Neolithic signs in China
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Neolithic signs

At a range of Neolithic sites in China, small numbers of symbols of either pictorial or simple geometric nature^[1] have been unearthed which were incised into or drawn or painted on artifacts, mostly on pottery but in some instances on turtle shells, animal bones or artifacts made from bone or jade.^[2] These sites include those pertaining to the cultures of Yǎngsháo, Liángzhǔ, Mǎjiāyáo and Lóngshān^[3]. The question of whether such symbols are writing, primitive or proto-writing, or merely non-writing symbols^[4] or signs for other purposes such as identification is a highly controversial one, and the debate still continues today. Proponents of the view that they are early Chinese writing tend to see evidence in comparisons of individual signs with individual oracle bone script characters. Skeptics such as Professor William G. Boltz^[5] point out that such comparisons are "notoriously risky and inconclusive" when based on such primitive scratch marks rather than on similarity in function (2003, p.38). Boltz adds:

"There does not seem to be any meaningful order of repetition or concatenation that would lead us to suspect anything more than that these are random and largely unorganized, unsystematic markings." (p.35)

It is still safe to conclude that the earliest known undisputed examples^[6] of true writing in China (that is, symbols used to fully record language rather than isolated meanings) currently date to the middle to late Shang dynasty's oracle bones and bronze inscriptions, ca. the 14th^[7] to 11th centuries BCE.

The earliest of China's Neolithic signs come from Dàdìwān^[8], Jiǎhú^[9], Dàmàidì and Bànpō. These as well as later finds are each discussed below.

Dàdìwān

Dàdìwān (Chinese: 大地灣; 5800 BCE-5400 BCE) is a Neolithic site discovered in Qín’ān County, in the province of Gānsù. Its earliest phase has yielded symbols painted on the inside surfaces of pottery basins^[10]. More recent excavations there have also uncovered a handful of Neolithic symbols.[1]

Jiǎhú

Jiǎhú (Chinese: 賈湖) is a Neolithic site at Wǔyáng County, Hénán Province, in the basin of the Yellow River, dated to 6600-6200 BCE. This site has yielded turtle plastrons ^[11] that were pitted and inscribed with markings known as the Jiǎhú symbols.

Example of the Jiahu script

Despite headlines proclaiming the earliest known ‘writing’, some scholars warn that the meaningful use of such individual signs should not be easily equated with writing, although it may represent an earlier, formative stage. In the words of the archaeologists who made the latest Jiǎhú discovery:

“We interpret these signs not as writing itself, but as features of a lengthy period of sign-use which led eventually to a fully-fledged system of writing...The present state of the archaeological record in China, which has never had the intensive archaeological examination of, for example, Egypt or Greece, does not permit us to say exactly in which period of the Neolithic the Chinese invented their writing. What did persist through these long periods was the idea of sign use. Although it is impossible at this point to trace any direct connection from the Jiahu signs to the Yinxu^[12] characters, we do propose that slow, culture-linked evolutionary processes, adopting the idea of sign use, took place in diverse settings around the Yellow River. We should not assume that there was a single path or pace for the development of a script.” (Li Xueqin et al., 2003)

Furthermore, there is no evidence of a direct cultural link between Jiahu and the Shāng culture, and the five-millennium gap between the two makes connections unlikely; as renowned oracle bones scholar David Keightley told the BBC [2]:

“There is a gap of about 5,000 years. It seems astonishing that they would be connected,” and “We can't call it writing until we have more evidence”.

Dàmàidì

In Dàmàidì (Chinese: 大麥地), at Beishan Mountain in Níngxià, 3,172 cliff carvings dating to 6,000-5,000 BCE have been discovered over an area of 15 square kilometers, including a reported 8,453 different kinds of pictures like celestial bodies, gods and hunting or grazing scenes [3]^[13]. These are reputed to be similar to some of the oracle bone characters, which is to be expected given that the oracle bones, which are true writing, still retain a significant pictorial flavor.

Bànpō and Jiāngzhài

Another group of early symbols which many have compared to Chinese characters is the Bànpō-type symbols from sites like Bànpō (Chinese: 半坡), just east of Xī’ān in Shaanxi province, dating from the 5th millennium BCE^[14], and nearby, at Jiāngzhài (Chinese: 姜寨), in Líntóng County (臨潼), from the early 4th millennium BCE. As the Bànpō symbols were discovered fairly early (1954-57)^[15] and are relatively numerous (with 22 different symbols on 113 potsherds)^[16], these have been the focus of the greatest amount of attention.

Bànpō pottery symbols

Jiāngzhài pottery symbols

Jiāngzhài pottery symbols

Some scholars have concluded that they are meaningful symbols like clan emblems or signatures which have some of the quality of writing, perhaps being primitive characters ^[17], while others have concluded based on comparisons to oracle bone script that some of them are numerals ^{[18][19][20][21]}. Still others feel they may be ownership or potters’ marks^[22][23][24]. Finally, some scholars sound a note of caution, calling such conclusions unwarranted or premature. This is because all the Bànpō-type symbols occur singly^[25][26], on pottery and pottery fragments, unlike written words, which tend to occur in strings representing language. Thus, there is no context from which to conclude that the symbols are actually being used to represent language.^[27][28] Furthermore, there is no evidence of the phonetic loan usage and semantic-phonetic compounding^[29] necessary to produce a functional script as seen in the Shāng dynasty oracle bone writing. Thus, leading scholars such as Prof. Qiu Xigui^[30] (2000) argue that:

“What these symbols represent definitely cannot be a fully formed system of writing; this much is quite clear. Is there any possibility that they are primitive writing? Most likely there is not. We simply possess no basis for saying that they were already being used to record language. Nor viewed from the standpoint of the symbols of this same type that continuted to be used following the creation of Chinese script do they even resemble script”. (p.31)

“Quite a number of people, basing themselves on the Bànpō-type symbols, have said that the history of Chinese writing goes back more than 6,000 years. Such claims are probably unjustified”. (p.33)

Qiu also points out that they instead more closely resemble the non-writing symbols which remained in use even into the early historical period^[31]. Another problem which has been noted is that, since the oracle bone script was fairly pictorial in nature, if one were to go back to ancestors predating them by over three millennia, one should expect an increase in the pictorial nature of the symbols, but in fact, a comparison of the majority of the Bànpō symbols shows the exact opposite to be true^[32]. However, it is possible that some of the Bànpō or other Neolithic symbols were used as numerals in a pre-literate setting, and it is also plausible that when writing eventually did emerge, some such Neolithic symbols already in use (and not necessarily from such an early site as Bànpō) were absorbed into that writing system^[33].

Dàwènkǒu

Inscription-bearing artifacts from the Dàwènkǒu culture culture (Chinese: 大汶口) in Shāndōng, dating to c. 2800-2500 BCE^[34], have also been unearthed since excavations started in the 1950s^[35] [4], and have drawn a great deal of interest amongst researchers, in part because the Dawenkou culture is believed to be directly ancestral^[36] to the Longshan culture, which in turn is thought ancestral to the Shang, where the first undisputed Chinese writing appears. At a Dàwènkǒu site in Shāndōng, one pictorial symbol has been found painted in cinnabar^[37], while at the Dàwènkǒu sites of Língyánghé (陵陽河) and Dàzhūcūn (大朱村), eighteen isolated pictorial symbols of eight types incised and/or painted with cinnabar on sixteen pottery jars and shards have been found, mostly from wealthier tombs^[38]. Some resemble axes, and another has been variously described as resembling the sun above a cloud or fire , while a third type has the latter above a fire or mountain-like element. In addition to the similarity in style between these and pictographic Shāng and early Zhōu clan symbols^[39], what is important about the latter two types is that they have multiple components, reminiscent of the compounding of elements in the Chinese script, thus eliciting claims of a relationship. Yú Xĭngwú identified the circle-and-cloud graph as the Chinese character for ‘dawn’, 旦 dàn^[40], while Táng Lán identified it as ‘bright’, 炅 jiǒng^[41], and so on. Helping fuel speculation of a link between Dàwènkǒu symbols and Shāng writing is their somewhat greater proximity in time (1400 years distance) and space to the Shāng oracle bones, compared to earlier Neolithic finds; furthermore, the Shāndōng Dàwènkǒu culture is thought by some to be ancestral to Shāndōng Lóngshān culture, which in turn may have given rise to early Shāng culture^[42].

As with each of the other Neolithic sites, the comparison is based on only a handful of isolated pictures, and there is again no evidence of use in strings of symbols such as we would expect with true writing – none of these appear jointly^[43]. Wáng Níngshēng thus concluded that they are marks of personal or clan identity rather than writing^[44]. Keightley opines that "they probably served as emblems of ownership or identity on these pots and jades, rather than as words in a writing system"^[45]. Boltz agrees that they may have been "the pre-Shang counterpart to the Shang clan-name insignia" (p.48), but contrasts this with an actual writing system, for which there isn't any evidence at that time (p.51-2), while Qiu concludes:

“Even though the Dàwènkǒu culture type B symbols still cannot be definitively treated as primitive writing, nevertheless they are symbols which resemble most the ancient pictographic script discovered thus far in China…They undoubtedly can be viewed as the forerunners of primitive writing”. (p.39)

Possible Liángzhǔ symbols

There are also some items, including some inscribed jades, which have symbols similar to or identical to several of the Dàwènkǒu pictures, such as the circle and peaked crescent motif , and another described as a bird perched on a mountain-like shape; it appears that some of these may belong to the Liángzhǔ culture^{[46][47][48][49]}.

Chéngzĭyái

The Chéngzĭyái (Chinese: 城子崖) site in Lóngshān township, Shāndōng has produced fragments of inscribed bones presumably used to divine the future, dating to 2500 - 1900 BC, and symbols on pottery vessels from Dinggong are thought by some scholars to be an early form of writing. Again, this is controversial. Symbols of a similar nature have also been found on pottery shards from the Liángzhǔ culture of the lower Yangtze valley.

Other Discoveries

Symbols recently unearthed in eastern China's Ānhūi province [5] are said to occur in pairs or small groups. However, information on these has not yet been widely disseminated for independent scholarly analysis. Similarly, a few geometric symbols have been found at Hūalóuzĭ (a 2nd-phase Kèshĕngzhuāng culture site) in Cháng-ān County near Xī’ān, carved on bone and bone items which some have claimed to be ancestral to oracle bones^[50], but this is disputed^[51].

In general, the Neolithic symbols which have been unearthed to date are found in isolated use (as would be expected with ownership marks or clan symbols) rather than in sequences consisted with representation of the spoken language, and there is no evidence of processes fundamental to the beginnings of a true, useful writing system such as phonetic loan usage^[52]. As Qiu (2000, p.39) explains:

"Only when symbols...are consciously used to record words used to form sentences is there a true sign that the development of script has begun."

Furthermore, the evidence is still extremely scanty, even when the early Shāng period evidence is added to the picture:

“While these materials are very valuable, they are unfortunately few in number and most of them are rather fragmentary so that they are far from being able to provide an ample basis for solving the problem of the formation of Chinese writing”. (Qiu 2000, pp.29-30)

Notes

1. ^ Qiu 2000 p.30 divides the Neolithic graphs into two basic categories, type A (geometric symbols such as | , + and ), and type B (those resembling concrete objects, i.e., pictorial symbols).
2. ^ Qiu 2000, p.30
3. ^ Qiu 2000, p.30
4. ^ In fact, similar symbols which were not clearly part of any writing system, continued to be used even in the early historical periods, from the Shāng through the late Zhōu and Hàn dynasties. It has been pointed out that non-literate people are often able to use limited sets of symbols, including numerals, to convey meaning in a manner which is not writing per se; see Qiu 2000, p.30-32, and Gāo 1987, p.36.
5. ^ Prof. Boltz is at the University of Washington's Department of Asian Languages and Literature
6. ^ Boltz 2003, p.31
7. ^ Qiú Xīguī (裘錫圭) 2000, p.11; note that the traditional dating of the Shāng extends earlier, to the 17th or 16th century BCE; however, the Shāng inscriptions in question are not quite so early.
8. ^ Qiu 2000, p.30
9. ^ BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | 'Earliest writing' found in China
10. ^ Wénwù 1983:11, pp.21-30
11. ^ Wénwù 1989, v.1, pp.1-14
12. ^ Yīnxū (殷墟) means the Ruins of Yīn, referring to the last Shāng dynasty capital at Xiǎotún, Ānyáng, Hénán; there, huge numbers of oracle bones were found, inscribed with what is still widely considered the earliest known Chinese writing.
13. ^ "Carvings may rewrite history of Chinese characters", Xinhua online (2007-05-18). Retrieved on 2007-05-19. 
14. ^ Bànpō is radiocarbon dated to 4770 to 4290 BCE after bristleconepine correction (Woon reports 4000 BCE), while Jiāngzhài is RC dated 4020 to 3635 BCE (Woon reports 3500 BCE): Woon 1987, p.275 & 276 respectively
15. ^ 文物出版社 Wénwù Chūbǎnshè, 1963, p.306
16. ^ Woon 1987, p.13 (count excludes variants)
17. ^ Gūo Mòruò 1972, pp. 2 & 6
18. ^ 李孝定 Lĭ Xiàodìng 1974, p.366
19. ^ Yú Xĭngwú 1973 p.32
20. ^ Hé Bĭngdì 1975, pp.229-30
21. ^ Zhèng Dékūn 1973, p.45
22. ^ Woon 1978 p.13
23. ^ Wénwù Press 1963, p.198
24. ^ Wāng 1981, p.23
25. ^ Woon 1978 p.13 &22
26. ^ Wénwù Press 1963, p.197; pl.141 & pls.167-171
27. ^ Táng Lán 1978
28. ^ Qiu 2000 p.31
29. ^ The Bànpō symbols are monosomatic entities such as x,  and +, each with only one component. See Wénwù Press 1963 p.197, plate 141 and plates 167-171.
30. ^ Prof. Qiu Xigui is at the Department of Chinese, Beijing University
31. ^ Gāo 1987, pp.35-36; cited in Qiu 2000, p.31
32. ^ Qiu 2000, p.31-32
33. ^ Qiu 2000, pp.32-33
34. ^ Qiu 2000, p.33
35. ^ Woon 1987, p.27
36. ^ Woon 1987, p.27
37. ^ Wénwù Press 1974
38. ^ Wáng 1986
39. ^ Wáng 1981 p.33
40. ^ Yú 1973, p.32
41. ^ Táng 1975, pp.72-3
42. ^ reference needed
43. ^ Each jar or potsherd bears only one symbol, except for two vessels which each have two symbols but in separate locations on the vessels; Qiu 2000, p.34; Boltz 2003 notes that "They do not occur in any form that would suggest a text, or appear to have any linguistic context" (p.51)
44. ^ Wáng 1981, p.27
45. ^ Keightley 1989 p.197, cited in Boltz 2003, p.46
46. ^ Lĭ 1987, p.79
47. ^ Wénwù (Cultural Relics) 1978, p.52
48. ^ Lĭ Xuéqín 1985
49. ^ Qiu 2000, pp.35-37 and espec. footnote 7, p.37
50. ^ Zhèng & Mù 1988, pp.237-239
51. ^ Qiu 2000, p.33
52. ^ Wāng 1981, p.42

References

Boltz, William G. (1994; revised 2003). The Origin and Early Development of the Chinese Writing System. American Oriental Series, vol. 78. American Oriental Society, New Haven, Connecticut, USA. ISBN 0-940490-18-8.

Gāo Míng 高明 (1987). “中國古文字通論” (a general survey of ancient Chinese script), Bĕijīng: 文物出版社 Wénwù Chūbǎnshè (in Chinese)

Gūo Mòruò郭沫若 (1972). 古代文字之辯證的發展. in 考古 Kǎogǔ v.3, pp.2-13.

Kǎogǔ 考古 (1965). 河南偃師二里頭遺址發掘簡報 (excavation of the Èrlĭtóu sites at Yǎnshī, Hénán), v.5, p.215-224. (in Chinese)

Keightley, David. N. (1989). “The Origins of Writing in China: Scripts and Cultural Contexts.” In Senner, Wayne M. (1989). The Origins of Writing. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press; ISBN-10: 0803291671; ISBN-13: 978-0803291676: pp.171-202.

Lĭ Xuéqín 李學勤 (1985). 考古發現與中國文字起源 (archaeological discoveries and the origins of Chinese writing), in 中國文化研究集刊 Zhōnggúo wénhùa yánjiū jíkān 2; Shànghǎi: Fúdàn Dàxué Chūbǎnshè, pp. 146-157 (in Chinese).

Lĭ Xuéqín 李學勤 (1987). 論新出大汶口文化陶器符號 (On the newly discovered Dàwènkǒu culture pottery inscriptions), Wénwù (Cultural Relics) v.12, pp.75-80 (in Chinese).

Li Xueqin; Garman Harbottle; Zhang, Juzhong; & Wang Changsui (2003). The earliest writing? Sign use in the seventh millennium BC at Jiahu, Henan Province, China; in Antiquity v.77.

Qiú Xīguī 裘錫圭 (2000). “Chinese Writing”. English translation of 文字學概論 by Gilbert L. Mattos and Jerry Norman. Early China Special Monograph Series No. 4. Berkeley: The Society for the Study of Early China and the Institute of East Asian Studies, University of California, Berkeley. ISBN 1-55729-071-7.

Táng Lán 唐蘭 (1975). 關於江西吳城文化遺址與文字的初步探索 (A preliminary investigation of the script on the ancient cultural remains at Wúchéng, Jiāngxī), in Wénwù (Cultural Relics) v.7, pp.72-76 (in Chinese)

Wāng Níngshēng 汪寧生 (1981). 從原始記事到文字發明 (from primitive record-keeping to the invention of writing), 考古學報 Kǎogǔ Xuébào, v.1, p.42 (in Chinese)

Wáng Shùmíng 王樹明 (1986). 談陵陽河與大朱村出土的陶尊‘文字’ (A discussion of the pottery “script” excavated at Língyánghé and Dàzhūcūn), in 山東史前文化論文集, 齊魯考古業刊. Jĭnán: Qí Lǔ shūshè. (in Chinese)

Wénwù (文物) (1975), 江西清江吳城商代遺址發掘簡報 (excavation of the Shāng period site at Wúchéng in Qīngjiāng County, 江西 Jiāngxī). v.7, pp.51-71 (in Chinese).

Wénwù (文物, Cultural Relics) (1978), 長江下游新石器時代文化若干問題的探索 (probing certain problems concerning the Neolithic cultures situated in the lower reaches of the Yangzi River), v.4, pp.46-57 (in Chinese).

Wénwù (文物) (1983), 甘肅秦安大地灣遺址1979到1982年發掘的主要收獲 (the main results of the 1979-1982 excavations of a site at Dàdìwān in Qín’ān, Gānsù), v.11, pp.21-30 (in Chinese)

Wénwù (文物, Cultural Relics) (1989), 河南舞陽賈湖新石器時代遺址第二至六次發掘簡報 (excavation of the Neolithic period pits Nos. 2-6 at Jiǎhú in Wǔyáng, Hénán), v.1, pp.1-14 (in Chinese)

Wénwù Press (1963) (ed. by the Institute of Archaeology, Academia Sinica and the Bànpō Museum 中國科學院考古研究所 & 陜西省西安半坡博物舘). 西安半波 “Xī’ān Bànpō”. 北京 Bĕijīng: 文物出版社 Wénwù Chūbǎnshè. In Chinese.

Wénwù Press (文物出版社 Wénwù Chūbǎnshè) (1974). 大汶口---新石器時代墓葬發掘報告 (Dàwènkǒu: Excavation of a Neolithic Cemetery). 北京 Bĕijīng (in Chinese).

Wénwù zīliào cóngkān (文物資料叢刊) (1978). 江西清江吳城商代遺址第四次發掘的主要收穫 (the main results of the excavation of Shāng period pit #4 at 吳城 Wúchéng in Qīngjiāng, Jiāngxī. 2.1-13 (in Chinese).

Woon, Wee Lee 雲惟利 (1987). “Chinese Writing: Its Origin and Evolution” (in English; Chinese title漢字的原始和演變). Originally published by the Univ. of East Asia, Macau; now by Joint Publishing, Hong Kong.

Yú Xĭngwú 于省吾 (1973) 關於古文字研究的若干問題 (Some problems pertaining to the study of ancient Chinese writing), in Wénwù (Cultural Relics) v.2, pp.32-35 (in Chinese).

Zhèng Hóngchūn 鄭洪春 & Mù Hǎitíng 穆海亭 (1988) 陜西長安花樓子客省莊二期文化遺址發掘 (excavation of the period-two ancient cultural remains at Hūalóuzĭ in Cháng’ān, Shaǎnxī), Kǎogǔ yǔ Wénwù 5-6, pp.229-239 (in Chinese).