破译1个甲骨文奖10万元？第二批获奖名单公示

List is here! Chinese Museum rewards 100,000 yuan for identifying an oracle bone inscription

2019年5月，中国文字博物馆公布了《关于征集评选第二批甲骨文释读优秀成果的奖励公告》，其中提到：破译未释读甲骨文并经专家委员会鉴定通过的研究成果，单字奖励10万元。11月30日，该博物馆公示了第二批获奖成果名单。

In May 2019, the National Museum of Chinese Writing, located in central China's Henan province, issued an announcement for selecting the second batch of outstanding achievements in interpreting controversial oracle bone inscriptions. It mentioned that the researcher can receive up to 100,000 yuan per character for identifying new characters as long as his or her research can be approved by the museum's expert committee. On November 30, the museum announced the list of the second batch of award-winning achievements.

[Photo from the National Museum of Chinese Writing Website]

2018年，有一人拿到了这10万元，他就是复旦大学出土文献与古文字研究中心研究员蒋玉斌。获奖论文是《释甲骨金文的“蠢”——兼论相关问题》。他也是目前唯一拿到这笔奖金的人。

Jiang Yubin, a researcher at the Center for Research on Chinese Excavated Classics and Paleography at Shanghai's Fudan University, earned this hefty reward in 2018 for his paper "A Research on the Word 'Chun' (蠢) in Oracle and Bronze Inscription and Other Related Questions." He is also the only person who has received this reward so far.

据学者统计，目前已发现的甲骨文单字共4000余个，取得共识的破译字约占三分之一。“容易的已经被破译了，没能破译的都是‘硬骨头’，大多既复杂，又不成文。”蒋玉斌说。

According to research, more than 4,000 oracle bone inscriptions have been discovered, and about one-third of them have been deciphered and reached a consensus in the academic community. "The easy ones have already been deciphered, while the undeciphered ones are the 'hardest nut,' most of which are complex and unwritten," said Prof. Jiang.

考释甲骨文字难在已知信息太有限，难以架起从已知到未知的桥梁，更难的是要坐冷板凳、下大功夫。“如果缺乏兴趣，缺乏持之以恒的毅力，就很难取得新突破。”

The difficulty in interpreting oracle bone inscriptions lies in limited information; thus, researchers' pragmatic and sustained efforts are needed. "If researchers lack interest and perseverance in this field, it will be hard to achieve breakthroughs," said Prof. Jiang.

经过多年考证，蒋玉斌得出结论：甲骨文、金文中用在某些方国名字前的“屯”字，应该释读为蠢动的“蠢”字。

After years of research, Prof. Jiang concluded that the character "Tun" (屯), usually used before rebelling states in oracle bone inscriptions, indicates that someone cannot wait to do evil.

目前，国内已有多所高校开设古文字学相关本科专业，后备人才队伍逐渐丰实。蒋玉斌希望，在考释甲骨文字的艰苦道路上，有更多年轻的身影加入一起前行。

Now, China has many universities that offer undergraduate majors related to ancient Chinese characters and has an ever-growing talent pool in the field. Prof. Jiang hopes that more young figures will join in the hard work of interpreting oracle bone inscriptions.

Web editor: Shen Jianqi, Tong Lin