What are some older scripts besides oracle bones?
According to current archaeological excavations and research, it is generally believed that the oracle bone script is the oldest script in China, so is there any older Chinese character than the oracle bone inscription? In fact, there are not only them, but there are several, but due to the small number of discoveries, it is not certain whether they are relatively mature characters.
Oracle: The oldest mature inscription ever discovered.
The oracle bone inscription got its name because it was written on tortoise shells and animal bones, also known as"Deeds"、"Oracle", Yinxu text or"Tortoiseshell Bone Book"。It was first discovered in the Yin Ruins of Anyang, Henan Province, and is a cultural product of the Shang Dynasty (c. 17th to 11th centuries BC) more than 3,600 years ago.
The oracle bone inscription was first discovered in 1899, and according to statistics, 15More than 460,000 pieces, including 9 in Chinese mainlandMore than 760,000 pieces, Taiwan Province of China 3More than 200,000 pieces, 89 pieces from Hong Kong, China, and a total of 2 pieces from Japan, Canada, the United Kingdom, the United States and other countriesMore than 670,000 pieces. The total number of words is about 4,500, of which about 2,500 words have been deciphered.
The unearthed oracle bone inscriptions are extremely rich in content, covering many aspects of social life in the Shang Dynasty, including politics, military, culture, and social customs, as well as science and technology such as astronomy, calendar, and medicine. In terms of research methods, Oracle already has it"Pictograms, ideologies, shapes, sounds, signifiers, transfers, and pretenses"It is the earliest known form of Chinese character literature.
Due to the large number of discoveries of oracle bone inscriptions, and the free availability of a large number of scripts with specific content during the Shang dynasty, oracle bone inscriptions are considered to be the earliest mature scripts.
This scene predates the "Oracle".
We know that writing has undergone a long process of development and refinement from its invention to its gradual maturity, so we can conclude that the writing before the oracle bone inscription must have been relatively simple and imperfect, and according to the current archaeological excavations, there are at least the following types:
1. Dawenkou painted pottery text. Archaeologists have found newly carved symbols on the pottery in the Dawenkou Cultural Zone of Zhucheng, Shandong Province, which is more than 4,500 years old, and this symbol is very similar to the combination of words, and the lower part is the sun, clouds, and mountains. At the same time, pottery symbols have been occasionally found in the area, but due to the small number of excavations, the content of which cannot be determined at present.
2.Gaoyou Taowen. This pottery inscription, which was unearthed in the Longqiuzhuang area of Gaoyou, Jiangsu, is more than 1,000 years earlier than the oracle bone inscription and is thought to be the origin of the oracle bone inscription. These symbols are carved on the inner walls of the objects with delicate strokes and skillful techniques. Professor Li Pengfei believes that the text engraved on the painted pottery of Gaoyou Longqiuzhuang is earlier than the oracle bone inscription; From the point of view of the glyph combination, it appears to be more mature, and the glyph is detached from the single byte of the early Yangshao and Liangzhu sites, and is closer to the mature oracle bone inscription, therefore, these symbols are of great significance to scholars to study ancient characters, they believe"It is very important to study the origins of Chinese writing"。The origin of Chinese writing is very important.
3.Banpo pottery charm. Archaeologists have found symbols carved by the aborigines on pottery and pottery shards found in Banpo Village, Xi'an, which are known as Banpo pottery symbols, and a total of 27 species and more than 30 symbols have been found. These symbols, carved on the edges of pottery, are more than 6 000 years old. However, due to the small number of excavations, it is not yet possible to determine the identity of these symbols, and through comparison and analysis, it can be determined that they are mostly hieroglyphs.
4.Jiahu text symbols. This is another text-related material found in the Jiahu area of Henan Province, according to Jiao Zongyi of the Chinese University of Hong Kong"The Jiahu script symbol provides new information on the crucial question of the origin of Chinese characters"。It is said that the oracle bone inscription symbol predates the oracle bone inscription in Yinxu in Anyang by more than 4,000 years, and predates the ancient Egyptian papyrus, which is known as the world's oldest writing system and the oldest known prototype of human writing.
In addition, single-byte or multi-byte symbols have also been found in cultural sites such as Yangshao and Liangzhu, but due to the small number, it is impossible to determine their specific content.
However, the creation and refinement of writing was not done in just a few decades or centuries, so we can basically conclude that writing was born before the Xia Dynasty, or even before the Shang Dynasty.