1．Oracle Bone Inscriptions Their First Appearance and Initial Reception in the Learned World

The oracle bone inscriptions of the Shang dynasty were known to learned circles in China and to a few European and American scholars for almost thirty years before scientific digging was started at Anyang by the Institute of History and Philology of the Academia Sinica in 1927.^[2] How did it happen that the learned world in old China came to recognize the importance of this new discovery，which revolutionized Chinese paleography and paved the way to the development of archaeological science in the land of Cathay？

It is definitely known to field archaeologists that the“Waste of Yin”was used as a graveyard at least as early as the Sui dynasty，^[3] if not earlier．There is evidence indicating that when the Sui people dug holes in this place for burying their dead，they frequently found inscribed oracle bones hidden underneath．If at that time some scholars，as cultivated as the paleographers of the nineteenth century，had come upon this hidden treasure，oracle bone inscriptions might have become known to Chinese scholars thirteen centuries earlier！This assumption is based on the fact that modern excavations of Sui tombs have uncovered more than once，in the stratum overlying these tombs，many fragments of inscribed oracle bones．I mention this interesting underground stratification to show only one fundamental point：that is，in intellectual development there are definite stages which follow each other in a certain order．That the oracle bone inscriptions were recognized at the end of the nineteenth century as a significant discovery which academicians continue to cultivate was not merely accidental．There was a long intellectual history preparatory for what took place in 1899（1898？）．It is important to take into consideration the intellectual history of the Manchu（Ch'ing）dynasty，which provided and nourished scholars to a mature stage ready to appreciate and acknowledge the importance of oracle bone inscriptions.

Two branches of classical learning cultivated in the Manchu dynasty are closely related to the maturity of this intellectual stage．I should first like to mention the intense cultivation of textual criticism．Its origin can be traced back to a period as early as the Northern Sung dynasty，but its full development did not take place until the beginning of the seventeenth century．Ku Yen-wu（1613-1682）was the first master of this particular branch of learning．He was followed in the early period of the Manchu dynasty by a school of other eminent scholars who developed the spirit of pursuing knowledge for its own sake—a spirit that Liang Ch'i-ch'ao，one of the leaders of the Kuang Hsü Reform Movement and a pioneer in the literary revolution of modern China，succinctly summarized by saying，“The current motifs and chief elements of learning of the Ch'ing dynasty in the main are similar to the Renaissance Movement in Europe during the fourteenth-sixteenth centuries.”^[4] Besides Ku Yen-wu，Liang also mentioned as the co-founder of this movement Yen Jo-chü（1636-1704），the man who successfully proved that a large portion of the Shu-ching（Book of Documents），which had been regarded for more than a thousand years as sacred as the Old Testament in the West，is a forgery fabricated by later pretentious classicists．The success of Yen Jo-chü helped to promote k'ao chü hsüeh（or classic textual criticism）as the main stem of classical scholarship．Subsequently we find Tai Chen（1723-1777）^[5] as the leader of this school；he was followed by a long list of illustrious scholars such as Tuan Yü-ts'ai（1735-1815），Wang Nien-sun（1744-1832），Wang Yin-chih（1766-1834），and Wu Ta-ch'eng（1835-1902）．The trend of this new movement was directed in the main to the re-examination of all the other classics．Gradually this scholastic initiative was extended to all the important ancient texts，reaching its climax in the Ch'ien Lung to the Tao Kuang eras.

An accompanying development in this period took place in antiquarianism or the science of paleography（chin shih hsüeh）which，as everybody knows，was in China initiated as early as the Northern Sung dynasty．Although it was almost completely neglected during the following dynasties，Yüan and Ming，toward the beginning of the seventeenth century，in China's Renaissance Movement，this branch of learning was also reborn．The study of ancient bronze and stone inscriptions constituted a necessary discipline in the training of chiao k'an hsüeh（a more advanced branch of textual criticism）that required not only a close familiarity with all ancient classical texts，but also a profound knowledge of the history of all the ancient Chinese characters．Liang Ch'i-ch'ao，in the monograph cited above，said regarding the significance of the paleographers' study of ancient bronze and stone inscriptions：“What they achieved represents the opinion of collective scholastic efforts．… These achievements started a revolution in the ancient learning of Chinese paleography.”Previously，Liang said in addition，Chinese paleography started and ended with Hsü Shen's Shuo-wen dictionary，which，like the ancient classics，had been taken by all educated men as the only authoritative interpretation of the origins and meanings of Chinese written words．With the beginning investigations of ancient bronze inscriptions，paleographers started to cast doubt on Shuo-wen's authority．And many antiquarians discovered that chin shih hsüeh could provide a more correct interpretation of many ancient texts.

According to Yung Keng，the catalogue of studies of inscriptions that Yeh Ming compiled in 1910 listed 492 titles.^[6] Although the catalogue is considered to be full of mistakes，nevertheless it indicates the enormous amount of intellectual effort that scholars of the Ch'ing dynasty applied to this particular field of learning．As to what these scholars have contributed to the advancement of paleography，one example may be sufficient to illustrate their distinguished service．

The name of Wu Ta-ch'eng is well known as his antiquarian investigations attracted the attention of Western Sinologues very early．Among his numerous contributions，his studies of antique jades are especially famous．When Berthold Laufer，one of the pioneers devoted to the pursuit of Chinese learning in North America，published his well-known monograph on jade in 1912，he said in the introductory chapter：“I was forced to reproduce the material of Wu almost in its entirety，owing to its great archaeological importance.”Laufer continued：“Wu Ta-ch'eng is not bound by the fetters of the past and not hampered by the accepted school traditions．With fair and open mind，he criticized the errors of the commentators to the Chou-li，the Ku-yü t'u-p'u，and many others，and his common sense leads him to new and remarkable results not anticipated by any of his predecessors．……”^[7]

Wu Ta-ch'eng's Ku-yü t'u-k'ao（Studies of Ancient Jade）was first published in 1889．Five years earlier Wu published an even more important work，Shuo-wen ku-chou pu（Supplements to the Ancient Seal Characters of the Shuo-wen Dictionary），which may be said to be the first systematic effort made by a Chinese classical scholar of the Ch'ing dynasty to point out，on the basis of his study of ancient bronze and stone inscriptions，the errors of Hsü Shen's dictionary．An appendix volume，Tzǔ-shuo（Ancient Chinese Characters），published together with Shuo-wen ku-chou pu，studies about three dozen written characters，found mainly in the bronze inscriptions，which the author shows to be definitely different from，and even contradictory to，the definitions and interpretations of the Shuo-wen dictionary．These differences were mainly attributed to erroneous interpretations or wrong identifications of pre-Ch'in scripts．In other words，the evidence provided by bronze inscriptions proved definitely that Hsü Shen's Shuo-wen dictionary was by no means a faultless authority．Detailed instances seem unnecessary here；those who are interested may consult Wu's original work．What I wish to note here is the general tendency of scholarly work in academic circles toward the end of the nineteenth century．At this time，on the basis of the accumulated achievements of textual criticism and the study of stone and bronze inscriptions，cultivated in general among the intellectuals and the literati and encouraged by imperial sanctions of the Ch'ien Lung and Chia Ch'ing eras（1736-1820），Chinese epigraphy had already advanced to a stage ready for new source materials and new ideas which were eagerly looked for and studied．The fetters and shackles on Chinese literati set by the Shuo-wen dictionary for more than a millennium were at this moment completely loosened and even shattered.

So，when the oracle bone inscriptions were accidentally noticed by scholars nourished in this tradition，such as Wang I-yung（Fig.1），the Dean of Hanlin College，whose attention was at once attracted，steps were immediately taken to collect the strange，previously unknown inscriptions．The exact circumstances in which Wang I-yung，an eminent scholar and statesman，discovered inscribed oracle bones still remain obscure．Even the exact year of his discovery cannot be stated definitely.^[8] What is not disputed is that he started his collection of inscriptions before the climax of the Boxer Movement，which took place in 1900．A widely circulated story concerning Wang I-yung's epoch-making discovery begins with a case of malaria which occurred among his family．The medical prescription of the attending physician included an ingredient of“decayed tortoise shell.”The master of the family was evidently also a medical connoisseur，so，when the medicines were brought back from the store，he examined all the ingredients personally．To his great astonishment，he found on the decayed tortoise shells ancient Chinese characters，which，although unknown to him，he found fascinating．He immediately ordered his servant to purchase all the decayed tortoise shells in the store where the original dosage had been purchased.

To what extent this story is true nobody has so far been able to confirm．What is generally known is that Wang I-yung was the first scholar to collect inscribed oracle bones.

1 Wang I-yung 王懿荣

Our main source of information concerning the earliest discoveries of oracle bones is Tung Tso-pin，whose subsequent role in the Anyang excavations will be narrated in the following chapters．In 1928 when Tung was sent to the Hsiao-t'un area to investigate Anyang as a possible archaeological site，he took extensive notes，based primarily upon conversations with Hsiao-t'un villagers，concerning the early history of the oracle bone discoveries．From his report to the sponsoring Institute of History and Philology，he extracted a condensed chronological account，listing events concerning the discovery，collection，and study of oracle bone inscriptions，which was published in 1930 as Chia-ku nien-piao（Oracle Bone Chronicles）．In the course of the ensuing excavations，Tung continued his investigations of the previous history of oracle bone discoveries，studying written accounts and interviewing early participants．In his revised edition of Chia-ku nien-piao，published in 1937，Tung included these new data，even though diverse in origin and sometimes contradictory.^[9] As the earliest entries listed in Tung's Chronicles have implications for subsequent events in oracle bone scholarship，and for the relationships（often obscure）among the various participants，I would like here to translate or summarize，and briefly comment upon，Tung's five entries for the first year，1899．The following account is based upon the 1937 edition of Tung's Chronicles.

1．Tung's first entry for 1899 is as follows：

Formerly，long before this year [1899]，in the farming land on the bank of the Huan River，north of the village of Hsiao-t'un，located in the Anyang district of Honan province，oracle bones（chia ku）were frequently found．The villagers treated them as things of medical value，so collected them and sold them to drugstores；they were generally known as dragon bones（lung ku）．Li Ch'eng，a barber and a native of the village，made a business of dealing in dragon bones；he is now dead．The so-called dragon bones，are，in fact，largely oracle bones；and according to the folklore prevailing in Hsiao-t'un village，the majority of these bones bear inscriptions．The villagers sold them either retail or wholesale．In retail dealings，the dragon bones were first ground into a powder known by its native name as“knife points medicine”（tao chien yo），which Chinese medical practitioners considered effective in healing cuts and surgical wounds．The buyers in the wholesale market were usually managers of Chinese drugstores．The price charged was six cash per catty．The inscribed pieces at that time had no market value，and were considered worthless；so it was the usual practice among the sellers to polish off those inscriptions，before the dragon bones were brought to the market.

2．The second entry for 1899 is based upon an article by an author with the pen-name Hsi Weng，whose account，according to Tung Tso-pin，is incorrect in dating the event as happening one year earlier．The second entry：

In this year，Liu T'ieh-yün of Tan-t'u was visiting in the capital [Peking] as a house guest of Wang I-yung．The host of Liu T'ieh-yün was attacked by malarial fever．The doctor's prescriptions included an ingredient of decayed tortoise shell purchased at the drugstore Ta-jen-t'ang [name of the store] in Ts'ai-shih-k'ou [street name]．On the tortoise shells Liu T'ieh-yün saw seal characters（chuan wen），which he picked out and showed to his host；both of them were somewhat astonished at this discovery．Wang，a student of bronze inscriptions，immediately realized that these tortoise shells must be ancient．He went to the drugstore，to inquire about the source of supply of these ingredients．The manager told him that they came from T'ang-yin and Anyang of Honan province．…… They were sold at a very low price．…… Liu T'ieh-yün went to the drugstores in the city and purchased them all．

This account differs in some detail from the previously mentioned episode concerning malaria in Wang I-yung's family．Tung includes it in his Chronicles since nobody is certain about what happened at the very beginning．This is the first mention of Liu T'ieh-yün（Fig.2）whose subsequent importance to oracle bone scholarship will be discussed further on.

3．A third event，also recorded for 1899 in the revised Chronicles，is more or less general in nature，and is based upon Tung's conversations with Hsiao-t'un villagers．The Chronicles merely mention that a curio dealer by the name of Fan Wei-ch'ing traveled for the great collector Tuan Fang，a Manchu mandarin of culture and of experience in European contact．Fan roamed about with eyes wide open for any antiquity that might interest his lord．He stopped at Changte（Anyang）and found pieces of inscribed oracle bones，which Fan's sharp eyes realized as a source of great fortune．The story is still current that Viceroy Tuan Fang was so pleased with these new curiosities that he paid the dealer two and a half taels of silver per character for the inscribed bones．These rich rewards encouraged dealer Fan to take more field trips．Like the first two episodes，this story cannot be either confirmed or denied．At any rate Tuan Fang's collection，the story of which circulated only among curio dealers and peddlers，had no actual academic influence.

2 Liu T'ieh-yün 刘铁云

4．According to Tung's fourth entry for this year，this same dealer，Fan Wei-ch'ing sold twelve tortoise shells to Wang I-yung，at a price of two taels per piece．Tung Tso-pin obtained this information from the unpublished lecture notes of James M．Menzies，a Presbyterian missionary，whose activity in collecting oracle bones during the 1920s will be discussed further．Menzies' own source for the information was the dealer Fan himself.

5．The final entry for 1899 in Tung's Chronicles is based upon two sources．The first is Liu T'ieh-yün.^[10] The second is Lo Chên-yü's diary of a trip he made in 1914-1915，^[11] which included a visit to the village of Hsiao-t'un．Tung's brief statement of his fifth entry for the year is as follows：

According to Liu Tieh-yün's Preface to T'ieh-yün ts'ang-kuei [1903]，tortoise shells were taken out of the soil in the year Chi Hai [1899] in the T'ang-yin district of Honan from the site of the ancient Yu-li．［…］Fan，a dealer［…］，wanted to monopolize the trade，so he kept the real provenance as a trade secret，on which Lo commented in his diary：“Thus was Liu cheated by the dealer as to the place of origin of these inscribed shells.”

Lo Chên-yü（Fig.3），as will be discussed below，is known as the man who discovered the provenance of the oracle bones and as the author of numerous distinguished paleographic studies．

The above five entries concerning the first knowledge of oracle bone inscriptions in Chinese learned circles represent the studied summary of Tung Tso-pin，who devoted his life to advancing scientific knowledge of the nature of these ancient inscriptions.

Although many points remain obscure，it is clear that Wang I-yung must be considered as the first man to recognize the scholarly value of the ancient characters inscribed on tortoise shells known as oracle bones．The biographical note on Wang I-yung in the History of the Ch'ing Dynasty includes the following comments：“I-yung's learning is wide；he is fond of bronze and stone inscriptions．Both Weng T'ung-ho and P'an Tsu-yin were profoundly impressed by the scope and depth of his classical and paleographical knowledge.”^[12] When the Boxer Movement reached its critical year，1900，Wang I-yung committed suicide．It is generally accepted that the larger part of his collection of inscribed oracle bones passed into the hands of Liu T'ieh-yün，who had also，according to most specialists，purchased inscribed bones from the dealer Fan.

3 Lo Chên-yü 罗振玉

Liu Tieh-yün's diary，published in 1936，contains some additional information，probably not available to Tung Tso-pin when he revised his Chronicles，concerning both Liu's own early collecting activity and that of Wang I-yung.^[13] One entry in the diary，for the twentieth day of the tenth month in the year Hsin Ch'ou（1901），reads as follows：“The dealer Chao Chih-chai sent me tortoise shells；there are some larger ones．In the evening I counted them；they amount to 1，300 pieces．What a rich collection！”From this entry Ch'en Meng-chia deduced that Liu Tieh-yün had his own collection as early as 1901.^[14]

If Wang I-yung may be taken as the Charles Darwin of the new branch of Chinese paleography，Liu T'ieh-yün must rank，by common consent，as the Thomas Huxley．Liu is Wang I-yung's most important successor for two reasons．He not only continued the effort to collect the oracle bones（Ch'en Meng-chia estimated that his collection numbered 5，588 pieces as a minimum），^[15] but he was actually the first man with the foresight to lithograph and publish the ink-squeezes of these totally unknown inscriptions.^[16]In his six volumes，published in 1903，Liu reproduced 1，058 fragments of tortoise shell inscriptions，with Forewords and Preface by Lo Chên-yü，Wu Ch'ang-shou，and Liu T'ieh-yün himself—the earliest published documents discussing the nature and contents of the inscribed oracle bones.

One year later，the thirtieth year of the Kuang Hsü era，another eminent scholar，Sun I-jang，completed his first study of the inscriptions，but the manuscripts were not published till 1917.^[17] This scholar was perhaps one of the most learned men of the final period of the Manchu dynasty．He was the distinguished editor of the last of the thirteen classics，Chou-li，about which he compiled and critically edited all the past comments，notes，and annotations，a gigantic task completed in 1899．When he first read Liu's T'ieh-yün ts'ang-kuei and saw the reproduced ink-squeezes，he remarked：“Unexpectedly，in my declining years，I am able to see these marvelous antique traces of ancient inscriptions which have fascinated me so much that I could not stop reading and studying uninterruptedly for two months，with notes and comments from time to time，till at last，I found some way to understand the meanings of these ancient documents！”