Liu Jiang's 100 pieces of oracle bone script calligraphy

Author: Liu Jiang
Publisher:
Publish Date: 1999-01-01
Features: This book includes nearly 100 pieces of oracle bone script calligraphy by the renowned calligrapher Liu Jiang. Each piece is accompanied by textual annotations to aid readers in identification and copying. The book features exquisite calligraphy and well-organized layouts, fully demonstrating Liu Jiang's in-depth research on oracle bone script and his profound calligraphic expertise. It serves as an excellent reference for calligraphy enthusiasts studying and practicing oracle bone script.
In the early years of the Guangxu reign, local farmers working in the ruins of the ancient Shang capital (modern Anyang, Henan) accidentally discovered some tortoise shells and animal bones inscribed with strange symbols. Soon after, these oracle bones were sold to apothecaries as medicinal ingredients. In 1898 (the 24th year of the Guangxu reign), a merchant transported the oracle bones to Beijing. The following year (1899), the Jinshi scholar Wang Yirong identified the oracle bones as important ancient artifacts and preliminarily confirmed their historical value. In 1903, Liu E, the author of Old Man Zan's Journey, published the first collection of oracle bone script, Iron Cloud's Collection of Oracle Bones (Teyun Canggu), which is regarded as the starting point of oracle bone studies. In 1904, Sun Yixiang wrote the first work on oracle bone divinations, Examples of Oracle Bone Script (Qiewen Liji). From this point, building on the research of scholars such as Luo Zhenyu and Wang Guowei, the study of oracle bones continued from the modern era to the contemporary period, gradually forming a new discipline—oracle bone studies.
Oracle bones are remnants of ancient divination practices. During the Shang Dynasty, due to low social and cultural development, the dominant ideology was the worship of ancestors and natural deities through the shamanistic cult. When faced with difficult decisions, people often sought divine guidance by burning oracle bones or animal bones and interpreting the cracks that appeared to determine auspiciousness or inauspiciousness. Detailed records of each divination—its practitioners, process, omens, and outcomes—were inscribed on the bones, known as divination texts or the symbol script we see today on oracle bones. Most of these texts are divinations by the Shang kings, known as "kingship divinations," while a few are by Shang nobles, termed "non-kingship divinations." The content of these divination texts is quite rich, providing a comprehensive reflection of the governance of the Shang state and the lives of the royal and noble families. They supplement the limited historical records of the Shang and Xia dynasties, corroborating existing written materials and helping us understand the social structures, customs, and historical geographical changes of the ancient period. They hold significant value in social history, the history of science, and paleography.
Perhaps for this very reason, for a long time, people's studies of oracle bone script have largely focused on their social meanings, overlooking the aesthetic and artistic value of the form itself—the unique beauty of the script's lines. Among the existing recognizable Chinese characters, oracle bone script is the oldest, yet it already possessed the basic principles of the traditional "Six Arts of Writing" and had developed into a relatively advanced system. The structural design of oracle bone script retains many elements of pictographic representation, and during the writing (or carving) process, modifications were often made based on the habits of the scribes and the convenience of composition. Components of characters were added, deleted, rearranged, or resized, and as Sun Yixiang noted in the preface to Examples of Oracle Bone Script, "Once inscribed with a knife, the script becomes rugged and ancient, with sharp and integrated lines," revealing a sense of profound antiquity and natural elegance. This is precisely what has captivated and inspired countless oracle bone calligraphy enthusiasts to emulate.
The earliest known use of oracle bone script in artistic creation is attributed to Luo Zhenyu, followed later by Jian Jinglun, who combined oracle bone script with seals to create oracle bone seal prints. Subsequently, more and more people followed this practice, and over the decades, it evolved into a widespread trend, with particular contributions from the members of the Xiling Seal Society. Now, our society proudly presents Xiling Seal Society's Calligraphy—Centennial Legacy: Oracle Bone and Seal Script Calligraphy and Seal Carving Collection, featuring one volume each of Collection of Shang Divination couplets (with poems) by Ding Fuzhi, one of our society's founding members, and one volume each of Liu Jiang's 100 Pieces of Oracle Bone Script Calligraphy, 100 Pieces of Seal Script Couplets, and 100 Oracle Bone Seal Carvings. Liu Jiang has long been dedicated to the creation and study of calligraphy and seal carving. This time, the best selections from his years of work are published, which is a great event for calligraphy and seal carving enthusiasts and will also greatly benefit those who wish to learn.
Ding Fuzhi's Collection of Shang Divination couplets (with poems) was published in the 1940s and is now being reprinted to honor our predecessors. As the saying goes, "When you drink water, remember the source," and we express our gratitude and reverence for the wisdom of our predecessors through this effort.