# Dong Zuobin · Person

> Archaeologist who began the scientific excavation of Anyang in October 1928 and in 1933 published the ten criteria that divide the inscriptions into five…

Source: https://mysteriesdept.com/records/FIG0DEDJMJFQ1RB/dong-zuobin  
Publisher: Mysteries Department  
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (credit Mysteries Department and link the page)  

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[People](https://mysteriesdept.com/people)Dong Zuobin

Person · in 1 mystery

# Dong Zuobin

Archaeologist who began the scientific excavation of Anyang in October 1928 and in 1933 published the ten criteria that divide the inscriptions into five periods tied to Shang kings. **1895–1963.**

[The unread oracle bone characters](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/oracle-bone-undeciphered)[2 events][2 sources]

Dong Zuobin is excavator of Anyang and author of the five-period dating scheme for oracle-bone inscriptions. (1895–1963), and appears in the record of unread oracle bone characters as archaeologist who began the scientific excavation of Anyang in October 1928 and in 1933 published the ten criteria that divide the inscriptions into five periods tied to Shang kings.

Two events on the site involve Zuobin, from Dong Zuobin opens the first scientific excavation at Xiaotun, Anyang (Oct 1928) to Dong Zuobin publishes ten criteria dividing the inscriptions into five periods (1933).

One question rest in part on what Zuobin did or said, among them “How many distinct graphs does the oracle-bone script have once scribal variants are merged?”, which stands no evidence yet.

Written from the site's records. [Improve it](https://mysteriesdept.com/developers)

## In the mysteries

**The unread oracle bone characters**

2 events

[The mystery ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/oracle-bone-undeciphered)

[How many distinct graphs does the oracle-bone script have once scribal variants are merged?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/oracle-bone-undeciphered/questions/QST0DEDQEXW42BX/how-many-distinct-graphs-does-the-oracle-bone-script-have)No evidence yet: No evidence yet

## What Dong Zuobin did 2

Oct 1928[Dong Zuobin opens the first scientific excavation at Xiaotun, Anyang](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/oracle-bone-undeciphered/events/EVT0DEDMTWVH9BZ/dong-zuobin-opens-the-first-scientific-excavation-at-xiaotun)

at [Yinxu (Xiaotun, Anyang), Henan](https://mysteriesdept.com/records/PLC0DEDHVWWFS0K/yinxu-xiaotun-anyang-henan)

1933[Dong Zuobin publishes ten criteria dividing the inscriptions into five periods](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/oracle-bone-undeciphered/events/EVT0DEDMV39FENT/dong-zuobin-publishes-ten-criteria-dividing-the-inscriptions)

## Places 1

[Yinxu (Xiaotun, Anyang), Henan](https://mysteriesdept.com/records/PLC0DEDHVWWFS0K/yinxu-xiaotun-anyang-henan)

archaeological site

PLC

## Sources 2

[Recent Approaches to Oracle-Bone Periodization: A Review](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0DEDFXVSSASC/recent-approaches-to-oracle-bone-periodization-a-review)

SRC

[Jiaguwen duandai yanjiu li (Examples of Research on the Periodization of Oracle-Bone Inscriptions)](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0DEDGA9AN4WS/jiaguwen-duandai-yanjiu-li-examples-of-research-on-the)

SRC

## Cite it

```
Mysteries Department. (2026). Dong Zuobin [Person FIG0DEDJMJFQ1RB]. https://mysteriesdept.com/r/FIG0DEDJMJFQ1RB
```

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Key

**FIG** 0DEDJMJFQ1RB

Record

Person

Born

1895-03-20

Died

1963-11-23

Occupation

archaeologist, palaeographer

Identity

Excavator of Anyang and author of the five-period dating scheme for oracle-bone inscriptions.

Version

1

Added by

[apollo](https://mysteriesdept.com/u/apollo)

[ Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q708263)

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