Shang Bone and Shell Inscriptions

About 100,000 Shang oracle bone inscriptions were excavated during the early twentieth century, before scientific excavation of the last Shang capital began at Xiaotun village near Anyang, in 1928. Later, Shang oracle bone studies were marked by several important discoveries, like pit YH127 in 1936 (17,096 inscribed pieces), more than fifty pits (essentially trash-pits) at Xiaotun-South in 1973 (about 4,800 inscribed pieces), and pit H3 at Huayuanzhuang-South in 1991 (689 inscribed pieces). Most of the oracle bone inscriptions excavated from YH127 and H3 were dated to the reign of Wu Ding.

Apart from these major discoveries, several minor ones were made at Anyang by the Institute of Archaeology (Chinese Academy of Social Sciences). Inscriptions recovered from the smaller excavations were gathered to form a new corpus published in 2012, Yinxu Xiaotun cunzhong cunnan jiagu 殷墟小屯村中村南甲骨.Footnote ³ This work contains inscribed oracle bones and shells excavated from the center and the south of Xiaotun village between 1986 and 1989 (305 pieces) and between 1986 and 2004 (233 pieces). The content and the appearance of these inscriptions resemble those observed earlier at Xiaotun-South (some pits were in fact very close to ones excavated in 1973). These inscriptions contain new toponyms, anthroponyms and names of spirits to whom sacrifices were offered. According to standard classification, this corpus essentially belongs to the Shi 師, Wu 午, Anonymous (wuming 無名), and Li 歷 diviner groups, with some pieces related to the Bin 賓 and Huang 黃 groups. It offers a limited but intriguing overview of royal and non-royal oracle bone inscription production from the reign of Wu Ding to the reigns of the last Shang kings. One of the most valuable aspects of Yinxu Xiaotun cunzhong cunnan jiagu is clear information about the inscriptions’ archaeological background. Stratigraphy and ceramics typology (as most inscribed fragments come from pits containing sherds) represent solid evidence contributing to the debate about the chronology of the different groups. The discovery of more than fifty inscribed fragments belonging to the Anonymous group is considered particularly important for better understanding the production of this non-royal diviner group, which was probably active under six different reigns over the course of a century.Footnote ⁴ This discovery also provides good evidence to support the distinction, first proposed by Li Xueqin 李學勤, between a northern and a southern tradition at Anyang with different mantic and epigraphical practices.Footnote ⁵ The editors of Yinxu Xiaotun cunzhong cunnan jiagu follow a high publication standard, providing annotated transcriptions associated with three different reproductions of the originals: rubbings, photographs, and drawings. They also provide pictures of the archaeological context. At the end of the second volume, several indexes and tables constitute useful tools for multi-aspect research.Footnote ⁶ A detailed study of the various forms of cavities made for crack making on those materials can also be found in this book, complementing a similar study published more than thirty years ago on the Xiaotun-South oracle bones. Unfortunately, the quality of the pictures is not always excellent. Since the book was published, some scholars have also proposed corrections to the transcription. Several fragments have been joined to form larger pieces, offering more complete inscriptions.

Ten small inscribed fragments were also excavated between 2004 and 2005, when archaeologists excavated exploration ditches in order to better understand the so-called Palace-Temple zone foundations (first excavated by the Academia Sinica in the 1930s).Footnote ⁷ These fragments were found north of Xiaotun, less than ten meters from the “big connected pits” (da lian keng 大連坑) where many oracle bone inscriptions were excavated in 1929, including four intact turtle shell plastrons first studied by Dong Zuobin 董作賓 (1895–1963).Footnote ⁸

An inscribed fragment of ox scapula was excavated in September 2009 from a pit at Dasikong 大司空, a site where past excavations uncovered important remains of the Shang dynasty, such as aristocratic tombs and bronze workshops.Footnote ⁹ The fragment is only 9.5 cm long, but it presents inscriptions on both sides, organized in twenty-one columns separated by vertical strokes. In total, sixty characters can be identified on one side and thirty-seven on the other. All columns are incomplete, and their content is not always clear, but some sentences are related to military and ritual activities. Most authors follow He Yuling's 何毓靈 interpretation that these inscriptions, unrelated to divination practices, are simply carved (upside down) on a discarded, used divination support. It is certainly an unusual inscription, but I still wonder if it can't be linked to the Wu Ding-period Bin group divination practice of “general program oracle inscription” (zonggangxing buci 總剛性卜辭) as defined by Sakikawa Takashi 崎川隆.Footnote ¹⁰ Two other inscribed oracle scapula fragments were discovered at Dasikong in 2004: a small one, with very brief inscriptions, and a large one, with long inscriptions consisting of lists of binomes used in the Shang sexegenary cycle, probably as an exercise.Footnote ¹¹

Western Zhou Bone and Shell Inscriptions

The corpus of Western Zhou oracle-bone inscriptions is much smaller and less studied than the Shang one (though still more than one thousand pieces, mostly unpublished).Footnote ¹² The most important discoveries of Western Zhou oracle bone inscriptions were made in the Zhouyuan 周原 region (Shaanxi), in the core of the Zhou royal domain. At present, all those inscriptions are dated between the very end of the Shang dynasty and the beginning of the Zhou dynasty (c. eleventh and tenth centuries b.c.e.). The most famous corpus, excavated in 1977 from two pits at Fengchu 鳳雛, Qishan 岐山, contains 293 inscribed fragments.Footnote ¹³ Minor discoveries were also reported in the same region in 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2007.Footnote ¹⁴ In 2008, a joint archaeological team from Peking University and the Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology organized planned excavation at Zhougongmiao 周公廟, where oracle bone inscriptions had been discovered a few years earlier. The remains of Western Zhou buildings destroyed by a fire (i.e., burnt wooden pieces and tiles) were found in a large ditch. Among those remains, archaeologists also discovered more than 7,600 oracle bone and shell pieces, 688 of which were inscribed. This discovery confirms the importance of the pyromantic practice for Zhou elite at the beginning of the Western Zhou period. It also shows the continuity between Shang and Zhou epigraphical practice, even if inscribing oracle bones and shells was less frequent in the Zhou tradition. Only a few inscriptions from the 2008 Zhougongmiao discovery have been published.Footnote ¹⁵ In the inscriptions, historical figures such as Wang Ji 王季, Dawang 大王, Wen Wang 文王, Zhou Gong 周公, Shao Gong 召公, Bi Gong 畢公 and Shu Zheng 叔鄭 (probably one of the younger brothers of Wu Wang 武王) are mentioned. Several pieces present numerical hexagrams (shuzigua 數字卦), from which the Zhouyi 周易 tradition probably emerged.Footnote ¹⁶ Of particular interest is the reference to a ritual practice called “pacifying the wind” (ningfeng 寧風), well attested in Shang oracle bone inscriptions but observed here for the first time in Zhou materials. Two other discoveries were later reported from Qishan county: at Fenghuangshan 鳳凰山 in 2009 (more than 240 inscribed fragments) and, once again, at Zhougongmiao in 2011 (one inscribed fragment).Footnote ¹⁷

If Shang oracle-bone inscription practice was essentially limited to the capital (with rare exceptions in Zhengzhou and Daxinzhuang 大辛莊),Footnote ¹⁸ Zhou texts have been excavated from different places across Zhou territory, such as Luoyang 洛陽 (site of the eastern capital Chengzhou 成周), Liulihe 琉璃河 (ancient capital of Yan 燕 in modern-day Beijing), and Xingtai 邢臺 (likely capital of the Xing 邢 state, located in modern Hebei).Footnote ¹⁹ One inscribed scapula was also accidentally discovered in Luoyang in 2008.Footnote ²⁰ Due to the South–North Water Transfer Project (Nan shui bei diao 南水北調), an important Zhou site was discovered at Chenzhuang 陳莊, Zibo 淄博 municipality, Shandong. Between 2008 and 2010 archaeologists uncovered the remains of an ancient walled city as well as ancient tombs.Footnote ²¹ The remains were dated to the eleventh and tenth centuries b.c.e. A bronze inscription indicates that the site, whose identification is still debated, was related to the state of Qi 齊. Among the bones and shells used for divination, a plastron fragment with numerical hexagrams was found, attesting to the widespread use of this kind of “numeromancy.” A discovery in June 2017, at an important cemetery dating to the Shang and the Zhou periods located at Yaoheyuan 姚河塬 in the territory of the municipality of Guyuan 固原 (Ningxia Province), was more unexpected.Footnote ²² More than fifty tombs were identified, including two large ones with access ramps (so-called jia 甲 character–shaped tombs) as well as horse and chariot pits, such features being considered signs of persons with especially high status. Unfortunately, most of these remains were destroyed over the course of time. In the infill layers of the access ramp of one of the large tombs, a fragment of an oracle bone was found with carved and painted characters on it. The inscription records a divination about two individuals charged with leading groups of people to specific locations with the hope they will not encounter any difficulties. The nature of this site, situated on the western borders of the Zhou world, is still debated, but the presence of such oracle bone inscriptions can be considered as supplementary evidence for a strong link between people buried in this cemetery and the Zhou aristocratic community, especially as the contents of the inscriptions present parallels with others from the Zhouyuan region.Footnote ²³

Collections of Oracle-Bone Inscriptions

Apart from new, scientifically excavated materials, specialists of oracle-bone inscriptions have also since 2008 benefited from the publication of oracle-bone collections kept in institutions like the Shanghai Museum (5,002 pieces), Peking University (2,980 pieces), the Institute of History of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (2,024 pieces), Lüshun Museum (2,217 pieces), Chongqing Three Gorges Museum (208 pieces), Carnegie Museum of Pittsburgh, and the Hermitage Museum (202 pieces).Footnote ²⁴ Most of these public collections are based on private collections assembled at the beginning of the twentieth century by famous scholars and collectors like Liu E 劉鶚 (1857–1909), Wang Yirong 王懿榮 (1845–1900), and Luo Zhenyu 羅振玉 (1866–1940). It should be mentioned that the majority of the inscriptions contained in these recent volumes have been published before, such as in the Jiaguwen heji 甲骨文合集 (abbreviated as Heji). Texts that are published for the first time mostly consist of small fragments with short and often incomplete inscriptions. In fact, the real value of these books lies in the quality of the edition. Where the Heji provides only one rubbing for each inscribed face of each divination support, most of these recent volumes contain high quality color pictures and rubbings for both faces (front and back), as well as a hand-drawn copy of the inscription and a transcription in modern characters. In the appendices, readers will find useful indexes and tables, like correspondence tables with other corpora or tables providing information about diviner groups for each piece. Great attention is now paid to oracle bones not only as carriers of text, but as objects. That is why these books usually include precise information about the exact dimension of each piece, a feature generally lacking in previous publications. If the inscriptions are not always as readable in the color pictures as in traditional black-and-white rubbings, pictures are useful to better understand the relationship between text and divination practice. Some uninscribed backs are reproduced here for the first time, providing scholars with direct information about technical aspects of the mantic procedure. From this perspective, the side profile pictures of some of the broken bones and shells furnished by some of the collections (i.e., Lüshun Museum and the Institute of History) are also precious. This is especially the case when a break occurs at the center of a pyromantic hollow because it offers better conditions to observe hollow shapes and to understand hollow production. Of important collections which are expected to be published soon (probably with the same level of care), we can mention the Shandong Museum collection (more than 10,580 pieces, most unpublished) and the Palace Museum collection (22,463 pieces, most unpublished). Both of these collections are in turn mainly based on the older collection of James Mellon Menzies (明義士, 1895–1957).Footnote ²⁵ The publication of the Tianjin Museum collection (more than 1,800 pieces) has also been announced. The Institute of History and Philology of Academia Sinica is well known for preserving the most important collection of scientifically excavated oracle-bone inscriptions (about 25,000 pieces discovered at Anyang between 1928 and 1937). But this institution also possesses a smaller collection of oracle bones purchased by earlier scholars (338 pieces) that was published in 2009.Footnote ²⁶ The specialists of the Academia Sinica are also in charge of the edition of a corpus representing more than 3,000 oracle bones excavated at Anyang between 1929 and 1930 by He Rizhang 何日章 (1893–1979) on behalf of the Henan provincial government. The collection was first placed in the Henan Museum, Kaifeng, before being moved to Taiwan, where it is now housed in the National History Museum.Footnote ²⁷ Some recent Chinese private collections have also been published since 2008.Footnote ²⁸

Despite their high quality, these new corpora are not intended to replace the Heji, which retains its importance as a convenient general corpus to which all studies, dictionaries and indexes can continue making reference. The Heji (41,956 pieces) was complemented in 1999 by the Jiaguwen heji bubian 甲骨文合集補編 (abbreviated as Bubian; more than 13,000 pieces, including some Western Zhou inscriptions). Song Zhenhao 宋鎮豪 is currently working on the editing of a new corpus completing the Heji and the Bubian.

At a more modest level, some small collections were recently published as journal articles that provide rubbings and transcriptions. The museum of the city of Xinxiang 新鄉 (formerly the Pingyuan 平原 provincial museum) is situated in Henan province, about one hundred kilometers south of Anyang. Its collection consists of 232 small, inscribed fragments, most of them unpublished.Footnote ²⁹ The museum of Shaanxi Normal University possesses a collection of sixty-five small, inscribed fragments purchased during the 1950s and 60s. The majority of these pieces are now published for the first time. Beyond rubbings and transcriptions, the article presenting the Shaanxi Normal University collection also provides high quality black and white photographs as well as information about size of each fragment with remarks about traces of pyromantic practice.Footnote ³⁰

Some older catalogues of oracle-bone inscription rubbings were also recently reprinted or re-edited.Footnote ³¹ Aside from their importance to the history of oracle bone collections, such publications also provide rubbings that reflect a better state of preservation than what can now be observed on the original objects. In some cases, these older rubbings are the only testimonies we have for oracle bones that have disappeared, like the so-called Huzhi 笏之 collection that was partly destroyed during a bombing raid on Tokyo in 1945.

Other Bone And Shell Inscriptions

The habit of carving inscriptions on oracle bone and shell seems to disappear after the tenth century b.c.e. The Zhou people, and other groups related to Zhou culture, continued to practice pyro-osteomancy but without adding inscriptions to divination supports.Footnote ³² On the other hand, the use of bone as a writing support for labels is well attested at Chang'an, the capital of the Western Han dynasty, where 63,883 bone labels were excavated.Footnote ³³ Examples of similar epigraphical practice were discovered in 1998 at Xinzheng 新鄭 (Henan). Thirty-nine inscribed ox rib bones were excavated from a pit that was part of a large sacrificial site of the Han 韓 capital during the Warring States period.Footnote ³⁴ Inscriptions, traced with ink (and not carved), were only partly readable. The texts consist of lists with inventory numbers. The nature of the listed items is still uncertain—it may be related to skeins of silk or hemp. As these inscriptions were found close to the granary zone of the ancient city, the lists may have been produced by officials.

Shang Inscribed Bronzes

Unlike oracle-bone inscriptions, many Shang bronze inscriptions have been found outside of Anyang. However, the last Shang royal capital is still the place where most Shang inscribed bronzes have been excavated. These inscriptions consist mainly of emblems representing individuals or groups of people belonging to the aristocracy. Important discoveries have been reported or published recently for sites like Dasikong, Qijiazhuang-East 戚家莊東, Liujiazhuang-North 劉家莊北, or Wangyukou 王裕口. Most of the inscribed bronzes have been excavated from tombs.

In 2004 the Anyang team of the Institute of Archaeology (Chinese Academy of Social Sciences) excavated more than 450 tombs at Dasikong, of which ten contained bronze vessels.Footnote ³⁶ Tomb M303 was the largest unlooted tomb found during this archaeological campaign.Footnote ³⁷ The rectangular burial pit was 6.64 m deep, measuring 4.25 m by 2.05 m on the sides. Inside the pit was a wooden chamber (guo 槨) where a coffin was surrounded by funeral goods, including thirty-seven bronze ritual vessels, among which thirty-two were inscribed. All inscriptions are identical and consist of the emblem of the tomb owner (composed of two elements). The tomb also contained 165 bronze weapons or parts of weapons, but none with an inscription. While not very big, M303 furnished the largest number of inscribed bronzes vessels after the Fu Hao 婦好 tomb (180 inscribed bronze vessels) and Guojiazhuang 郭家莊 M160 (thirty-eight inscribed bronze vessels).Footnote ³⁸ Three other tombs from Dasikong contained one to two bronze vessels inscribed with different emblems (M58, M215, M230).

In 2015, the Anyang City Institute of Archaeology published the final report concerning the Shang cemetery of Qijiazhuang-East, excavated between 1981 and 1984. Among 192 mostly looted tombs, only ten contained ritual bronze vessels, of which four held inscribed ones. M63 contained eight vessels inscribed with roughly the same emblem. Half of these emblems were carved into the bronze, an unusual practice during the Shang period. M269 is the largest tomb. It contained twenty-eight inscribed bronzes, including fifteen ritual vessels, three bells and ten weapons. Except for three vessels, all were inscribed with the same emblem.Footnote ³⁹

Another important tomb was discovered in 2009 at Wangyukou.Footnote ⁴⁰ The burial pit of M94 is a bit smaller than the one in Dasikong M303, but the tomb has an access ramp. It was in fact the first time an unlooted tomb with an access ramp was scientifically excavated at Anyang. The archaeologists expected exceptional grave goods, but they were quite disappointed. The tomb contained only four ritual bronzes, thirty-three ge halberd blades (including thirty-two funeral substitutes, or mingqi 明器) as well as some other bronze weapons, tools, and various objects. Two accompanying corpses were also buried with the tomb occupant. An inscribed emblem appears both on a ding 鼎 bronze cauldron and a bow-shaped implement (gongxingqi 弓形器). Interestingly, the same emblem is attested in a smaller, neighboring tomb (M103), which contained nine accompanying corpses and nine ritual bronze vessels. Four vessels were inscribed, including three with the same emblem as the one from M94. Archaeologists also made an even more unexpected discovery in this tomb: a bronze seal. A few Shang bronze seals had been known since the beginning of the twentieth century, but as those pieces were exceptional and did not come from scientific excavations, some scholars (including I myself) were skeptical about their authenticity. The discovery of three Shang bronze seals by the Anyang archaeological team in 1998, 2009, and 2010 proved definitively that most of the collected Shang seals are genuine.Footnote ⁴¹ The 1998 seal was found in the remains of an ancient building, whereas the 2010 seal was excavated from a large sacrificial pit (H77). The three excavated Shang seals have square-shaped bases with looping finials. Only one seal presents a taotie motif on its seal-matrix face, the second combines animal motifs and emblems, whereas the third one contains only an emblem as its inscription. The emblem found on the seal excavated from tomb M103 was the same as the one seen on three of the four inscribed bronzes excavated from the same tomb and on M94 inscribed bronzes.

Important Shang remains were excavated from the Liujiazhuang-North site, in the southern part of the Yinxu protected area, between 2009 and 2011.Footnote ⁴² This site includes buildings, wells, roads, large ditches, tombs, and pottery kilns. More than one thousand tombs were also discovered, only a minority of which contained ritual bronzes. Generally, these tombs held just a few bronzes, with one emblem appearing on some of the bronzes (as in M20, M88 and M89). Tomb M70 was quite small, but it contained five ritual bronzes, including three with the same emblem (also attested in two other tombs from the same area). This emblem corresponds to the one observed on the bronze seal that was excavated from the H77 sacrificial pit, situated little more than fifty meters from tomb M70. Tomb M44 was also excavated at Liujiazhuang-North, but in 2006. It contained eighteen ritual bronze vessels, of which four were inscribed with three different emblems.Footnote ⁴³ Isolated tombs with inscribed bronzes were also reported from other sites: Beixujiaqiao-North 北徐家橋北 (M120, west of Liujiazhuang-North),Footnote ⁴⁴ Xujiaqiao-Southwest 徐家橋西南 (M1), Wenyuanlüdao 文源綠島 (M5, M12, M41, M45, M46, M79), Saigejindi 賽格金地 (M13), Yijiayuan 宜家苑 (M33, M20, M88, M89, M94), Bodiyuan 博地苑 (M17),Footnote ⁴⁵ and Tiesanlu 鐵三路 (M89, east to Liujiazhuang-North), close to where one of the most important bone workshops ever discovered was found by modern archaeologists.Footnote ⁴⁶ These discoveries provide new materials to analyze the link between emblems and tombs in Anyang, especially in connection with the question of familial cemeteries and lineage settlements (zu yi 族邑) at the Shang capital.

The Anyang team also excavated a sacrificial pit (H2498) inside the courtyard of a large building at Liujiazhuang-North. Three bronze ritual vessels and a ceramic one were excavated from this pit, revealing a quite uncommon ritual practice in Anyang. Three bronzes carried different emblems and ancestral titles.Footnote ⁴⁷

Outside of Anyang, inscribed bronzes have also been discovered at other Shang-period sites in Henan, Shandong, and Shaanxi. The multiplication of discoveries of late Shang-period sites around Zhengzhou in recent years has modified our perception of the occupation of this region after the collapse of the Zhengzhou royal capital around 1400 b.c.e. For example, fifty-eight Shang tombs were found in 2006 at Xiaohucun 小胡村, in Xingyang 滎陽, a county-level city under the administration of Zhengzhou.Footnote ⁴⁸ Even though looters had reached the site beforehand, archaeologists were able to excavate no fewer than forty-nine bronze vessels from the tombs. On more than twenty bronzes appeared an emblem usually transcribed as 舌. The same emblem is already attested on a few bronzes from Anyang, and also occurs on a bronze cover excavated from Shang tomb M35 at Gaozhuang 高莊, in the western suburbs of Zhengzhou.Footnote ⁴⁹

In 2008–2009 archaeologists from Zhumadian 駐馬店 excavated an important Shang cemetery at Runlou 潤樓 (Zhengyang 正陽 district). 255 Shang tombs were unearthed. Even though many tombs were looted, thirty-one ritual bronzes were excavated. However, only three bronzes, originating from two tombs, were inscribed: two with an emblem (M71) and one with the same emblem associated with an ancestral title (M229).Footnote ⁵⁰ At the beginning of 2010, Chinese police were able to recover more than one hundred objects illegally excavated from Runlou, but much more is thought to have spread on the antiquities market. A tomb from the Shang period was also looted in 2010 at Guanwangcha 關王岔 (Zizhou 子洲 district), north of Yan'an 延安 in Shaanxi. Police were able to recover six fine ritual bronze vessels originating from this tomb, one of which was inscribed with an emblem. Such a discovery of Shang bronze vessels in northern Shaanxi is quite exceptional.Footnote ⁵¹

A Shang period cemetery was scientifically excavated between 2010 and 2011 at Liujiazhuang 劉家莊, in Jinan city.Footnote ⁵² Most of the seventy-seven tombs were quite modest, with only six containing ritual bronzes. Among twenty-eight bronze vessels, eleven were inscribed, of which eight came from one of the most important tombs (M121).Footnote ⁵³ In this grave, the same composite emblem was seen on seven bronzes, indicating the group to which the tomb occupant belonged. The same emblem was also observed on two bronzes from tomb M1572 in the Anyang Yinxu-West zone. It should also be noted that four inscribed halberd blades were excavated at Liujiazhuang from two important tombs (M121 and M122). Their inscriptions consist of a single emblem, so far only attested on halberd blades. Many similar specimens were excavated from Anyang, including seventy pieces from the Houjiazhuang 侯家莊 M1004 royal tomb. All this suggests strong links between Liujiazhuang Shang elite and the royal capital.

New discoveries at two well-known cemeteries were also reported, dating from the late Shang to early Western Zhou periods. The first is situated at Tianhu 天湖 (Luoshan 羅山 district), in the territory of Xinyang 信陽 prefecture-level municipality. The site was mainly excavated between 1979 and 1991, but many materials from the latest campaigns have not yet been published.Footnote ⁵⁴ Tomb M57 was one of the best preserved from the 1991 campaign.Footnote ⁵⁵ It was quite large and contained ten ritual bronze vessels, including only one inscribed with an emblem. This emblem is distinct from the most common emblem found in the Tianhu cemetery, which is usually transcribed as xi 息. The absence of the Tianhu major emblem in the funeral bronze assemblage of a member of the local elite raises the question of the relationship between individuals buried in the same aristocratic cemetery in Bronze Age China. The second well-known cemetery is located at Qianzhangda 前掌大, in the south of Tengzhou 滕州 municipal territory, in Shangdong. Important scientific excavations were conducted between 1981 and 2001.Footnote ⁵⁶ In 2004, local police recovered six bronze vessels that were illegally excavated from a tomb at Qianzhangda.Footnote ⁵⁷ Based on the collected objects and funeral goods left by the looters in the tomb, the grave was dated to the early Western Zhou period. Three bronzes were inscribed with similar dedications to one ancestor (Fu Ding 父丁), concluding with the same emblem. Transcribed as shi 史, it is the emblem of the main aristocratic group identified at Qianzhangda.

Zhou Inscribed Bronzes

Many inscribed Western Zhou bronzes have been excavated or published during the last ten years. They essentially come from tombs located in aristocratic cemeteries. Although some tombs were found in the Zhou royal domain, in the Zhouyuan 周原 region, or around Luoyang, the majority belong to regional aristocratic cemeteries often related to local political entities.

Among the tombs containing inscribed bronzes from the Zhouyuan region, M19 from Zhuangli 莊李 (Fufeng 扶風 district) should be mentioned.Footnote ⁵⁸ Excavated between 2003 and 2004, the grave, dated to the early Western Zhou period, contained fourteen bronzes, of which only four bore short inscriptions (two dedication formulas, one ancestor name, and one emblem). Unlike the majority of late-Shang period aristocratic tombs from Anyang, the content of the M19 inscriptions is not consistent, nor is the decoration of the vessels themselves. Between 2014 and 2015 archaeologists discovered important building remains, with a complex water supply system and twenty-four aristocratic tombs, some associated with chariot pits, at Hejiacun 賀家村, in Zhouyuan.Footnote ⁵⁹ M11 is one of the rare unlooted tombs with substantial grave goods discovered in this area since 1949. It contained sixteen bronze vessels, including several ones with inscriptions. Some inscriptions mention Xi Ji 昔雞 as the bronze dedicator, who may also have been the tomb occupant. One inscription mentions a gift ceremony, related to a bin 賓 hosting ritual, which was preceded by an order from the queen.Footnote ⁶⁰ Considering the inscriptions and the characteristics of tomb M11, many scholars estimate that the tomb occupant was probably a member of the Shang elite who lived inside the Zhou royal domain. Although M30 was looted, it still contained six bronze vessels, of which two were inscribed with simple dedications. Very few Western Zhou tombs from Luoyang have been excavated or published since 2008. One of the exceptions is the early Western Zhou tomb C2M130 from Laochengbei 老城北 street, where five bronze vessels, including one inscribed with a short dedication, were discovered.Footnote ⁶¹

In 2012, ancient bronzes were accidentally discovered west of the Zhouyuan region at Shigushan 石鼓山, in Baoji 寶雞. Scientific excavations were conducted between 2012 and 2014. Fifteen tombs were unearthed, and ninety-two ritual bronzes were excavated, including twenty-six inscribed ones.Footnote ⁶² Most of these bronzes came from two important tombs (M3 and M4). The quantity and the quality of the bronzes have drawn the attention of many scholars, especially because of possible comparison with earlier discoveries, like the famous bronze sets excavated from Daijiawan 戴家灣, in the same region, at the beginning of the twentieth century.Footnote ⁶³ The inscribed bronzes are dated from the late Shang to the early Western Zhou periods. Their inscriptions consist essentially of emblems and ancestral titles following the Shang tradition, as well as some short dedications. It is hard to find any consistency among the inscriptions, whether at the cemetery level or inside each tomb. That is one of the reasons why some scholars have proposed that these bronze sets are spoils of war. Other scholars, however, have also suggested the possibility of bronze gifts.

Outside of the Zhouyuan and Luoyang regions, other discoveries were reported inside the Zhou royal domain in Shaanxi. An important aristocratic cemetery with horse pits, dated between the middle and late Western Zhou periods, was excavated in 2014 at Taipingbao 太平堡 (Jingyang 涇陽 district), north of Xi'an city. M214 was looted, but it still contained two bronzes, one inscribed with a sixteen-character inscription.Footnote ⁶⁴ At Liuquancun 柳泉村 (Chengcheng 澄城 district), five early Western Zhou tombs, unfortunately looted, were excavated in 2016.Footnote ⁶⁵ M4 still held one bronze gui tureen, inscribed with a dedication that is nearly identical to that of a bronze preserved in the Palace Museum collection in Taipei.Footnote ⁶⁶

Shanxi Province is well known as the territory of the ancient state of Jin 晉, in which many inscribed bronzes have been discovered.Footnote ⁶⁷ But, in recent years, new local polities from Shanxi have come to light. Following looting reports in 2007, an important cemetery was discovered at Dahekou 大河口 (Yicheng 翼城 district), in the territory of the Linfen 臨汾 prefecture-level municipality. From 2007 to 2016, archaeologists excavated more than 2,200 tombs, as well as numerous horse and chariot pits, dated from the early Western Zhou to early Spring and Autumn periods.Footnote ⁶⁸ The cemetery includes many important tombs containing ritual bronze vessel assemblages. Many bronzes were inscribed. As the material is still under study, only limited information is currently available. More or less detailed descriptions have been published about tombs M1017 (54 bronze vessels), M2022 (11 bronze vessels), M1 (66 bronze vessels) and M2 (8 bronze vessels), all including numerous inscribed bronzes. As the lineage name of Ba 霸 is quite frequent in bronze inscriptions from Dahekou cemetery, and the M1017 tomb occupant was one of the Elders of the Ba lineage (Ba bo 霸伯), archaeologists consider that the cemetery probably belonged to the Ba state, unknown from transmitted sources. Another similar case was reported at Hengshui 橫水 (Jiangxian 絳縣 district), in the territory of Yuncheng 運城 prefecture-level municipality, which is today associated with the state of Peng 倗.Footnote ⁶⁹ Inscriptions from Dahekou also revealed relationships between Ba and other lineages or states, like Yan 燕, Peng 倗, or Rui 芮. A 153-character inscription on a pan basin relates the case of a woman from the Ba lineage, originating from the Ji 姬 clan, who lodged a complaint against another aristocrat who swore (shi 誓) he would give her servants but did not do it. His pledge was recalled by the authorities and an inscribed vessel was cast to commemorate it. A 115-character inscription on a large yu 盂 vessel is related to several connected ceremonies commemorated by the bronze, cast at the behest of an Elder of Ba. Other inscriptions concern merit-praising ceremonies (mieli 蔑歷) about military achievements.

The Zhou cemetery of Liangdaicun 梁帶村 is situated in the territory of the municipality of Hancheng, in eastern Shaanxi. After looting was reported in 2005, archaeologists identified more than 1,300 tombs and sixty-four chariot pits.Footnote ⁷⁰ Between 2005 and 2009, sixty-four tombs were scientifically excavated. The remains were dated between the late Western Zhou period and early Spring and Autumn period. To date, materials have only been partially published. It seems that a minority of tombs contained bronze vessels, and most of those vessels were uninscribed.Footnote ⁷¹ As the lineage name Rui 芮 was the most often attested in inscriptions from the first excavated tombs, the cemetery was identified as the cemetery of the Rui state. Other inscriptions refer to different lineages or states, like Bi 畢 (M502), Jin 晉 (M300) or Guo 虢 (M18). These inscriptions clearly reflect interstate exchange and especially marriage.Footnote ⁷² Of particular interest is the relationship with the Guo 虢 state, which had its capital in modern Sanmenxia city. Tomb M18 from Liangdaicun contains only one bronze vessel: an inscribed ding cauldron which is in fact part of a larger cauldron set found in tomb M2001 from Sanmenxia.Footnote ⁷³

The looted Qin site of Dabaozishan 大堡子山 (Lixian 禮縣 district), in eastern Gansu, was discovered at the beginning of the 1990s and has already been the subject of various studies.Footnote ⁷⁴ 2006 archaeological campaigns revealed the nature of this site, which included not only large tombs of Qin rulers, but also smaller tombs, human-sacrifice pits, a pit containing musical instruments (K5), as well as several related buildings.Footnote ⁷⁵ Eleven bronze yong 甬 and bo 鎛 bells were found in pit K5; on the largest bo bell was an inscription indicating it was cast for a Prince of Qin (Qin zi 秦子). This twenty-six-character inscription also confirmed that the area of Lixian district was still an important place for Qin rulers in the early Spring and Autumn period.Footnote ⁷⁶

Between 1986 and 2007, more than 500 tombs dating from the Zhou to the Han period were excavated at Pingdingshan 平頂山, in southern Henan Province. Unfortunately, the site had suffered significant looting. Based on several excavated bronze inscriptions mentioning members of the Ying 應 lineage elite and on the geographical location of this site, it was identified as a cemetery of the Ying state. Several tombs containing bronzes, occasionally inscribed, were published in preliminary reports before 2008.Footnote ⁷⁷ In 2012, the first volume of the archaeological report was published. It describes eighteen tombs dated from the early and middle Western Zhou periods, of which eleven contained bronze vessels (including three tombs containing only fragments).Footnote ⁷⁸ Nineteen of the fifty-one bronze vessels excavated from these tombs were inscribed. The content of the inscriptions is quite varied, including dedications associated with wish formulae or the commemoration of an archery contest.Footnote ⁷⁹ It should be noted that the name of Ying is only attested here in two tombs: Ying shi 應事 (M229) and Ying hou Cheng 應侯爯 (M84). Four other volumes in this monograph series are expected for tombs dating from the late Western Zhou to the Han period. Due to the lack of reference to Ying in later tombs that have already been published, one must be very cautious about considering the entire Pingdingshan cemetery as related to the Ying lineage.Footnote ⁸⁰

In 2008, the municipal archaeological institute of Nanyang excavated several Eastern Zhou tombs in Nanyang, including tomb M38, dating from the late Spring and Autumn period.Footnote ⁸¹ M38 contained twenty bronze vessels (eight were inscribed) and two inscribed halberd blades. Inscriptions indicate that these bronzes were cast for the tomb owner She 射, Prince (?) of Peng 彭子.

The walled site of Chenzhuang 陳莊 (Linzi, Shandong), where an inscribed oracle bone was discovered,Footnote ⁸² also revealed an aristocratic cemetery with large tombs as well as chariot and horse pits.Footnote ⁸³ Remains date from the early to middle Western Zhou. From 2008 to 2010, archaeologists excavated fourteen tombs, six of which contained bronzes (50 pieces in total). M18 contained one uninscribed bronze vessel together with seven inscribed ones, with dedications indicating that those bronzes were cast for an Ancestor Jia 祖甲 by someone with the lineage name Feng 豐. Most of the discussions about these discoveries concern the identity of the dedicatee (Ancestor Jia, who may have been the first Lord of Qi 齊太公), his relationship with Feng, and the nature of the Chenzhuang walled site. A seventy-three-character inscription on two gui tureen vessels excavated from tomb M35 commemorates an investiture ceremony for a military official of the Qi state.

Between 2006 and 2008 archaeologists excavated a large tomb at Shuangdun 雙墩, near Bengbu 蚌埠 (Anhui).Footnote ⁸⁴ This tomb, dated between the early and middle Spring and Autumn periods, has a circular pit covered by a tumulus. The pit contained ten accompanying corpses, ceramics, lacquerware, and bronzes, including nineteen bronze vessels, nine niu 鈕 bells and several halberd blades.Footnote ⁸⁵ The nine bells, two fu 簠 food containers and three halberd blades were inscribed. Most of the inscriptions consist of a dedication made by Bai, Lord of Tongli 童麗君柏. Serious evidence indicates that Tongli should be read as Zhongli 鐘離 (or 鍾離), a small regional state mentioned in several ancient sources such as the Zuo zhuan 左傳.

Between 2004 and 2009 archaeologists discovered more than one thousand tombs dated from the Western Zhou to the Tang dynasty in Shengang 沈崗, near Xiangyang 襄陽, in northern Hubei Province. In 2009 they excavated a mid-Spring and Autumn tomb (M1022), which contained nine bronze ritual vessels and one bronze bell.Footnote ⁸⁶ Two different dedications, with wish formulae, can be read on a ding cauldron and on the bell. In both cases, the dedicators’ family names were scratched out, indicating that the bronzes were probably not cast for the tomb occupant.

Two tombs dating from the late Spring and Autumn period were discovered at Xulou 徐樓, within the territory of Zaozhuang 棗莊 prefecture-level municipality, in southwest Shandong.Footnote ⁸⁷ Both were looted and damaged, but according to the tombs’ shape, remaining grave goods, and inscriptions, archaeologists consider them to be the tombs of a husband and wife, members of the local elite. Tomb M1 still contained nineteen bronze vessels and four bronze bells, of which five vessels and one bell were inscribed. Some vessels were cast by a Lord of the Song house 宋公, who presented himself as a descendent of Tang 湯, the founder of the Shang dynasty. Tomb M2 contained six bronze vessels (of which at least two were inscribed) as well as weapons. The identification of the family name of the tomb owners is still debated, as well as other family names or state names occurring in the inscriptions, which at least illustrates the complex local political landscape.

Because of important changes in ritual and social practices, inscribed vessels became less common in tombs while the number of inscribed weapons increased during the Eastern Zhou period. In fact, weapons represent the only category of inscribed bronzes in many tombs and cemeteries from that period. For example, between 2002 and 2004 archaeologists from Shandong excavated fifty-two Eastern Zhou tombs containing 162 ritual bronzes and 384 weapons. The only inscribed bronzes were nineteen weapons originating from six tombs.Footnote ⁸⁸ An inscribed halberd blade was also discovered in 2005 in tomb M124 in Huaxinyuan 華鑫苑 district, Nanyang.Footnote ⁸⁹ The tomb, dated to the early Spring and Autumn period, also contained six uninscribed bronze vessels. The inscription indicates that the halberd was cast for someone called “[X] Chen” 囗臣, but the relationship between him and the tomb owner remains unclear.Footnote ⁹⁰ In 2000, twenty-six Chu tombs were excavated at Caojiashan 曹家山, close to Jingzhou in the region of the ancient Chu capital.Footnote ⁹¹ Tomb M1 was among the largest and the best preserved. Grave goods consisted of various objects, including eight uninscribed bronze vessels and one inscribed bronze sword from Yue 越. Its inscription, in bird-writing style (niaoshu 鳥書), indicates that it was cast for an unidentified king of Yue. Unfortunately, it belongs to a small group of Warring States Yue-style swords whose inscriptions remain only partly readable even for specialists.Footnote ⁹² Another case of problematic bird-writing style inscription was reported from a looted Western Han tomb excavated in 2009. Tomb M1 from Jiangdu 江都 (Xuyi 盱眙, Jiangsu) was identified as the tomb of Liu Fei 劉非 (169–127 b.c.e.), Prince of Jiangdu and son of Emperor Jing 景 (r. 157–141 b.c.e.).Footnote ⁹³ In his grave was found a broken, inscribed Warring States chunyu 錞于 bronze bell. The unreadable inscription was composed of sixty-four bird-writing style characters. Even if some graphs can be identified, the inscription as a whole doesn't make sense. This phenomenon was also observed on other late Warring States–period Yue-style bronzes, where similar pseudo-inscriptions, produced by single-character mold impression, were used as décor.

E 鄂 was an important state in Western Zhou China, mentioned both in transmitted texts and bronze inscriptions. In 2007, a tomb (M4) was excavated at Yangzishan 羊子山 (Suizhou) which contained several inscribed bronzes made for a Lord of E 鄂侯, a title also attested on a bronze excavated at the same site in 1975.Footnote ⁹⁴ The famous late Western Zhou Yu ding 禹鼎 inscription commemorates a Zhou military campaign against a rebellion lead by a Lord of E who was finally defeated.Footnote ⁹⁵ Hence, scholars believed that E disappeared. But in 2012, archaeologists excavated twenty tombs from the late Western Zhou to the Spring and Autumn period at Xiaxiangpu 夏響鋪 (Nanyang prefecture-level municipality).Footnote ⁹⁶ More than one hundred ritual bronzes were excavated, of which thirty-eight were inscribed.Footnote ⁹⁷ Inscriptions indicate that these tombs belong to the E lineage, with some tomb occupants being identified as successive Lords of E and their spouses. Inscriptions concerning spouses also provide information about inter-lineage relationships.

Since the discovery in 1978 of the famous tomb of Marquis Yi 乙 from Zeng 曾 (M1) at Leigudun 擂鼓墩, in Suizhou 隨州, scholars have developed a strong interest in this regional polity.Footnote ⁹⁸ As very few transmitted texts refer to Zeng, many specialists believe that Zeng can be identified with another polity mentioned in the same region: Sui 随. More than forty years after Marquis Yi's tomb was excavated, we now have enough evidence to recover part of this local polity's history thanks to archaeological and epigraphical discoveries.Footnote ⁹⁹ Based on the excavation of Zeng leaders from a cemetery at Yejiashan 葉家山 (140 tombs and seven horse pits were excavated between 2011 and 2013), we can ascertain that a Zeng lineage was established at Suizhou at the beginning of the Western Zhou period.Footnote ¹⁰⁰ Whereas no cemetery belonging to the Zeng lineage has yet been discovered for the middle Western Zhou period, several tombs or cemeteries have been identified for the late Western Zhou and early Spring and Autumn periods in multiple locations: Xiongjialaowan 熊家老灣 in Suizhou (two bronze sets excavated in 1970 and 1972); Sujialong 蘇家壟, Jingshan京山 municipality (one bronze set and more than one hundred tombs excavated between 1966 and 2017);Footnote ¹⁰¹ and Guojiamiao 郭家廟, Zaoyang 棗陽 municipality (seven horse and chariot pits and more than fifty tombs excavated between 2002 and 2015).Footnote ¹⁰² Finally, cemeteries from the middle Spring and Autumn to middle Warring States period have been recently excavated in Suizhou at Yidigang 義地崗 (six tombs excavated in 1994 and 2011),Footnote ¹⁰³ Fengwenta 峰文塔 (fifty-four tombs and three horse pits excavated between 2012 and 2013),Footnote ¹⁰⁴ and Handong Donglu 漢東東路 (thirty-nine tombs and two horse pits excavated in 2017).Footnote ¹⁰⁵ Even though those cemeteries suffered from various levels of looting, numerous grave goods were excavated, including hundreds of inscribed bronzes. Inscriptions provide information about Zeng lineage members names and titles, essentially Lord or Marquis (hou 侯) for leaders from Yejiashan, Yidigang, and Leigudun, and Elder (Bo 伯) or Prince (?) (Zi 子) in other cemeteries. Inscriptions from early Western Zhou to early Spring and Autumn consist mainly of short dedications. At Yejiashan, one can also read the name of other lineages (like Yu 魚) or Shang-style ancestral titles (like Fu Xin 父辛), and many emblems (some attested in Anyang during the late Shang period) can be observed. One of the longest inscriptions from Yejiashan (from tomb M2) commemorates ceremonies led by a Zhou king. If the content of dedications from Guojiamiao is quite common, giving essentially the names of dedicators and dedicatees with wish formulas, their layout is often quite irregular, betraying craftsmen who didn't fully master inscription production techniques. These inscriptions contrast with the very conventional eighty-three characters long inscription produced around the same period for the occupant of Sujialong tomb M88. This inscription references the military campaign of Elder Qi of Zeng 曾伯桼 against the Yi from the Huai River region 淮夷. But the difference in layout is even more obvious with the fine design of Zeng bronze inscriptions from the later Yidigang and Wenfangta cemeteries, which is very close to the one attested on bronzes from Lord Yi of Zeng. Here can be found many inscriptions which provide important information about Zeng history. For example, a bell excavated from tomb M1 at Wenfengta has a 169-character inscription that narrates how an ancestor of Lord Yu of Zeng 曾侯與 assisted Zhou kings Wen and Wu in defeating the Shang. Nan Gong 南公 was then sent to rule the Yi. When the Zhou royal house began to decline, Zeng turned to the Chu kingdom and assisted Chu in its war against Wu 吳. On another bell from the same tomb, Lord Yu claimed to be a descendent of [Hou] Ji [后]稷, the founding ancestor of the Ji 姬 clan, to which belonged the Zhou royal house. Zeng military assistance to Chu is also mentioned in an incomplete inscription on a bronze bell from tomb M4.Footnote ¹⁰⁶ For most scholars, those inscriptions provide the historical frame in which Yejiashan, Guojiamiao, Yidigang, Wenfangta and Leigudun materials have to be understood. The fact that Nan Gong is mentioned as an ancestor in Zeng inscriptions from Yejiashan (M111) and Wenfengta (M1) supports the continuity of the Zeng lineage from those different places. However, a few scholars, like Zhang Changping 張昌平, consider that more research is necessary to better understand the history of the Zeng lineage, and that the possible existence of several branches, with perhaps different origins, should not be ignored.Footnote ¹⁰⁷ Finally, an inscribed halberd blade belonging to a “Great Supervisor of the Horses from Sui” 隨大司馬 was excavated from tomb M21, which also contained several bronzes containing the name of Zeng. Although many scholars consider that this halberd proves the equivalence between Zeng and Sui, Zhang Changping still insists that more materials are necessary to understand the exact nature of the relationship between the two.

Excavated in 2002, tumulus number one at Jiuliandun 九連墩, in Zaoyang 棗陽 (Hubei), contained two vast aristocratic Chu tombs with two large chariot pits. Tomb M2 was unlooted and identified as the grave of the spouse of M1's tomb occupant.Footnote ¹⁰⁸ Its size is similar to Baoshan M2 and dates to about the same period (c. 316 b.c.e.). Jiuliandun M2 contained more than one hundred well-preserved lacquer objects, as well as forty bronze vessels. But only a pair of gui tureens were inscribed with a short dedication. The identity of the dedicator is still under debate.

In 2017 archaeologists from Shandong were excavating the remains of the ancient capital of the Zhu 邾 state, situated south of today's Zoucheng 鄒城 city, when they discovered a late Western Han well, probably abandoned during the reign of the Xin dynasty (9–23 c.e.).Footnote ¹⁰⁹ Inside the well several bronze objects were found, including a balance-beam, four weights, and three tablets, all inscribed with an early Xin imperial decree reforming weight and measures. The graphs used in the inscriptions strongly resemble graphs from the First Emperor's decree inscriptions, suggesting Qin inscriptions served as a model.

If bronze was the main metallic support for inscriptions in ancient China, a few inscriptions were produced on other metals. In 2004 a large late Warring States tomb with two access ramps was excavated at Xixin 西辛, Qingzhou 青州 municipality (Shandong).Footnote ¹¹⁰ Although it was looted many times, the tomb still contained a few grave goods, including five silver vessels with carved inscriptions that most likely indicated their capacity. More exceptional was the discovery in 2007 of an inscribed iron bridge pillar weighing more than 1.3 tons on the bank of the Shiting 石亭 river, in Guanghan 廣漢 municipality (Sichuan).Footnote ¹¹¹ The inscription, written in zhuanshu 篆書 style, provides information about the local commandery name (Guanghan), the ancient name of the river (Luojiang 雒江), the weight of the bridge pillar, and the date when it was cast (96 b.c.e.). Mold fragments were also discovered in the vicinity, indicating that this heavy piece of iron was cast in situ.

Several inscribed bronzes have also been discovered recently outside the course of scientific excavation. For example, tombs were looted in 2009 at Jianjiao 尖角 (Gucheng 谷城 district), in the territory of Xiangyang 襄陽 prefecture-level municipality.Footnote ¹¹² Fortunately, the police were able to recover part of the looters’ haul, including three Warring States bronze vessels inscribed with similar dedications. In 2006 villagers from Fengxiang 鳳翔 district, Baoji, discovered three bronze vessels from the middle Spring and Autumn period, of which one was inscribed.Footnote ¹¹³ The nineteen-character inscription was a dedication with wish formula, preceded by date of the day using the sexagenary cycle. In 2012 one ding cauldron and twelve bells dated to the middle Western Zhou period were discovered during earthwork at Wanfunao 萬福垴, Yichang 宜昌 prefecture-level municipality (Hubei). A sixteen-character dedication by a member of a junior branch of the Chu royal family (Chu Ji 楚季) was carved on one of the bells.Footnote ¹¹⁴ Even if its context is unclear, this bell is quite important as it constitutes one of the few examples of early Chu inscriptions.

Numerous inscribed bronzes of unknown provenance, preserved in private and public collections, have been published since 2008.Footnote ¹¹⁵ Many of these new materials have already been included in the most recent and up-to-date bronze inscription corpus, published by Wu Zhenfeng 吳鎮烽 in 2012 (16,703 items) with a supplement published in 2016 (1,511 items).Footnote ¹¹⁶ Unprovenanced materials should of course be considered with caution, especially when they come from private collections, as fake inscribed bronzes are not uncommon on the antiquities market. Notable examples of unprovenanced inscribed bronzes include a Shang jue vessel from the Hebei University Museum,Footnote ¹¹⁷ four early Western Zhou vessels from the Henan University Museum,Footnote ¹¹⁸ and a late Western Zhou gui vessel from the Capital Normal University History Museum.Footnote ¹¹⁹ Many inscribed bronzes have also appeared in catalogues of private collections, like the Katherine and George Fan collection (37 specimens from Shang to Qin),Footnote ¹²⁰ the Meiyintang collection (36 from Shang to Warring States),Footnote ¹²¹ and the Dong Bo Zhai collection (at least 32 from Shang to Warring States).Footnote ¹²²

Scientifically Excavated Manuscripts

Ancient literary and documentary texts written on bamboo, wood, and silk are generally excavated from two different contexts: tombs and non-funerary sites. Tombs were where texts were intentionally placed, and where, if specific conditions were met, they could be more fully preserved. On the other hand, materials discovered in non-funerary contexts were generally discarded there and, as a result, are more fragmentary.Footnote ¹²⁷

Tomb Manuscripts

Texts and Documents from the Antiquities Market

The discovery of ancient texts and documents by happenstance or due to looting is not new in China, but it seems that it is only at the end of the twentieth century that a real market of ancient Chinese manuscripts emerged in Asia. It has two sad consequences: it encourages both tomb looting and the production of fake manuscripts.Footnote ¹⁹¹ However, none can today ignore the important corpora that are now preserved by the most prestigious Chinese academic institutions and that contribute, through their publication and research, to a profound renewal of early China studies. As these manuscripts have already attracted the attention of many scholars, and because many studies have already been published about them in Western languages, I will here limit myself to very general information. For readers unfamiliar with these materials, further references will be found in works mentioned in the footnotes.

The “Chu Silk Manuscript,” now conserved in the Freer Gallery of Art of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, is the earliest example of a Warring States manuscript bought from the antiquities market. Discovered in 1942, it has been published several times. In 2017, Li Ling proposed a new edition of this manuscript, along with an edition of two other (possibly more) unpublished fragmentary manuscripts that were excavated together.Footnote ¹⁹² In this book he supplies high quality pictures, new transcriptions, new commentaries, and some notes about the discovery and early studies concerning these manuscripts.Footnote ¹⁹³

The Shanghai Museum Warring States manuscripts were bought on the Hong Kong antiquities market in 1994. This corpus, written on more than 1,200 bamboo slips, is mainly composed of philosophical texts. Since the first volume was published in 2001, Shanghai Museum editors have inaugurated a new, high-level standard for manuscript reproduction and transcription. Volumes seven (2008), eight (2011), and nine (2012), which were published during the period of this review, contain texts related to Confucius and to important historical figures from early Western Zhou and later Chu history.Footnote ¹⁹⁴ One text concerns divination by turtle shell (Bu shu 卜書).Footnote ¹⁹⁵ In total, sixty-two texts from the Shanghai collection have been published, and at least one more volume is still expected.

It was in July 2008 that Tsinghua University received a set of around 2,500 bamboo slips and fragments, probably corresponding to more than 1,700 complete slips, from a generous donor. The manuscripts were dated to around 300 b.c.e. Tsinghua's corpus is characterized by the significant presence of texts related to the Shang shu tradition (including Yi Zhou shu 逸周書), like Jin teng 金縢, Yue ming 說命, and Feng Xu zhi ming 封許之命.Footnote ¹⁹⁶ It also contains some technical texts like a divination manual (Shifa 筮法) and a multiplication table (Suanbiao 算表). Between 2011 and 2018, eight volumes were published. The whole collection will likely include seventeen volumes.

In 2015, Anhui University received a set of 1,167 Warring States bamboo slips. Until 2018 only general information about this corpus and a few pictures were published.Footnote ¹⁹⁷ In these slips, the editors have already identified fifty-eight poems from the “Guofeng” 國風 section of the Shi jing, texts related to the history of Chu or to ancient philosophy (zhuzi 諸子), and other poems close to the Chu ci 楚辭 tradition. Finally, some texts belong to different mantic traditions, like oneiromany (zhanmeng 占夢) and physiognomony (xiangmian 相面).

In 2011 a donor offered Wuhan University 129 Warring States bamboo slips (including 10 uninscribed). According to preliminary reports published across different media, the slips consist mainly of divinatory and sacrificial reports.Footnote ¹⁹⁸

The main portion of the Yuelu Academy's 岳麓書院 corpus of Qin manuscripts was purchased on the Hong Kong antiquities market in 2007. It was completed in 2008 by the gift of some extra slips from the same origin. The manuscripts consist of 2,174 slips and fragments (essentially bamboo slips, with a few wooden ones). They mainly contain legal texts, with also some calendars (for years 220, 213, and 212 b.c.e.), a text about oneiromancy, a collection of calculation exercises, and a kind of vademecum for good officials.Footnote ¹⁹⁹ Between 2010 and 2017, five volumes have already been published.Footnote ²⁰⁰

Peking University possesses two sets of ancient manuscripts, one from the Qin period and another from the Han. The Qin corpus was offered to Peking University in 2010. It consists of more than 760 bamboo slips, and it also includes a few wooden slips and tablets, four bamboo tablets, and one wooden stick for writing exercises. We find here: calendars (years 216 and 214 b.c.e.), calculation exercises, a vademecum for good officials, some administrative accounts, a few literary pieces, a text about resurrection, and texts related to the rishu tradition.Footnote ²⁰¹ The Han corpus was received by Peking University in 2009. It contains more than 3,000 bamboo slips and fragments dating to the first half of the first century b.c.e. These manuscripts include partial copies of the Daode jing 道德經 and the Cangjie pian, as well as other literary texts and several texts related to different divination practices and traditions, like rishu.Footnote ²⁰² The first five volumes were published between 2012 and 2016. Three other volumes are expected.Footnote ²⁰³