Social media star revives interest in ancient Chinese writing

A young social media star has revived interest in oracle bone inscriptions, or Jiaguwen, an ancient Chinese language named for their inscriptions on tortoise shells and animal bones during the Shang Dynasty (1600 B.C.-1046 B.C.).

Born in 1996 in Tonglu county, Hangzhou, in east China's Zhejiang Province, Li Ying, known as Li Youxi on social media, is a postgraduate who specialized in oracle bone inscriptions at Zhejiang Normal University.

Photo shows Li Ying, known as Li Youxi on social media. (yangtse.com/Photo courtesy of the interviewee)

Li gained internet attention after humorously noting her major's lack of popularity.

"You can't possibly imagine how obscure this profession is," she said in one of her most popular videos, posted in February this year on her Douyin account, the Chinese version of TikTok.

Driven by her keen interest in the evolution of Chinese characters, Li chose to study oracle bone inscriptions, a primitive form of Chinese characters and the oldest fully-developed characters in China, during her postgraduate studies.

There was only one teacher specializing in oracle bone inscriptions at the university, and Li was the sole student in her class that year. Li noted that the teacher would retire this year.

After earning her master's degree in 2021, Li worked at an internet company for six months. She later landed a job as a short video director at a new media company, gaining valuable new media experience. However, after six months, she left to pursue her passions, allotting herself three months to focus on what she truly wanted to do.

Li then launched her career in Hangzhou city. "I wanted to do something I truly love and let more people discover the charm of oracle bone inscriptions," she said.

Li Ying, who goes by Li Youxi on social media, uses a book of oracle bone inscriptions to find topics for her short videos. (yangtse.com/Photo courtesy of the interviewee)

The sudden popularity of a video she posted in February on her Douyin account refocused her attention on oracle bone inscriptions, allowing her to publicize these ancient words and explain the stories behind them.

In less than 10 months, the number of followers on her account has risen to more than 550,000.

Li said that fewer than 2,000 characters carved on oracle bones have been decoded, many of which are rarely used today. "I can recognize around 800 oracle bone characters," she added.

"The oracle bone writings are mainly records of divination made by people in the Shang Dynasty, and we can find stories of the dynasty behind the oracle bone inscriptions," Li said, noting that her videos aim to tell stories from more than 3,000 years ago by explaining oracle bone characters.

Li Ying, known as Li Youxi on social media, records a video. (yangtse.com/Photo courtesy of the interviewee)

"There is no record of Lady Fu Hao, a queen, shaman, and military leader in the Shang Dynasty, in historical texts. But we learned the story of Fu Hao from oracle bone inscriptions excavated over 100 years ago and the discovery of her tomb," Li said.

"There are over 200 pieces of oracle bone inscriptions related to Fu Hao, through which we discovered her remarkable life," she added.

Li writes scripts for her videos to promote oracle bone characters. "First, I need to find a suitable subject, then search through information and read literature before writing scripts. I have to revise the scripts repeatedly," she said.

In addition to continuing to produce videos on oracle bone inscriptions, Li plans to write books about the Shang Dynasty, drawing on stories from oracle bone inscriptions.