Musings on a rare oracle bone, new to UC Berkeley’s holdings:

“‘He reached into his raincoat pocket and said, ‘Here, I’ve got something for you,’ ’ Keightley recalled in his prepared remarks for the dedication of the new library’s building site. ‘He gave me a genuine Shang Dynasty oracle bone fragment, which he had obtained during his days as a White Russian refugee in Harbin.’

The late Boodberg - who spent his childhood in Vladivostok, where his father commanded the Czarist forces - viewed the study of ancient language as ‘the ability to conduct significant conversations with the dead.’ …

Keightley said the inscription on the bone he gave to the library says, ‘On guihai (day 60), (the diviner) made cracks and divined: ‘In the next 10 days, there will be no disasters.’ ‘”