A video interprets a New Mexico panel as evidence of Shang royalty. It claims the red circle contains a deceased king's paternal title, the blue circle is the reigning king's signature and the yellow circle depicts a hunted sacrifice. It also says an adjacent vessel resembles Shang bronze ware and proposes that the cross-like symbol refers to the Heavenly Stems system.
Video argues New Mexico panel bears Shang royal titles
Site mentioned
📍 Abuki Site
Key facts
- The video describes a New Mexico panel containing a turtle-like symbol, a cross-like symbol and other unusual characters.
- It claims the turtle and cross recur elsewhere in the American Southwest, while the other symbols are unique to this panel.
- It interprets the red-circled symbol as the title of a deceased king's father and the blue-circled symbol as the reigning king's signature.
- It interprets the yellow-circled animal with an arrow as a hunted sacrifice.
- It says the adjacent vessel resembles bronze utensils from the Shang capital in China.
- It proposes that the cross-like symbol relates to the Chinese Heavenly Stems system.
- Shang rulers used tortoiseshells for divination, and the Heavenly Stems were used in Shang-period ritual; neither fact establishes the proposed reading of the New Mexico panel.
Sources
independent.academia.edu
Linked in video description
podcasters.spotify.com
Linked in video description
Oracle Bone, Shang Dynastysmarthistory.org
The term “oracle bone” refers to ox scapulae (or shoulder blade bones) and tortoiseshells used by Shang rulers for divination.
Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branchesbaike.baidu.com
Their ten Heavenly Stems were called Yanfeng, Zhanmeng, Rouzhao, Qiangyu, Zhuyong, Tuwei, Shangzhang, Chongguang, Xuanyi, and Zhaoyang. Their twelve Earthly ...
Heavenly Stemsen.wikipedia.org
The ten Heavenly Stems (or Celestial Stems) are a system of ordinals indigenous to China and used throughout East Asia, first attested c. 1250 BCE during the ...
Heavenly Stems - Calendar Wiki - Fandomcalendars.fandom.com
They were also used in Shang-period ritual as names for dead family members, who were offered sacrifices on the corresponding day of the Shang week. The ...
General Literary Chinese from Scratch/The Heavenly Stemsen.wikibooks.org
The Heavenly Stems 天干 are amongst the oldest characters in Chinese, dating back to the Shang dynasty, where they were used for days of the week.
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