Inscriptions on oracle bones, known as jia gu wen, represent one of the earliest forms of writing in China. The script was used about 3,500 years ago. It remains a mystery to most Chinese today. Song Dahai , a 71-year-old linguist and historian, has devoted his life to keeping the script alive in the computer age.
What's the origin of jia gu wen?
The characters are carved on tortoise shells and animal bones: that's why it's called jia gu wen. The inscriptions recorded important national events and the daily lives of the royal household in the late Shang dynasty. Compared with primitive symbols, jia gu wen was rich in pronunciation, form and meaning and had variations in brushstrokes.
The script was discovered in 1899 on bones that were known then 'dragon bones'. So far about 150,000 pieces of tortoise shells and animal bones have been uncovered. Many oracle bone inscriptions were pictographic: the word 'bird' was a picture of a bird, and the word 'procreate' was a picture of a woman giving birth.
Why does the script interest you?
The oracle bones contain historical records, such as the royal genealogy of the Shang dynasty. This confirmed the existence of the dynasty, which some foreign scholars had doubted. The bones are also a transitional link to the script carved on the pottery of 5,000 years ago. The script proves that China is one of the world's earliest civilisations. I will devote my life to studying jia gu wen to prove that our history of 5,000 years is credible, not just a legend.
How do you study it?