CHALFANT: EARLY CHINESE WRITING 35 
oracle of Wén Wang (circa 1200 B. C.) was at Chao Kuo Ch‘éng, where the bones 
were discovered. There is no adequate proof, however, that these inscriptions 
belong to so early a date. 
The cycle-signs (the so-called Ten Stems [+] and Twelve Branches [+= x] com- 
bined in pairs) occur frequently, but as the combinations exceed in number the 
sixty pairs of signs allotted to the cycle, I infer that they do not conform to the use 
of these signs as designating years, and are intended to signify the days of the sea- 
son, or of some period less than a year." In several cases these pairs of characters 
occur in reversed order, as wy 3% (Shen Kuei) for 4 wp, and, more frequently singly, 
as T,% &, c. 
At present but little can be said about this unique group of fragmentary inscrip- 
tions, the deciphering of which will necessitate a careful study of the traditional 
methods and vocabulary of astrology and soothsaying as practiced in China. While 
the Chinese have many works written upon these subjects, still it requires special 
training in the technical terminology of divination to rightly understand them. 
°' See appended list of these signs (Plate L.). 
