There is a character “셓” in the inscriptions on bronze wares of Shang and Zhou Dynasties, and up to now, the academic community is divided on the reading of this character. From the use cases where the character appear in the inscriptions on ancient bronzes, it is used as the appellation of the clan without exception, mainly as the single clan name, and then as the constituent of the compound clan name. However, why the clan is named as “셓” and what is the meaning of its configuration have been rarely mentioned. Combining the latest research results of the history and culture of ancient society and archaeology with the inspection and proofreading of the related words of this character, besides versifying with the handed down literature the paper, the paper holds that the character is actually related to the fishery production in ancient times as the symbol of the clan. The configuration of “셓” is the reflection of an image in which a caught fish is disemboweled and then stretched out by bamboo or branches to dry. And the structural meaning is “薧” corresponding to “鱻”, also known as “鱐” in the literature handed down from ancient times “The Three Rituals”, namely the dried fish said today.

China was a slave society in the Shang and Zhou Dynasties. There are many words about slaves in the existing oracle bone inscriptions.By observing the form of these characters, we can understand their meanings and the cultural meanings contained in them. This paper selects five characters: wei, li, xi, pu and qiang,and analyzes the structure of its oracle bone inscriptions or bronze inscriptions.This paper analyzes the cultural implication of the slaves in the Shang and Zhou dynasties from the characteristics of the slaves' foreign clothing, the characteristics of the slaves' foreign nationality, the methods and ways of the slaves‘ capture, the punishment of the slaves and the unique human sacrifice of the slaves. In the analysis of this paper, “Wei” has evolved from the totem worship of primitive tribes to an important costume feature representing the identity of slaves. “Li” contains the history of the slave‘s resistance to escape under the pressure of slavery. “Xi” is related to the custom of braiding hair of slaves of different nationalities in Shang and Zhou dynasties. Through the structure of “Xi”, we can see the punishment of slaves in Shang and Zhou Dynasties. “Qiang” is the most obvious expression of the bloody slavery system and slaves can not have the essential characteristics of human rights.