The coloring of Oracle Bone Inscriptions: Cinnabar Inscriptions

「甲骨塗辭」乃指在甲骨刻辭筆畫中塗以朱、墨，以往學者將之稱為「塗朱/墨」或「填朱/墨」，這類刻辭在刻寫完成之後，以朱砂或墨填入刻痕。其中，塗朱甲骨色彩鮮明奪目，很早就受到學者注意，其目的有美觀、宗教意涵、重要訊息的不同說法。然而，受限於甲骨著錄多為黑白拓本形式、早期彩色印刷不發達，目前甲骨學界尚無學者對塗辭做出專門且深入的研究。所幸，近年來出版之甲骨著錄附有彩色相片，部分甲骨收藏單位架設數位資料庫，如中研院史語所，所能蒐羅之資料備於完善，為甲骨塗辭研究奠定基礎。 本文以「塗朱甲骨」作為主要討論對象，試圖將辭例或形狀完整的塗朱卜辭進行分類。首先於第二章探討塗朱甲骨的年代以及塗朱甲骨的幾項特徵，包含：牛胛骨骨面塗朱卜辭、犯兆塗朱卜辭、塗朱記事刻辭。第三章及第四章則以塗朱甲骨的形態進行討論，分別以顏色及辭例的完整度作為分類標準。以顏色劃分塗朱甲骨可分為三類：僅見塗朱者、朱墨褐三色同版者、朱墨或朱褐同版者。以辭例完整度可分成八類。The incised characters on oracle bones rubbed with cinnabar or ink are called cinnabar inscriptions or ink inscription. The vermillion colored cinnabar used on the coloring of oracle bones is said to have religious messages or aesthetic purposes. Previously limited by the immature color printing and computer technology, oracle bones inscriptions were mostly rubbing editions in black and white, and thus there are few in-depth studies on the coloring of oracle bone inscriptions. But now a corpus of oracle bones is taking form, such as editions with color pictures and digitalization of oracle bones images by Institute of History and Philosophy, Academia Sinica. This paper aims to examine the cinnabar inscriptions on oracle bones, discuss their characteristics in different periods, and categorize them into three categories based on colors, and eight categories based on the intactness of the inscriptions