Wang Yirong (; 1845–1900) was a director of the Chinese Imperial Academy, best known as the first to recognize that the symbols inscribed on

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, '' ...

were an early form of Chinese writing. His work on the

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 ...

was curtailed when he accepted a local command during the

Boxer Rebellion The Boxer Rebellion, also known as the Boxer Uprising, was an anti-foreign, anti-imperialist, and anti-Christian uprising in North China between 1899 and 1901, towards the end of the Qing dynasty, by the Society of Righteous and Harmonious F ...

, despite his belief that the cause was futile. When an international force occupied Beijing in August 1900, Wang committed suicide, together with his wife and daughter-in-law. A museum devoted to Wang is located in his birthplace of

Yantai Yantai, formerly known as Chefoo, is a coastal prefecture-level city on the Shandong Peninsula in northeastern Shandong province of the People's Republic of China. Lying on the southern coast of the Bohai Strait, Yantai borders Qingdao ...

Shandong Shandong is a coastal Provinces of China, province in East China. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilization along the lower reaches of the Yellow River. It has served as a pivotal cultural ...

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wang, Yirong 1845 births 1900 deaths Qing dynasty generals Politicians from Yantai Suicides in the Qing dynasty Suicides by poison Writers from Yantai Scientists from Shandong Generals from Shandong Chinese epigraphers 1900 suicides