Anyang Workstation Deputy Station Manager He Yuling: "One Oracle Bone" Why Shocking the World Theme | China | He Yuling
Xi'an, July 10th (Xinhua) - On July 9th, the online theme promotion of "Why China is China in a Prosperous Era" was launched at the Shaanxi Archaeological Museum. He Yuling, a researcher at the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and deputy director of Anyang Workstation, showcased oracle bones unearthed from the Yin Ruins. Starting from the small story of "Shang Wang divination," he vividly narrated the long history of Chinese civilization.
He Yuling, researcher at the Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and deputy station director of Anyang Workstation. Photo by Wang Kuao from Shaanxi Radio and Television Integrated Media Group
According to He Yuling, this 3000 year old "Sacrifice Hunting Tu Zhu Niu Bone Inscription" records a relatively unlucky experience of the Shang King: the Shang King divined whether there was any disaster within ten days, and the divination signs showed poor predictions. As expected, on the tenth day while hunting water buffaloes, the carriage he was riding on overturned, and the crown prince who was also riding on it fell off.
"Among the three oldest writing systems in the world, only the Chinese characters represented by oracle bone inscriptions have been used to this day." He Yuling explained that more than 150000 oracle bones, with about 4500 words per word, have been unearthed in the Yin ruins. Although only over 1500 words have been deciphered, and we have not fully understood the secret language of our ancestors, these oracle bone inscriptions have advanced the history of Chinese belief for about 1000 years.
The 3000 year history of ancient oracle bone inscriptions, soaked in the smoke and fire of life, inspires practitioners to constantly explore the era's answer to "why China".
He Yuling said that the Chinese people have not lacked imagination and creativity since ancient times. Metallurgy introduced from the West to the Central Plains has been innovated and broken through in the Xia Dynasty, the early Shang Dynasty and the middle Shang Dynasty. It has become a bronze container cast with a model method, such as a three-dimensional and beautiful bronze central pillar bowl, which is very similar to the pot used in the famous "Steamed chicken in casserole" in Yunnan; The sharp edged Simuwu Ding and the cute "Yachang" Niuzun hit the hearts of modern young people with their cute contrast; There is also the "Tao San Tong", which shares the same ingenuity as modern sewage pipes, all of which demonstrate the ancient wisdom of "going against the sky".
The Yin ruins have been excavated for nearly a century, and through touching history through oracle bone inscriptions, bronze artifacts, jade artifacts, and other means, He Yuling feels the charm of archaeology in his work. "One word at a time, generation after generation delves into it, and even if one word is successfully deciphered, it may activate the ancient world hidden behind it. With the development of economy and society and scientific and technological progress, we no longer rely on the cracks in the turtle shell to make judgments about doubts, but the history recorded in oracle bone inscriptions flows in the long river of Chinese civilization and is forever engraved in our hearts."
The online theme publicity of "Why China in a Prosperous Age" is jointly sponsored by the Network Communication Bureau of the Central Cyberspace Office, the Department of Policies and Regulations, the Department of Cultural Relics and Monuments, the Department of Archaeology, the Department of Museums and Social Relics of the National Cutural Heritage Administration, the Cyberspace Office of the Shaanxi Provincial Party Committee, the Shaanxi Provincial Bureau of Cultural Relics, the Cyberspace Committee of the Xi'an Municipal Party Committee, People's Daily Online, and the Shaanxi Radio, Television and Media Group, and supported by the China Internet Development Foundation. More than 200 people attended the launch ceremony, including leaders from the Central Cyberspace Office, the National Cutural Heritage Administration, the People's Daily, the central news unit, the central key news website, the local Cyberspace Office, the Cultural Heritage Bureau, the commercial website, and other units, as well as leaders from Shaanxi, major commercial website platforms, and Internet users. During the event, a themed sharing event titled "Undertaking the Cultural Mission of the New Era and Activating the New Vitality of Chinese Civilization" was also held.
