According to the oracle bone inscriptions, the Banguo was a vassal state located in northern China that belonged to the Shang Dynasty.
"Bone Writings" 114:
…… Bu, 亘贞: Take ......
Zhen: Take the Keshu......
贞: 取総合芻。
贞：……
Take the herbs and ask for forage for livestock in the country. The divination indicates the status of the vassals of the general kingdom.
"Bone Writings" 4252:
Zhen: Ling [general].
"Bone Writings" 4253:
…… Uncertainty: Binzhen: Ling-like ......
"Bone Writings" 4254:
癸：……
Zhen: 叀 (only) like an order.
"Bone Writings" 4255:
癸：……
Zhen: 叀 (only) like an order.
The above divination, as a vassal state, must obey the orders of the king of Shang.
"Oracle Collection" 6478 anti:
10.
"Oracle Collection" 9504 anti:
General into four.
The above two divination words show that the Ban clan paid tribute to the Shang Dynasty tortoise shells.
"Bone Writings" 1035:
[Zhen]: The teacher came to Pang.
"Bone Writings" 1036:
Zhen: The teacher is like a person......
Division, official title, in charge of military affairs. In the records of divination, Shi Ban led the army to conquer foreign races for the Shang Dynasty many times. Yu Shengwu's "Continuation of the Double Sword Confession Yin Qi Piaozhi" believes that the teacher in the oracle bone divination is Gan Pan in "Shangshu Jun Zheng", and he is an important minister in the Wuding period.
Come and sacrifice people to the Shang Dynasty.
"Bone Writings" 7417:
Chaste:...... Divisional ...... Register of Merchants.
"Oracle Collection" 4264 positive:
Wu Wu Bu, Gu Zhen: It has 囗布 (a Bu in the word). One, two, three, four, five, six.
Wu Wu Bu, Gu Zhen: General death (none) 囗布 (囗字 in a divination). One, two, three, four, five, six, two, seven.
This proverb shows that as a vassal state, the kingdom of Ban was often cared for by the king of Shang.
"Bone Writings" 7593:
Zhen: Don't just call for a teacher.
The above two proclamations show that Shi often accepted orders from the king of Shang to go to war.
"Oracle Collection" 506 positive:
囗寅布, 殼贞: Nothing is as good as that, not persistent.
…… It is stubborn.
This prophecy shows that it was the Qiang side that was conquered like a division. The Qiang Fang was the Fang state of the Shang Dynasty's long-term conquest and the main source of slaves of the Shang Dynasty. The Qiang side was probably located in the south-central part of present-day Shaanxi.
"Bone Writings" 6272:
Birds.
…… Mouth (work on mouth down) ......
Zhen: Don't cut down the workers' mouth, the emperor doesn't accept it (blessed).
[Zhen]: Like a [division] cutting down the mouth.
This prophecy shows that the king of Shang ordered a division to conquer the Gongkou (Gongshang and Kouxia) sides. According to the divination records, the Gongkou side was a fierce rival of the Shang Dynasty. Looking at the place of the Gongkou, Guo Moruo thought it was near the Hetao; Chen Mengjia believes that in the northwest area of Taihang Mountain; Hu Houxuan believes that in northern Shaanxi; Dao Bangnan thinks that it is in the northern part of Shaanxi or in the Hetao place; Zhong Baisheng and Zheng Jiexiang both believe that it is at the junction of Shanxi and Shaanxi; Li Boqian's "Research on the Structure System of Chinese Bronze Culture" believes that the plateau and mountainous areas on both sides of the Yellow River centered on Shilou-Suide to the west of the Fen River should be the remains of Gongkoufang.
Oracle Collection 27938:
…… Bu, the age of the sub-year.
Yaban, indicating that the members of the Banguo served as sub-military attachés in the Shang Dynasty, and also shows that the Banguo was a vassal state with a high status. Sui, Zheng, and Sui are all northern border nations.
"Bone Writings" 839:
贞:...... Received year.
Use.
Call the teacher to take it from Zidun.
Dun, the name of the country, the place is near the present-day Piyang County, Henan.
To sum up, the general nationality Suogong Yudun, conquered in Qiang, Gongkou and other places, and its location is probably located in the south-central area of present-day Shanxi, that is, the western part of the Yin Shang region.
There are also records about the kingdom of Ban in the Jin texts of the Shang and Zhou dynasties.
Written like a book
Era: Yinxu Phase IV.
Bibliography: Yin Zhou Jinwen Collection, 944.
Current Collection: The Palace Museum.
Inscription: "Wang Yiren Fang Wu, salty, Wang Shang (reward) Cha (made) book like shellfish, with Cha (made) father and self-respect." Books. ”
Renfang, also known as Yi Fang or Corpse Fang, Dongyi tribe, was the eastern rival at the end of the Shang Dynasty, and was the main target of the Shang Emperors Yi and Xin.
Make a book, the name of an official position, and take charge of the affairs of the order. Qi Wenxin's "Qingyang Yu Ge Ming's "Writing a Book" ("Research on Unearthed Documents" (III), Zhonghua Book Company, 1998, p. 32) believes that the "general" of "as a book" is also the name of the nation. Yan Zhibin's Research on Shang Dynasty Bronze Inscriptions (Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House, 2019, p. 181) points out that if "Pan" was used as a clan name in the late Yin period, then Zuo Ban may be a descendant of Shiban.
She book, the family emblem composed of the clan inscription "She" and the official name "book" of the country.
The word "She", this article is interpreted from Wang Changfeng. See Wang Changfeng, "A Study on the Emblem of the Yin and Zhou Jinwen Clans" (Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House, August 2015), vol. 1, p. 103 and vol. 2, p. 422.
Xie Mingwen believes that this character is more than the normal oracle bone inscription "come", which can be subordinated to "丿来" (the upper part is horizontal, and the lower part is one)...... It should be a variant of the word "come". And the writing of the book like the inscription (this character) is the same as that of the (丿来), indicating that the old interpretation of the word "inscription" may be correct. However, judging from the large number of characters for "丿来", its head is generally composed of two strokes, and the head (of this character) can be seen as being written by one stroke, which seems to be different from "丿来". In the oracle bone inscription, "黍" or written in a certain form (see page 420 of the "New Oracle Bone Inscription"), (the character of Ningming) is similar to the writing, and it is suspected that "黍" refers to the provincial style. See Xie Mingwen, A Study of Jin Wen in the Shang Dynasty (published by Shanghai Century Publishing Group and Zhongxi Book Company, October 2022), pp. 74-77.
Looking
Era: Late Yin or early Zhou.
Bibliography: Yin Zhou Jinwen Collection, 9299.
Inscription: "Wang Lingban brother (贶) rice in the thief, with the guest father." She".
The inscription is interpreted from Xie Mingwen, which means that the king ordered the rice to be given to the thief, who in turn gave the rice to the deceased of his father and himself through sacrifice. See Xie Mingwen, A Study of Jin Wen in the Shang Dynasty (Shanghai Century Publishing Group and Zhongxi Book Company, October 2022), p. 388.
She, the inscription of the clan of the general country. Xie Mingwen believes that the owner of this piece belongs to the thief. And if the inscription is signed with an inscription of a clan of a general country, then the thief should also be a person belonging to a general nation.
Books-like turtles
Era: Yinxu Phase IV.
Unearthed: Unearthed in Anyang City, Henan Province in 2003.
Bibliography: National Museum of China: Bronze Scroll (Shang) 157, etc.
Collection: National Museum of China.
Inscription: "Bingshen, Wang Yu Huan." The king shot one, praised the three, and died (none) waste arrows. Wang Ling's brother (Zhen) was like a book, saying: Play in Yong, be a female (you) treasure. ”
For example, see Chen Jian, "Oracle Bone Gold Inscriptions Use as the Word for "Travel" (Research on Unearthed Documents and Ancient Characters, vol. 8, pp. 1-46, Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House, 2019).
The inscription is to the effect that he accompanied the king of Shang to hunt in the Huanhe River like a book, and because of the praise of the book, the king ordered the king to turn to give him a copper turtle like a book.
My father is my own
Era: Late Shang or early Zhou Dynasty.
Bibliography: Yin Zhou Jinwen Collection, 1619.
Inscription: "Father's self".
"She", the symmetrical decorative writing of the clan name "She". Liu Zhao, "Paleography Morphology" (Revised Edition) (Strait Publishing and Distribution Group, Fujian People's Publishing House, May 2011), points out on page 75 that the combination of two or three combinations of "family emblems" often repeats one of the shapes to create a symmetrical decorative effect.
It is a good thing
Era: Early Western Zhou Dynasty.
Bibliography: Yin Zhou Jinwen Collection, 4485.
The inscription: "The Ordinary Zhong Zhu Zhao Zuo 篑".
General, the name of the country; Zhong, ranked; 豦, private name. Zhao, the new clan should be used as a ritual instrument for the opening of the new clan.
Based on the oracle bone inscriptions and Jin Wen's records of the "Ban" state, it can be seen that the Ban State was a vassal state in the southwest of Yin with strong military strength under the Shang Dynasty, and its family emblem was "She". During the Wuding period, the "division" was the Shang Dynasty's conquest of the Qiang and Gongkou sides in the north and northwest. As a vassal state, it often paid tribute to the Shang Dynasty such as tortoise shells, Qiang people, and human animals. There were members of the general clan who served as high-ranking officials in the Shang Dynasty. All these show that the country was strong in the Shang Dynasty and had a high political status.