Oracle Bone Dictionary

Author: Xu Zhongshu, Editor-in-Chief
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2003-03-01
Features: The Dictionary of Oracle Bone Characters extensively incorporates new research findings while integrating the significant achievements of Mr. Xu's decades-long study of oracle bone script. The book features a unique format, insightful definitions, and appropriate examples, with the following distinctive aspects:
1. Combines the strengths of various works to create a state-of-the-art compilation format. The explanation of oracle bone characters is divided into three parts: character form, character analysis, and interpretation. The character form section includes representative oracle bone script characters, the character analysis section explains the original and extended meanings (including borrowed meanings) of the characters, and the interpretation section lists various representative phrases to illustrate the different word meanings of each character in the specific linguistic context of the Shang Dynasty. These three parts are organically integrated, complementing each other, enabling readers to gain a relatively comprehensive and in-depth understanding of oracle bone script.
2. The collection of character forms first compiles all oracle bone characters and selects representative forms from them. Although the number of characters included is not extensive, they serve as a "one-to-ten" representation. The arrangement of character forms is divided into five periods in chronological order and attached to each character entry. This allows readers to understand the developmental and evolutionary trends of oracle bone script in different periods, as well as the variations in character forms and calligraphic styles, facilitating a thorough grasp of the script. This was something no previous ancient script reference work had achieved. The explanation of character meanings draws on the strengths of various scholars, avoiding narrow interpretations and adopting a pragmatic approach. At the same time, it incorporates Mr. Xu's decades-long academic achievements in studying oracle bone script, comprehensively examining form, sound, and meaning, leading to numerous innovative insights.
3. The book fully reflects Mr. Xu's scientific methodology for interpreting ancient script, emphasizing the interrelationships between characters and resolving many long-standing academic issues. For example, previous scholars did not fully recognize that the oracle bone characters "" (xiao) and "" (shao) were originally the same character, leading to the interpretation of only the "" (xiao)-based compound characters (e.g., "," "," "," "") while omitting many "" (shao)-based compound characters. The book, starting from the fundamental characteristics of ancient script, points out that "" and "" were originally the same character, breaking free from the constraints of form and interpreting the "" (shao)-based compound characters such as "" and "." Another example is the character "" (bian), which was interpreted by Mr. Xu early in his career. At that time, limited by archaeological findings, he relied solely on textual evidence and changes in character form for his arguments. The book, however, fully utilizes the newly unearthed archaeological materials from the Fu Hao tomb at Yinxu and combines them with oracle bone script forms to provide a more comprehensive interpretation of the character, confirming Mr. Xu's early conclusions. And so on.