While nouns and noun phrases are only one aspect of the Shang language, they are an important constituent element which, together with a verb in a sentence, occur as topic, subject, direct or indirect object, or object of a particle. In order to have a better understanding of the inscriptional language as a whole, a good understanding of the noun phrases is desirable.

This paper undertakes to present a systematic account of noun phrases in the Shang oracle-bone inscriptions. The examples are taken from an entire corpus of inscriptions from Period I to Period V, paying no particular attention to diachronic developments. Some diachronic descriptions -- changes over time in construction and meaning -- are also cited in notes whenever they are considered relevant.

The main concern of the paper is two-fold: noun-phrase formations and elucidation of their intended meanings. A number of new interpretations, particularly of nouns, is presented in the “Notes” which are integral to the descriptions. The paper also, necessarily, pays close attention to the use of such conjunctive particles as you, ta, and yu.

Based on a careful analysis of the words hui and wei in the oracle inscriptions, the author comes to the conclusion that they are most naturally explained as grammatic particles (xuci). Hui should be interpreted as highlighting that which is the main interest of the inquiry. Wei is very similar in meaning and grammatic function, but not in nuance of connotation; while hui is “closely connected with the manner of affirmation” and occurs mostly in divinations of a positive nature, wei tends to occur in a context of negation and inauspiciousness.

The distribution of the two particles through the inscription record, however, is uneven: hui scarcely occurs in the oracle bones of Tung Tso-pin's Period II, while wei is virtually absent in Periods III and IV. Yet continuous developments of meanings can be traced throughout the epigraphic record -- including the oracle bones from Anyang and Zhou yuan as well as the bronze inscriptions. Wei by Period V has developed into a marker of words of time reference. Shang xuci are more restricted than later ones both in their range of occurrence and in their implied meanings.

Since the end of the Warring States period (221 B.C.), the traditional history of China has always been said to have begun with the “Three August Sovereigns” and the “Five Emperors.” The stages in Chinese civilization were thus personified and ancient society was conceived of as having been ruled by an uninterrupted line of emperors. This early period of Chinese history may be divided into three periods, each of which may be typified by one oracle-graph.

The first period is the era of the legendary personages. This is before the period of the Yellow Emperor and may be represented by the oracle-bone graph for “sage.” The second period is the era of the emperors who created social institutions, an era which may be represented by the oracle-bone graph for “jade pendant.” The final period is the era of authentic dynastic history, covering the Hsia, Shang, and Chou dynasties. This period may be represented by the oracle-bone graph for “king.”

The oracle-bone character for “sage” is a pictograph of a man with extremely keen hearing. This implies exceptional physical or mental capabilities which would enable that person to bring great benefits to the community. This period of the sage saw the invention and development of a series of technological skills and tools which improved the standard of living of the community, but the stage had still not been reached when the social system necessary for political organization could come into being; that is to say, society had not yet reached the stage of true civilization.

The graph in the Shang oracle inscriptions, transcribed or , until now, among the best authorities, remains the object of different interpretations. Some common translations are: a rhinoceros, a unicorned si having the appearance of an ox, an ox of the si species, a si (without explanation), a coveted game animal, a wild animal of the central plain, etc. The aim of this short paper is to determine to what extent some clarification can be made.

Starting the investigation with Jiabian 3939, it seems that this “big animal's skull,” like the other deer skulls discovered nearby, was considered a hunting trophy. Consequently, the recorded text was inscribed on that trophy, that is on the skull of the animal so skillfully caught. After a careful examination, the paleontologists declared that the “big animal's skull” was the skull of a buffalo. Taking these facts into consideration, we made a new examination of the graph and its variants, of the character cast in the bottom of the Niu fang-ding (HPKM1004), of the head from the small stone bovine (shi niu of M5), of the pronunciation of the character at a later time, of the Shang oracular texts, and of the main ancient texts, starting with the pre-Qin period and going on until the end of the Eastern Jin dynasty. The results can be summarized as follows:

The graph of the Shang oracular texts and the character of the later period seem to be the same word. The elements of the graph may not have been always correctly analyzed, the graphic evolution may have been different from what it was previously thought to be, but the semantic content seems to have been always the same: a wild buffalo.

(Ed. Note: This paper was an adaptation of Section X of my article “The Dates of Western Chou,” Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 43.2[1983]:482–580. In the article, this section is titled “Numerological Postscript,” and occupies pp. 556–566.)

As now revised, this section (with related earlier sections of the article) represents my arguments that pre-Conquest dates in the present Bamboo Annals ([Chin-pen] Chu-shu chi-nien) that are relevant to the beginning of Chou are partly historical and partly numerological. I argue that most of the dates that have historical validity have been distorted in two independent revisions of the original chronicle that were later combined. The first, in the 8th century B.C., moved Chou family dates back 12 years, and indirectly generated the Conquest date 1050, The second, in the late 6th century B.C., moved Shang dates (after Wu Ting) back 6 years, so that in this revision the Conquest was redated from 1045 to 1051. Both dates appear, in different places, in the present Bamboo Annals. This analysis results from my research in October of 1982, dating the Brundage rhinoceros tsun inscription, and thereby proving that the Bamboo Annals' date 1111 for Ti Yi is exactly 6 years early.

On the basis of his annotated translation of two of the oracle bones (H11:1 and H11:84) excavated at Zhou yuan in 1977, the author contends that they are not records of Zhou but of Shang, which were brought into the heartland of the Zhou from Anyang, and not by the Zhou after their conquest of Shang, but somewhat earlier by the Shang themselves. The find is linked to Di Xin's campaign against Zhou and Wen Wang's subsequent captivity, both of which are recorded in early historical sources. A radiocarbon date of 1095 ± 90 B.C. is used to “date” the burning of the Zhou palace to the Shang attack, which is traditionally said to have taken place in the 23rd year of Di Xin's reign.

Representing work still in progress, this paper attempts to demonstrate the value of making a comparative study of inscribed artifacts recovered from individual burials in the same cemetery area; published reports of such sites have, it is suggested, not realized the full potential promised by the evidence. Detailed study of the clan insignia and their graphic elements found in burials at Yin-hsü West, Hsi-pei-kang, Lo-shan-hsien, and Hsiao-t'un (M5), permits speculation about the writing of the archaic graphs, the meaning of abbreviated phrases, and inter-clan associations, as well as about the existence of “calligraphic groups” and possible links between artisan/scribes, vessel types, and foundries. The paper, which is amply illustrated with insignia rubbings, ends with a plea for reasonable scholarly access to the original bronzes.

This paper tries to attribute some peculiarities of the oracle inscriptions of Period I to the personality of King Wu Ding himself and comes to the conclusion that Wu Ding must have suffered from a persecution complex. It was precisely his occasional dumbness and permanent fears of the dead and of evil spirits that motivated him to consult bone and shell oracles frequently and, moreover, to have divination questions and postscripts about the real events written. From this point of view early Chinese writing owed much of its development to the personal suffering of King Wu Ding.

The Shang kingdom was a patriarchal (zongfa) slave society; political and clan authority were fused into one. The Shang king was the supreme ruler of the state; he was also the grand clan head of all the nobles, large and small, within the state. Local feudal lords (zhu hou) were the supreme rulers and clan heads of the nobles within the territory under his command. Within the clan the clan head combined political and familial authority in his one person. The commoners and slaves were ruled.

The Shang cemetery system reflected the relations of class, rank, and blood ties within the patriarchal slave society of the Shang kingdom.

The Shang king, being the supreme ruler of the state, had his separate burial site in the Xibeigang area of the Yin Ruins, as well as his own particular style of tomb and of burial rites. There was a separate burial area for the king's consorts. All others within the area of direct control of the Shang king, regardless of rank, status, or wealth, were buried in their clan cemeteries. However nobles had their own family burial area within the clan cemetery; the style of their tombs, of grave goods, and of burial rites all differed from those of commoners and of other family members. Local feudal lords also had their own separate burial areas within their own territories, while all others were buried in their clan cemeteries. Slaves were buried in ash pits or layers of ash close to residential areas.

The basic error in Hu Shi's “An Exposition on Confucians” lay in discussing the basic nature of the Confucian school on the basis of the “tragic fate and miserable status of the survivors of the Shang”; for half a century this mistaken premise has been accepted by most historians as proven. On the basis of an analysis of pre-Qin literary sources, this paper first proves that there was no “tragedy of the defeated state”; on the contrary, the Yin survivors continued to possess considerable political power and quite high social status. Second, on the basis of newly un earthed Shang and Zhou inscriptions, the fate and status of the Shang survivors is set forth from three sides: (1) The history of the Wei Shi clan and Lu Sheng clan of the Guanzhong region, for which genealogies of seven-eight or six-seven generations exist, is reconstructed on the basis of, for the former, the Ding bronze horde newly unearthed from Fufeng Zhuangbai, and, for the latter, the inscriptions on already known as well as recently unearthed bronze vessels from the same area. Both clans were survivors from the Shang and close relatives of the Shang king; they possessed cities, subjects, and official positions, as well as holding offices in charge of troops. (2) The same conclusion may be reached in individual cases in various other kingdoms, such as for Mo Situ Sung of the state of Wei , and Dong Hefu of the state of Yan . As for the Ling Shi , Chen Chen and Deng of Cheng Zhou , Cheng Zhou is the ancient home of the Shang survivors, yet they seem not to have been the object of any special restriction or suppression. This section is based solely on inscriptions; the conclusions reached, however, are completely in agreement with those derived from literary evidence in the previous section. Finally an attempt is made to explain why the survivors of the Shang had land, subjects, offices, and power. We believe that it was due to a political and social structure with the clan as the primary unit. A complete explication of this question awaits a detailed study of oracle-bone and archaeological source material.