| Oracle bone | |||
A Shang dynasty oracle bone from theShanghai Museum
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| Chinese name | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Chinese | 甲骨 | ||
| Literal meaning | Shells and bones | ||
| |||
| Japanese name | |||
| Kanji | 甲骨 | ||
| Kana | こうこつ | ||
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Oracle bones (Chinese: 甲骨; pinyin: jiǎgǔ) are pieces of turtle shell or bone, normally from ox scapulae or turtle plastrons, which were used for pyromancy – a form of divination – in ancient China, mainly during the late Shang dynasty. Scapulimancy is termed if ox scapulae were used for the divination; if turtle shells were used, the term is Plastromancy.
Diviners would submit questions to deities regarding future weather, crop planting, the fortunes of members of the royal family, military endeavors, and other similar topics.[1] These questions were carved onto the bone or shell in oracle bone script using a sharp tool. Intense heat was then applied with a metal rod until the bone or shell cracked due to thermal expansion. The diviner would then interpret the pattern of cracks and write the prognostication upon the piece as well.[1] By the Zhou dynasty, cinnabar ink and brush had become the preferred writing method, resulting in fewer carved inscriptions and often blank oracle bones being unearthed.
The oracle bones bear the earliest known significant corpus of ancient Chinese writing[a] and contain important historical information such as the complete royal genealogy of the Shang dynasty.[b] When they were discovered and deciphered in the early twentieth century, these records confirmed the existence of the Shang, which some scholars had until then doubted.
Dating[edit]
The vast majority of the inscribed oracle bones date to the last 230 or so years of the Shang dynasty; oracle bones have been reliably dated to the fourth and subsequent reigns of the kings who ruled at Yin (modern Anyang)—from king Wu Ding to Di Xin.[2] However, the dating of these bones varies from ca. the 14th to 11th centuries BCE,[3][4] to ca. 1200–1050 or more BCE[5] because the end date of the Shang dynasty is not a matter of consensus. The largest number date to the reign of king Wu Ding.[c] Very few oracle bones date to the beginning of the subsequent Zhou dynasty.