Historical Studies (Chinese Edition)

No.5, 2014

 

'Yifang' on the Oracle Inscriptions of the Shang Dynasty and the Wars between Shang and the Yi Tribe

(Abstract)

 

Li Fa

 

During the Shang Dynasty, there were a great number of tribes and kingdoms and wars were frequent between them. Among which, “Yi” (夷) was a rare tribe that was recorded on the oracle bones from the first up to the fifth archaeological periods. “Yi” in “Yifang” (夷方) is a jiaje character of “shi” (尸). In the 10th Year of his reign, Di Xin made military an expedition to Huaiyi. The campaign began on the Day of Jiawu (甲午) of the 9th Month in the 10th Year of Di Xin's reign, and ended on the Day of Guichou (癸丑) of the 5th Month in the 11th Year of Di Xin’s reign, lasting 250 days in total. The Shang troop started from Anyang and on the Day of Guimao (癸卯) of the 1st Month in the 11th Year of Di Xin's reign arrived in Yong City, which was a border area of the Kingdom of You and the front of wars against the Yifang. After over 30 days of stay and patrol, the troop went back along basically the same route to a hunting area, inscribed as  on the oracle bones. Generals that took part in this campaign included Fu Hao(妇好), Hou Gao(侯告), Wang Cheng(望乘), Ge(戓) (inscribed as  Zhi ［沚］ on the oracle bones classified as Group Bin ［宾组］), and Hou Xi. Expeditions against the Yifang during the first to the fourth archaeological periods were relatively small in scale; expedition conducted by Di Xin in the 10th Year of his reign were massive in scale and ended in victory.