﻿482 
  ANNUAL 
  REPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  1943 
  

  

  the 
  kings, 
  riding 
  in 
  chariots 
  just 
  as 
  in 
  the 
  ancient 
  Near 
  East. 
  Their 
  

   motive 
  seems 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  not 
  so 
  much 
  that 
  of 
  mere 
  sport 
  as 
  the 
  duty 
  

   of 
  ridding 
  the 
  land 
  of 
  dangerous 
  and 
  troublesome 
  wild 
  animals 
  and 
  

   of 
  procuring 
  victims 
  for 
  the 
  sacrifices. 
  

  

  Among 
  the 
  creatures 
  whose 
  bones 
  have 
  been 
  found 
  in 
  Shang 
  de- 
  

   posits 
  are 
  the 
  elephant, 
  the 
  tiger, 
  the 
  bear, 
  the 
  wild 
  boar, 
  deer, 
  hares, 
  

   and, 
  strangely 
  enough, 
  the 
  whale. 
  Shang 
  inscriptions 
  sometimes 
  state 
  

   that 
  elephants 
  have 
  been 
  captured 
  alive, 
  not 
  killed; 
  and 
  there 
  is 
  no 
  

   doubt 
  that 
  the 
  Shangs 
  sometimes 
  tamed 
  these 
  great 
  animals. 
  

  

  Writing. 
  — 
  There 
  is 
  no 
  indication 
  of 
  even 
  the 
  beginnings 
  of 
  writing 
  

   during 
  Chinese 
  Neolithic 
  times, 
  although 
  perhaps 
  quipus 
  (knotted 
  

   cords) 
  or 
  notched 
  sticks 
  may 
  have 
  been 
  used 
  then 
  to 
  aid 
  the 
  memory, 
  

   just 
  as 
  by 
  unlettered 
  people 
  in 
  so 
  many 
  lands. 
  

  

  The 
  earliest 
  known 
  Chinese 
  writing, 
  already 
  mentioned 
  as 
  occurring 
  

   in 
  surviving 
  Shang 
  inscriptions, 
  dates 
  from 
  around 
  the 
  latter 
  half 
  

   of 
  the 
  second 
  millennium 
  B. 
  C. 
  Even 
  then, 
  however, 
  it 
  was 
  already 
  

   highly 
  developed, 
  and 
  must 
  have 
  had 
  a 
  long 
  previous 
  period 
  of 
  evolu- 
  

   tion 
  somewhere. 
  It 
  is 
  moreover 
  directly 
  ancestral 
  to 
  the 
  Chinese 
  writ- 
  

   ing 
  of 
  the 
  present 
  day 
  (Creel, 
  1937, 
  pp. 
  1-16) 
  . 
  

  

  Existing 
  specimens 
  of 
  these 
  inscriptions, 
  aside 
  from 
  very 
  brief 
  ones 
  

   on 
  bronze 
  vessels, 
  are 
  incised 
  or 
  scratched 
  on 
  animal 
  bones 
  and 
  shells 
  

   of 
  the 
  tortoise. 
  Shoulder 
  blades 
  of 
  oxen 
  were 
  often 
  used. 
  The 
  in- 
  

   scriptions 
  that 
  we 
  possess 
  consist 
  largely 
  of 
  oracular 
  inquiries 
  and 
  

   responses; 
  but 
  it 
  is 
  known 
  that 
  the 
  Shangs 
  also 
  wrote 
  on 
  wooden 
  

   tablets 
  and 
  bamboo 
  slips. 
  Hence 
  it 
  is 
  quite 
  possible 
  that 
  a 
  consider- 
  

   able 
  body 
  of 
  literature 
  may 
  have 
  existed; 
  but 
  if 
  so, 
  it 
  has 
  entirely 
  

   perished. 
  

  

  Inscriptions 
  on 
  bone 
  and 
  shell 
  were 
  incised 
  with 
  a 
  sharp 
  point, 
  per- 
  

   haps 
  of 
  bronze 
  or 
  obsidian, 
  for 
  steel 
  was 
  not 
  yet 
  known, 
  and 
  the 
  Shangs 
  

   probably 
  had 
  nothing 
  else 
  hard 
  enough. 
  Some 
  kind 
  of 
  brush 
  was 
  

   also 
  used. 
  A 
  few 
  characters 
  thus 
  written 
  on 
  potsherds 
  have 
  been 
  

   found, 
  and 
  it 
  is 
  almost 
  certain 
  that 
  writing 
  on 
  bamboo 
  and 
  wood 
  was 
  

   done 
  with 
  a 
  brush. 
  

  

  Knowledge 
  of 
  writing 
  during 
  the 
  Shang 
  Dynasty 
  was 
  confined 
  to 
  

   a 
  very 
  small 
  class, 
  and 
  the 
  art 
  itself 
  was 
  regarded 
  as 
  having 
  a 
  magical 
  

   and 
  mysterious 
  character. 
  Thus 
  recorders 
  were 
  also 
  diviners. 
  The 
  

   same 
  way 
  of 
  thinking 
  has 
  survived 
  in 
  China 
  down 
  to 
  much 
  later 
  times. 
  

  

  Religion. 
  — 
  We 
  know 
  something 
  of 
  the 
  Shang 
  pantheon 
  — 
  in 
  part 
  

   from 
  contemporary 
  inscriptions. 
  The 
  supreme 
  god 
  was 
  Shang 
  Ti. 
  

   The 
  title 
  "Ti" 
  indicated 
  a 
  divine 
  being, 
  and 
  was 
  applied 
  by 
  the 
  Shangs 
  

   not 
  only 
  to 
  their 
  highest 
  divinity 
  but 
  also 
  to 
  the 
  spirits 
  of 
  deceased 
  

   royal 
  ancestors. 
  Hence 
  it 
  has 
  been 
  surmised 
  that 
  Shang 
  Ti 
  may 
  have 
  

   originated 
  merely 
  as 
  the 
  (legendary) 
  first 
  ancestor 
  of 
  the 
  Shang 
  

   kingly 
  line. 
  

  

  