WORLD HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -Oracle bone script was used in the late 2nd millennium BC, and is the earliest known form of Chinese writing. The vast majority of oracle bone inscriptions, of which about 150, 000 pieces have been discovered, were found at the Yinxu site located in Xiaotun Village, Anyang, Henan Province.

Detailed explanation-2: -View larger. Oracle-bone script (jiaguwen), the earliest known form of systematic Chinese writing, dates from the fourteenth to eleventh century BCE. The sharp beginning and end of each stroke relate to the script’s origins in carving divination texts on tortoise shells and on the flat bones of certain animals.

Detailed explanation-3: -The Shang were the first Chinese people to invent writing. The Shang people, who lived over 3000 years ago, etched characters-pictures-onto bones. Shang writing is known as ‘oracle bone script’.

Detailed explanation-4: -The earliest generally accepted examples of Chinese writing date back to the reign of the Shang dynasty king Wu Ding (1250–1192 BC). These were divinatory inscriptions on oracle bones, primarily ox scapulae and turtle shells.

Detailed explanation-5: -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.

Detailed explanation-6: -Oracle bones continued to be used in later dynasties but not as regularly as during the Shang. These bones are important primary sources on the history of the Shang Dynasty and gave birth to Chinese script.