Shang Dynasty Oracle Bone Script
Oracle-bone writing 1600 to 1100 BC The oracle-bone inscriptions are the earliest body of writing we yet possess for East Asia. They were written in a script Shang-dynasty script that was ancestral to all subsequent forms of Chinese writing. The degree of maturity of this truly archaic writing 1600 to 1100 BC indicates that
Oracle Bone Script. Oracle bone script, which emerged in the late Shang Dynasty 1600-1046 B.C., is the earliest mature writing system in China. The source of Chinese characters and the foundation of China's excellent traditional culture, it was used for divination to inquire about good and bad luck. Currently, the Yin ruins in Xiaotun Village
Oracle Bones also known as Dragon's Bones were the shoulder blades of oxen or plastrons of turtles the flat underside of the turtle's shell which were used in the Shang Dynasty of China c. 1600-1046 BCE for divination. The symbols carved on the bones eventually became words and a recognizable Chinese script developed from this practice.. A fortune-teller would carve later, paint
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 turtles.The writings themselves mainly record the results of official divinations carried out on behalf of the Late Shang royal family.
The Oracle Bone Script was used between about about 1300 and 1100 BC according to some sources, and between 1500 and 1000 BC according to others. This suggests that the script was invented long before the Shang Dynasty. Some examples of Oracle Bone characters with their modern equivalents and Mandarin pronunciation. Sample text in the
Oracle Bone Script, dating back to the Shang Dynasty 1600-1046 BCE, is the earliest known form of Chinese writing. Discovered in Anyang, Henan Province, these inscriptions on turtle shells and animal bones provide invaluable insights into ancient Chinese society, politics, and culture.
Shang Dynasty oracle bones include complete inscriptions, and their preservation is key to understanding the growth and development of the written form of the Chinese language. Although their role in the invention of Chinese writing is still being debated, research into the large caches of oracle bones has demonstrated how the script
Oracle-bone inscriptions were excavated from Yin Ruins in Anyang City, Henan Province, China. They were records of making divination and praying to gods by late Shang people from 1400 B.C.-1100 B.C.. The materials used for divination were mainly cattle scapulas and tortoise shells, as well as other animal bones. Omens were deciphered from the cracks made by burning bones.
The Shang Dynasty c. 1600-1046 BCE was a civilization deeply intertwined with spiritual beliefs. Rulers and commoners alike viewed the world through a lens of divine intervention, where natural phenomena, agricultural outcomes, and even personal health were believed to be governed by ancestral spirits and deities. oracle bone script
The term quotoracle bonequot refers to ox scapulae or shoulder blade bones and tortoiseshells used by Shang rulers for divination. Oracle bones were said to offer a conduit to the spirits of royal ancestors, legendary figures from the past, nature deities , and other powerful spirits.