1. Introduction

The jiǎgǔwén 甲骨文 ‘texts on scapulae and plastrons’ are the oldest written documents found in China (Shāng 商 Chinese, Textual Sources and Decipherment). They were unearthed at the very end of the 19th century near the city of Ānyáng 安陽 in Hénán province. They date back to the reigns of the last twelve kings of the Shāng dynasty (13th-11th cent. BCE). They mainly consist of short divinatory texts carved …