The number of oracle bone fragments unearthed is about 150,000, and nearly 8,000 of them are in ROM. This is a huge number, attracting many people to come to Toronto to study. ROM has specially established research scholarships for doctoral students studying Chinese cultural relics in Canada or China.
Although the collection is large, only a few pieces are on display. Two of them are very rare. One piece is a tiger bone, with inscriptions on it to commemorate the hunting of the tiger in the mountains on a certain day of a certain year, while the other piece records a failed divination event.
In addition to their historical, archaeological, research and commemorative significance, these oracle bones on display are highly ornamental compared to others. There are photos on the Internet, showing boxes after boxes of oracle bones, but they are all relatively small, and if one is as big as a palm it is already quite impressive. Some require several pieces to be spliced together.
For the convenience of everyone, the museum still took photos of them as much as possible and uploaded them to the official website. But what's interesting is that the collections will be replaced every once in a while, making it very difficult for academics to quote.
There are many comparison tables, converters, etc. on the Internet. The dictionary compiled by Li Zongkun has almost copied all the glyphs seen so far, with a total of 46,635 words. Some characters have several similar but not identical glyphs. According to data, there are a total of 4,672 words, and only more than a thousand have been deciphered so far. So the Museum of Chinese Characters has an event that offers a reward of 100,000 yuan for deciphering a word, and someone actually got a reward!
These two oracle bone are placed in the middle of the China Gallery of the Royal Ontario Museum, facing the entrance. Don’t miss it next time when you go.