Jia gu shu lu jie ti 甲骨書錄解題 [Précis for Books on the Oracle Bones]

135 folding leaves. 8vo, orig. printed wrappers, orig. stitching. Shanghai: Shangwu yinshuguan 商務印書館, 1935.




First edition of this bibliography of scholarship on the so-called oracle bones and their script. The oracle-bone inscriptions are divinatory inscriptions on animal scapulae and turtle plastrons. "Scapulimancy began to emerge in China during the late Yangshao 仰韶 period...The application of northern scapulimancy to the divine turtle shell of the south and east reached its highest point several centuries later during the golden age of oracle-bone divination at Anyang, a period of roughly two centuries that starts in the reign of Wu Ding (ca. 1250-1192 BCE) and continues through the reigns of his eight successors until the fall of the Shang (1046 BCE)" (Wilkinson, Chinese History, 681-82). The oracle-bone inscriptions were discovered around the beginning of the 20th century and they revolutionized the study of the early Chinese script and of early Chinese history overall. Our book sums up the results of research in this field in its first few decades.


Shao outlined the principles he had used in his collection:



1. The book records writings on the oracle bones, with a focus on monographs. Single articles found in journals or in other books are also recorded, but put in a separate appendix titled "Jia gu lun wen jie ti" 甲骨論文解題 ["Précis for Articles on the Oracle Bones"].


2. The scope of the texts covered is limited to the writing and material objects unearthed at the Yin [Shang capital at Anyang] site. Works on the culture of the Yin period or Yin history are covered partially upon consideration.


3. Every précis, be it for monographs or articles, must record the title, edition and time of publication, any prefaces, colophons, epigraphs, and notes, as well as an outline of the contents. For important works, their effect on the field of oracle bone studies is also discussed and evaluated for the reader's consideration.


4. The order of items follows date of publication, with foreign-language texts listed last.


5. At the end of both the "Précis for Books" and the "Précis for Articles," appendices with miscellaneous items are added in preparation for future examination.


6. The scope of monographs and articles is somewhat different, thus the division into themes of the two lists has been made slightly different as well. Please use them comparatively.


7. At the end of the book, there is an "Index to Writings on the Oracle Bones" for ease of retrieval.



Fine copy.