Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2brh9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T19:36:31.394Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Recent Approaches to Oracle-Bone Periodization: A Review

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 March 2015

Edward L. Shaughnessy*
Affiliation:
Department of Asian Languages, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305

Abstract

The contribution of Qiu Xigui and Lin Yun to the debate over the proper dating of the Diviner Li-group inscriptions require a fundamental revision in oracle-bone periodization methodology. Starting with a review of Dong Zuobin's reasons for placing the Li-group inscriptions in his period IV, this article proceeds to consider the new information provided by the Xiaotun nandi oracle-bone inscriptions excavated in 1973 and by the discovery of the Fu Hao tomb in 1975. Li Xueqin's reason for dating the Diviner Li-group inscriptions as roughly contemporary with those of the Diviner Bin-group are summarized, followed by an account of the fuller discussions of Qiu and Lin. Qiu focuses in particular on the significant identity of personal names and specific events recorded in both inscription groups. The use of differing ancestral titles permits the division of the Li- and Bin-group inscriptions into different chronological segments and reveals that a significant percentage of the Diviner Bin-group inscriptions should be dated to the reign of Zu Geng. Lin's epigraphic approach allows him to conclude that the Diviner Dui-group inscriptions are earlier than those of the Diviner Li-group; hence the Dui-group must also precede the Bin-group. The presence of different diviner groups operating contemporaneously and for only portions of a king's reign leads to the conclusion that Dong Zuobin's periodization categories are now too vague. They should be replaced by the more precise categorization of diviner groups.

Type
ARTICLES
Copyright
Copyright © Society for the Study of Early China 1988

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES CITED

Chang, K.C. 1980 Shang Civilization. New Haven and London.Google Scholar
Chen, Mengjia 1956 Yinxu buci zongshu . Beijing.Google Scholar
Zuobin, Dong 1933 Jiaguwen duandai yanjiu li.Zhongyang yanjiusuo jikan waibian 1.1:323424.Google Scholar
Zuobin, Dong 1936Anyang Houjiazhuang chutu zhi jiagu wenzi. Tianye kaogu xuebao 1:91166.Google Scholar
Zuobin, Dong 1945 Yinli pu . 2 vols. Nanqi, Sichuan.Google Scholar
Zuobin, Dong 1949Yinxu wenzi yibian xuZhongguo kaogu xuebao 4:255289.Google Scholar
Shigeki, Kaizuka 1953 and Michjharu, ItōKōkotsubun dandei kenkyūhō no saikento—Doshi no Bunbutei jidai bokuji o chūshin to shite. Tōhō gakuhō 23:178.Google Scholar
Keightley, David N. 1978 Sources of Shang History: The Oracle-Bone Inscriptions of Bronze Age China. Berkeley.Google Scholar
Xueqin, Li 1980Guanyu Duizu buci de yixie wenti. Guwenzi yanjiu 3:3242.Google Scholar
Xueqin, Li 1981Xiaotun nandi jiagu yu jiagu fenqi.Wenwu 1981.5:2733.Google Scholar
Yun, LinXiaotun nandi Fajue yu Yinxu jiagu duandai.Guwenzi yanjiu 9: in Press.Google Scholar
Xigui, Qiu 1981Lun ‘Li-zu buci’ de shidai. Guwenzi yanjiu 6:262320.Google Scholar
Nan, Xiao 1976Anyang Xiaotun nandi faxian de Duizu buci-Jianlun Duizu buci de shidai ji qi xiangguan wenti. Kaogu 1976.4:234241.Google Scholar
Nan, Xiao 1980Lun Wu Yi Wen Ding buci. Guwenzi yanjiu 3:4379.Google Scholar
Nan, Xiao 1981 Xiaotun nandi jiagu . 2 vols. Beijing.Google Scholar