What significant role does the discovery of oracle bone inscriptions play in archaeological work? How important are oracle bone inscriptions for studying the development of human civilizations?

To answer these questions, DeepChina interviewed Liu Yiman, a researcher with the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, who participated in the excavation of the Yin Ruins twice and is on the book of honor for his contribution to the unearthing of oracle bone inscriptions.

DeepChina: What was the process like when you first excavated inscribed oracle bone at the excavation site?

Liu: In the spring of 1973, I took part in the excavation work at Xiaotun village of the Yin Ruins and there I unearthed many inscribed oracle bones for the first time.

On June 18, 1973, I was in charge of excavating pit H24. As I was cleaning the pit mouth, I noticed a great number of small, densely inscribed bone fragments stacked together. Out of curiosity, I picked up one of the larger pieces, wiped the soil off its surface, and saw the two scripts "其雨" (Qi Yu in Chinese pinyin), which were arranged evenly up and down with beautiful and strong strokes. At that moment, I was overwhelmed with emotion, marveling at how our ancestors of 3,000 years ago could carve such beautiful and smooth characters on the hard bones!

DeepChina: What do you think is the significance of the discovery of the oracle bone inscriptions?

Liu: I think the discovery of oracle bone inscriptions led to the organized archaeological excavation work by academic institutions in China.

The first excavation at the Yin Ruins was led by the archaeological group of the Institute of History and Philology in the fall of 1928. It was the first large-scale excavation of an ancient capital city site conducted by an academic institute in China.

These scientific excavations provided an opportunity for unearthing and studying oracle bone inscriptions. The discoveries of inscribed oracle bones from the YH127 Pit in 1936, Xiaotun in the south of the Yin Ruins in 1973, and Huayuanzhuang in the east of the Yin Ruins in 1991 have been hailed as the three milestone findings in Chinese archeological history.

Firstly, the discovery and deciphering of the oracle bone inscriptions put Chinese archaeological excavation work on the international map. The academic world now had a clearer understanding of the two major Neolithic cultures in China as to their order of occurrence and their connection with the culture of Shang dynasty. Secondly, the oracle bone inscriptions provided a basis for determining the absolute date for the culture of the Yin Ruins. What's more, the oracle bone inscriptions provide a basis for dating the relics.

DeepChina: What are the challenges of deciphering oracle bone inscriptions in the future?

Liu: According to the statistics compiled by Li Zongkun in Compilation of Oracle Bone Script Words (published by Zhonghua Book Company in 2012), there are a total of 4,378 individual characters in oracle bone inscriptions, of which 1,682 characters have been deciphered, accounting for 38.4 percent of the total. This means that nearly 62 percent of the characters in oracle bone inscriptions remain to be deciphered.

In 2018, the Chinese government set up an expert committee on the research and application of oracle bone inscriptions and other ancient scripts to guide research in this field.

Currently, many Chinese universities such as Fudan University, Tsinghua University, Peking University, and Jilin University have established research institutions for ancient script study and are actively nurturing young and middle-aged professionals.

These institutions prioritize deciphering oracle bone inscriptions and utilize computer technology extensively, including the development of artificial intelligence for recognizing oracle bone inscriptions. It is believed that in the near future, another batch of undeciphered characters will be deciphered by scholars.

DeepChina: What are the current outstanding achievements in the study of oracle bones inscriptions worldwide? How are oracle bones inscriptions important for the study of the course of world civilization?

Liu: Since inscribed oracle bones were first discovered in 1899, a portion of them has been taken to other countries. Currently, countries including Japan, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, Russia, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, and France have collections of inscribed oracle bones totaling approximately 26,700 pieces.

Foreign scholars have made significant contributions to the research on oracle bone inscriptions, making oracle bone studies an international discipline. Scholars from Japan, the United Kingdom, Canada, France, and some other countries have authored influential books on them.

The scrips on oracle bones, the precursor of Chinese characters, have undergone a remarkable transformation over 3,000 years, evolving into the distinctive square-shaped Chinese characters we recognize today. This development is part of a broader historical context where early civilizations in different regions created diverse ancient scripts, such as cuneiform in Mesopotamia, hieroglyphics in ancient Egypt, and the Harappan script in ancient India. These scripts serve as significant symbols of human civilization throughout history.

However, these scripts have long been lost, and only Chinese characters, derived from oracle bone script, have endured till the present day. This is one of the significant reasons why oracle bone inscriptions were selected for inclusion in the UNESCO Memory of the World Register.

Chinese characters are carriers of Chinese culture. With them, our vast historical records, classics, and the memory of our nation can be perpetuated, ensuring the continuity of Chinese civilization. Studying oracle bone inscriptions provides insights into the distinctive role of the Chinese nation in the advancement of world civilization.

The interviewee is Liu Yiman, researcher at the Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Liu Xian /Editor    Hu Min, Lei Jing /Translator

Yang Xinhua /Chief Editor    Liu Xian /Coordination Editor

Liu Li /Reviewer

Zhang Weiwei /Copyeditor    Tan Yujie /Image Editor

The views don't necessarily reflect those of DeepChina.