Fortune-teller bones ( Chinese trad. 甲骨 , pinyin : jiǎgǔ ) are typical for the Shan state (XIV-XI centuries BC) artifacts from animal bones or tortoise shell , which the fortune-teller priests dipped in sacrificial blood in the presence of the ruler and glowed on fire until cracked. Fortune telling (the so-called plastromancy ) was carried out according to the shape of the cracks formed. The results were applied to the bone in the form of hieroglyphs known as jiaguen (“letters on tortoise shells and bones”): these inscriptions give an idea of the early form of Chinese writing .
At the end of the 19th century, bones of the Shan era were used in traditional Chinese medicine as a medicine for malaria and knife wounds. Only in 1899 was their true origin and purpose discovered, after which the bones became a fashionable collectible.
Archaeologists of the Republic of China organized a systematic search and collection of fortune-telling bones as the oldest monuments of Chinese writing. Anyang became the largest center of archaeological research in this area. From the finds in it, it was possible to restore the full genealogy of the Shang rulers, eliminating doubts about the inaccuracy of its traditional descriptions.
Content
Research Dynamics and New Discoveries
Reviewing the first 60 years of the study of fortunetelling bones, Dong Zobing (1895-1963), sometimes called the "father" of this discipline, pessimistically noted that its peak occurred in the 1930s. This observation was published in his 1965 book. However, two major finds soon followed:
In 1973, more than 5,000 bones and shells were discovered during excavations south of Xiaotun (Anyang) (another 579 inscribed units were found nearby in 1991, in Huayuanzhuang).
In 1976, in Fengchu ( Qishan , Shaanxi ) approx. 17 thousand fragments of tortoise shells were found in the remains of the palace of the Western Zhou period [1] .
See also
- Jiahu Writing
- Museum of Chinese Characters
Notes
- ↑ Shaughnessy, Edward L. Afterword // Written on Bamboo and Silk: The Beginnings of Chinese Books and Inscriptions / Tsuen-Hsuin Tsien. - Second edition. - University of Chicago Press, 2004 .-- P. 211-2. - 320 p. - ISBN 978-0226814186 .
Literature
- Mantika // Atheistic Dictionary / Abdusamedov A.I., Aleinik R.M., Alieva B.A. et al .; Under the total. ed. M.P. Novikova . - 2nd ed., Rev. and add. - M .: Politizdat , 1985 .-- S. 252. - 512 p. - 200,000 copies.
- Kryukov M.V. “Language of Yin inscriptions”. Moscow, 1973.