History of the Oracle Bones
According to a family stories, in 1899 a scholar by the name of Wang Yirong received turtle shells, called "dragon bones," from a pharmacy near the city of An-yang to help cure his malaria. He noticed early chinese script marking on these shells, and so began to collect and research similar specimens. The source of these dragon bones was a village near An-yang, called Xiaotang. The site was originally kept secret, to help maintain a monopoly on "dragon bones," but once it was discovered by archaeologists, major excavations began. In the 1920's, over 100,000 fragments were discovered. Wang Yirong later committed suicide during the Boxer Rebellion, cutting his research short--but he had already made the most important contribution to Shang Dynasty research, which proved the existence of an entire period of history.
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Disovery of Oracle Bones
Oracle bones came about from Shang kings' reliance on diviners to predict the future outcome of events in the dynasty. A scribe would carve a question on one side of a bone or tortoise plastron. The questions ranged from "Will Lady Hao bear a son?" to "Will 3000 men win the battle?" to appeals to ancient ancestors, "We ritually report the king's sick eyes to Grandfather Ding." [National Geographic 2010]. On the other side of the bone were carved small pits, in which a hot rod would be inserted until they cracked. The diviner would interpret the deeper meaning on the cracks, and carve the answer onto the other side of the bones. Then, later, the actual outcome would be carved.
These function as fantastic historical records, listing events during the dynasty. They also offer insight into the life, ideas, and social order of the Shang Dynasty. For example, smaller matters were directed to more recently dead ancestors, while bigger problems were aimed at long past ancestors. Clearly emphasizing the importance of these artifacts is the fact that a new scholarly endeavor (jiaguxue 甲骨学) has developed- the study and deciphering of the Oracle Bones. |
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