Oracle Bone Script: Origins of Chinese Writing

Oracle bone script (甲骨文, jia gu wen) — the earliest known form of Chinese writing — was used for divination during the Shang Dynasty (c. 1600–1046 BCE). Inscribed on turtle shells and ox bones, these inscriptions represent the origins of the Chinese writing system and provide invaluable information about ancient Chinese civilization.

Discovery and Decipherment

Oracle bones were discovered in 1899 when a scholar noticed that some "dragon bones" being sold as medicine bore strange inscriptions. Scholars gradually deciphered the script, revealing it to be the ancestor of modern Chinese characters. The first oracle bone inscriptions date to around 1200 BCE.

Content and Significance

The inscriptions record divinations: questions posed to the ancestors about matters ranging from weather and harvests to military campaigns and childbirth. The answers — "auspicious" or "inauspicious" — were often recorded, along with later verification. These inscriptions are the oldest substantial corpus of Chinese writing.