query: what did the chinese use oracle bones for

pos: Oracle bone Oracle bone Oracle bones () are pieces of ox scapula or turtle plastron, which were used for pyromancy – a form of divination – in ancient China, mainly during the late Shang dynasty. "Scapulimancy" is the correct term if ox scapulae were used for the divination; "plastromancy" if turtle plastrons were used. Diviners would submit questions to deities regarding future weather, crop planting, the fortunes of members of the royal family, military endeavors, and other similar topics. These questions were carved onto the bone or shell in oracle bone script using a sharp tool. Intense heat was then applied with

pos: Oracle bone found in the 1970s have been dated to the Zhou dynasty, with some dating to the Spring and Autumn period. However, very few of those were inscribed. It is thought that other methods of divination supplanted pyromancy, such as numerological divination using milfoil (yarrow) in connection with the hexagrams of the "I Ching", leading to the decline in inscribed oracle bones. However, evidence for the continued use of plastromancy exists for the Eastern Zhou, Han, Tang and Qing dynasty periods, and Keightley mentions use in Taiwan as late as 1972. Oracle bone Oracle bones () are pieces of ox scapula

pos: Chinese character classification six principles of character formation rather than six types of characters. The earliest significant, extant corpus of Chinese characters is found on turtle shells and the bones of livestock, chiefly the scapula of oxen, for use in pyromancy, a form of divination. These ancient characters are called oracle bone script. Roughly a quarter of these characters are pictograms while the rest are either phono-semantic compounds or compound ideograms. Despite millennia of change in shape, usage and meaning, a few of these characters remain recognizable to the modern reader of Chinese. At present, more than 90% of Chinese characters are phono-semantic

pos: Oracle bone a metal rod until the bone or shell cracked due to thermal expansion. The diviner would then interpret the pattern of cracks and write the prognostication upon the piece as well. Pyromancy with bones continued in China into the Zhou dynasty, but the questions and prognostications were increasingly written with brushes and cinnabar ink, which degraded over time. The oracle bones bear the earliest known significant corpus of ancient Chinese writing and contain important historical information such as the complete royal genealogy of the Shang dynasty. When they were discovered and deciphered in the early twentieth century, these records confirmed

pos: Oracle bone accidentally in river management earthworks, and so lack archaeological context. Pei Mingxiang argued that they predated the Anyang site. Takashima, referring to character forms and syntax, argues that they were contemporaneous with the reign of Wu Ding. A few inscribed oracle bones have also been unearthed in the Zhōuyuán, the original political center of the Zhou in Shaanxi and in Daxinzhuang, Jinan, Shandong. Some bones from the Zhouyuan are believed to be contemporaneous with the reign of Di Xin, the last Shang king. After the founding of Zhou, the Shang practices of bronze casting, pyromancy and writing continued. Oracle bones

neg: Oracle bone the existence of the Shang, which some scholars had until then doubted. The Shang-dynasty oracle bones are thought to have been unearthed periodically by local farmers since as early as the Sui and Tang dynasties and perhaps starting as early as the Han dynasty, but local inhabitants did not realize what the bones were and generally reburied them. During the 19th century, villagers in the area digging in the fields discovered a number of bones and used them as "dragon bones" (), a reference to the traditional Chinese medicine practice of grinding up Pleistocene fossils into tonics or poultices. The

neg: Chinese sovereign five last were called 帝 (di, "divine ruler"), which can translate as either emperor, demigod human, or a superhuman. This title may have been used in the Shang and Xia dynasties, though oracle bones were found from the Shang Dynasty showing the title 王 (wáng, "king"). The king (王, "wáng") was the Chinese head of state during the Zhou Dynasty. Its use during the Xia and Shang is uncertain but possible: the character has been found upon oracle bones. It was abolished under the Qin and, after that, the same term was used for (and translated as) royal princes. The

neg: Oracle bone turtle shell fragments were prescribed for malaria, while the other animal bones were used in powdered form to treat knife wounds. In 1899, an antiques dealer from Shandong Province searching for Chinese bronzes in the area acquired a number of oracle bones from locals, several of which he sold to Wang Yirong, the chancellor of the Imperial Academy in Beijing. Wang was a knowledgeable collector of Chinese bronzes and is believed to be the first person in modern times to recognize the oracle bones' markings as ancient Chinese writing similar to that on Zhou dynasty bronzes. A legendary tale relates

neg: Qiu Xigui Qiu Xigui Qiu Xigui (; born 13July 1935) is a Chinese historian, palaeographer, and professor of Fudan University. His book "Chinese Writing" is considered the "single most influential study of Chinese palaeography". Qiu Xigui was born in July 1935 in Shanghai of Ningbo ancestry. In 1952 he was admitted to the history department of Fudan University, and was interested in pre-Qin dynasty Chinese history. Under the influence of the renowned oracle bones expert Hu Houxuan (), he took interest in the oracle bones and Chinese bronze inscriptions. After graduating in 1956, he became a graduate student of oracle bones and

neg: Chinese calligraphy (서예; 書藝) in Korea ('skill/criterion of writing'). Chinese calligraphy appreciated more or only for its aesthetic quality has a long tradition, and is today regarded as one of the arts (Chinese 藝術/艺术 , a relatively recent word in Chinese) in the countries where it is practised. Chinese calligraphy focuses not only on methods of writing but also on cultivating one's character (人品) and taught as a pursuit (－書法; , rules of writing Han characters). Oracle bone script was one of the forms of Chinese character written on animals bones. Written on oracle bones – animal bones or turtle plastrons, it

neg: Written Chinese character high), as well as from top to bottom. It is not uncommon to encounter all three orientations on signs on neighboring stores. Chinese is one of the oldest continually used writing systems still in use. The earliest generally accepted examples of Chinese writing date back to the reign of the Shang Dynasty king Wu Ding (1250–1192 BC). These were divinatory inscriptions on oracle bones, primarily ox scapulae and turtle shells. Characters were carved on the bones in order to frame a question; the bones were then heated over a fire and the resulting cracks were interpreted to determine the

neg: Chinese characters occur singly, without any implied context, and are made crudely and simply, Qiu Xigui concluded that "we do not have any basis for stating that these constituted writing nor is there reason to conclude that they were ancestral to Shang dynasty Chinese characters." They do however demonstrate a history of sign use in the Yellow River valley during the Neolithic through to the Shang period. The earliest confirmed evidence of the Chinese script yet discovered is the body of inscriptions carved on oracle bones from the late Shang dynasty (c. 1250–1050 BC). In 1899, pieces of these bones were being

neg: Li Xueqin of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (later of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences). In the 1950s, he systematically collated Shang dynasty oracle bones excavated from Yinxu, studied the events and historical geography from the oracle scripts, and identified oracle bones from the Western Zhou period. In the late 1950s, he studied the bronze inscriptions, pottery inscriptions, seals, coins, bamboo and wooden slips, and silk texts from the Warring States period, facilitating the formation of a new branch of Chinese paleography. After the major disruptions of the Cultural Revolution (1966–76), Li participated in the research of the major archaeological discoveries

neg: Oracle bone divination. The uninscribed divination is thought to have been brush-written with ink or cinnabar on the oracle bones or accompanying documents, as a few of the oracle bones found still bear their brush-written divinations without carving, while some have been found partially carved. After use, shells and bones used ritually were buried in separate pits (some for shells only; others for scapulae only), in groups of up to hundreds or even thousands (one pit unearthed in 1936 contained over 17,000 pieces along with a human skeleton). While the use of bones in divination has been practiced almost globally, such divination

neg: Ancient Chinese urban planning dispensed law, standardized measures, invented writing, and conquered. The Longshan tribes formed a superstratum over Yangshao culture. As they fused ideologically and socially, all the elements of a new state and civilization appeared. Culturally, protowriting in the form of the Longshan Script was used on oracle bones. Politically, a Longshan warlord ruled with the help of a Yangshao adviser. Both the use of oracle bones, and the rule of a king with adviser had continuity into the Shang Dynasty. The first capital was Chengziya in 2500 BC followed by Taosi in 2300 BC and finally by Erlitou in 2000 BC.

neg: Salt in Chinese history distribution of salt". Oracle bones mention "petty officers for salt" ("lu xiaochen" 鹵小臣), suggesting that the Shang had officials who oversaw salt production and provisioning. The earliest surviving record of salt production in what is now China is a text from roughly 800 BCE which reports that the much earlier (and perhaps mythical) Xia dynasty reduced sea water for salt. There are reliable reports of the use of iron salt pans in the 5th century BCE. Early states often located their capital cities near ready sources of salt, a consideration which also affected locations in later times. In the 3rd

neg: Bronze Age millennium BC. The Shang dynasty (also known as the Yin dynasty) of the Yellow River Valley rose to power after the Xia dynasty around 1600 BC. While some direct information about the Shang dynasty comes from Shang-era inscriptions on bronze artifacts, most comes from oracle bones – turtle shells, cattle scapulae, or other bones – which bear glyphs that form the first significant corpus of recorded Chinese characters. Iron is found from the Zhou dynasty, but its use is minimal. Chinese literature dating to the 6th century BC attests knowledge of iron smelting, yet bronze continues to occupy the seat

neg: Wang Tao (archaeologist) Wang Tao (archaeologist) Wang Tao (, born 1962) is a Chinese–British archaeologist and art historian specialising in early Chinese art. He is also known for his work on early inscriptions on oracle bones and ritual bronzes. He is married to numismatist and translator Helen Wang. Wang was born in Kunming in 1962. He studied Chinese literature at Yunnan Normal University and did postgraduate work at the China Academy of Art. Wang moved to London in 1986. He studied under Sarah Allan at SOAS, earning his PhD in 1993. His thesis was titled "Colour Symbolism in Late Shang China". After obtaining

neg: Chen Mengjia divination inscriptions from the Ruins of Yin". The inscriptions, made on oracle bones at Yin, the last Shang capital near today's Anyang (Henan), were recognized at the time (and, largely, still are) as the earliest examples of Chinese writing. Chen Mengjia's work has long been well known to Shang scholars worldwide. His life and achievements became known to wider audience outside China with the publication in 2006 of Peter Hessler’s book "Oracle Bones". In the 1950s, Chen opposed the Communist government's proposal to simplify more than 2,000 Chinese characters. After the Anti-Rightist Movement began in 1957, Chen was labeled a

neg: David Keightley introduce the depth and breadth of early China's oracle-bone divination to Western readers than any [other] scholar." He taught and worked at Berkeley until his retirement in 1998. Keightley died peacefully in his sleep at his home on February 23, 2017, aged 84. David Keightley David Noel Keightley (October 25, 1932 – February 23, 2017) was an American sinologist, historian, and scholar, and was for many years a professor of Chinese history at the University of California, Berkeley. Keightley is best known for his studies of Chinese oracle bones and oracle bone script. David N. Keightley was born on October

neg: Xia dynasty element of early recorded Chinese history, reliable information on the history of China before 13th century BC can only come from archaeological evidence, as China's first established written system on a durable medium, the oracle bone script, did not exist until then. No mention of the Xia, or the supposed conquest of the Xia by the Shang, has been found in any Shang period oracle bones. The first documentary reference to the Xia dates from more than a thousand years later, in the records of the Zhou dynasty. The Xia dynasty was described in classic texts such as the "Classic

neg: Oracle bone script Oracle bone script Oracle bone script () was the form of Chinese characters used on oracle bonesanimal bones or turtle plastrons used in pyromantic divinationin the late 2nd millennium BCE, and is the earliest known form of Chinese writing. The vast majority were found at the Yinxu site (in modern Anyang, Henan Province). They record pyromantic divinations of the last nine kings of the Shang dynasty, beginning with Wu Ding, whose accession is dated by different scholars at 1250 BCE or 1200 BCE. After the Shang were overthrown by the Zhou dynasty in c. 1046 BCE, divining with milfoil became

neg: Yinxu malaria at the time and was prescribed Longgu 龍骨 ("dragon bones") at a traditional Chinese pharmacy. He noticed strange carvings on these bones and concluded that these could be samples of an ancient form of Chinese writing. News of the discovery of the oracle bones created a market for them among antiques collectors, and led to multiple waves of illegal digs over several decades, with tens of thousands of pieces taken. The source of the "dragon bones" was eventually traced to the small village of Xiaotun, just outside Anyang. In 1910, noted scholar Luo Zhenyu affirmed that the area was

neg: Mo (Chinese zoology) Shang dynasty animal remains excavated at Anyang, Henan included "Tapirus" but not "Ailuropoda". Two tapir mandibular fragments are the only instance of Pleistocene or Holocene tapirs found so far north. The paleontologists Teilhard de Chardin and Yang Zhongjian believed the tapir bones were evidence of a Shang import from the south, and they are the "last zoological evidence of human-tapir contact in China, occurring in a zoogeographic region never inhabited by the tapir" (Harper 2013: 193). The circa 13th to 11th centuries BCE Shang oracle bones, which constitute the earliest known corpus of ancient Chinese writing, include some Oracle bone

neg: Oracle bone evidence for this in Liaoning has been found dating to the late fourth millennium BCE. However, over time, the use of ox bones increased, and use of tortoise shells does not appear until early Shang culture. The earliest tortoise shells found that had been prepared for divinatory use (i.e., with chiseled pits) date to the earliest Shang stratum at Erligang (Zhengzhou, Henan). By the end of the Erligang, the plastrons were numerous, and at Anyang, scapulae and plastrons were used in roughly equal numbers. Due to the use of these shells in addition to bones, early references to the oracle

neg: Constellation celestial phenomena. Nonspecific star names, later categorized in the twenty-eight mansions, have been found on oracle bones from Anyang, dating back to the middle Shang dynasty. These constellations are some of the most important observations of Chinese sky, attested from the 5th century BC. Parallels to the earliest Babylonian (Sumerian) star catalogues suggest that the ancient Chinese system did not arise independently. Three schools of classical Chinese astronomy in the Han period are attributed to astronomers of the earlier Warring States period. The constellations of the three schools were conflated into a single system by Chen Zhuo, an astronomer of

neg: Oracle bone script wénzì" (龜甲獸骨文字 "tortoise-shell and animal-bone script"), which appeared in the 1930s as a translation of the English term "inscriptions upon bone and tortoise shell" first used by the American missionary Frank H. Chalfant (1862–1914) in his 1906 book "Early Chinese Writing". In earlier decades, Chinese authors used a variety of names for the inscriptions and the script, based on the place they were found (Yinxu), their purpose ("bǔ" 卜 "to divine") or the method of writing ("qì" 契 "to engrave"). As the majority of oracle bones bearing writing date from the late Shang dynasty, "oracle bone script" essentially refers to

neg: History of education used to write Russian, among others. The Phoenician system was also adapted into the Aramaic script, from which the Hebrew script and also that of Arabic are descended. In China, the early oracle bone script has survived on tens of thousands of oracle bones dating from around 1400-1200 B.C. in the Shang Dynasty. Out of more than 2500 written characters in use in China in about 1200 BC, as many as 1400 are identifiable as the source of later standard Chinese characters. Of several pre-Columbian scripts in Mesoamerica, the one that appears to have been best developed, and the one

neg: Oracle bone of uncontrolled digs followed to fuel the antiques trade, and many of these pieces eventually entered collections in Europe, the US, Canada and Japan. The first Western collector was the American missionary Frank H. Chalfant (18621914). Chalfant also first coined the term "oracle bone" in his 1906 book "Early Chinese Writing", which was then borrowed into Chinese as ""jiǎgǔ" " in the 1930s. Only a small number of dealers and collectors knew the location of the source of the oracle bones or visited it until they were found by Canadian missionary James Menzies, the first person to scientifically excavate, study,

neg: Sexagenary cycle Sexagenary cycle The sexagenary cycle, also known as the Stems-and-Branches or ganzhi, is a cycle of sixty terms used for reckoning time in China and the rest of the East Asian cultural sphere. It appears as a means of recording days in the first Chinese written texts, the Shang oracle bones of the late second millennium BC. Its use to record years began around the middle of the 3rd century BC. The cycle and its variations have been an important part of the traditional calendrical systems in Chinese-influenced Asian states and territories, particularly those of Japan, Korea, and Vietnam, with

neg: Oracle bone colleagues who were worried that they would be either destroyed or stolen during the Japanese invasion of China in 1937. The Chinese still acknowledge the pioneering contribution of Menzies as "the foremost western scholar of Yin-Shang culture and oracle bone inscriptions." His former residence in Anyang was declared a "Protected Treasure" in 2004, and the James Mellon Menzies Memorial Museum for Oracle Bone Studies was established. By the time of the establishment of the Institute of History and Philology headed by Fu Sinian at the Academia Sinica in 1928, the source of the oracle bones had been traced back to

neg: Chinese character classification clues present in characters is part of Chinese historical linguistics. In Chinese, it is called "Yinyunxue" (). Roughly 600 Chinese characters are pictograms () — stylised drawings of the objects they represent. These are generally among the oldest characters. A few, indicated below with their earliest forms, date back to oracle bones from the twelfth century BCE. These pictograms became progressively more stylized and lost their pictographic flavor, especially as they made the transition from the oracle bone script to the Seal Script of the Eastern Zhou, but also to a lesser extent in the transition to the clerical script

neg: David Keightley David Keightley David Noel Keightley (October 25, 1932 – February 23, 2017) was an American sinologist, historian, and scholar, and was for many years a professor of Chinese history at the University of California, Berkeley. Keightley is best known for his studies of Chinese oracle bones and oracle bone script. David N. Keightley was born on October 25, 1932, in London, England, and lived there until his family moved to the United States in 1947. He attended Amherst College as an undergraduate student, graduating in 1953 with a B.A. in English with a minor in biochemistry. He then received a

neg: Shi (personator) necromancy, mediumship, or spirit possession. The word "shi" 尸 "corpse; personator; inactive; lay out; manage; spirit tablet" can be discussed in terms of Chinese character evolution, historical phonology, semantics, and English translations. The modern character for "shi" "corpse; personator" is a graphic simplification of ancient pictographs showing a person with a bent back and dangling legs. The first records of "shi" are on oracle bones dating from the late Shang Dynasty (ca. 1600–ca. 1046 BCE). The oracle bone script for "shi" 尸 "corpse" was used interchangeably for "yi" "barbarian; non-Chinese people (esp. eastern, see "Dongyi"); at ease; level". The bronze

neg: Yinxu uncovered the remains of a royal palace, several royal tombs, and more than 100,000 oracle bones that show the Shang had a well-structured script with a complete system of written signs. Since 1950 ongoing excavations by the Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences have uncovered evidence of stratification at the Hougang site, remains of palaces and temples, royal cemeteries, oracle bone inscriptions, bronze and bone workshops and the discovery of the Huanbei site on the north bank of the Huan River. One of the largest and oldest sites of Chinese archaeology, excavations here have laid the foundation for

neg: Oracle bone who published the first book of rubbings of the oracle bone inscriptions in 1903. News of the discovery of the oracle bones spread quickly throughout China and among foreign collectors and scholars, and the market for oracle bones exploded, though many collectors sought to keep the location of the bones' source a secret. Although scholars tried to find their source, antique dealers falsely claimed that the bones came from Tangyin in Henan. In 1908, scholar Luo Zhenyu discovered the source of the bones near Anyang and realized that the area was the site of the last Shang dynasty capital. Decades

neg: Oracle bone date being divined about. One oracle bone might be used for one session or for many, and one session could be recorded on a number of bones. The divined answer was sometimes then marked either "auspicious" or "inauspicious", and the king occasionally added a "prognostication", his reading on the nature of the omen. On very rare occasions, the actual outcome was later added to the bone in what is known as a "verification". A complete record of all the above elements is rare; most bones contain just the date, diviner and topic of divination, and many remained uninscribed after the

neg: Oracle bone script this image has no known modern Chinese counterpart. One of the better known characters however is shown directly beneath it looking like an upright isosceles triangle with a line cutting through the upper portion. This is the oracle bone script character for 王 "wáng" ("king"). The numbers of oracle bones with inscriptions contemporaneous with the end of Shang and the beginning of Zhou is relatively few in number compared with the entire corpus of Shang inscriptions. Until 1977, only a few inscribed shell and bone artifacts were known. Zhou related inscriptions have been unearthed since the 1950s, with find fragments

neg: Oracle bone modern Xiǎotún () village at Anyang in Henan Province. Official archaeological excavations in 1928–1937 led by Li Ji, the father of Chinese archaeology, discovered 20,000 oracle bone pieces, which now form the bulk of the Academia Sinica's collection in Taiwan and constitute about 1/5 of the total discovered. When deciphered, the inscriptions on the oracle bones turned out to be the records of the divinations performed for or by the royal household. These, together with royal-sized tombs, proved beyond a doubt for the first time the existence of the Shang dynasty, which had recently been doubted, and the location of

neg: Chinese characters sold as "dragon bones" for medicinal purposes, when scholars identified the symbols on them as Chinese writing. By 1928, the source of the bones had been traced to a village near Anyang in Henan Province, which was excavated by the Academia Sinica between 1928 and 1937. Over 150,000 fragments have been found. Oracle bone inscriptions are records of divinations performed in communication with royal ancestral spirits. The shortest are only a few characters long, while the longest are thirty to forty characters in length. The Shang king would communicate with his ancestors on topics relating to the royal family, military

neg: Gigantopithecus of "Gigantopithecus" was in southeast Asia. There are presently three extinct named species of "Gigantopithecus": "G. blacki", "G. bilaspurensis", and "G. giganteus". In 1955, 47 "G. blacki" teeth were found among a shipment of "dragon bones" (also called "oracle bones") in China. Tracing these teeth to their source resulted in the recovery of more teeth and a rather complete large mandible. By 1958, three mandibles and more than 1,300 teeth had been recovered. "Gigantopithecus" remains have come from sites in Hubei, Guangxi, and Sichuan, from warehouses for Chinese medicinal products, as well as from cave deposits. Not all Chinese remains

neg: Yinglong studies of Shang dynasty oracle bones, that Yinglong was originally associated with the "niqiu" 泥鰍 "loach". Yinglong representations were anciently used in rain-magic ceremonies, where Eberhard (1968:247-248) says, "the most important animal is always a dragon made of clay". Besides controlling rain and drought, the Yinglong Responsive Dragon did something else: "With his tail he drew lines in the earth and thus created the rivers … In other words, the dragon made the waterways – the most important thing for all cultivators of rice. Yinglong Yinglong (; lit. "responsive dragon") is a winged dragon and rain deity in ancient Chinese

neg: Old Chinese Old Chinese Old Chinese, also called Archaic Chinese in older works, is the oldest attested stage of Chinese, and the ancestor of all modern varieties of Chinese. The earliest examples of Chinese are divinatory inscriptions on oracle bones from around 1250 BC, in the late Shang dynasty. Bronze inscriptions became plentiful during the following Zhou dynasty. The latter part of the Zhou period saw a flowering of literature, including classical works such as the "Analects", the "Mencius", and the "Zuozhuan". These works served as models for Literary Chinese (or Classical Chinese), which remained the written standard until the early twentieth

neg: I Ching divination sometimes annotated with inscriptions, the oldest Chinese writings that have been discovered. This oracle predated the earliest versions of the "Zhou Yi" (dated from about 1100 BC) by hundreds of years. A variant on this method was to use ox shoulder bones, a practice called scapulimancy. When thick material was to be cracked, the underside was thinned by carving with a knife. Hexagrams may be generated by the manipulation of yarrow stalks. These are usually genuine "Achillea millefolium" stalks that have been cut and prepared for such purposes or any form of wooden rod or sticks (the quality ranging from

neg: Old Chinese compound characters were already used extensively on the oracle bones, and the vast majority of characters created since then have been of this type. In the "Shuowen Jiezi", a dictionary compiled in the 2nd century, 82% of the 9,353 characters are classified as phono-semantic compounds. In the light of the modern understanding of Old Chinese phonology, researchers now believe that most of the characters originally classified as semantic compounds also have a phonetic nature. These developments were already present in the oracle bone script, possibly implying a significant period of development prior to the extant inscriptions. This may have involved

neg: Oracle bone bone script often used the term "shell and bone script", but since tortoise shells are actually a bony material, the more concise term "oracle bones" is applied to them as well. The bones or shells were first sourced and then prepared for use. Their sourcing is significant because some of them (especially many of the shells) are believed to have been presented as tribute to the Shang, which is valuable information about diplomatic relations of the time. We know this because notations were often made on them recording their provenance (e.g., tribute of how many shells from where and on

neg: Chinese culture medicine, and material culture.The translation of a large body of Indian Buddhist scriptures into Chinese and the inclusion of these translations together with works composed in China into a printed canon had far-reaching implications for the dissemination of Buddhism throughout the Chinese cultural sphere, including Korea, Japan, Ryukyu Islands and Vietnam. Chinese Buddhism is also marked by the interaction between Indian religions, Chinese religion, and Taoism. Chinese religion was originally oriented to worshipping the supreme god Shang Di during the Xia and Shang dynasties, with the king and diviners acting as priests and using oracle bones. The Zhou dynasty oriented

neg: Chinese numerals digits on one hand can express the numbers one to five, six to ten have special signs that can be used in commerce or day-to-day communication. Most Chinese numerals of later periods were descendants of the Shang dynasty oracle numerals of the 14th century BC. The oracle bone script numerals were found on tortoise shell and animal bones. In early civilizations, the Shang were able to express any numbers, however large, with only nine symbols and a counting board. Some of the bronze script numerals such as 1, 2, 3, 4, 10, 11, 12, and 13 became part of the

neg: Chinese Ophthalmology considered to be important additional therapies for consolidation of the therapy results following acupuncture in shortsightedness. Chinese Ophthalmology Chinese ophthalmology (Chinese 中医眼科学, pinyin: zhōngyī yǎnkē xué) is part of the Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Here diseases of the eyes are treated with Chinese herbs, acupuncture/moxibustion, tuina, Chinese dietary therapy as well as qigong and taijiquan. Inscriptions on oracle bones and tortoise shells from the Shang and Yin dynasties (16th century to 1066 BCE) already contain indications of eye diseases and of their treatment in China. The work "Essential Subtleties on the Silver Sea" (银海精微, yínhǎi jīngwēi) has had wide influence

neg: Shang dynasty inscribed on oracle bones – turtle shells, ox scapulae, or other bones. More than 20,000 were discovered in the initial scientific excavations during the 1920s and 1930s, and over four times as many have been found since. The inscriptions provide critical insight into many topics from the politics, economy, and religious practices to the art and medicine of this early stage of Chinese civilization. Many events concerning the Shang dynasty are mentioned in various Chinese classics, including the "Book of Documents", the "Mencius" and the "Zuo Zhuan". Working from all the available documents, the Han dynasty historian Sima Qian assembled

neg: Chinese orchestra not, musical works written for modern Chinese orchestra incorporate a large Western percussion section, including important roles for instruments like the timpani (定音鼓), bass drum (大军鼓), snare drum (小军鼓), etc. More obscure instruments in orchestral context like the mark tree (音树), vibraslap (弹簧盒), conga (康加鼓), cowbell (牛铃), etc. are also utilized in modern Chinese orchestra. Western percussion is considered an essential part of the Chinese orchestra percussion section. The history of Chinese percussion instruments is longer than any other section of traditional Chinese instruments. The character of the drum was first recorded in the ancient inscriptions on oracle bones and

neg: Cleaver foods, such as squash, where a thin slicing blade runs the risk of shattering. Cleavers are not used for cutting through solid, thick and hard bones – instead a bone saw, either manual or powered, is used. Cleavers occur with some frequency in traditional Chinese thought. An old Daoist story on the proper use of a cleaver tells of a butcher who effortlessly cut ox carcasses apart, without ever needing to sharpen his cleaver. When asked how he did so, he replied that he did not cut "through" the bones, but rather in the space "between" the bones. In explaining

neg: History of China capitals (c. 1300–1046 BC). The findings at Anyang include the earliest written record of Chinese past so far discovered: inscriptions of divination records in ancient Chinese writing on the bones or shells of animals — the "oracle bones", dating from around 1250 BC. A series of thirty-one kings reigned over the Shang dynasty. During their reign, according to the "Records of the Grand Historian", the capital city was moved six times. The final (and most important) move was to Yin in 1350 BC which led to the dynasty's golden age. The term Yin dynasty has been synonymous with the Shang

neg: Libraries in China prints, photographs, manuscripts, microforms, tape recordings, and inscriptions on bronze, stone, bones, and tortoiseshells. The National Library of China, with a collection of over 26 million volumes, is the largest library in Asia, housing the largest collection of Chinese books in the world. In the library's collection are over 35,000 oracle bones and tortoise shells carved with ancient Chinese characters, 1.6 million volumes of traditional thread-bound books, over 16,000 volumes of documents from Dunhuang Grottoes, 12 million volumes of foreign-language books, and dozens of electronic databases. The library started to accept the submissions of official national publications in 1916, becoming

neg: He Dan Jia launched another attack against the Blue Barbarians. In the fifth year of his reign the Xian (Chinese: ) occupied Banfang (Chinese: ) but were later defeated by the king's ministers Pengbo and Weibo (Chinese: ) and sent an envoy to the Shang. He ruled for 9 years before his death. He was given the posthumous name He Dan Jia and was succeeded by his son Zu Yi. Oracle script inscriptions on bones unearthed at Yinxu alternatively record that he was the eleventh Shang king, given the posthumous name Jian Jia (Chinese: ) and succeeded by his brother Zu Yi. He

neg: Li Xueqin engineering department of the National Beiping High School of Industry. However, he was unable to attend the school because a medical examination misdiagnosed him with tuberculosis. After graduating from high school, he was admitted to Tsinghua University in 1951, where he studied philosophy and logic under professor Jin Yuelin. At Tsinghua, Li's main hobby was studying the oracle bones in the library, putting together pieces of oracle bones like puzzles. At the same time, scholar Guo Ruoyu (郭若愚) was writing a book on the oracle bones. Chen Mengjia, the oracle bones expert, thought the book needed more work, and recommended

neg: Yinxu Yinxu Yinxu ( ; ) is the site of one of the ancient and major historical capitals of China. It is the source of the archeological discovery of oracle bones and oracle bone script, which resulted in the identification of the earliest known Chinese writing. The archeological remnants (or ruins) known as Yinxu represent the ancient city of Yin, the last capital of China's Shang dynasty which existed through eight generations for 255 years, and through the reign of 12 kings. Yinxu was discovered, or rediscovered, in 1899. It is now one of China's oldest and largest archeological sites, and

neg: Zu Ding Zu Ding Zu Ding () was a king of the Chinese Shang dynasty. In the "Records of the Grand Historian" he was listed by Sima Qian as the sixteenth Shang king, succeeding his uncle Wo Jia (). He was enthroned in the year of Dingwei () with Bi () as his capital. He ruled for about 32 years before his death. He was given the posthumous name Zu Ding and was succeeded by his cousin Nan Geng (). Oracle script inscriptions on oracle bones unearthed at Yinxu alternatively record that he was the fifteenth Shang king. The Xia–Shang–Zhou Chronology Project,

neg: Neolithic signs in China Anyang Chinese script. However, the discovery did not conclude whether it was a precursor of the Anyang script. The discovered Liangzhu script were determined by academics as symbols rather than proper language. A few geometric symbols have been found at Hūalóuzĭ (a 2nd-phase Kèshĕngzhuāng culture site) in Chang'an County near Xi'an, carved on bone and bone items which some have claimed to be ancestral to oracle bones, but this is disputed. Neolithic signs in China Since the second half of the 20th century, inscriptions have been found on pottery in a variety of locations in China, such as Banpo near

neg: Chinese Ophthalmology Chinese Ophthalmology Chinese ophthalmology (Chinese 中医眼科学, pinyin: zhōngyī yǎnkē xué) is part of the Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Here diseases of the eyes are treated with Chinese herbs, acupuncture/moxibustion, tuina, Chinese dietary therapy as well as qigong and taijiquan. Inscriptions on oracle bones and tortoise shells from the Shang and Yin dynasties (16th century to 1066 BCE) already contain indications of eye diseases and of their treatment in China. The work "Essential Subtleties on the Silver Sea" (银海精微, yínhǎi jīngwēi) has had wide influence on the Chinese ophthalmology until today. It was probably written by Sun Simiao and published at

neg: Chinese bronze inscriptions maker's clan name and the posthumous title of the ancestor who is commemorated by the making and use of the vessel. These inscriptions, especially those late period examples identifying a name, are typically executed in a script of highly pictographic flavor, which preserves the formal, complex Shang writing as would have primarily been written on bamboo or wood books, as opposed to the concurrent simplified, linearized and more rectilinear form of writing as seen on the oracle bones. A few Shang inscriptions have been found which were brush-written on pottery, stone, jade or bone artifacts, and there are also some

neg: History of Chinese dance (618–907 CE) but declined later. In more recent times dance has enjoyed a resurgence and modern developments in Chinese dances are continuing apace. Pictorial representations of dance have been found in Chinese pottery as early as the Neolithic period (before 2000 BCE), showing people dancing in a line holding hands. The earliest Chinese character for "dance", , appears in the oracle bones and represents a dancer holding oxtails in each hand. According to the "Lüshi Chunqiu" (compiled around 239 BCE): "In former times, the people of the Getian clan (葛天氏) would dance in pairs [or threes] with oxtails in hand,

neg: Sexagenary cycle two sub-cycles to generate a larger cycle and its use to record time have parallels in other calendrical systems, notably the Akan calendar. The sexagenary cycle is attested as a method of recording days from the earliest written records in China, records of divination on oracle bones, beginning ca. 1250 BC. Almost every oracle bone inscription includes a date in this format. This use of the cycle for days is attested throughout the Zhou dynasty and remained common into the Han period for all documentary purposes that required dates specified to the day. Almost all the dates in the "Spring

neg: Old Chinese the merger of the mid-central vowel with . The other vowels are preserved by both, with some alternation between and , and between and . The earliest known written records of the Chinese language were found at the Yinxu site near modern Anyang identified as the last capital of the Shang dynasty, and date from about 1250 BC. These are the oracle bones, short inscriptions carved on tortoise plastrons and ox scapulae for divinatory purposes, as well as a few brief bronze inscriptions. The language written is undoubtedly an early form of Chinese, but is difficult to interpret due to

neg: Shang dynasty several hundred humans and horses as well to accompany the king into the afterlife, in some cases even numbering four hundred. Finally, tombs included ornaments such as jade, which the Shang may have believed to protect against decay or confer immortality. The Shang religion was highly bureaucratic and meticulously ordered. Oracle bones contained descriptions of the date, ritual, person, ancestor, and questions associated with the divination. Tombs displayed highly ordered arrangements of bones, with groups of skeletons laid out facing the same direction. Chinese bronze casting and pottery advanced during the Shang dynasty, with bronze typically being used for ritually

neg: Song (Chinese surname) Song (Chinese surname) Song is the pinyin transliteration of the Chinese family name 宋. It is transliterated as Sung in Wade-Giles, and Soong is also a common transliteration. In addition to being a common surname, it is also the name of a Chinese dynasty, the "Song Dynasty", written with the same character. The first written record of the character 宋 was found on the oracle bones of the Shang dynasty. In the written records of Chinese history, the first time the character Song was used as a surname appeared in the early stage of the Zhou dynasty. One of the

neg: Song (Chinese surname) as Tống. Song (Chinese surname) Song is the pinyin transliteration of the Chinese family name 宋. It is transliterated as Sung in Wade-Giles, and Soong is also a common transliteration. In addition to being a common surname, it is also the name of a Chinese dynasty, the "Song Dynasty", written with the same character. The first written record of the character 宋 was found on the oracle bones of the Shang dynasty. In the written records of Chinese history, the first time the character Song was used as a surname appeared in the early stage of the Zhou dynasty. One

neg: Chinese mythology tapestries and elements of Chinese architecture. The earliest written evidence is found in the Oracle bone script, written on scapulae or tortoise plastrons, in the process of the divination practices Shang dynasty (ended approximately 1046 BCE. A copious and eclectic source of information on Chinese mythology is the written materials recovered from the Dunhuang manuscripts library, now scattered in libraries around the world. The oldest written sources of Chimese mythology are short inscriptions, rather than literature as such. The earliest known written inscriptions of Chinese mythology are found on the shells and bones from about 3000 years before present (Yang

neg: Bu Bing Oracle script inscriptions, on bones unearthed at Yinxu, alternatively record that he was the fourth Shang king, the second son of Da Ding, given the posthumous name "Bu Bing" (Chinese:卜丙), and succeeded by Da Geng. Bu Bing Bu Bing or Wai Bing (Chinese: 外丙) was a Shang dynasty King of China. In the "Records of the Grand Historian", he was listed by Sima Qian as the second Shang king, succeeding his father Tang (Chinese: 汤), following the earlier death of his elder brother Tai Ding. He was enthroned in the year of Yihai (Chinese: 乙亥), with Yi Yin as his

neg: Chinese astronomy Chinese astronomy Astronomy in China has a long history, beginning from the Shang Dynasty (Chinese Bronze Age). Star names later categorized in the twenty-eight mansions have been found on oracle bones unearthed at Anyang, dating back to the middle Shang Dynasty, and the mansion (xiù:宿) system's nucleus seems to have taken shape by the time of the ruler Wu Ding (1339-1281 BCE). Detailed records of astronomical observations began during the Warring States period (fourth century BCE) and flourished from the Han period onward. Chinese astronomy was equatorial, centered as it was on close observation of circumpolar stars, and was based

neg: Alcoholic drinks in China has been a constant theme of Chinese poetry since its origins, all similar to the treatment of wine in Europe. Chinese alcohol predates recorded history. Dried residue extracted from 9,000-year-old pottery implies that early beers were already being consumed by the neolithic peoples in the area of modern China. Made from rice, honey, grapes, and hawthorn, it seems to have been produced similarly to that of Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt. Within the Yellow River area which gave rise to the Chinese culture, numerous bronze vessels preserved from the later Shang dynasty (whose oracle bones contained the first surviving Chinese characters)

neg: Reconstructions of Old Chinese Qin dynasty. Earlier characters from oracle bones and Zhou bronze inscriptions often reveal relationships that were obscured in later forms. Rhyme has been a consistent feature of Chinese poetry. While much old poetry still rhymes in modern varieties of Chinese, Chinese scholars have long noted exceptions. This was attributed to lax rhyming practice of early poets until the late-Ming dynasty scholar Chen Di argued that a former consistency had been obscured by sound change. This implied that the rhyming practice of ancient poets recorded information about their pronunciation. Scholars have studied various bodies of poetry to identify classes of rhyming

neg: Dilong 龍 is closely associated with dinosaurs" (e.g., oracle bones were originally called "longgu" 龍骨 "dragon/dinosaur bones"). "Dilong" first means "earthworm" in the "Qixiu Leigao" 七修類稿 written by the Ming Dynasty scholar Lang Ying 郎瑛 (1487–1566 CE). The 1578 Bencao Gangmu pharmacological entry for "qiuyin" 蚯蚓 "earthworm" lists alternate names of "dilong" and "tulong" 土龍 (see above). Li Shizhen notes these names derive from the myth that earthworms (like dragons) can create "yinqing" 陰晴 "cloudy and clear; unsettled weather". "Dilongsan" 地龍散 "earth dragon powder" or Di Long (extract) is used in Traditional Chinese Medicine. It is prepared from the abdomen of

neg: Yang Jia of Shang succeeded by his younger brother Pan Geng. Oracle script inscriptions on bones unearthed at Yinxu alternatively record that he was the seventeenth Shang king, given the posthumous name Xiang Jia (Chinese: ). Yang Jia of Shang Xiang Jia or Yang Jia ( was a Shang dynasty King of China. In the "Records of the Grand Historian" he was listed by Sima Qian as the eighteenth Shang king, succeeding his father's cousin Nan Geng. He was enthroned in the year of Renxu (Chinese: ) with Yan (Chinese: ) as his capital. In the third year of his reign he sent troops

neg: Chen Mengjia Chen Mengjia Chen Mengjia (or Ch'en Meng-chia; 20 April 1911, Nanjing – 3 September 1966, Beijing) was a Chinese scholar, poet and archaeologist. He was considered the foremost authority on oracle bones and was Professor of Chinese at Tsinghua University in Beijing. He was married to the poet and translator Zhao Luorui (aka Lucy Chao, 1912–1998). Chen committed suicide in 1966, at the beginning of the Cultural Revolution after being labeled a "capitalist intellectual" and Rightist, having criticised Chinese leaders in 1957. Chen was born and raised in Nanjing, Jiangsu province. His father was a Presbyterian minister. In his youth

neg: Chinese mythology Shang oracle bones reveals Shangdi to have preceded Tian as a deity, and that Zhou dynasty authors replaced the term "Shangdi" with "Tian" to cement the claims of their influence. Over time certain aspects of folk religion and belief coalesced and were refined into a group of formal religious beliefs, practices, and philosophy known as Daoism. One of the founders of Daoism was Old Man Laozi, who himself entered into legend or mythology. There is much overlap between religion and mythology, and between Chinese folk religion and Daoism. However, certain beings or concepts of Chinese mythology have a particularly strong

neg: Transcription into Chinese characters transcription and do not necessarily follow Xinhua's versions, just as Xinhua's version differs from Wade–Giles and other international standards. For example, the United States embassy in China recommends rendering "Obama" as , while Xinhua uses . Transcription of foreign terms may date to the earliest surviving written records in China, the Shang oracle bones. As the Huaxia spread from their initial settlements near the confluence of the Wei and Yellow rivers, they were surrounded on all sides by other peoples. The Chinese characters developed to describe them may have originally transcribed local names, such as the proposed connection between the

neg: Dance to dance, and contain over 30 different dance terms. In Chinese pottery as early as the Neolithic period, groups of people are depicted dancing in a line holding hands, and the earliest Chinese word for "dance" is found written in the oracle bones. Dance is further described in the "Lüshi Chunqiu". Primitive dance in ancient China was associated with sorcery and shamanic rituals. During the first millennium BCE in India, many texts were composed which attempted to codify aspects of daily life. Bharata Muni's "Natyashastra" (literally ""the text of dramaturgy"") is one of the earlier texts. It mainly deals with

neg: Zhao Luorui Zhao Luorui Lucy Chao or Zhao Luorui (; 1912–1998) was a Chinese poet and translator. Zhao published since the early 1940s. She gained a PhD (for a dissertation on Henry James) from the University of Chicago in 1948 and returned to teach English and North American literature at Yenching University, Beijing. She was married to Chen Mengjia, an archaeologist and expert on oracle bones. Chen committed suicide after denunciation and persecution during the Cultural Revolution. Zhao herself was also considered an enemy of the state by Chinese officials. She translated T. S. Eliot's "The Waste Land" (1937), Longfellow's "The Song

neg: Han Chinese Chinese writing date back to this period – from characters inscribed on oracle bones used for divination – but the well-developed characters hint at a much earlier origin of writing in China. During the Shang dynasty, people of the Wu area in the Yangtze River Delta, were considered a different tribe, and described as being scantily dressed, tattooed and speaking a distinct language. Later, Taibo, elder uncle of Ji Chang – on realising that his younger brother, Jili, was wiser and deserved to inherit the throne – fled to Wu and settled there. Three generations later, King Wu of the

neg: Xiao Yi of Shang Xiao Yi of Shang Xiao Yi () was a Shang dynasty King of China. In the "Records of the Grand Historian" he was listed by Sima Qian as the twenty-first Shang king, succeeding his older brother Xiao Xin. He was enthroned with Yin as his capital. In the sixth year of his reign he ordered his son Wu Ding to live at He (Chinese: ) and study under Gan Pan (Chinese: ). He ruled for 10 years, was given the posthumous name Xiao Yi and was succeeded by his son. Oracle script inscriptions on bones unearthed at Yinxu alternatively record

neg: Ancient history has been directly confirmed by the discovery there of the earliest Chinese texts, inscriptions of divination records on the bones or shells of animals – the so-called "oracle bones". Towards the end of the 2nd millennium BC, the Shang were overrun by the Zhou dynasty from the Wei River valley to the west. The death of King Wu of Zhou soon after the conquest triggered a succession crisis and civil war that was suppressed by Wu's brother, the Duke of Zhou, acting as regent. The Zhou rulers at this time invoked the concept of the Mandate of Heaven to legitimize

neg: Lower Xiajiadian culture site is represented by the lower layer at Xiajiadian, Chifeng, Inner Mongolia. Stone, bone and pottery artefacts were discovered at Lower Xiajiadian sites, while gold, lead, lacquer, jade, copper and bronze artefacts are also found. The most commonly found copper and bronze artefacts are earrings. People of the Lower Xiajiadian practiced oracle bone divination. The culture prepared its oracle bones by drilling and polishing the bones before heating them. Inscriptions are generally not found on examples of oracle bones of the Lower Xiajiadian. People had good access to local sources of stone, primarily basalt, which were often used in construction

neg: Zheng Zhenxiang referring to the prominent individual mentioned in the oracle bones of the Wu Ding period as presiding over rituals and leading soldiers into battle. Zheng Zhenxiang Zheng Zhenxiang (郑振香) is a Chinese archaeologist most famous for excavating the Bronze Age tomb of Fuhao at Anyang. She has been referred to as the 'First Lady of Chinese Archaeology'. After completing her undergraduate degree at Peking University in 1954, Zheng worked as a specialist archaeology teaching assistant in the History Department. In 1955, she was exempted from having her status converted to that of a research student. For the next four years,

neg: George Chann art underwent a change becoming more abstract and increasingly incorporated Chinese artifacts in their production, for example by rubbing them with oracle bones. His work experienced an increase in popularity after his death on May 26, 1995. George Chann George Chann (1913-1995) was a Chinese American painter. He was born in Guangzhou, China on January 1, 1913. He lived with his father in Stockton, California for some of the time during his youth. He attended Sun Yat-sen University. In 1932 he emigrated to the United States. In 1933 he began studying at the Otis Art Institute and after his graduating

neg: Oracle bone drilled or chiseled partway through the bone or shell in orderly series. At least one such drill has been unearthed at Erligang, exactly matching the pits in size and shape. The shape of these pits evolved over time and is an important indicator for dating the oracle bones within various sub-periods in the Shang dynasty. The shape and depth also helped determine the nature of the crack that would appear. The number of pits per bone or shell varied widely. Divinations were typically carried out for the Shang kings in the presence of a diviner. A very few oracle bones

neg: Chinese language difficult to reach, and are often also sensitive border zones. Without a secure reconstruction of proto-Sino-Tibetan, the higher-level structure of the family remains unclear. A top-level branching into Chinese and Tibeto-Burman languages is often assumed, but has not been convincingly demonstrated. The first written records appeared over 3,000 years ago during the Shang dynasty. As the language evolved over this period, the various local varieties became mutually unintelligible. In reaction, central governments have repeatedly sought to promulgate a unified standard. The earliest examples of Chinese are divinatory inscriptions on oracle bones from around 1250 BCE in the late Shang dynasty.

neg: Oedipus Rex unconditional (Laius "will" have a son who will kill him). Both Aeschylus and Euripides write plays in which the oracle is conditional; Sophocles ... chooses to make Laius's oracle unconditional and thus removes culpability for his sins from Oedipus, for he could not have done other than what he did, no matter what action he took. This interpretation is supported by Jocasta's repetition of the oracle at lines 854–55: "Loxias declared that the king should be killed by/ his own son." In the Greek, Jocasta uses the verb "chrênai": "to be fated, necessary." This iteration of the oracle seems to

neg: Chinese character classification compounds, constructed out of elements intended to provide clues to both the meaning and the pronunciation. However, as both the meanings and pronunciations of the characters have changed over time, these components are no longer reliable guides to either meaning or pronunciation. The failure to recognize the historical and etymological role of these components often leads to misclassification and false etymology. A study of the earliest sources (the oracle bones script and the Zhou-dynasty bronze script) is often necessary for an understanding of the true composition and etymology of any particular character. Reconstructing Middle and Old Chinese phonology from the

neg: Zhao Luorui of Hiawatha" and eventually saw a mass publication of her translation of the whole of Whitman's "Leaves of Grass" (1991). She was a co-editor of the first Chinese-language "History of European Literature" (1979). Zhao Luorui Lucy Chao or Zhao Luorui (; 1912–1998) was a Chinese poet and translator. Zhao published since the early 1940s. She gained a PhD (for a dissertation on Henry James) from the University of Chicago in 1948 and returned to teach English and North American literature at Yenching University, Beijing. She was married to Chen Mengjia, an archaeologist and expert on oracle bones. Chen committed suicide

neg: Scapulimancy Scapulimancy Scapulimancy (also spelled "scapulomancy" and "scapulamancy", also termed "omoplatoscopy" or "speal bone reading") is the practice of divination by use of scapulae or speal bones (shoulder blades). In the context of the oracle bones of ancient China, which chiefly utilized both scapulae and the plastrons of turtle, "scapulimancy" is sometimes used in a very broad sense to jointly refer to both scapulimancy and plastromancy (similar divination using plastrons). However, the term "osteomancy" might be more appropriate, referring to divination using bones. Many archaeological sites along the south coast and offlying islands of the Korean peninsula show that deer and

neg: Yinxu and one child). Also on display are the remains of an 8.35 meter wide Shang dynasty road discovered at Anyang Aero Sports School in 2000. In 2006 the site was inscribed on the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites. A study of mitochondrial DNA (inherited in the maternal line) from Yinxu graves showed similarity with modern northern Han Chinese, but significant differences from southern Han Chinese. Citations Works cited Yinxu Yinxu ( ; ) is the site of one of the ancient and major historical capitals of China. It is the source of the archeological discovery of oracle bones and

neg: Chen Mengjia Chen had been a poet, under the pen name Wanderer, his first poem was published when he was 18. He was a member of the Crescent Moon Society in Shanghai, a group of romantic poets during the early 20th century. In 1932 he joined the resistance against Japanese aggression in Shanghai during the January 28 Incident. At that time he also studied law in Nanjing, but in 1932 began to research classical Chinese literature and religion, before turning to the study of Chinese writing and archaeology at Yenching University in Beijing, where he specialised in the study of oracle bones

neg: David Keightley to complete his doctoral studies at Columbia under the Swedish Sinologist Hans Bielenstein, and received a Ph.D. in 1969 with a dissertation entitled "Public Work in Ancient China: A Study of Forced Labor in the Shang and Early Chou". After receiving his Ph.D. in 1969, Keightley was selected to replace Woodbridge Bingham (1901–1986) as professor of East Asian history at the University of California, Berkeley. Keightley became one of the leading Western scholars of Chinese oracle bones, which contain the earliest known examples of Chinese writing. In 1995, the American Sinologist Edward Shaughnessy stated that Keightley "has done more to

neg: Bicameralism (psychology) and in the entire human species. In particular the aborigine culture was completely separated from the rest of the world from 4000 BCE–1600 CE and appears today to be historically unchanged, but also self-conscious. Divination is also considerably older than that date and the early writings he claims show bicamerality: The oldest recorded Chinese Writing was on oracle bones, meaning that divination arose at the same time or even earlier than writing in Chinese society. While he said ancient societies engaged in ancestor worship before this date, non-ancient societies also engaged in it after that date; very advanced societies like

neg: Jao Tsung-I several colleges in mainland China before moving to Hong Kong in 1949. In the following years, he taught at the University of Hong Kong, the National University of Singapore, Institute of History and Philology of Academia Sinica in Taiwan, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, École française d'Extrême-Orient, École pratique des hautes études of Paris, and Yale University in the US. He was also honorary professor at several prestigious Chinese universities including Peking University, Fudan University, Nanjing University, and Zhejiang University. Jao was a highly versatile and prolific scholar. His research covered a vast range of humanities, including oracle bones,

neg: Neolithic signs in China Neolithic signs in China Since the second half of the 20th century, inscriptions have been found on pottery in a variety of locations in China, such as Banpo near Xi'an, as well as on bone and bone marrows at Hualouzi, Chang'an County near Xi'an. These simple, often geometric, marks have been frequently compared to some of the earliest known Chinese characters appearing on the oracle bones, and some have taken them to mean that the history of Chinese writing extends back over six millennia. However, only isolated instances of these symbols have been found, and they show no indication of

neg: Moment in Peking The two families become close friends and possible future in-laws. Mulan is lively, beautiful,intelligent and generous, as well as responsible. Her father has always encouraged her interests, among them her interest in "oracle bones," which reveal ancient Chinese characters, and the singing of Chinese opera. Kung Lifu and his mother, Mrs.Kung are family friends of the Yaos. Both Mulan and Mochow have found Lifu to be deep, erudite,and virtuous: a promising future scholar and an interesting figure. Mulan is attracted to Lifu, but marriage and a romantic relationship had not crossed his mind. On the other hand her reunion with

neg: Oracle Team USA to Emirates Team New Zealand. Oracle Team USA did not issue a challenge within the initial challenging deadline for the 36th America’s Cup presented by Prada, June 30 2018, ending Oracle's fifteen year presence in the Cup races. Oracle Team USA skipper James Spithill previously indicated he was returning to challenging team Luna Rossa for that competition. The BMW Oracle/Oracle USA team has owned a number of boats, including: The team also appeared on the Series 20 premiere of "Top Gear", emerging victorious in what was called by some a "Cat Vs. Car" race. Set in New Zealand, it matched

neg: Oracle bone have been assigned to five periods by Dong Zuobin: The kings were involved in divination in all periods, but in later periods most divinations were done personally by the king. The extant inscriptions are not evenly distributed across these periods, with 55% coming from period I and 31% from periods III and IV. A few oracle bones date to the beginning of the subsequent Zhou dynasty. The earliest oracle bones (corresponding to the reigns of Wu Ding and Zu Geng) record dates using only the 60-day cycle of stems and branches, though sometimes the month was also given. Attempts to

neg: Internet OS client designed only for Internet use, leaving it to access applications and documents stored entirely online. Oracle saw its role as providing tools for the server layer, where network-hosted applications would be provided through the Network Application Server, which in turn would make use of both Oracle7 relationship database management system and the Oracle Web Server. Oracle also outlined what was referred to as the Network Computing Architecture (NCA), which would separate presentation, application and data access logic into Java applets or NCA cartridges. Microsoft and Intel in response to this challenge put forward a standard for a competing model