A Study Of The Oracle Bone Collections In The Carnegie Museum

The oracle bone collections in the Carnegie Museum are part of the famous Couling-Chalfant collections. This paper is a system reorganization of these oracle bones, and some studies on several related questions.The paper is composed by five parts:the foreword, figures, elucidates texts, the related question research as well as the appendix.We reviewe research situation of these oracle bones in the foreword, and make some examples of the the research value in these oracle bones. Also introduced how we reorganize these oracle bones.The first part is the figures, divides into two parts: the pictures and the facsimiles. We class these oracle bones first according to there characters'typeface, then arrange them according to there close matter. We divide these oracle bones into ten kinds: 1st, Shi group; 2nd, Zi group; 3rd, Shi Binjian group; 4th, Shi Lijian group; 5th, Bin group; 6th, Li group; 7th, Chu group; 8th, Li wu group; 9th, He group; 10th,Wuming group. In addition has 11th, exercise engraves; 12th, false engraves; 13th, amulets and so on. Between these oracle bones basic arrange according to the below order: First, sacrificial offering; Second, war; Third, agriculture; Fourth, journey; Fifth, meteorology; Sixth, anxiety ; Seventh, others; Eighth, record. Such arrangement will be advantageous to possibly identical engravers, which will facilitate conducts the contrast research.The second part is elucidates texts. In this part, we include the following seven items generally to a piece of oracle bone inscription' explanation: the publishment, the classification, decipher texts, the description of a oracle bone, the corresponding relationship of the inscriptions and the the drills, explanation of the decipher texts, the compare the kinds of rubbings. The pulishment explained that these oracle bones were published in which books; The classification means explain which type of these inscriptions on the oracle bone; The discrption of a oracle bone including the length and breadth,and so on.; Decipher texts is explanation the meaning of the inscriptions on the oracle bone; The corresponding relationships between inscriptions and drills are explaining which inscription on the face of the oracle bone according to which drill on the back of the oracle bone. Decipher texts refer to revise the mistake which made by some scholars, make example of the same inscriptions on the other oracle bones, or simple textual research and explanation of the oracle bone inscriptions'contents; The rubbings comparing mean compare the same oracle bone in different publishments, find the different between these kind of rubbings.The third part is related research on some questions . We mainly make some research on the following question:How do the drill's shape evolve as well as if the evolution have any rule; Whether has the phenomenon that a piece of a oracle bone was used in the different date; Which we need pay attention to when we distinguish a early piece of oracle bone is a fake. Through the research, we reorganize the development sequence of the drills'shape on the oracle bones and summarize some rule of the development of the drills'shape. We think there have the phenomenon that a piece of oracle bone can be used in different dates, through analyzing several oracle bones which existence the inscriptions'date are different the date of the drills on the back. Through analyzing some fake inscriptions which collected in the museum, we find that the early time false engravers's level to be very bad. And we summarize the characteristic of the engraver who engrave the fake inscriptions of the collections in the museum, we has found some other fake oracle bone inscriptions were engraved by the same engraver who engrave the fake oracle bone colletions in the museum.Finally is the appendix part. Including the following several kind of appendices: 1st, the number is used in the paper according to the number be used in the other books; 2nd, the rejoint of these oracle bones, including the rejoint of themselves, and the rejoint of rejoining with the other oracle bones; 3rd, some figures of the rejoint of the oracle bones.