greater-character oracle inscriptions in the “Shi dui” gro...Concerning the dating of inscriptions on animal bones and tortoise shells, many debates have not been solved in academic circles. Among them the date of the greater-character oracle inscriptions in the “Shi dui” group constitutes the focus of controversy. Presently some scholars in Chinabelieve that these inscriptions are the earliest on the Yin Ruins. In the light of the data of oracle inscriptions archaeologists have discovered recently, the author makes a comparative study of the inscriptions under discussion with those earlier than the Wu Ding reign, those from Huayuanzhuang and thoseoccurring in the “Bin 宾” group and belonging to the Wu Ding reign, and examines them in the form andstyle of characters, as well as in the grammatical aspect. These analyses come to the conclusion that theoracle inscriptions in question are different from others and should be assigned to another system, so theycan not be taken as the earliest oracle inscriptions from the Yin Ruins.展开更多
文摘Concerning the dating of inscriptions on animal bones and tortoise shells, many debates have not been solved in academic circles. Among them the date of the greater-character oracle inscriptions in the “Shi dui” group constitutes the focus of controversy. Presently some scholars in Chinabelieve that these inscriptions are the earliest on the Yin Ruins. In the light of the data of oracle inscriptions archaeologists have discovered recently, the author makes a comparative study of the inscriptions under discussion with those earlier than the Wu Ding reign, those from Huayuanzhuang and thoseoccurring in the “Bin 宾” group and belonging to the Wu Ding reign, and examines them in the form andstyle of characters, as well as in the grammatical aspect. These analyses come to the conclusion that theoracle inscriptions in question are different from others and should be assigned to another system, so theycan not be taken as the earliest oracle inscriptions from the Yin Ruins.
