The Oracle Bone Inscriptions from Huayuanzhuang East

The Oracle Bone Inscriptions from Huayuanzhuang East
Author: Adam C. Schwartz
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
Total Pages: 487
Release: 2019-11-18
Genre: History
ISBN: 1501505297

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Since 1899 more than 73,000 pieces of inscribed divination shell and bone have been found inside the moated enclosure of the Anyang-core at the former capital of the late Shang state. Nearly all of these divinations were done on behalf of the Shang kingsand has led to the apt characterization that oracle bone inscriptions describe their motivations, experiences, and priorities. There are, however, much smaller sets of divination accounts that were done on behalf of members of the Shang elite other than the king.First noticed in the early 1930's, grouped and periodized shortly thereafter, oracle bone inscriptions produced explicitly by or on behalf of "royal familygroups" reveal information about key aspects of daily life in Shang societythat are barely even mentioned in Western scholarship. The newly published Huayuanzhuang East Oracle Bone inscriptions are a spectacular addition to the corpus of texts from Anyang: hundreds of intact or largely intact turtle shells and bovine scapulae densely inscribed with records of the divinations in which they were used. They were produced on the behalf of a mature prince of the royal family whose parents, both alive and still very much active, almost certainly were the twenty-first Shang king Wu Ding (r. c. 1200 B.C.) and his consort Lady Hao (fu Hao). The Huayuanzhuang East corpus is an unusually homogeneous set of more than two thousand five hundred divination records, produced over a short period of time on behalf of a prince of the royal family. There are typically multiple records of divinations regarding the same or similar topics that can be synchronized together, which not only allows for remarkable access into the esoteric world of divination practice, but also produce micro-reconstructions of what is essentially East Asia's earliest and most complete "day and month planner." Because these texts are unusually linguistically transparent and well preserved, homogeneous in orthography and content, and published to an unprecedentedly high standard, they are also ideal material for learning to read and interpret early epigraphic texts. The Huayuanzhuang East oracle bone inscriptions are a tremendously important Shang archive of "material documents" that were produced by a previously unknown divination and scribal organization. They expose us to an entirely fresh set of perspectives and preoccupationscentering ona member of the royal family at the commencement of China's historical period. The completely annotated English translation of the inscriptions is the first of its kind, and is a vibrant new source of Shang history that can be accessedto rewrite and supplement what we know about early Chinese civilization and life in the ancient world. Before the discerning reader are the motives, preoccupations, and experiences of a late Shang prince working simultaneously in service both for his Majesty, his parents, and hisown family.

Huayuanzhuang East I: A Study and Annotated Translation of the Oracle Bone Inscriptions

Huayuanzhuang East I: A Study and Annotated Translation of the Oracle Bone Inscriptions
Author: Adam Craig Schwartz
Publisher:
Total Pages: 667
Release: 2013
Genre:
ISBN: 9781303229206

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Chapter 1 presents the core information of the discovery: the pit and its contents, codicology, the nature and importance of the inscriptions, working with synchronies, and periodization. I conclude with a review of the major studies and summarize objectives of the dissertation.

The Oracle Bone Inscriptions from Huayuanzhuang East

The Oracle Bone Inscriptions from Huayuanzhuang East
Author: Adam C. Schwartz
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
Total Pages: 409
Release: 2019-11-18
Genre: History
ISBN: 1501505335

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Since 1899 more than 73,000 pieces of inscribed divination shell and bone have been found inside the moated enclosure of the Anyang-core at the former capital of the late Shang state. Nearly all of these divinations were done on behalf of the Shang kingsand has led to the apt characterization that oracle bone inscriptions describe their motivations, experiences, and priorities. There are, however, much smaller sets of divination accounts that were done on behalf of members of the Shang elite other than the king.First noticed in the early 1930's, grouped and periodized shortly thereafter, oracle bone inscriptions produced explicitly by or on behalf of "royal familygroups" reveal information about key aspects of daily life in Shang societythat are barely even mentioned in Western scholarship. The newly published Huayuanzhuang East Oracle Bone inscriptions are a spectacular addition to the corpus of texts from Anyang: hundreds of intact or largely intact turtle shells and bovine scapulae densely inscribed with records of the divinations in which they were used. They were produced on the behalf of a mature prince of the royal family whose parents, both alive and still very much active, almost certainly were the twenty-first Shang king Wu Ding (r. c. 1200 B.C.) and his consort Lady Hao (fu Hao). The Huayuanzhuang East corpus is an unusually homogeneous set of more than two thousand five hundred divination records, produced over a short period of time on behalf of a prince of the royal family. There are typically multiple records of divinations regarding the same or similar topics that can be synchronized together, which not only allows for remarkable access into the esoteric world of divination practice, but also produce micro-reconstructions of what is essentially East Asia's earliest and most complete "day and month planner." Because these texts are unusually linguistically transparent and well preserved, homogeneous in orthography and content, and published to an unprecedentedly high standard, they are also ideal material for learning to read and interpret early epigraphic texts. The Huayuanzhuang East oracle bone inscriptions are a tremendously important Shang archive of "material documents" that were produced by a previously unknown divination and scribal organization. They expose us to an entirely fresh set of perspectives and preoccupationscentering ona member of the royal family at the commencement of China's historical period. The completely annotated English translation of the inscriptions is the first of its kind, and is a vibrant new source of Shang history that can be accessedto rewrite and supplement what we know about early Chinese civilization and life in the ancient world. Before the discerning reader are the motives, preoccupations, and experiences of a late Shang prince working simultaneously in service both for his Majesty, his parents, and hisown family.

Ancient Chinese Writing

Ancient Chinese Writing
Author: Yahui Xu
Publisher:
Total Pages: 62
Release: 2002
Genre: Inscriptions, Chinese
ISBN: 9789575624200

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A Little Primer of Chinese Oracle-bone Inscriptions with Some Exercises

A Little Primer of Chinese Oracle-bone Inscriptions with Some Exercises
Author: Ken'ichi Takashima
Publisher: Harrassowitz
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2019
Genre: Inscriptions, Chinese
ISBN: 9783447111744

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This Little Primer introduces students of classical Chinese to the earliest extant body of Chinese texts dating from about the 13th to the 10th centuries BC. These texts are known as Oracle-Bone Inscriptions and relate to any matter that was deemed sufficiently important to require consultation with the ancestors and deities of the Shang aristocracy. Indispensable to the study of the history of Chinese religion, politics, agriculture, the calendar system, hunting, warfare, medicine, sacrificial and ritual practices, and other matters of life in China's first historical dynasty, these more than 130,000 pieces of inscribed turtle plastrons and bovine scapulas, though mostly fragmented, comprise more text in terms of number of characters than the combined transmitted traditional pre-Qin classical Chinese texts. The material is presented in three forms: normalized transcriptions of the texts into modern standard Chinese script, translations into English, and ink-squeezes or rubbings of the original texts. There is also a detailed linguistic and philological explanation of the text, plus an annotation, and commentary on the cultural and historical background of the material. No special background in analyzing grammar and syntax will be required to understand most, if not all, of the materials presented in this Little Primer.

A Legacy of Elegance

A Legacy of Elegance
Author: Li Zongkun
Publisher: The Chinese University Press
Total Pages: 268
Release: 2017-10-15
Genre: History
ISBN: 9882370179

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This publication is the product of several auspicious occasions. United College celebrated its sixtieth anniversary in 2016-2017, and the Chinese University of Hong Kong Library marked this occasion by carrying out preservation work and cataloguing the collection of fortyfour oracle bones, which comprised the majority of this study. The remaining twentyseven oracle bones belong to the Art Museum, which is pleased to publish them jointly to celebrate the golden anniversary of the Institute of Chinese Studies, of which the museum is an integral part. This year also marks the fortieth anniversary of the Chinese University Press. These milestones occasion the tripartite collaboration.

Slavery and Other Forms of Strong Asymmetrical Dependencies

Slavery and Other Forms of Strong Asymmetrical Dependencies
Author: Jeannine Bischoff
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
Total Pages: 355
Release: 2022-10-03
Genre: History
ISBN: 3110787040

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In der Buchreihe des "Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies" werden Monographien und Tagungsbände, die das Phänomen der Sklaverei und andere Formen asymmetrischer Abhängigkeiten in Gesellschaften untersuchen, veröffentlicht. Die Reihe folgt dabei der Forschungsagenda des BCDSS, die die vorherrschende dichotomische Vorstellung von "Sklaverei versus Freiheit" überwindet. Das Cluster hat dazu ein neues Schlüsselkonzept ("asymmetrische Abhängigkeiten") entwickelt, das alle Ausprägungen von ungleichen Dependenzen (wie etwa Schuldknechtschaft, Zwangsarbeit, Dienstbarkeit, Leibeigenschaft, Hausarbeit, aber auch gewisse Formen der Lohnarbeit und der Patronage) berücksichtigt. Dabei werden auch Epochen, Räume und Kontexte der Weltgeschichte bearbeitet, die nicht der europäischen Kolonisierung ausgesetzt waren (z.B. altorientalische Kulturen sowie vormoderne und moderne Gesellschaften in Asien, Afrika und den Amerikas).

A Study of Names of Places in the Oracle Bone Inscriptions

A Study of Names of Places in the Oracle Bone Inscriptions
Author: 吳銘森
Publisher: Open Dissertation Press
Total Pages:
Release: 2017-01-27
Genre:
ISBN: 9781374698239

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This dissertation, "A Study of Names of Places in the Oracle Bone Inscriptions" by 吳銘森, Ming-sum, Ng, was obtained from The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong) and is being sold pursuant to Creative Commons: Attribution 3.0 Hong Kong License. The content of this dissertation has not been altered in any way. We have altered the formatting in order to facilitate the ease of printing and reading of the dissertation. All rights not granted by the above license are retained by the author. DOI: 10.5353/th_b4257376 Subjects: Oracle bones Names, Geographical - China

Chinese Annals in the Western Observatory

Chinese Annals in the Western Observatory
Author: Edward Shaughnessy
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
Total Pages: 499
Release: 2019-11-18
Genre: History
ISBN: 1501517104

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Since the beginning of the twentieth century, hundreds of thousands of documents of all sorts have been unearthed in China, opening whole new fields of study and transforming our modern understanding of ancient China. While these discoveries have necessarily taken place in China, Western scholars have also contributed to the study of these documents throughout this entire period. This book provides a comprehensive survey of the contributions of these Western scholars to the field of Chinese paleography, and especially to study of oracle-bone inscriptions, bronze and stone inscriptions, and manuscripts written on bamboo and silk. Each of these topics is provided with a comprehensive narrative history of studies by Western scholars, as well as an exhaustive bibliography and biographies of important scholars in the field. It is also supplied with a list of Chinese translations of these studies, as well as a complete index of authors and their works. Whether the reader is interested in the history of ancient China, ancient Chinese paleographic documents, or just in the history of the study of China as it has developed in the West, this book provides one of the most complete accounts available to date.