前 言 
　　殷墟甲骨文發(fā)現(xiàn)于 1899 年，至今已有一個多世紀。它的發(fā)現(xiàn)證實了商代的存在，使商代的歷史變得更加真切和清晰。據(jù)目前所得考古資料，甲骨文是中國漢字的最早源頭。甲骨文與兩河流域的蘇美爾楔形文字（Sumerian Cuneiform System），尼羅河流域的埃及圣書體文字（Egyptian Hieroglyphic System）及中美洲的奧梅克—瑪雅文字（Olmec-Maya Hieroglyphic System）并列爲人類史上出現(xiàn)過的四個獨立起源文字系統(tǒng)。這四種獨立起源文字（或稱自源文字），都是形、音、義并存的形符文字（或稱表意文字）（logographic writing）。蘇美爾與埃及文字是拼音文字之先河，漢字則是東亞文明的奠基石。除了漢字外，其他三種古文字早已成爲死文字。漢字是當今唯一存世的起源文字。
　　在人類歷史上，漢字是使用者人數(shù)最多的文字，也是世界上唯一邁進 21 世紀電腦時代的形符文字。從商代甲骨文算起，漢字已經(jīng)被連續(xù)使用 3500 年之久，是人類歷史上使用時間最長的文字。然而相對於其他的起源文字，國內(nèi)外一般讀者對甲骨文了解不多，特別是西方世界的認知遠不及對埃及文、蘇美爾文或瑪雅文字來得普及。筆者在歐美書店可見到許多介紹埃及、蘇美爾、瑪雅文字的書籍，但是有關(guān)甲骨文的英文或其他外文著作，特別是普及性的書籍寥寥無幾；即使是專門研究的英語書籍也屈指可數(shù)，例如吉德煒（David N. Keightley） 的 Sources of Shang History（1978，1985）、The Ancestral Landscape （2000）、Working for His Majesty（2012） 及 高 嶋 謙 一（Ken-ichi Takashima） 的 Studies of Fascicle Three of Inscriptions from the Yin Ruins（2010）。鑒於漢字在人類歷史上的特殊地位及在國際范圍推廣漢字認知教學(xué)的重要，甲骨文認讀的這一塊空白在國內(nèi)外都有待填補。 
　　筆者在臺灣大學(xué)時曾從金祥恒師習(xí)甲骨文，在耶魯讀研究所時，有幸得從張光直、饒宗頤兩位先生請益切磋古史。最近數(shù)年承涂經(jīng)詒教授相邀得以在新澤西州立羅格斯大學(xué)東亞系開課以英語教授甲骨文及漢字起源。除了識讀甲骨文外，也涉及四種獨立起源文字的比較。由於缺乏認讀甲骨文字的合適英語課本，所以采用自己編的手寫教材，教學(xué)方式采取當年金先生的方法：讀片子。本書即基於這些教材編寫而成。此書可作爲以英語教授甲骨文字的課本，也適於自學(xué)甲骨文之用。希望更多國內(nèi)外人士藉由對甲骨文字的認知而對中國上古文明産生興趣。 
　　本書編寫過程中，筆者的學(xué)生安馬修（Matthew Anderson）將卜辭以甲骨文字體在電腦顯示，并整理字匯表，及英文的轉(zhuǎn)録、翻譯。郅曉娜博士負責(zé)甲骨片的摹寫。本書的編寫，承吉林大學(xué)林澐教授屢次撥冗解疑。羅格斯大學(xué)詹富國（Dietrich Tschanz）教授閲讀英文稿。中國社會科學(xué)院歷史所先秦史研究室宋鎮(zhèn)豪教授提供寶貴意見，劉源博士仔細審閲全部中文稿，并全程參與編纂工作。在此表示衷心謝意。書中錯誤，在所難免，希望讀者不吝指教。最後要感謝內(nèi)人劉貽章教授的支持與鼓勵。 
　　陳光宇 


　　Foreword 
　　The discovery of inscribed oracle bones and shells in 1899 and subsequent identification of Yīnxū, the ruins of the last Shāng Capital located near ānyáng, Hénán, proved to be a watershed for Early China studies, as these inscriptions represent the most archaic form of Chinese writing （more precisely hànzì 漢字）and the earliest documentary source in China. Almost all of these documents belong to the royal house of late Shāng Dynasty（~1300 to 1100 bce） 
　　These documents survived for so long because they were engraved on animal bones（mostly bovine scapula）and turtle shells（plastron or carapace）, hence the name ‘oracle bone inscriptions’（OBI）or, in Chinese, jiǎgǔwén（甲骨文）, literally ‘shell bone writing’. The inscriptions engraved on undreds of thousands of bones and shells provide the most precious source for studying early Chinese history. It was based on OBI that Wáng Guówéi（王國維）, one of the most eminent Chinese scholars of the early 20th century, was able to identify names of Shāng kings and ascertain the historicity of the figures previously thought to be legendary. By doing so, Wáng confirmed the authenticity of the Shāng history as written by Sīmǎ Qiān（145—86 bce）in the Shǐjì（《史記》 , The Records of Grand Historian）. 
　　Oracle bone inscription（OBI）, the earliest from of Chinese, together with Egyptian, Mayan, and Sumerian constitute the four writing systems independently invented in human history. All four primary writings are logographic in nature. Among them, only Chinese writing system survives and remains logographic. The study of OBI not only plays a pivotal role in connecting the archeological data to the transmitted textual tradition in China, it is also of great import to the comparative study of origin of writing systems and civilizations. Despite this, OBI has not garnered the attention and popularity in the western world that Egyptian hieroglyphs, Sumerian cuneiform, and Mayan glyph have long enjoyed. In fact, there are only a very few scholarly books in English that focus on OBI（e.g. Sources of Shāng History, 1978, 1985; The Ancestral Landscape, 2000; Working for His Majesty, 2012; written by David Keightley, University of California, Berkeley, and Studies of Fascicle Three of Inscriptions from the Yin Ruins, 2010, by Ken-ichi Takashima, University of British Columbia）and there are virtually no books for the general public in the West to learn about OBI. This can be contrasted with the tens or even hundreds of books on Mayan and Egyptian hieroglyphs and civilizations found on online book selling sites such as Amazon.com. 
　　The author has had the fortune to learn OBI in college and in graduate school from several leading Shāng scholars, including the late Professors Jīn Xiánghéng（金祥恒 , National Taiwan University）, Chang Kwang-chi（張 光 直 , Zhāng Guāngzhí, Yale University）and Professor JaoTsung-I（饒宗頤 , Ráo Zōngyí, Yale University）. The author has offered a course on OBI （Chinese 165:424, Origin and Development of Chinese Writing）in the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures at Rutgers University, New Jersey for many years. The course material forms the basis of this book. The main body of this book is a collection of 120 pieces of rubbings （tàběn 拓本）, mainly from the corpus of Jiǎgǔwén Héjí（《甲骨文合集》）, that contain inscriptions covering a wide array of topics including weather, astronomy, kingship, sacrificial ceremonies, rituals, agriculture, hunting, military campaigns and politics. Each rubbing is accompanied by a clear tracing（móběn 摹本）, which will be helpful in case the graphs on rubbing are not clearly legible. The direct graph-to-graph transcription, both in digital OBI font and in archaic Chinese script（or lìdìng 隸定） , will help the reader to become familiar with the sequence and direction of reading OBI on the rubbings. Transliteration from OBI graph to English is also provided; so that, by comparing this transliteration with the English translation the reader can appreciate the grammar and sentence structure of archaic Chinese. Finally, translation and annotations are provided in Chinese and in English. 
　　The book is intended to benefit both scholars and lay public who are interested in East Asian civilizations in general and Early China in particular. Readers can use this book to get acquainted with the writing of OBI graphs, just like students learn Mayan or Egyptian hieroglyphs from reading original scripts. In light of the lack of books in English for the study of OBI, it is hoped that this book will fill the need for an accessible introduction to the subject. 
　　During the preparation of this book, I have greatly benefited by discussions with Professors Lín Yún, Jílín University, and Sòng Zhènháo, Institute of History, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. I am grateful to Dr. Liú Yuán, who has read the Chinese portion of the manuscript, and to Professor Dietrich Tschanz, Rutgers University, who has read and commented on the English part of the manuscript. Both Sòng Zhènháo and Liú Yuán have participated the project from its inception. Dr. Matthew Anderson, a student in my 2006 OBI class, helped with the transcription （OBI font, Chinese and English）and did most of the English translation of the inscriptions. Dr. Zhì Xiǎonà, a student of Professor Sòng, did the tracing work. Without their help, the book could not have been accomplished. It goes without saying that I am solely responsible for any remaining mistakes, big or small. Finally I wish to thank my wife, Alice Liu, for her continuous support and understanding. 
　　Kuang Yu Chen