CHINA - Bone Inscriptions 1000 Years Older Than Previous Finding

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                 Chinese bone inscriptions discovered to be 1000 yrs older than previous finding






January 26th, 2009
New Delhi
(ANI):

Recently discovered bone inscriptions in a province in China have been analyzed to be approximately 1000 years older than those found in another area in the country, which indicates the new finding to be the oldest record of Chinese language.

The Changle inscriptions were found in Weifang city of Shandong Province in China.

According to Professor Liu Fengjun, doctoral supervisor in art and archaeology at Shandong University, the markings on Changle bones represent some kind of original characters of Chinese language approximately 1000 years older than those found in Yinxu.

Yinxu is a world-famous site in China for its unearthed oracle bone inscriptions originated in Shang Dynasty (1,600 - 1,046 BCE), which is generally recognized as the earliest record of Chinese language.

Hence, the discovery of Changle bone inscriptions may have far-reaching implications.

Changle is thought to contain an ancient site of the Longshan Culture (about 2,800 - 2,300 BCE).

On top of the 100-odd pieces of the said Changle bones, people also have excavated some bone knives, bone stabbers, pieces of black earthenware and pieces of an ancient cooking vessel, all of which are typical of Longshan Culture.

Professor Liu believes that the signs on the Changle bones are some records of the important events in Dongyi peoples life.

The Dongyi people was the most developed civilization in ancient China before they were conquered by the Xia Dynasty (2,070 - 1,600 BCE).

Changle bone inscriptions preserve some information about hunting, totem, and harvests of the Dongyi people, Professor Liu explained.

There are quite a few signs of animals and birds. Signs of dears, elephants, buffalos and birds are common on Changle Bones, he added.

According to Professor Liu, Changle bone inscriptions are closely related to the Yinxu Oracle Bone Inscriptions of Shang Dynasty.

Having compared Yinxu oracle bone inscriptions with Changle bone inscriptions, Professor Liu has found that some characters of the two kinds of inscriptions are quite similar.

Many experts agree with Lius theories and are thrilled by the possibility of rewriting the history of ancient Chinese characters as a result of the excavation of Changle bone inscriptions.



(ANI)

[Bianca]

                 4,500 yr old archaeological discovery rewrites earliest Chinese characters dating






New Delhi,
Oct 26, 2008
(ANI):

Latest archaeological studies have shown that inscribed animal bones and jade pieces unearthed in Changle County of eastern Shandong Province in China, are the earliest examples of Chinese characters, dating back to 4,500 years.

The discovery broke the record for the previous earliest known examples of Chinese characters, the inscribed animal bones and tortoise shells, known as the oracle bones, of the Shang Dynasty (1600 BC-1100 BC), by more than 1,300 years.

The oracle bones were major discoveries at the Yinxu in Anyang of central Chinas Henan Province.

The Shandong discovery was first made in 2004 by Xiao Guangde, the Changle Culture and History Committee director and an amateur collector.

He noticed many sub-fossil bones were being thrown away when local peasants were digging at the Yuanjiazhuang relic site in the county.

After carefully cleaning some of the unearthed bones, Wang found they bore obvious inscriptions.

He also bought other samples, often at high prices, from local people. Over a period of four years, his collection grew to about 100 inscribed bones and two jade relics also with inscriptions.

Lined up in order, the inscriptions bear resemblance to drawings and characters, and show objects such as a bird, a crab, a triangle and the sun. Some inscriptions emerge repeatedly.

This kind of repeating proves the inscriptions are carved by human beings, Wang Yuxin, the China Yinshang Association of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences president, noted.

Archaeologists have speculated from the bones color, structure, and degree of their petrifaction, that the scripts had existed for about 4,500 years.

Unlike other inscriptions dated earlier than the oracle bones, these scripts are in a considerable number and are systematic, said Wang. Their structures also follow certain rules, he added.

He reckoned that the oracle bones found in Henan may inherit some characters from the newly-found scripts.

However, he denied they were for divination use.

The bones and jade dont bear deviation marks such as drills, or chisel and burn traces, so the writing maybe for keeping records of events, he said.

The discoveries were named the Changle bone scripts after the place where they were found.

Though they could not be translated at present, archaeologists believed they may provide valuable evidence in the studies of the evolution of ancient Chinese characters, and to reproduce a picture of an ancient society that was barely known.



(ANI)

[Bianca]

                              Archaeologists make a record find of oracle bones in China






New Delhi,
Nov 13, 2009
(ANI)

Archaeologists have unearthed more than 1,100 oracle bone characters in the Shaanxi province of China, shedding new light on the number of such inscriptions in existence.

The find was made at a cluster of tombs in Qishan county that date back to the Western Zhou Dynasty.

According to Lei Xingshan, head of the dig team, Prior to our discovery at the Temple of Duke Zhou, less than 1,100 Chinese characters written on pieces of bone and tortoiseshell had ever been found.

Members of the team have been unearthing scripts almost every day since the excavation began on September 1, 2008, and there are now more than 1,100 readable words, which is a new record.

Among the finds is the character for king, which could help archaeologists learn more about the lives of the Zhou kings and the region in which they lived, according to Lei.

Also, after excavating more than 100 commoners tombs in the area around the dukes temple, the team has built up a large collection of pottery and bronze ware that will help paint a better picture of the lives of ordinary people during the Western Zhou period, he added.

Coincidentally, we also found several items from the Yangshao period of the neolithic era (5,000-7,000 years ago); the first time such relics have been found near the Temple of Duke Zhou, said Lei.

According to Zhou Chunmao, a researcher with the Shaanxi archaeology research institute, the discovery of the new oracle bone scripts has great significance for the understanding of the formation of the Western Zhou dynasty and the structure of society at that time.

Since the first oracle bones were found in 1898, Chinese archaeologists have unearthed more than 100,000 pieces of bone and tortoise shell inscribed with characters.

Archaeologists interest in the area around the Temple of Duke Zhou was aroused in December 2003, after a team led by Peking University Professor Xu Tianjin found two inscriptions featuring 55 characters there.

Prior to the record haul by Leis team, 760 inscriptions dating from the Western Zhou Dynasty had been found in the area.



(ANI)