Origin quest still inspires

For the future

"We are in good times," says Liu excitedly, adding that the "spring "for research on ancient Chinese writings has come, and the boom will probably last for decades as the nation places increasing emphasis on paleography, archaeology and ancient classics in recent years.

Liu notes that the outstanding Chinese traditional culture is the main spiritual source and pillar to enhance Chinese people's cultural confidence. With the development and application of advanced technologies such as the high-definition photos, 3D printing, DNA testing and especially artificial intelligence, the paleography studies will see further and continuous progress as it gets more segmented, systematic and digitalized.

The research on oracle bone inscriptions is benefiting from technological advances. At present, there are some 160,000 pieces of oracle bones scattered across the world, and the correct rejoining of these pieces has been a major challenge for researchers. However, the application of AI has brought a new light into this sector, generating more possibilities and greatly improving efficiency. To date, recognized rejoined oracle bone pieces have exceeded 7,000, among which over 500 were made by the center's researcher Jiang Yubin, with another more than 400 made by the center's post-1990s PhD student Yang Yi.