Although there are always differences of opinion among researchers, by a continuous process of trying to identify, interpret and date the characters, over the years they have gradually pieced together a picture of the life and beliefs of the Shang, and have verified the accounts in later histories of many major events involving the Shang royal house.
雖然學者間不時有爭論，然而多年不斷辨字、解意、斷代，仍然一點一滴地拼湊出當時的生活與信仰，殷商王室的大事紀更驗證後代史畫的記載。