Dialogue between ancient and modern: I create programs, national treasures have spirits

Chapter 138 Is This the Magic of Divination?

"The process of divination in the Shang Dynasty was extremely strict and highly valued."

In Yi Ze's left hand, a piece of tortoise shell appeared.

And the right hand is holding a carving knife.

"First of all, the tortoise shells and animal bones need to be repaired. This process is usually completed by a dedicated person."

Holding a carving knife in his hand, Yi Ze trimmed the tortoise shell, removing the raised parts one by one. As for the untrimmed rough edges, they would gradually become smoother under the carving knife.

This is a required step.

As a carrier for talking with the gods, the tortoise shell should be clean and tidy as the first priority.

Just like the love letters given to girls nowadays, even if boys are not very meticulous, they will use clean and tidy paper.

If you are more careful, you will use more fancy colored paper.

This is the most basic attitude issue.

Facing the gods, this is even more necessary.

In the era of worshiping ghosts and gods, any behavior that offends ghosts and gods is unforgivable, even the lord of a country will not commit such a taboo.

Yi Ze slowly trimmed the tortoise shell in his hand, and gently rubbed various parts with his fingers until he could no longer feel any scratches.

"After the tortoise shells or animal bones are trimmed, the chastity or the king himself will ask the gods about divination, and then a special person will carry out the divination process."

The questions you ask must be precise. Ambiguous questions are a taboo.

For example, you can ask who won the war between Shang and a certain tribe this time?
Or how good or bad the war is.

That's the specific and precise question.

Rather than saying what kind of person will I become in the future?

Or ask vague questions.

"As a modern materialist, it is already clear whether there are such creatures as gods in the world. The divination of the Shang Dynasty was more about seeking psychological comfort."

Yi Ze took a carving knife and kept drilling on the back of the oracle bone.

These pitted traces will be burned with fire later.

"When the tortoise shell is heated to a certain level, cracks will appear, and the meaning of these cracks will be interpreted by professionals. Of course, the interpretation methods of these inscriptions are currently unknown."

Yi Ze sighed, such primitive worship of ghosts and gods became more and more gaudy in the later feudal society, and there were more and more contents in it.

The tortoise shell oracle inscriptions that the ancients relied on for survival have disappeared into the torrent of history and become an eternal mystery.

"After the interpretation of the inscriptions, these inscriptions were recorded on oracle bones, that is, inscriptions on oracle bones."

Yi Ze held a complete oracle bone in his hand.

Even after more than 3000 years of burial, the burn marks on the tortoise shell are still clearly visible.

These burning traces represent the great era hidden behind time.

More than 3000 years have passed, and the glory that once belonged to the Yin people has sunk into the ground.

All we can see are the incomplete remains left by them.

Oracle bone inscriptions are the best proof of their existence.

Through the information revealed between the lines in the oracle bone inscriptions, we can get a glimpse of the legends of that era.

These tortoise shells, covered with mud and dust, record mysterious prophecies, which are the pursuit and pursuit of their own destiny by businessmen.

In the age of ignorance, when what people saw and heard was difficult to explain, they could only resort to ghosts and gods, put all their spiritual sustenance on the worship of ghosts and gods, and acted as gods and humans through pieces of tortoise shells. bridges between them.

For 3000 years, they have been buried deeper in layers of civilization.

The oracle bone inscriptions of Yin Ruins discovered so far began in the Wuding period. These oracle bones let people know a long time ago, and at the same time brought many mysteries.

Yi Ze's eyes were very calm. He just looked at the oracle bone script full of pits, and his eyes were full of exploration of the past: "Is the writing on the oracle bone the only way of writing at that time?"

Faced with this question, the audience's opinions are still relatively unified.

"Definitely not, how tiring it is."

"How could it be possible to choose such a backward writing method when there are characters? It is really impossible to learn from the Sumerians and write on clay tablets, which is more convenient than engraving on oracle bones."

"The writing on oracle bones is definitely just a special method, and it should not be widely used."

"There must have been bamboo slips in that era, but it was not passed down because the era was too long."

Bamboo and wood slips, as the most important writing method before writing on paper, have a long history.

Writing on bamboo slips with a brush was the most important writing method in the Shang Dynasty.

It is a pity that so far, no bamboo slips unearthed from the Shang Dynasty have been found.

The reason is also very simple.

After all, bamboo and wood slips are made of wood, so they are extremely perishable, and if they are not well preserved, they will be rotted and clean.

Not to mention that the Shang Dynasty is too far away from the present.

With a history of more than 3000 years, even the bamboo and wood slips of the Shang Dynasty buried underground have turned into dust.

It's not that archaeologists don't work hard, but that the age is so long that the reference materials are too scarce.

As a result, in many cases, it is only possible to rely on existing data to carry out a certain degree of reverse deduction.

However, even until now, the oracle bone inscriptions that have been discovered have not been fully interpreted.

Probably only read half of it.

There are also certain reasons for this and Oracle's non-standardization.

Oracle Bone Inscriptions are just like the extinct Yin Shang Dynasty. There are far more unknown things than known things.

Coupled with the rampant tomb robbers, what they got now is quite broken.

Whether the mystery can be solved may depend on more systematic excavations.

Yi Ze stared at the ruins of Yin Ruins in front of him. This was the political, economic and cultural center of the Shang Dynasty and the absolute core of Yin Shang culture that had accumulated for nearly 300 years.

If the detailed content of Yin Shang culture cannot be obtained here, it is actually even more impossible in other areas.

After all, before Qin Shihuang, the concept of unification was not so strong.

There is a considerable gap between the princes.

The Shang Dynasty can only be said to be a somewhat loose tribal alliance, and each tribe in it has its own power.

The largest Yin Shang is the strongest person in this tribal alliance and is respected by everyone as the co-leader.

Once the power of the strongest is weakened, or it is no longer the strongest, then the princes of all parties below will be ready to move.

The Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period came about because of this.

Yi Ze was walking in the Yin Ruins, he picked up an oracle bone with historical traces, and rubbed it lightly.

What is engraved on it is an inscription made by a chaste man.

Jihai Lizhen: The king of the three clans ordered Fang to pursue him, and Yu.

When and under what circumstances did this chaste man named Li make the oracle?
And what about the way he made the oracle?

Everything attracted Yi Ze deeply.

Just now, he restored the Yin people's divination method.

But that's just the restoration of later generations.

How far is it from the restoration in the real history books?

No one knows.

Perhaps posterity's restoration is undoubtedly correct.

It is also possible that there was a mistake from the beginning.

Yi Ze faced the audience and smiled slightly.

He still decided to go back to that era to witness the divination of the Yin people.

What kind of surprises will that mysterious era bring him?
Yi Ze didn't know, so he wanted to check it out.

"Everyone, let's go and see together, the Yin Shang divination method that has disappeared for more than 3000 years!"

When the words fell to the ground, this scarred oracle bone began to shine with a different kind of light.

This light has a bit of gray and black color, and it has an aura that makes people shake their hearts.

As if, like ominous.

As the light came on, the scene in the picture gradually began to change.

The Yin Ruins were originally a scene of ruins.

But as the gray-black light covered it, it gradually turned into a quaint palace.

The vicissitudes of life, the sun and the moon change.

The dust and dust of history are gradually traced upwards by the mysterious power, and the prosperity belonging to the Shang Dynasty has once again returned to everyone.

Here, is a palace.

A palace of chaste men,

On the whole, the palace presents a strange gray-black color, which is very depressing and mysterious.

This may be the merchants' understanding of mystery, and also their understanding of ghosts and gods.

Businessmen respect ghosts and gods, and no matter how big or small everything is, they must consult the ghosts and gods before implementing it.

Therefore, it is not surprising that the palaces that communicate with ghosts and gods use depressive and solemn colors.

Black will give people a feeling of coldness and solemnity.

Different from the chill of pure white, black has a more warm and solemn meaning.

And in this solemn and solemn palace, a middle-aged man in his 40s was kneeling on the futon, holding a piece of tortoise shell in his hand, and was doing basic repairs.

His name is Li, and he is the chaste man of King Shang, and the only chaste man of this generation.

Recalling the glory days of the dozen or so virgins before, Li let out a long sigh.

In the palace, it was much deserted.

He is the only surviving chastity here, so the task is much heavier.

However, this is Li's responsibility and the meaning of his existence.

Because Li is not the same as ordinary people.

He can talk to the legendary gods.

This is the basis of being a chastity, and it is also the reason why they can solve the cracks on the tortoise shell.

Because Li, and other virgins, are representatives of the gods.

At this moment, in the huge palace, under the gray-black stone pillars, there were clear footsteps.

Yi Ze came out from behind the stone pillar, looking at Li, who was nearly half a hundred years old and already had half a head of white hair, he had a strange feeling in his heart.

The person in front of him looks frail and thin, but his energy inside is quite sufficient.

It's like an incandescent lamp in the dark, emitting a dazzling light.

Li raised his head and glanced at Yi Ze with bloodshot eyes, suddenly a little surprised.

"You are not from here."

Yi Ze was surprised. He naturally understood the meaning of the story.

Li can see it, and see that Yi Ze is not lost in this era.

"How did sir know?"

Facing this era of worshiping ghosts and gods, facing the existence of being able to communicate with ghosts and gods, Yi Ze still felt a little apprehensive.

The reason why historical legends fascinate people is because they have a mythical color that ordinary people can hardly see.

This is also the reason why many historical celebrities will have legends about their birth.

As a person who has experienced the influence of modern materialism, to be honest, I still have a very skeptical attitude towards the so-called ghosts and gods in ancient times.

But today, as soon as Yi Ze came out, he was directly called to reveal his identity, which was really unexpected.

It can also be said that it has never been experienced before.

Faced with Yi Ze's question, Li did not answer, but carefully trimmed the tortoise shell in his hand.

He wants to help the king of Shang to predict the good or bad of a war.

But when he saw Yi Ze, he could clearly feel that this young man was out of tune with this era.

It's like a piece of colored glass suddenly inserted into a piece of colorless glass, which is quite eye-catching.

Li's heart moved slightly, and he decided to use divination to learn about Yi Ze's origin.

As for the task assigned by King Shang...

Li knew in his heart that no matter what kind of divination he made, King Shang would choose to send troops.

Of course, as a king of Shang, he still hopes that Li can be more sensible.

After all, the will of the gods will appear more convincing.

In many cases, you don't really need to care about the content of the divination.

The key is how to explain it.

How to make the explanation that King Shang wanted.

"Young man, how about I divine for you?"

When divination, it is naturally better to get the consent of the original owner.

Yi Ze was stunned for a moment, then nodded with a smile: "It's all up to you, sir."

"it is good."

The colors in Li's eyes were dim and difficult to see, making subtle adjustments on the flat tortoise shell.

Yi Ze watched silently from the side.

These methods cannot be deduced by later generations.

Relying on Oracle's speculation, only a small part can be recognized, and the specifics still need to be seen by yourself.

When Yi Ze saw Li's methods, he realized how rough his previous methods were.

Li is like a skilled craftsman, with the fingers dancing, the flat tortoise shell is gradually formed.

The speed and precision are amazing.

It seems that what is in front of me is not a human hand, but a pure instrument.

The process may be similar. After all, the basic process can still be restored to a certain extent through history books.

But the same thing, different people do it, there will be different results.

It's like the same song, some people sing the sound of nature, while others sing it like ghosts and gods.

At this moment, every movement of Li is like a slap on Yi Ze's face.

Crackling.

When the audience saw this picturesque action, they were amazed for a while.

"Good guy, compared to him, Yi Ze is completely incomparable!"

"It's not comparable, okay? Yi Ze feels like a cow and a peony, and his movements are completely art!"

"Oh my God, Yi Ze lost all his body, this seems to be the first time Yi Ze has lost!"

"Art, that's how it should be. I feel like my soul will be purified!"

They never thought that a person's movements could be so artistic and ornamental.

Moreover, everyone can understand it, but everyone also thinks that it is completely impossible.

With the end of the action, he looked at Yi Ze and made a request that everyone did not expect.

……

(End of this chapter)