Tortoise shell inscribed with Chinese characters Photos:CFP

Tortoise shell inscribed with Chinese characters Photos:CFP

Exhibition of relics in Anyang, Henan Province

Chinese archaeologists have discovered six new characters from oracle bone relics housed in a museum in Lüshun, a city in northeast China's Liaoning Province.

Song Zhenhao, a research fellow with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences who is currently leading a team of experts researching the inscriptions, described the new findings as another breakthrough since such inscriptions were discovered over 110 years ago.

He said no new characters from oracle bone inscriptions had been reported in the 32 years since the Compilation of Oracle Bone Inscriptions was published by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in 1980.

Archeological treasure

Inscriptions written on tortoise shells and animal bones represent the original characters of the Chinese written language.

He said the six new characters were found among a 1,700-piece collection of bone inscription relics housed in the Lüshun City Museum. It is the only known collection that has not yet been studied by authoritative oracle bone inscription experts.

Studying the relic collection in the Lüshun City Museum was listed as one of China's State social fund projects earlier this month, and Song Zhenhao is the project's chief expert.

The team took rubbings from the text images of the 1,700 pieces and photographed them, which led to the characters being identified.

An initial study showed that the 1,700 pieces of bone inscriptions were made to keep records on agriculture, religion, weather and wars 3,000 years ago during the Shang Dynasty (C.1600 - 1046BC).