Wentang

Chapter 764 Compilation of Oracle Bone Inscriptions

In the past two years, the Institute of Characters has quietly excavated the Yin and Shang ruins discovered in Henan Province several times.

More than 310 bone fragments were excavated, hundreds of pottery and bronze wares were excavated, and [-] six characters were obtained.Including the reference provided by Yue Shan, a total of [-] were deciphered.

This number has exceeded the total number of cracks in the previous life.

Some people may say, it’s too nonsense, so many experts and scholars only deciphered [-] words in a hundred years, and you deciphered [-] words in two years, how is it possible.

It's really possible.

The first reason is naturally that there are more than 1000 words of ready-made translation provided by Yueshan as a reference. The more than 1000 words already know the answer, as long as the process is reversed, there is not much difficulty.

The second reason is that the oracle bone inscriptions were discovered 300 years in advance, and the oracle bones, pottery, bronzes, etc. are more completely preserved, and more information can be obtained.

The third reason is the advantage brought by the discovery 300 years in advance. Many written knowledge and related materials have not been lost, which provides more convenience for the study of oracle bone inscriptions.

The best reference material for deciphering oracle bone inscriptions is actually bronze inscriptions, because bronze inscriptions are directly evolved from oracle bone inscriptions, and the relationship between the two parties is very deep.

It will be easier to deduce oracle bone inscriptions from bronze inscriptions.

As for the bronze inscriptions, they were the characters used by the countries in the Central Plains from the end of the Shang Dynasty to the period of Qin Shihuang's one-pass six kingdoms.

It was not until Qin Shihuang unified the six kingdoms that the scriptures were replaced by Xiaozhuan.

By the time Chinese literati began to pay attention to bronze inscriptions in the late Qing Dynasty, it had been lost.

After collection and sorting, only less than 2000 were found, which is not as large as the number of oracle bone inscriptions, and only more than [-] and less than [-] have been deciphered.

The loss of the bronze inscriptions closest to the oracle bone inscriptions is one of the key factors for the difficulty in deciphering the oracle bone inscriptions-there is a fault in the middle.

During the Tang Dynasty, there were still a large number of pre-Qin documents handed down, and there were rich records about bronze inscriptions, and some people were even able to identify and interpret them.

Therefore, it is really more convenient to study oracle bone inscriptions in the Tang Dynasty than in the 21st century.

This is still the result of the Institute of Characters working behind closed doors. Once this news is announced, and the strength of all Tang scholars is gathered, it will only be deciphered faster and more.

I don't know if I can decipher all the oracle bone inscriptions, but it must be much more than the previous life.

The book in Yue Shan's hand is the compilation of [-] deciphered oracle bone inscriptions by the Institute of Chinese Characters.

The writing of the book is very rigorous, and each character has found a linear evolution process, oracle bone inscriptions-bronze inscriptions-small seal script-official script-regular script.

Even the meanings of different periods are explained in great detail.

There are five books in this book, the first four are introductions to individual texts, and the latter one is a compilation of twenty oracle bone articles, as well as translations.

These twenty articles are used for divination and sacrifice, and there are articles about events, which are very rich.

In fact, there are far more articles than these. The reason why only [-] articles are recorded is because only the translations of these [-] articles are relatively complete.

In order to avoid controversy, those that cannot be fully translated will not be posted temporarily.

After reading it, Yue Shan was very satisfied. It was enough for him to write this book, and it was even worse. After all, he was not a professional researcher of characters.

The title of the book has also been thought of, without any fancy name, simple and straightforward: Oracle Bone Inscriptions Compilation.

The preface is also in a half-text and half-white style, introducing how the oracle bone inscriptions were discovered and how the research was carried out.

There is also the significance of the discovery of oracle bone inscriptions, calling on everyone to protect oracle bone inscriptions and study together.

There are no fancy words or big words, just a simple and straightforward introduction.

He believes that the most exciting thing about this book is the oracle bone inscription itself, and there is no need to make such bells and whistles.

It was getting late, so I went to the children's room and told them a fairy tale to lull them to sleep.

It's just that when telling the story, there is an extra older audience, Li Shu, who is now the ghostwriter of One Thousand and One Nights.

The two children fell asleep before the story was finished, but Yue Shan did not stop but continued to tell the story, and the rest was for Li Shu.

After the story was finished, the two left separately.Li Shu went back to organize and polish today's story, while Yue Shan went to find his wife.

After all, they are planning to have a second child, so how can they have a second child if they don't find a wife.

The next day he took the oracle bone inscriptions compilation to the palace, and informed Li Shimin of the plan.

As I said before, the oracle bone inscriptions matter has deep political significance, and the imperial court must make a big fuss about it.

Ventilate Li Shimin in advance so that he can get ready.

Upon hearing the news, Li Shimin said: "The timing is good, just in time for the resumption of enfeoffment, and there is another reason."

Yue Shan said: "I also think the timing is good, but the court still needs to be prepared. Once the oracle bone inscriptions come out, it may cause a big shock."

Li Shimin said: "It's good to have a shock, and it's best to make the gentry into chaos, so that the court can have a chance to attack them."

Yue Shan said: "This time it will definitely deal a major blow to the gentry. Don't they always pay attention to the ancient times, and hold a book of "Etiquette" as a standard. Now we have dug out the etiquette of the Shang Dynasty and see what they have to say."

Li Shimin said worriedly: "Will it cause chaos in the court etiquette?"

Yue Shandao: "There is a set of etiquette standards circulating among the people, which is quite different from the Zhou rituals recorded in "Rituals". Including the etiquette used by the imperial court today is also very different from the book "Rituals."

"What's shaken this time is only what the gentry insisted on, and it won't affect the people and the court, so don't worry."

Li Shimin breathed a sigh of relief: "Then I can rest assured."

Yue Shan continued: "Two years ago, Shangshu Kong started to sort out the etiquette of the Tang Dynasty, and planned to replace the "Etiquette" with Tang etiquette. I guess he can't wait."

Li Shimin said: "I know about this matter, and he even showed me that book. In the past two years, the various celebrations of the imperial court were carried out according to the Tang rituals he sorted out."

Kong Shangshu is Kong Yingda, who became the Minister of Rites with "Tang Rituals" last year.

Li Shimin aspires to surpass Qin Huang and Han Wu, not only in martial arts, but also in culture.

The first emperor's books and text cars were on the same track to unify the weights and measures, and Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty unified his thinking, so he had to make a major breakthrough.

Any breakthrough in literature will be valued by him, and "Tang Li" is naturally the same.Just imagine that future generations will use Tang rituals, what a great achievement this is.

As for the book of Tang Rituals, Kong Yingda collected all kinds of etiquette rules from the people and the court, combined with what he had learned, and created it.

It is a set of etiquette that perfectly conforms to Xinxue's thinking.

In a word, practical.

It's complicated when it should be complicated, and super simple when it should be simple.

For example, the etiquette of important occasions such as royal sacrifices and celebrations is very complicated, because such occasions really need etiquette to set off.

The key is that this kind of large-scale event is only held once a year, so it doesn't matter if it is complicated.

The etiquette of going to court is very simple, and the fine tradition of not needing to kneel when meeting the emperor or receiving imperial edicts is maintained.

The folk etiquette should be simplified if it can be simplified, and try not to increase the burden on the people.

It is in stark contrast to the rigid system of "Etiquette".

The point is that at this time, Datang is at the critical point of national integration, and various ideas are mixed together, and the overly complicated old formula of "Etiquette" is no longer applicable.

Datang needs a simple interest standard that can be understood by everyone, so that all ethnic groups can quickly learn and understand it.

"Tang Li" is undoubtedly more suitable.

After leaving the palace, Yueshan went to the academy again, and discussed with Wang Ji how to make the oracle bone inscriptions public.

Wang Ji obviously had a plan long ago, and said, "Let's wait for the next issue of the journal. Colleagues in the research institute have already written the article, and the next issue will be a special issue of Oracle."

"I have already sent the manuscript to Dizhou Academy, Yellow Crane Academy, Guangzhou Academy, Fanyang Academy, and Liaodong Academy. At that time, the journals of the six academies will be published at the same time, and strive to maximize the influence."

Yue Shan couldn't help but look sideways, the old man seemed really ready to make a big fuss and have a full-scale collision with the gentry.

These five academies, except Dizhou Academy, were all established with the support of Weishui Academy, and they are the most famous, influential, and strongest academies in the area.

The influence of the alliance of six academies is astonishing.

The textbooks of the academic and political system are biased towards new learning, and most of the humble scholars cultivated in the past 20 years are inclined to support new learning.

The combination of the two phases really has the strength to fully collide with the gentry.

In the past, Yue Shan was unwilling to forcibly collide with the gentry because he was afraid of causing national turmoil, but now he has no such concerns at all.

The forces around Datang have been cleaned up, Li Shimin's personal prestige has reached another peak, and his control over the country has reached an unshakable level.

In the census and land survey conducted a few years ago, all the common people who were hidden by the gentry were searched out.

Now I'm really not afraid of them making trouble.

Leaving from Wang Ji, Yue Shan went to the printing house, and asked people to suspend all work in hand to print this book with all their strength.

This issue of Weishui Journal will be released in a few days, and there is only 20 days before the next issue.

He wants to use these 20 days to print as many oracle bone inscriptions as possible, and then put them on the market in one fell swoop.Cooperate with the journal to maximize the influence of this matter.

Just when he was busy with his feet not touching the ground, Chen Yu finally completed the work handover and formally escaped from the six doors.

Yue Shan directly entrusted him with a heavy responsibility: "From now on, you are the curator of the museum and my assistant officer. They all listen to you, and you are only responsible to me."

This kind of trust moved Chen Yu very much, and said, "I will definitely live up to the dean's entrustment and assist you in establishing the museum well."

Yue Shanhao had no doubts about his ability, so he took out the plan and implementation plan he had written and threw them to him, "Look at these things first, and find a way to complete them."

Chen Yu read the proposal once, and immediately raised a question: "Hiring people without going through a unified assessment may be bad for your reputation."

Yue Shan said: "Of course I know, but it's the first time we do this kind of thing, how do we evaluate it? Is it the same as the imperial examination to write poems, lyrics, and strategies?"

Chen Yu continued to persuade: "Even if you just take a casual assessment and show off, it's okay, at least you can face it."

Yue Shan said helplessly: "It's not that I don't want that level of quality, it's just that there is nothing I can do. Many craftsmen only know technical characters and don't know a single word. How can I be assessed? So I simply don't take the test."

"As for whether it will attract criticism, I don't care. What else can they do to me except to talk?"

These domineering words made Chen Yu's heart surge, and made him realize again that the person opposite was Xia Guogong Yueshan, not an ordinary official.

He swallowed all the words of persuasion, picked up the plan and read it carefully.

The group of young officials sent by the Ministry of Civil Affairs did not have any objections to the airborne supervisor, and it was not their turn to have any objections.

Chen Yu is a high-ranking official who has crossed the fourth-rank threshold in a serious manner, and it is only natural for him to be a court supervisor.

His arrival has indeed freed Yue Shan from the trivial government affairs, as long as he gets the general manager, he can give an order if he has any ideas.

And Chen Yu's specific ability to do things really beat Yue Shan, and the things that made him burnt out were solved in Chen Yu's hands, which seemed very easy.

This also made Yue Shan realize even more soberly that he is only a good talker, and that he is nothing if he really does something.

Chen Yu's arrival put the museum's infrastructure quickly on track, and at this time the new issue of Weishui Journal was officially released.

The news of the establishment of the museum by the imperial court quickly spread throughout the country.

(End of this chapter)