Modern attempts to decipher the Shang bone scripts have been hampered by the fundamental assumption that the scripts are recordings of the sound of the language and not ideas. Some phonetic “translations” could be proposed without the possibility of verification, and some graphic “translations” without meanings are seen as the names of sacrificial rituals by previous scholars. Actually, a character is derived from a thought, and the thought is derived from a figuration, while the figuration itself is derived from the graphed object or event. Therefore, the same character can be used in different dialects or languages to depict the same concepts. Based on the bone scripts being ideograms, several bone scripts used frequently for the names of the day were assumed to be the moon phases; thus, the time interval between two corresponding days with its moon phase was calculated for verification. Extensionally, according to the time interval between the two days, and the moon phase recorded on the bone tablets (or bronze wares) and the chronological table of the kings of Shang compiled by the pre vious scholars, the assumptions of the moon phase characters are attested by the calculations of the numbering days of the solunar date. Solunar dates (Chinese: Gan-Zhi 干支) were used to record dates with a cycle of 60 days. Conversely, on consideration of the dates and moon phases for the bone inscription events, the prevous chronology is improved with iterative methed, and we propose new chronology for Shang kings. In addition, through computation, three records of a lunar eclipse on the Shang bronze inscriptions and on the Zhou bronze vessels are newly recognized, which helps to reconstruct the years of the kings of Shang and of the kings of Zhou; the Shang bone calendar’s New Year started from the summer solstice of the year, from the full moon of the lunar phase and from the dawn of the day.

甲骨文字釋讀以形為主，字意源自字象，字象源自生活畫面之寓意。其中一些字不識，卻常見於記載儀式活動的卜辭，舊釋為祭名或儀式名，字意不知。對於這些字，根據字形釋讀法，本文破釋為月相名，並以其卜辭所載的日期來計算其月相週期。從而，旁證月相甲骨文破譯假設成立；所謂週期祭祀祖先之祭名，實際為週期祭祀月亮順便祭祀當日值班的祖宗神。另外，以前賢擬定的商王的年表為基礎，計算了各個晚期商王的卜辭之所載的月相週期，定出新的商王年表。進而，旁證商王的年表和一些著名青銅器的斷代；並找出了一件商金文所記的月食。以上假設和計算，也旁證商之骨曆的新年在夏至、月初在滿月、日始於黎明。

Abstract
I. Introduction
    1. Ancient Chinese Calendar
    2. Shang Oracle Bone Calendar
II. The Beginning of the Year
    3. The Beginning of the Year in Ancient Egypt
    4. The Beginning of the Shang Bone Calendar
    5. The Decipherment of the Character Nine
III. Shang Moon Phase Days
    6. The moon phases in Shang oracle bone inscriptions
    7. The Decipherment of the Character “Feather”
    8. The Decipherment of the Character “Vapor”
    9. The Decipherment of the Character “Loud”
    10. The Decipherment of the Character “Crescent”
IV. The Bone Characters for Sun Day
    11. The Character of Winter Solstice in Shang Oracle Bone Inscription
    12. The Character of Summer Solstice in Shang Bone Inscription
    13. The Character of Autumn Equinox in Shang Bone Inscription
    14. The Character of Thunder in Shang Bone Inscriptions
    15. The Character of Fog in Shang Bone Inscriptions
    16. The Character of Day-adding in Shang Bone Inscriptions
V. Conclusion
References

• Dalu Da WEIH(Ideography and History Institute of Toronto, Canada) | 大路大魏