UKS2 Topic: Earliest Civilisations: The Shang Dynasty of Ancient China Block C: Writing and the Shang calendar Session 2
Shang writing and oracle bones
In 1899, a scholar called Wang Yirong, fell ill.
One of the medicines he was given was
called "longgu" (dragon bones). They were
bits of tortoise shells and bones which had
strange carved patterns. After careful study
with other scholars, they realised that the
carvings were written records from 3,000
years ago.
The people who dug up the "dragon bones"
kept their location secret for many years but
eventually the scholars found out that they
had been dug up at Xiaotun Village, Anyang
County, Henan Province, site of the remains
of the Shang Dynasty capital.
Archaeological digs done at the site
unearthed a total of more than 100,000
pieces of bones and shells all carved with
words. 4,500 different characters have
been counted, and 1,700 of them
translated.
Shang kings wanted to know the future, so
they carved these bones to ask the spirits
to tell them what was going to happen. An
oracle is someone or something that can
tell the future, so the bones are now called
oracle bones. Questions about the future
might be about when it would rain, or
whether the queen would have a son, or
whether the king would win a battle.
The priest carved the questions on one side
of the bone or tortoise shell, hollowed out
some dips on the other side then put a red
hot poker in them. The answer was decided
by the shape of the cracks caused by
the heat.
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UKS2 Topic: Earliest Civilisations: The Shang Dynasty of Ancient China Block C: Writing and the Shang calendar Session 2
Some commonly found characters on oracle bones
© Original resource copyright Hamilton Trust, who give permission for it to be adapted as wished by individual users.
We refer you to our warning, at the foot of the block overview, about links to other websites.