A Cultural Analysis of Shang Dynasty Oracle Bone Script from Divination Practice to Calligraphic Form
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This study aimed (1) to examine how Shang dynasty divination procedures and institutional practices influenced the formation and organization of oracle bone script, (2) to analyze the graphic structures, material conditions, carving techniques, line qualities, and spatial arrangements that shaped the visual characteristics of oracle bone inscriptions, and (3) to explain the historical and calligraphic significance of oracle bone script and develop an integrated analytical model. The research employed a qualitative, cultural-historical, object-based, and comparative approach. Representative inscriptions on cattle scapulae and turtle plastrons were examined through literature review, contextual interpretation, graphic analysis, technical observation, spatial analysis, and calligraphic-aesthetic interpretation.
The research results were found as follows: (1) Shang divination practice functioned as a formative mechanism in oracle bone writing. Repeated ritual procedures, institutional authority, and formulaic recording encouraged relatively stable graphic conventions and inscriptional sequences, while different diviners and carvers produced visible variation in character form and execution. (2) The visual characteristics of oracle bone script were shaped by inherited graphic structures, simplification, elaboration, component displacement, structural reorganization, orientation change, formula-based abbreviation, carving technique, and adaptation to irregular surfaces. Its principal artistic qualities included concise directional lines, controlled angularity, flexible structures, asymmetrical balance, purposeful spacing, and close integration with cracks, hollows, edges, and surface contours. (3) The Oracle Bone Script Divination–Material–Form Model was developed. The model explains oracle bone calligraphic form through four interconnected dimensions: ritual and institutional regulation, graphic formation, technical mediation, and spatial-aesthetic expression. It provides a culturally grounded framework for understanding oracle bone inscriptions as linguistic records, ritual objects, material artifacts, and formative expressions in the history of Chinese calligraphy.
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ทัศนะและความคิดเห็นที่ปรากฏในบทความในวารสาร ถือเป็นความรับผิดชอบของผู้เขียนบทความนั้น และไม่ถือเป็นทัศนะและความรับผิดชอบของกองบรรณาธิการ ยินยอมว่าบทความเป็นลิขสิทธิ์ของวารสาร
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