The literary giants of the late Ming Dynasty began by copying books

Wang Wenlong gently drew the soil layers representing the age on the oracle bone pit cultural relics with his hands, and said seriously: "The stratigraphic division of each layer may be hundreds of years of history. If we can find it in the corresponding strata, If there are bone fragments with the names of kings of a certain generation, the age represented by the corresponding strata can be further determined, and the period of the oracle bones in the same stratum can also be determined. "

"So when we excavate, we not only need to record the soil layers, but it is also best to keep soil samples of the corresponding soil layers to facilitate comparison when oracle bones of the corresponding soil layers are excavated later."

Wang Wenlong knew that the standardized excavation method of stratigraphy is a sign that archeology has entered the systematic stage from its inception, which is very important. With this scientific method, scholars can integrate the unearthed data in the area and trace its development through the ages. .

Dong Qichang and Fan Yunlin were both open-mouthed when they heard this. Both of them have accumulated considerable experience in front-line archaeology through years of oracle bone excavations, and they have a lot of doubts about the interpretation of the oracle bones they excavated. They always feel that in the face of these complicated matters There are many difficulties in interpretation of complex oracle bone inscriptions.

It wasn't until they heard Wang Wenlong's explanation of the concept of archaeological stratigraphy that they realized that there was actually a lot of information that could be deciphered from the archaeological sites of oracle bones, but this information had been missed by them in the past.

Fan Yunlin said quickly: "I will go to the excavation site right away!" After saying that, he walked out.

Dong Qichang also looked excited and said to Wang Wenlong: "The stratigraphic method mentioned by Jianyang is indeed good. You are really right to come to Anyang this time!"

At this time, the two of them just thought that Wang Wenlong's idea of ​​archaeological stratigraphy was very novel, and they felt that they could get some benefits from this approach, and they felt that they could give it a try.

They were far from expecting that starting from archaeological stratigraphy, Wang Wenlong truly introduced modern archaeological thinking to the Oracle Bone Society. From this moment on, the excavation research of the Oracle Bone Society finally passed the stage of antiquities.

Don’t underestimate this short step. In the past, European archaeologists simply recorded the changes and distribution of pottery or other artifact types and compared them with each other, turning archeology from treasure hunting into a method that can accurately judge the excavated cultural relics. of historical science.

European archeology of ancient Greece and Rome can be traced back to the Renaissance. European antiquities have been developing since at least 1500. However, in the original history, European archaeologists determined excavation methods based on stratigraphy. , the dating method based on the typology of artifacts, archeology entered the systematic stage until around 1925, which was not long before the archaeological excavations of the Yin and Shang Dynasties in China began in the original history.

Some people in later generations thought that Chinese archeology was introduced from the West, so Chinese archaeologists' research on ancient culture is not as accurate as Westerners. This is simply because they do not understand the history of the development of archeology.

Around 1925, world archeology entered a systematic stage. The archaeological excavation of Yin Ruins in China in 1929 and the archaeological excavation of Longshan in China in 1931 began. Chinese scholars joined the archaeological practice and did not lag behind the world level.

Before the emergence of systematic archeology, people in both the East and the West did not have very advanced ideas about ancient cultural relics. For example, the marble statues discovered by archeology on the Acropolis before 1919 were still colored, but European artists simply wore off the colors in order to pursue their own aesthetics. This is essentially the same as when believers rebuilt the Yungang Grottoes during the Qing Dynasty, drilling holes and nailing wedges into the ancient Buddha statues to facilitate hanging mud and coloring, and drilling holes into the eyes to facilitate plugging of eyeballs. These were common sights before the advent of systematic archeology.

Although Wang Wenlong did not major in history before traveling through time, he was still majoring in ancient literature. Because he was very interested in ancient culture, he also read a lot of books related to archeology.

In the next few days, he followed the members of the Oracle Bone Society to participate in some archaeological work on site in Anyang. During the process, Wang Wenlong took the initiative to put forward a lot of opinions, many of which surprised the members of the Oracle Bone Society.

Dong Qichang attached great importance to Wang Wenlong's views and began to try to incorporate many of his views into archaeological practice. This series of practices of the Oracle Bone Society are actually cultivating archaeological talents for China.

According to later historical records, the Oracle Bone Society that emerged during the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty will become the first modern archaeological society in human history. Wang Wenlong and Dong Qichang, among others, will become the pioneers of modern archaeology.

In particular, Wang Wenlong, who proposed the stratigraphic working method, was directly dubbed the "father of archaeological standardization."

Xi Langxian and Pan Xiu also interviewed and wrote articles at the archaeological site throughout the excavation process. Xi Langxian also painted a lot of paintings at the archaeological site. Wang Wenlong finally came to Anyang this time, so naturally he had to personally write a few articles about oracle bone inscriptions for the "Suzhou Xunbao" Archaeological manuscripts.

The busyness of the "Suzhou Xunbao" interview team was noticed by the colleagues of the Oracle Bone Society, and they were grateful, so Dong Qichang specially asked someone to select a few pieces of oracle bones to give to Wang Wenlong as a gift.

Archeology in this era has not yet been developed, and people's thoughts on ancient cultural relics are just like this. It is a great progress to avoid grinding oracle bones.

Although the members of the Oracle Bone Society will carefully preserve the oracle bones, they strictly abide by the moral standard of not keeping the excavated oracle bones for themselves. However, oracle bones can be purchased everywhere in Anyang, so it is inevitable for members to privately buy oracle bones from outsiders for collection. of.

As the helmsman of the Oracle Bone Society, Dong Qichang had thousands of oracle bones in his private collection, and when he went everywhere to research oracle bones and smooth relationships, exquisite oracle bones were also a common gift for Dong Qichang.

Among the five pieces of oracle bones given to Wang Wenlong, three were written on armor and two were written on bones. There were more than fifteen characters on each piece, and the two pieces of armor and the two pieces of bone were painted with vermilion and ink respectively, just after the words were carved. Then use paint to color the text. The value of this kind of oracle bone is far more than that of the inscribed oracle bone. There is even a piece of armor that is even more precious, which is directly the Zhu Shu.

At this time, through the study of oracle bones, members of the Oracle Bone Society have deciphered the legendary story of Meng Tian's pen-making, because a batch of oracle bones with red inscriptions were unearthed from the oracle bones in Anyang. There were no inscriptions on these oracle bones, and they were simply dipped in red paint with the pen. Write oracles.

In the eyes of calligraphers like Dong Qichang, they can tell at a glance whether the businessman uses a brush or a hard brush to write, and the way he uses the pen is quite distinctive, and the written words are very flavorful.

Meng Tian was from the Qin Dynasty, and legends say he was the first to make a writing brush. However, evidence from oracle bone research clearly proves that writing brushes existed as early as the Shang Dynasty.

Wang Wenlong carefully preserved this batch of oracle bones. He first found a craftsman in Anyang to make a box with the same size as the blades. He also put a soft lining in the box. He also got lime and other materials to absorb water and moisture, and then used fine cotton thread to thin the oracle bones. It is stretched inside the box to prevent bumps due to bumps on the way home.

It is a calligraphy written by people thousands of years ago. If you rub out a dot of ink, it is disrespectful to the national treasure.

Wang Wenlong's acceptance of the oracle bones was not just out of greed for money, but because he participated in the entire process of excavation of the oracle bones and really wanted to leave something as a souvenir. A hundred years from now, maybe Chinese civilization can take a different path. At that time, his descendants will donate this thing to a museum, and put a sign below that says "Oracle Bones Discoverer Wang Wenlong Collects Oracle Bones." It will definitely be rated as a special cultural relic. . (End of chapter)