| Both the inscriptions on bone or tortoise shells and the Naxi Dongba Scripts belong to ancient ideography system. Comparing the inscriptions on bone or tortoise shells with the Naxi Dongba Scripts will not only benefit the study of the two writings themselves but also have advantages to explore the general rule of the origin, the constitution and the development of the character. Furthermore this kind comparative study can also enrich and develop the theory of Comparative Written Linguists.Pictographs are the head of the six categories of Chinese characters and the basis of the writings. There has been dispute about Pictographs in academic circle, but there's less deep and systematic study about pictography. This paper uses the theory of Comparative Written Linguists as the guiding ideology and selects the pictographs in inscriptions on bones or tortoise shells of Shang Dynasty and Naxi Dongba Scripts as the object of study. On the basis of consulting predecessors'achievements broadly, we conduct comparative study of the pictographs in the two writings from different angles such as pictographic style and transfiguration method, by means of statistic analysis, deep description and detailed classification about the pictographs in the two writings. This paper includes five chapters:The first chapter is introduction. This part introduces the reason and value of selecting this subject, the material of study, and the guiding theory and method. Meanwhile this chapter also presents the each study and comparative study about the pictographs in the two writings.In Chapter Two, we define the pictography and distinguish pictographs from pictures. Then, we classify pictographs into several kinds according to different pictographic structures and degree. In addition to this, we still tell the difference between pictograph and self-explanatory and associative compound character. According to the study above, we make sure the numbers of the pictographs in the two writings and classify them into different sorts according to pictographic degree and style in Chapter Three. Then, we conclude the similarities and differences about them and analyze the reasons.Chapter Four is the main part of the paper. We conduct the comparative study about pictographs in the two writings. There are more transfiguration methods in pictographs of Naxi Dongba Scripts than those in pictographs of inscriptions on bones or tortoise shells. The relation between the normal form and the variant form of the pictographs in Naxi Dongba Scripts is complicated, but the relation in the pictographs in inscriptions on bones or tortoise shells of is comparatively simple. In Naxi Dongba Scripts, one pictograph usually has several syllables or several speech sounds. There are three kinds of relation between the font style and the meaning in the pictographs of Naxi Dongba Scripts. However, the situations in the pictographs of inscriptions on bones or tortoise shells are not so complicated. All of these show that the inscriptions on bones or tortoise shells are more mature and developed than the Naxi Dongba Scripts. Finally, we compare the cultural meaning of the pictographs in the two writings and explain the reason for their similarities and differences.Chapter Five is the conclusion and enlightenment. We summarize the similarities and differences between two kinds of pictographs diachronically and synchronically. From the diachronic point of view, the pictographs in Naxi Dongba Scripts have more pictorial meanings and characteristics than those in inscriptions on bones or tortoise shells. From the synchronic point of view, the pictographs in Naxi Dongba Scripts relies mainly on realistic means, but the pictographs in inscriptions on bones or tortoise shells gives priority to freestyle means, which is their main difference. The reason for this is their different periods of development. There are also similarities between them. For example, there is a relation named"rebus"in the pictographs of two writings, which means the successive and imitational relationship between character signs. |
