A Technical Glossary of Jiaguology (Oracle Bone Studies)

'Jiaguology' (jiagu xue) is a branch of Chinese palaeography born soon after the discovery of the first 'oracle bones' (jiagu) in 1898-99. Since then it has become a highly sophisticated field of research dealing with several specialized topics, such as the deciphering and periodization of inscriptions; the rejoining and restoration of broken pieces; the reconstruction of the techniques used for divination and for carving the bones and shells; the identification of forgeries; the history of jiaguology; and the reconstruction of different aspects (political, historic, geographic, scientific, religious etc.) of Shang and early Zhou civilization.

A beginner wishing to approach these topics and the related literature will find little or no help in current dictionaries and will have to learn the technical terms by means of his deductive powers or, when possible, by asking a specialist. A step forward has been taken with the publication of David Keightley's Sources of Shang History (Berkeley, 1978) - which remains an indispensable tool for anyone dealing with oracle bone studies - but new and different studies are still needed. This volume, besides being the first work on jiaguology ever published in Italy, aims at bringing some arder to the terminology of this relatively new discipline and, at the same lime, supplying the beginner with a handy reference book, giving concise and clear definitions of a larger number of technical terms related to all the specialized subjects mentioned above and stimulating further reading and research by means of a selected and updated bibliography.

Many of the entries in this Glossary would easily expand into a book or article, and I hope to deal with some of them in the near future.