David Noel Keightley (October 25, 1932 – February 23, 2017) was an American sinologist. He was a professor of
Chinese history
The history of China spans several millennia across a wide geographical area. Each region now considered part of the Chinese world has experienced periods of unity, fracture, prosperity, and strife. Chinese civilization first emerged in the Y ...
at the
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...
, as well as a published author covering the Shang and Zhou dynasties and the Chinese
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...
. He was best known for his studies of Chinese
oracle bones
Oracle bones are pieces of ox scapula and turtle plastron which were used in pyromancya form of divinationduring the Late Shang period () in ancient China. '' Scapulimancy'' is the specific term if ox scapulae were used for the divination, '' ...
and
oracle bone script
Oracle bone script is the oldest attested form of written Chinese, dating to the late 2nd millennium BC. Inscriptions were made by carving characters into oracle bones, usually either the shoulder bones of oxen or the plastrons of turtl ...
. His work changed the way that many Sinologists viewed Shang dynasty history.
Life
David N. Keightley was born on October 25, 1932, in
London, England
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
. David received his early education in English boarding schools until the age of 15. In 1947 his family moved to Evanston, Illinois. He graduated from
Evanston Township High School
Evanston Township High School (ETHS) (District 202) is a public high school in Evanston, Illinois. The campus is located in a northern suburb of Chicago along the Lake Michigan shore. ETHS was established in 1883 and serves the city of Evanston a ...
, then attended
Amherst College
Amherst College ( ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1821 as an attempt to relocate Williams College by its then-president Zepha ...
as an undergraduate student, graduating in 1953 with a B.A. in English with a minor in
biochemistry
Biochemistry, or biological chemistry, is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology, a ...
. He then received a
Fulbright Scholarship
The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people ...
, which he used to study
Medieval French
Old French (, , ; ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France approximately between the late 8th University of Lille. He received an Master of Arts">M.A. in modern European history from New York University">Master_o.html" ;"title="University of Lille Nord de France">University of Lille. He received an Master of Arts">M.A. in modern European history from New York University in 1956. He then worked for several years at publishing companies in New York City and as a freelance writer before beginning his study of Chinese and Sinology.
Keightley began his graduate study in East Asian history at Columbia University in 1962. In 1965, Keightley moved to Taipei, Taiwan where he studied Chinese for two years at the Stanford Center (modern Inter-University Program for Chinese Language Study). He then returned to the United States to complete his doctoral studies at Columbia under the Swedish Sinologist Hans Bielenstein and received a Ph.D. in 1969 with a dissertation entitled "Public Work in Ancient China: A Study of Forced Labor in the Shang and Early Chou".
After receiving his Ph.D. in 1969, Keightley was selected to replace Woodbridge Bingham (1901–1986) as professor of East Asian history at the
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...
. Keightley became one of the leading Western scholars of Chinese
oracle bones
Oracle bones are pieces of ox scapula and turtle plastron which were used in pyromancya form of divinationduring the Late Shang period () in ancient China. '' Scapulimancy'' is the specific term if ox scapulae were used for the divination, '' ...
, which contain the earliest known examples of
Chinese writing
Written Chinese is a writing system that uses Chinese characters and other symbols to represent the Chinese languages. Chinese characters do not directly represent pronunciation, unlike letters in an alphabet or syllabograms in a syllabary. Rathe ...
. In 1995, the American Sinologist
Edward Shaughnessy
Edward Louis Shaughnessy (born July 29, 1952) is an American sinologist, scholar, and educator, known for his studies of early Chinese history, particularly the Zhou dynasty, and his studies of the ''Classic of Changes'' (''I Ching'' 易經).
L ...
stated that Keightley "has done more to introduce the depth and breadth of early China's oracle-bone divination to Western readers than any
ther Ther may refer to:
* ''Thér.'', taxonomic author abbreviation of Irénée Thériot (1859–1947), French bryologist
* Agroha Mound, archaeological site in Agroha, Hisar district, India
* Therapy
A therapy or medical treatment is the attempte ...
scholar." He taught and worked at Berkeley until his retirement in 1998.
Keightley died at his home on February 23, 2017, aged 84.
Career literary works
Keightley's career into research on Chinese society and
oracle bone
Oracle bones are pieces of ox scapula and turtle plastron which were used in pyromancya form of divinationduring the Late Shang period () in ancient China. '' Scapulimancy'' is the specific term if ox scapulae were used for the divination, ''p ...
inscription began with his dissertation "Public Work in Ancient China: A Study of Forced Labor in the Shang and Early Chou". This essay introduced Keightley's work with early Chinese culture. It "Examines the Shang and Zhou states' control of labor resources, namely the 'comprehensive system of labor mobilization in which the same conscripts were sent to fight, clear and farm the land, build city walls and buildings, and work at the sundry tasks of production and manufacture required by the ruling class.'" Relies primarily on the oracle-bone inscriptions of the Shang period, on
Western Zhou
The Western Zhou ( zh, c=西周, p=Xīzhōu; 771 BC) was a period of Chinese history corresponding roughly to the first half of the Zhou dynasty. It began when King Wu of Zhou overthrew the Shang dynasty at the Battle of Muye and ended in 77 ...
bronze inscriptions, and on the early sections of the ''
Zhangzhou
Zhangzhou (, ) is a prefecture-level city in Fujian Province, China. The prefecture around the city proper comprises the southeast corner of the province, facing the Taiwan Strait and (with Quanzhou) surrounding the prefecture of Xiamen.
Nam ...
'' and the '' Zhijing.'' This dissertation served as the building block for Keightley's later works.
After writing his dissertation, Keightley went on to write several books and articles, as well as, working as an editor and contributor on several other works. He namely wrote "Sources of Shang History: The Oracle-bone Inscriptions of Bronze Age China". This book expanded his research into Chinese oracle-bone inscriptions. His next work was "The Ancestral Landscape: Time, Space, and Community in Late Shang China". This book was, "Primarily a study in retrospective
cultural anthropology
Cultural anthropology is a branch of anthropology focused on the study of cultural variation among humans. It is in contrast to social anthropology, which perceives cultural variation as a subset of a posited anthropological constant. The term ...
" that is based on oracle-bone inscriptions. It provided insight into the life of the Shang kings. His third writing "Working for His Majesty: Research Notes on Labor Mobilization in Late Shang China as Seen in the Oracle-Bone Inscriptions, with Particular Attention to Handicraft Industries, Agriculture, Warfare, Hunting, Construction, and the Shang's Legacies." This study of oracle-bone inscriptions helped to increase understanding of the ideologies and administrative practices of the Shang Dynasty. Finally all of his works culminate in "These Bones Shall Rise Again: Selected Writings on Early China". This collection of 12 essays looks to explore early Chinese civilization through the study of oracle-bone inscriptions and anthropological studies.
Along with his novels and collections of essays, Keightley also wrote articles for many academic papers, studies, encyclopedias, historical journals, and several other publications.
Work on oracle bones
Keightley was best known for his work on oracle bones and their ability to tell the history of Shang China. His work on oracle bone research is discussed in several of his articles and edits, "Sources of Shang History: The Oracle-Bone Inscriptions of Bronze Age China" goes most in depth about the history on oracle bones. He delves into discussing the physical material in which the inscriptions were inscribed upon. Through the study of these physical materials, he studies a particular character which he calls "the charge". This character was previously thought to hold meaning as an interrogative figure. Yet, through his work and reading of the bones and shells, he decides that this character rather signals a prayer or statement of intent. This discovery changed the way that many previous inscriptions of Shang dynasty inscriptions were interpreted.
From his studies, Keightley also made ten volumes of oracle bone inscriptions that are still used to debate facts about the period of the Shang kings. Many of these debates revolve around the dating of artifacts and the actual time periods in which several Shang rules lived. Keightley dedicated his time and this research to improve the authenticity, accuracy, and the ability to reproduce these inscriptions. These studies and inscriptions are still very prevalent and useful in ancient Chinese studies and arguments about the Shang dynasty.
Awards
* 1978
Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...
** Keightley was awarded this grant for publishing the book "Sources of Shang History: The Oracle Bone Inscriptions of Bronze Age China".
* 1986
MacArthur Fellows Program
The MacArthur Fellows Program, also known as the MacArthur Fellowship and colloquially called the "Genius Grant", is a prize awarded annually by the MacArthur Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to typically between 20 and ...
** Keightley received this award for his extraordinary work and expertise on Chinese oracle bones.
Books
* Keightley, David N. (1969). "Public Work in Ancient China: A Study of Forced Labor in the Shang and Early Chou". Ph.D. dissertation (Columbia University).
* Keightley, David N''., ed. (1978). Sources of Shang History: The Oracle-Bone Inscriptions of Bronze Age China''. Berkeley, Los Angeles: University of California Press.
* Keightley, David N. "The Shang: China's First Historical Dynasty". In Loewe, Michael; Shaughnessy, Edward (eds.). ''The Cambridge History of Ancient China.''
* Keightley, David N. (2000). ''The Ancestral Landscape: Time, Space, and Community in Late Shang China (ca. 1200-1045 B.C.)''. Berkeley: Institute of East Asian Studies, University of California, Berkeley
* Keightley, David N. (2014). ''These Bones Shall Rise Again: Selected Writings on Early China''. Albany: SUNY Press.
Articles
* "Archaeology and History in Chinese Society." In W.W. Howells and Patricia Tuschitani, eds., Paleoanthropology in the People's Republic of China. Washington, D.C.: National Academy of Sciences, 1977:123-129.
* "On the Misuse of Ancient Chinese Inscriptions: An Astronomical Fantasy." ''History of Science'' 15 (1977):267-272.
* "Space Travel in Bronze Age China?" 'The Skeptical Inquirer ''3.2 (Winter 1978):58-63''
* "The Religious Commitment: Shang Theology and the Genesis of Chinese Political Culture." ''History of Religions'' 17 (1978):211-224
* "The Bamboo Annals and Shang-Chou Chronology." ''Harvard journal of Asiatic Studies'' 38 (1978):423-438
* "The Shang State as Seen in the Oracle-Bone Inscriptions." ''Early China'' 5 (1979–80):25-34
* "The State," "Divination," "Religion," "The Economy," "Bronze Working," in Brian Hook, ed., ''The Cambridge Encyclopedia of China.'' Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1982. pp. 163–65.
* "The Late Shang State: When, Where, and What?" in Keightley, ed., The Origins of Chinese Civilization (1983):523-564
* "Late Shang Divination: The Magico-Religious Legacy." In Henry Rosemont, Jr., ed., Explorations in Early Chinese Cosmology. ''Journal of the American Academy of Religion Studies'' 50.2 (1984): 11-34
* "Reports from the Shang: A Correction and Some Speculations." ''Early China'' 9-10 (1983- 1985):20-39, 47-54
* "Main Trends in American Studies of Chinese History: Neolithic to Imperial Times," The History Teacher 19.4 (August 1986):527-543
* "Archaeology and Mentality: The Making of China." Representations 18 (Spring 1987):91-128.
* "Prehistory" and "The First Historical Dynasty: The Shang." The New Encyclopædia Britannica: Macropaedia (Chicago 1987) 16:62-67
* ''Astrology and Cosmology in the Shang Oracle-Bone Inscriptions." Cosmos 3 (1987):36-40''
* "Shang Dynasty," in Ainslie T. Embree, ed., ''Encyclopedia of Asian History'' (New York, Scribner's: 1988) 3:426-429
* ranslatorWang Ningsheng, "Yangshao Burial Customs and Social Organization: A Comment on the Theory of Yangshao Matrilineal Society and Its Methodology," ''Early China'' 11-12 (1985–87):Cr-32
* "Shang Divination and Metaphysics," Philosophy East and West 38.4 (October 1988):367-397
* ranslator, with Igarashi YoshikuniToyoda Hidashi and lnoo Hideyuki, "Shigaku zasshi: Summary of Japanese Scholarship," Early China 13 (1988): 297-327
* "The Origins of Writing in China: Scripts and Cultural Contexts," in Wayne M. Senner, ed., ''The Origins of Writing'' (University of Nebraska Press, 1989):171-202
* "Comment" (in the Early China Forum on Qiu Xigui, "An Examination of Whether the Charges in Shang Oracle-Bone Inscriptions Are Questions"), Early China 14 (1989):138-46
* '"There Was an Old Man of Changan...': Limericks and the Teaching of Early Chinese History," The History Teacher 22.3 (May 1989):325-28.
* (1978). "The Religious Commitment: Shang Theology and the Genesis of Chinese Political Culture". ''History of Religions''. 17 (3/4): 211–225. doi:10.1086/462791.
JSTOR
JSTOR ( ; short for ''Journal Storage'') is a digital library of academic journals, books, and primary sources founded in 1994. Originally containing digitized back issues of academic journals, it now encompasses books and other primary source ...
* Chang, K. C. (1981). (Review) ''Sources of Shang History: The Oracle-Bone Inscriptions of Bronze Age China'', David N. Keightley. ''Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies'', ''41''(2), 633–640
* .
* Johnson, David. (1995). DNK – Some Recollections, in Celebration. ''Early China,'' ''20'', Vii-X. doi:10.1017/S0362502800004387.
* Shaughnessy, E. (1995). The Origin of an Yijing Line Statement. ''Early China,'' ''20'', 223-240. doi:10.1017/S0362502800004491
* Shulman, Frank J. (2017). David Noel Keightley (1932-2017), publications and unpublished writings: a comprehensive bibliography and research guide. ''Early China'', 17–61. doi:10.1017/eac.2017.11
* Keightley, D. N., & Starn, F. (2003). ''Historian of early China, University of California, Berkeley, 1969-1998 :'' The Regents of the University of California
* Takashima, Kenichi. (2019). David Noel Keightley (25 October 1932 - 23 February 2017): a memorial essay. ''Monumenta Serica'', ''67'', 215–224