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A Study of the Pottery Inscription “Wen Yi 文邑”

Published/Copyright: January 1, 2009
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Chinese Archaeology
From the journal Chinese Archaeology Volume 9 Issue 1

170Chinese ArchaeologyA Study of the Pottery Inscription “Wen Yi”Since the publishing, the red ink-written inscription(Figure 1; Li 2001) on pottery flask unearthed from PitH4303 at Taosi Site, Xiangfen County, Shanxi Prov-ince attracted much attention of academic field. Thisflask was dated as the 20th century BCE, which was inthe chronological scope of the Xia Dynasty. Because ofthe studies to the worshipping of God of Land of theXia Dynasty and the relevant history facts (Feng 2002a),A Study of the Pottery Inscription “Wen Yi ”Feng Shi*Key words: Bronze Age–China Taosi Site (Xiangfen County, Shanxi) Flasks Scripts(Writing)Figure 1. The Red Ink-Written Character of Taosi Culture1. From Li, Jianmin 2001 2 and 3. Traced bythe AuthorFigure 2. The Yang()as thePhoneticComponent ofYang ()in Bronze In-scription(From LingDing-tripod)123Figure 3. The Ancient Forms of the Character Yao 1. From No. 9379 of Jiaguwen Heji 2. From the Inscription ofYao Pan 3. From Chu Silk Manuscript 4. From pt. 3 of the Qiong Da yiShi (Misery and Success Depend on the Age) Section of theGuodian Chu Bamboo Slips 5. From pt. 7 of the Liu De (The SixVirtues) Section of the Guodian Chu Bamboo Slips12345we know that this has close relationship with Xia Culture.It is well known that the discovery of oracle bone scriptwas essential for the identification of the natures of YinxuCulture; then, that whether the Taosi scripts have thesame significance to the nature of Taosi Culture is aquestion to which we are eager to get the answers.The red ink-written inscription of Taosi Culture be-longed to the same writing system with the oracle bonescript of the Shang Dynasty, thereforethey could also be seen as the prototypeof Chinese characters (Feng 2002b); forthis reason, we can decode the Taosi in-scription with the assistance of oraclebone scripts. As for the two charactersin this inscription, the first is identifiedas Wenwithout disagreementamong the researchers, but the decipher-ing of the second character has manycontradicting results: for example, somescholars decipher it as Yang (Luo2001), some scholars explained it asYao (He 2007). However, the formof (Figure 2) in the Shang and Zhouinscriptions did not match the form ofthis character. On the other hand, thecomposition of Yao was that one ortwo Tu (Earth)were set on topand a Ren (Human being)wasset below them (Figure 3). No matter inoracle bone scripts or in bronzeinscriptions, theTu was all in theshape of or , like tumuluspiled up out of the horizon, because ofwhich the tumuluscould by nomeans separate from the horizon.Therefore, the upper part of the second* The Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing, 100710
Published Online: 2009-01

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Articles in the same Issue

  2. Eastward Spread of Wheat into China – New Data and New Issues
  3. 2006–2007 Excavation on the Liangzhu City-Site in Yuhang District, Hangzhou City
  4. Discovery and Preliminary Study to the Liangzhu Culture
  5. Tomb of Kang Ye of the Northern Zhou in Xi’an, Shaanxi
  6. Notes on the Stone Couch Pictures from the Tomb of Kang Ye in Northern Zhou
  7. Archaeological Discoveries and Qin-Han Period Sports and Games
  8. Archaeological Discoveries and Tang-Song Period Sports and Games
  9. New Discoveries in the Fifth Excavation of the Lingjiatan Site in Hanshan County, Anhui
  10. Stone Coffin Tombs of No. 1 Boulder Mound at Locality 2 in Niuheliang Site of Hongshan Culture
  11. Large-sized Rammed-earth Building Foundations of the Middle Taosi Culture Discovered on the Taosi City-site in Xiangfen County, Shanxi
  12. 2003–2004 Excavation of Shang Tombs at Xiaomintun in Anyang City, Henan
  13. Earth-Mound Burials at Guanjiucun, Pucheng County, Fujian Province
  14. Eastern Zhou Tomb at Lizhou’ao in Jing’an County, Jiangxi
  15. Excavation of Western Han Wooden Slips on the Site of the Palace of the Nanyue Kingdom
  16. Excavation of Fengpengling Tomb of Han Dynasty in Wangcheng County, Hunan
  17. An Eastern Han Imperial Mausoleum in Baicaopo Village, Yanshi City, Henan
  18. The Site of Ancient Towpaths along the Yellow River at Xihetou, Pinglu, Shanxi
  19. New Archaeological Discoveries South of the Hanyuan Hall at the Daming Palace of Tang Dynasty
  20. Survey and Preliminary Study of Rice Farming Remains on the Yangjiajuan Site in Qixia County, Shandong
  21. Remains of Ancient Rice Unearthed from the Shangshan Site and Their Significance
  22. On the Traces of Disasters and the Building near the Square in the Lajia Settlement
  23. A Study of the Pottery Inscription “Wen Yi 文邑”
  24. Relative Dating of Early Shang City Ruins Based on Rammed-Earth Building Techniques Employed in City Walls
  25. Re-discussion of the Problem of When People in the Region South of the Five Ridges Began to Cast Bronzes
  26. A Study of the Bronze Age Culture in the Tumen River Valley
  27. Study on the Technique of Clay-Mold Assembly of Yinxu Ritual Bronze Vessels
  28. A Preliminary Study of Semi-circular Roof Tiles of the Western Han
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https://doi.org/10.1515/CHAR.2009.9.1.170

Articles in the same Issue

  2. Eastward Spread of Wheat into China – New Data and New Issues
  3. 2006–2007 Excavation on the Liangzhu City-Site in Yuhang District, Hangzhou City
  4. Discovery and Preliminary Study to the Liangzhu Culture
  5. Tomb of Kang Ye of the Northern Zhou in Xi’an, Shaanxi
  6. Notes on the Stone Couch Pictures from the Tomb of Kang Ye in Northern Zhou
  7. Archaeological Discoveries and Qin-Han Period Sports and Games
  8. Archaeological Discoveries and Tang-Song Period Sports and Games
  9. New Discoveries in the Fifth Excavation of the Lingjiatan Site in Hanshan County, Anhui
  10. Stone Coffin Tombs of No. 1 Boulder Mound at Locality 2 in Niuheliang Site of Hongshan Culture
  11. Large-sized Rammed-earth Building Foundations of the Middle Taosi Culture Discovered on the Taosi City-site in Xiangfen County, Shanxi
  12. 2003–2004 Excavation of Shang Tombs at Xiaomintun in Anyang City, Henan
  13. Earth-Mound Burials at Guanjiucun, Pucheng County, Fujian Province
  14. Eastern Zhou Tomb at Lizhou’ao in Jing’an County, Jiangxi
  15. Excavation of Western Han Wooden Slips on the Site of the Palace of the Nanyue Kingdom
  16. Excavation of Fengpengling Tomb of Han Dynasty in Wangcheng County, Hunan
  17. An Eastern Han Imperial Mausoleum in Baicaopo Village, Yanshi City, Henan
  18. The Site of Ancient Towpaths along the Yellow River at Xihetou, Pinglu, Shanxi
  19. New Archaeological Discoveries South of the Hanyuan Hall at the Daming Palace of Tang Dynasty
  20. Survey and Preliminary Study of Rice Farming Remains on the Yangjiajuan Site in Qixia County, Shandong
  21. Remains of Ancient Rice Unearthed from the Shangshan Site and Their Significance
  22. On the Traces of Disasters and the Building near the Square in the Lajia Settlement
  23. A Study of the Pottery Inscription “Wen Yi 文邑”
  24. Relative Dating of Early Shang City Ruins Based on Rammed-Earth Building Techniques Employed in City Walls
  25. Re-discussion of the Problem of When People in the Region South of the Five Ridges Began to Cast Bronzes
  26. A Study of the Bronze Age Culture in the Tumen River Valley
  27. Study on the Technique of Clay-Mold Assembly of Yinxu Ritual Bronze Vessels
  28. A Preliminary Study of Semi-circular Roof Tiles of the Western Han
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