《甲骨文的故事》

《甲骨文的故事》 is recommended in 57.说解汉字：屎尿屁为啥是“尸”字头？ alongside 《说解汉字150讲》 as an accessible way into early Chinese writing. The episode uses oracle-bone evidence to resist the idea that modern character shapes can be explained by free association alone.

The book’s role in the source is methodological. Oracle-bone forms help explain why characters such as 尸、尿、屎、弃、鬼, and 舞 should be read through Character Form Evolution, and why 《说文解字》 can be important while still being corrected by later evidence.

Connections

• 董作斌 and 董敏 - authors named in the episode.
• Chinese Character Evidence Discipline - evidence standard supported by oracle-bone material.
• Character Form Evolution - form-history path where oracle-bone script is one early layer.
• 《说文解字》 - classical dictionary whose limitations become clearer after oracle-bone discoveries.
• Script As Social History - early forms preserve social, bodily, ritual, and labor traces.