Abstract: The upper half of the oracle character “yan”(言) is the figure of the tongue，and lower part of it is the figure of “mouth”（口）.The basic meaning of “yan” is “speech”.During the Yin and Shang period，“yan” is a specific festival name，and the “yan”(言)，“gao”(告) and “she”(舌)，which is different festival，can be seen as the beginning of early style.The kings′ decretals in Shang Shu are called “yan”（言）.There are many argumentative discourses in Shang Shu，the main components of which are reflected in the kings′ decretalstyle conversation(“yan”)(言).Some quotes in Shang Shu are aphoristic sentence，which are concise，brief and argumentative.

Key words: before Spring and Autumn, “yan”(言), connotation, argumentation style, oracle