David Keightley's study works directly from the Anyang oracle-bone corpus, the excavated Bronze Age inscriptions themselves, documenting how Shang divinations were actually conducted and recorded rather than reconstructing the practice from later, secondhand textual tradition. That direct grounding in primary excavated inscriptions, checkable against the corpus itself, is the study's real evidentiary basis and the reason it remains the standard English introduction to the material. This record has not independently traced a documented history of scholarly disagreement with Keightley's specific readings since 1978. Use it for the documented practice of Shang oracle-bone divination; a claim about a later Chinese divinatory development needs a source covering that later period.
Facts
Citation
AuthorDavid N. Keightley
PublisherUniversity of California Press
Publication Year1978
URLhttps://archive.org/details/sourcesofshanghi0000keig
Source Typeacademic monograph
Assessment
Reliability Tier1
David Keightley's study working directly from the excavated Anyang oracle-bone corpus, documenting how Shang divinations were actually conducted and recorded rather than reconstructing the practice from later, secondhand textual tradition. NotesThe standard English introduction to the Anyang oracle-bone corpus and to how the divinations were conducted.
Cross-Tradition Connections
Associated With
Anyang, Cities This source names Anyang directly: "study works directly from the Anyang oracle-bone corpus, the excavated Bronze Age inscriptions themselves, documenting how Shang divinations were actually conducted and recorded rather than..."
Claims Backed By This Source (304 claims)
This source backs 304 claims across the atlas. As facts: 219 well-attested. As cited relationships: 40 holds. Plus 45 entities citing it as a general reference with no single fact or relationship attached.
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- Earthly Branches, 108 claims: 84 well-attested, 12 holds, 12 general references.
- Heavenly Stems, 90 claims: 70 well-attested, 10 holds, 10 general references.
- Chinese Animals, 48 claims: 24 well-attested, 12 holds, 12 general references.
- Articles, 10 claims: 10 well-attested.
- Calendars, 9 claims: 8 well-attested, 1 general references.
- Sources, 9 claims: 8 well-attested, 1 holds.
- Bodies of Water, 5 claims: 1 well-attested, 3 holds, 1 general references.
- Historical Periods, 5 claims: 2 well-attested, 2 holds, 1 general references.
- Cities, 4 claims: 3 well-attested, 1 general references.
- Disciplines, 4 claims: 2 well-attested, 2 general references.
- Subcategories, 4 claims: 3 well-attested, 1 general references.
- Body Parts, 2 claims: 1 well-attested, 1 general references.
- Cultures, 2 claims: 1 well-attested, 1 general references.
- Metals, 2 claims: 1 well-attested, 1 general references.
- Regions, 2 claims: 1 well-attested, 1 general references.
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