The Ministry of Education in China, in collaboration with Anyang Normal University (ANU) in Henan Province, has introduced a unique set of physical exercises designed around oracle bone inscriptions to promote traditional Chinese culture and language. The School of Music at ANU developed these exercises, which include 19 characters from the oracle bone inscriptions. The initiative artfully integrates music, dance, and physical exercise with ancient script to rejuvenate, implement, and popularize the inscriptions.
Zhang Lijuan, the principal of Zhonghuayuan Primary School, mentioned that the exercises would be implemented once the school reopens in autumn and will eventually be rolled out to other schools. The goal of these activities is to encourage students to explore oracle bone inscriptions from various perspectives, thereby enlightening them about the wisdom of their ancestors and the ancient Chinese civilization. This, in turn, is expected to bolster their confidence in traditional Chinese culture.
In Anyang, 37 provincial and city-level schools will incorporate these exercises into their curriculum. Additionally, libraries and clubs dedicated to oracle bone inscriptions will be established to provide related knowledge. Each year, 100 teachers will be chosen and trained to facilitate this program.
Moreover, parents are actively encouraging their children to learn about this ancient script by visiting the National Museum of Chinese Writing (NMCW) in Anyang. Zhao Kexin, a seventh-grade student and a senior member of the Oracle Bone Inscriptions School, a public benefit organization, shared that she initially participated in the school’s weekend activities at her mother’s insistence. However, she eventually developed a passion for oracle bone inscriptions and found it a meaningful way to understand the evolution of Chinese characters, appreciate their beauty, and promote her hometown’s culture.
Additionally, ANU has amassed materials related to oracle bone inscriptions over the past 120 years and employed digital and smart technologies to create a comprehensive database platform. Liu Yongge, director of the School of Computer and Information Technology, stated that ANU’s platform is the largest and most popular among international scholars among several oracle bone inscription resource-sharing platforms in China. He noted that foreign experts frequently inquire about the platform’s status during occasional outages or updates.
Anyang, one of China’s seven ancient capitals, is where the oracle bone inscriptions were first discovered in 1899, in the Ruins of the Yin (or Shang) Dynasty (1600BC-1046BC). Approximately 4,000 oracle bone characters have been found, fundamentally establishing the structure of Chinese characters. These inscriptions represent a mature writing system in China, marking the origin of Chinese characters and the foundation of traditional Chinese culture. In October 2017, the oracle bone inscriptions were added to the Memory of the World Programme (MoW). To date, around 160,000 items of oracle bone inscriptions have been excavated.
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