Oracle bone facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Oracle bone
A Shang dynasty oracle bone from the Shanghai Museum
Chinese	甲骨
Literal meaning	Shells and bones
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Jiǎgǔ Gwoyeu Romatzyh Jeaguu Wade–Giles Chia3-ku3 Wu Romanization Chiaʔ-kueʔ Hakka Romanization Gap5-gut5 Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Gaap-gwāt Jyutping Gaap3-gwat1 Southern Min Tâi-lô Kah-kut (col.) Kap-kut (lit.)

Oracle bones (Chinese: 甲骨; pinyin: jiǎgǔ) are special pieces of animal bones, mostly ox shoulder blades (scapulae) and turtle belly shells (plastrons). People in ancient China used them to tell the future, mainly during the late Shang Dynasty. This way of telling the future using heat or fire is called pyromancy. If ox shoulder blades were used, it was called scapulimancy. If turtle shells were used, it was called plastromancy.

Thousands of these bones have been found. They have more than 130,000 writings carved on them. People who told the future, called diviners, would ask questions to their gods or ancestors. These questions were about things like the weather, planting crops, the royal family's luck, or military plans.

The questions were carved onto the bone or shell using a sharp tool. Then, a hot metal rod was pressed onto the bone. This made the bone or shell crack because of the heat. The diviner would then look at the crack patterns to find the answer. They would also write the predicted answer on the bone. This practice continued into the Zhou dynasty. However, later writings were often done with brushes and ink, which faded over time.

The oracle bones hold the oldest known large collection of Chinese writing. They use an early form of Chinese characters. There are about 5,000 different characters, and many are still used today. Experts have figured out the meaning and sound of about 1,200 of these characters for sure. These characters help us understand a lot about the Shang period. They even helped scholars figure out the family tree of the Shang kings. When these bones were found and understood in the early 1900s, they proved that the Shang dynasty really existed. Some scholars had doubted this before.

The study of oracle bones and their writing is called Oraculology.

How Oracle Bones Were Found

Wang Yirong, a Chinese politician and scholar, was the first to realize the oracle bones were ancient writing.

Farmers likely found Shang dynasty oracle bones many times over the centuries. This might have started as early as the Han dynasty. But local people did not know what the bones were. They often just reburied them. In the 1800s, villagers found more bones while digging. They called them "dragon bones" (Chinese: 龍骨; pinyin: lóng gǔ). They used them in traditional Chinese medicine. For example, ground-up turtle shells were used for malaria. Other animal bones were powdered to treat knife wounds.

In 1899, an antiques dealer bought some oracle bones from locals. He sold some to Wang Yirong. Wang was a high-ranking official and a collector of ancient Chinese bronze items. He is believed to be the first person in modern times to see that the markings on the bones were ancient Chinese writing. This writing was similar to what was found on Zhou dynasty bronze items.

A story says that Wang was sick with malaria. His friend, Liu E, visited him and looked at his medicine. They saw strange symbols on the bones before they were ground into powder. Since they had studied ancient bronze writings, they recognized these symbols as ancient writing. It is said that many oracle bones were ground up for medicine before 1899.

After Wang's death in 1900, his son sold the bones to Liu E. Liu E then published the first book of rubbings of the oracle bone writings in 1903. News of this discovery spread quickly. Many collectors wanted oracle bones. Antique dealers tried to keep the true source of the bones a secret. They falsely claimed the bones came from Tangyin County in Henan. In 1908, scholar Luo Zhenyu found the real source of the bones near Anyang. He realized this area was the site of the last Shang dynasty capital.

For decades, people dug up bones without control to sell them. Many bones ended up in collections around the world. The first Western collector was Frank H. Chalfant. He also created the term "oracle bone" in his 1906 book. This term was later translated into Chinese as jiǎgǔ 甲骨.

Only a few dealers knew the exact location of the bones. Then, a Canadian missionary named James Mellon Menzies found them. He was the first to scientifically dig up, study, and understand them. He figured out that the bones were records of telling the future from the Shang dynasty. He also found a way to date them to avoid fakes. In 1917, he published the first scientific study of the bones. He collected over 35,000 pieces, the largest private collection. He wanted his collection to stay in China. However, some pieces were sent to Canada by colleagues during the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937. Menzies is still honored in China for his important work. His former home in Anyang is now a museum.

Official Digs and Discoveries

Oracle bone pit at Yinxu, Anyang

By 1928, the source of the oracle bones was known to be Xiǎotún village in Anyang, Henan Province. Official archaeological digs began there from 1928 to 1937. These digs were led by Li Ji, who is known as the father of Chinese archaeology. They found 20,000 oracle bone pieces. These bones now form most of the collection in Taiwan.

When the writings on these bones were understood, they turned out to be records of future-telling done for the royal family. These findings, along with large royal tombs, proved that the Shang dynasty truly existed. They also showed where its last capital, Yin, was located. Today, Xiǎotún at Anyang is also called the Ruins of Yin, or Yinxu.

Dating the Oracle Bones

Ox scapula recording divinations by Zhēng 爭 in the reign of King Wu Ding

Most of the oracle bones with writing were found at the Yinxu site in Anyang. They date back to the time of the last nine kings of the Shang Dynasty. Experts have divided the bones into five periods based on the diviners mentioned on them.

Kings were involved in telling the future in all periods. But in later times, the king often did the divination himself. Most of the writings found are from Period I (55%) and Periods III and IV (31%).

A few oracle bones also date to the beginning of the Zhou dynasty, which came after the Shang.

The earliest oracle bones use a 60-day cycle for dates. This cycle uses combinations of "celestial stems" and "earthly branches." Sometimes the month was also given. Scholars have tried to find exact dates by matching recorded lunar eclipses with calculated eclipse dates. Most scholars agree on four eclipses between 1198 and 1180 BCE. The Xia–Shang–Zhou Chronology Project suggests King Wu Ding's reign was from 1250 to 1192 BCE. Other scholars have slightly different dates.

Most experts now agree that the Zhou dynasty conquered the Shang around 1046 or 1045 BCE. This is more than a century later than what was traditionally believed.

How Shang People Used Divination

Divination using heat or fire on plastrons (turtle belly shells) or scapulae (shoulder blades) is called pyromancy. More specific terms are plastromancy for shells and scapulimancy for shoulder blades.

Materials Used for Divination

Tortoise plastron with divination inscription

Oracle bones are mostly turtle plastrons and ox scapulae. Sometimes, they used the back shells of tortoises (carapaces) or ox rib bones. A few bones from sheep, boars, horses, and deer were also used. Skulls of deer, oxen, and even humans have been found with writings. However, these were very rare. They were likely used for keeping records or practice, not for actual divination.

Interestingly, tortoises were not native to the areas where the bones were found. This suggests they were given as gifts or tribute to the Shang rulers. People in China had been heating bones for divination since about 4,000 BCE. But using tortoise shells became common later, during the early Shang culture. At the Shang capital of Anyang, ox scapulae and turtle plastrons were used in roughly equal amounts.

The bones or shells were first collected and then prepared. Knowing where they came from is important. Many shells, for example, were likely given as tribute to the Shang. This tells us about the diplomatic relationships of the time. Sometimes, notes were carved on the bones saying how many shells were sent, from where, and when. For example, one note says, "Què (雀) sent 250 (tortoise shells)." This shows that Què might have been a smaller state under Shang influence. Some notes were written with a brush and not carved. This proves that writing brushes were used in Shang times. Ox scapulae likely came from the Shang's own animals, perhaps those used in sacrifices.

Preparing the Bones for Divination

Holes drilled into an oracle bone

The bones or shells were cleaned of meat. Then, they were prepared by sawing, scraping, smoothing, and even polishing. This made them flat and easy to use. Shoulder blades and plastrons were popular because they were already large and flat. Some experts think only female tortoise shells were used because they are flatter.

Next, small pits or hollows were drilled or chiseled partway through the bone or shell. These pits were made in an orderly way. A drill matching the pits has been found. The shape of these pits changed over time. This helps experts figure out when an oracle bone was used. The shape and depth of the pits also affected how the bone would crack. The number of pits on each bone or shell varied a lot.

How Divination Changed Over Time

The types of questions asked and the reasons for divination changed over time. During the reign of King Wu Ding, diviners often asked gods or ancestors about the weather, success in battles, or building new settlements. They would promise offerings if the gods helped with earthly matters.

For example, one divination reads: Crack-making on jiazi (day 1) Zheng divined "In praying for harvest to the sun, (we) will cleave ten dappled cows, and pledge one hundred dappled cows." This shows that 10 cows were offered, with 100 more promised if the harvest was good.

Later divinations became more routine. They were often optimistic and made by the king himself. They were usually addressed to his ancestors. They were also less likely to ask the ancestors to do anything specific. This might show a change in how people thought about the powers of gods and ancestors. It also shows how much people believed they could influence them.

Ancient Evidence of Fire Divination

Using bones for telling the future has happened almost everywhere. But using fire or heat to crack bones (pyro-scapulimancy) mostly happened in Asia and North American cultures that came from Asia. This practice started in ancient China. The earliest evidence is from about 4,000 BCE in Liaoning. However, these early bones did not have writing on them.

In ancient China, bones from cattle, sheep, pigs, and deer were used in pyromancy at many sites. This practice became very common by 3,000 BCE. Ox shoulder blades and turtle plastrons, both prepared for divination, were found at Shang culture sites.

Important use of tortoise plastrons did not appear until the Shang culture.

Oracle Bones After the Shang Dynasty

After the Zhou dynasty began, some Shang practices continued, like making bronze items, telling the future with fire, and writing. Oracle bones found in the 1970s date to the Zhou dynasty, some even to the Spring and Autumn period. However, very few of these later bones had writing on them.

It is thought that other ways of telling the future became more popular. For example, people started using milfoil (a plant) with the hexagrams of the I Ching (a book of wisdom). This led to fewer inscribed oracle bones. However, there is evidence that telling the future with plastrons continued into the Eastern Zhou, Han, Tang, and Qing periods. It was even used in Taiwan as late as 1972.

See also

In Spanish: Hueso oracular para niños

• Kau Cim
• Jiaobei
• Tung Shing
• Futomani
• Bamboo and wooden slips