The Oracle Bone Inscriptions Database of Yin Ruins, published by Zhonghua Book Company, is a collection of many years’ research results on Oracle bones, which integrates the original text, interpretation and Oracle bones dictionary, and solves the problem of scattered Oracle bones.
Oracle Bone Inscriptions is the oldest systematic writing in China so far. It is named after the inscription on tortoise shells and animal bones. It is also called “Qiwen”. Oracle bones are relics used by the Yin people for divination, and their contents cover all aspects of meteorology, agriculture, politics, military affairs and daily life at that time. They are of great archaeological value and can be called treasures of Chinese civilization. Since the late Qing dynasty, the excavation, arrangement and research of Oracle bones have been carried out day by day, which has become spectacular so far, providing us with the most direct historical materials for understanding the social history of Shang Dynasty and the origin and development of Chinese characters. “Oracle Bone Inscriptions Database of Yin Ruins” has systematically compiled and published the past research results of Oracle bones in digital form.
“Oracle Bone Inscriptions Database of Yin Ruins” is a special database of Oracle Bone Inscriptions jointly developed by Gulian Company of Zhonghua Book Company and Professor Chen Nianfu of Zhejiang Normal University. This database is formed by adding and revising the Oracle Bone Inscriptions text arrangement results of Professor Chen Nianfu. The whole database contains 59,591 Oracle bones and 143,856 Oracle inscriptions, referring to dozens of domestic and foreign documents recorded in Oracle Bone Inscriptions. Each Oracle inscription contains two parts: imitation and interpretation, and is marked with the subject classification, specific source and font group. On this basis, the academic achievements of Oracle bone conjugation for many years are sorted out, which makes the content displayed in this library more complete and comprehensive.
The Oracle Bone Inscriptions font specially developed by the database also makes Oracle Bone Inscriptions’s imitation achievements appear in digital form to the readers. It is reported that the database is also accompanied by Professor Chen Nianfu’s important research achievement-Oracle online dictionary. This dictionary shows Oracle Bone Inscriptions’s prefixes, pronunciations, glyphs, inflections and interpretations in an all-round way, including about 3,900 prefixes and 6,700 prefixes. It can not only look up a single word, but also look up the explanation content of Oracle Bone Inscriptions words containing the word. On the one hand, it provides reference materials for the interpretation and reading of Oracle Bone Inscriptions’s ci; On the other hand, it also provides convenient service tools for practitioners in the field of literature and history to use Oracle Bone Inscriptions resources. (Reporter Chen Xue)