Oracle bone inscriptions are the earliest mature writing system discovered in China to date. Over the past 120 years, significant achievements have been made in the study of oracle bone inscriptions, playing an important role in promoting the dissemination of Chinese culture, enhancing cultural exchange and mutual learning, and inheriting excellent traditional Chinese culture.
“How to deeply study and activate the use of oracle bone inscriptions is a question I have been thinking about for a long time.” He Yuling, the newly elected NPC delegate this year, a researcher of the Archaeological Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and the deputy head of Anyang Station, said in an exclusive interview with reporters.
He Yuling mainly engaged in archaeological excavations and research during the Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties. He has been steadfast in the forefront of archaeological excavations in the Yin Ruins for many years, and is very familiar with the Yin Ruins and oracle bone inscriptions, and also has strong emotions. Over the past 120 years, nearly 160000 oracle bones have been discovered, which is a huge cultural treasure for us and the foundation for big data application technology processing. “He Yuling said, but these huge numbers of oracle bone inscriptions are collected in at least 174 institutions, including museums, libraries, scientific research institutions, universities, and so on both domestically and internationally, making it impossible to re gather oracle bones from the” physical form “for research.
He Yuling also told reporters that the texture of oracle bones is fragile, and the surface is loose, powdery, and damaged, making preservation, display, and utilization difficult. The existing oracle bone database and digital platform have varying data standards, algorithms, and quality, which seriously restrict the process of oracle bone protection research and activation utilization.
In this regard, He Yuling suggested that the Oracle bone inscriptions digitization project should be started as soon as possible, and a Oracle bone inscriptions digitization platform should be built in Yin Xu in Anyang, where the Oracle bone inscriptions were unearthed.
The goal of the digitalization project of oracle bone inscriptions is to maximize the preservation of the original appearance of oracle bones and their bearing text, and to achieve sustainable preservation and inheritance. The digital engineering of oracle bone based on 3D modeling, big data, and artificial intelligence technology will bring revolutionary changes to oracle bone conjugation, effectively improving the efficiency and success rate of conjugation. For example, He Yuling said that if we use digital technology to reassemble a piece of oracle bone that has been broken into 20 or 30 pieces, it will be easier to read oracle bone inscriptions with the appearance of the assembled sentences. This will play a crucial role in the study of Chinese characters and the exploration of the origin of Chinese civilization.
The construction of oracle bone digital engineering should be based on the principles of ‘sharing concept, authoritative release, information disclosure, efficiency and convenience, and intelligent interaction’, “He Yuling added. How to Build the Oracle Oracle Digital Project? He Yuling provided his own opinions and suggestions.
Under the coordination and promotion of relevant departments, it is suggested that the construction of Oracle National Digital Platform in Yin Xu in Anyang should be included in the overall layout plan of “Digital China”, and the Oracle Digital Project should be launched. Coordinate with various domestic oracle bone collection units to establish technical specifications for digital collection and modeling of oracle bone inscriptions as soon as possible, and publish relevant national standards or recommended standards. If conditions permit, seek the support of overseas oracle bone collection institutions as much as possible to complete the collection of three-dimensional data information of their collected oracle bones. The state provides strong support in project approval, funding, and other aspects.
The construction of oracle bone inscriptions digitization project also relies on the research and investment of scientific research units. He Yuling stated that Anyang Normal University has a key laboratory for oracle bone information processing under the Ministry of Education, and they are also working towards oracle bone digital technology. In addition, actively supporting the participation of large technology companies is also an important aspect of expanding the research and development and construction of Oracle’s digital engineering.
I personally will continue to pay attention to this research and through digital engineering construction, make oracle bone inscriptions’ live ‘and tell the story of Chinese characters well, “He Yuling said.
(Yang Yapeng)