Early Chinese writing

Abstract The earliest known form of Chinese writing are the so‐called ‘oracle bone inscriptions’ of the late Shang, divinatory inscriptions incised on turtle plastrons and ox scapulae, dating from about 1200–1050 B.C. Shang bTonze inscriptions from about 1100 B.C. constitute the second earliest source of evidence for archaic Chinese writing. The script of both kinds of Shang inscription, excluding the anomalous clan name emblems, can be seen to be a fully developed, versatile, and sophisticated writing system capable in principle of representing the full compass of the language. It shows unmistakeable evidence of having evolved from a rudimentary pictographic stage, through a multivalent stage to a determinative stage characterized by the addition of secondary graphic components to the original graph to resolve ambiguity. Scratch marks found on numerous pottery fragments from neolithic sites dating to as early as 4800 B.C. are sometimes claimed to be the source of Chinese characters. This claim is untenable for several reasons, not least of which is the sheer length of the gestation period that it entails. The emblematic characters found on artifacts from Ta wen k'ou sites in Shantung province may match in both form and function and Shang clan name insignia and may be one genuine forerunner to Chinese writing.