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{{short description|Ancient form of written Chinese}}
{{Infobox writing system
| name = Oracle bone script
| type = [[Logographic]]
| languages = [[Old Chinese]]
| time = {{circa|1250|1050 BC}}
| children = [[Seal script]]
| sample = Shang Inscribed Ox Scapula (for divination).jpg
| imagesize = 244px
| note = none
| direction = Top-to-bottom vertically
}}
{{Infobox Chinese
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}}
{{Table Hanzi}}
'''Oracle bone script''' is the oldest attested form of [[written Chinese]], dating to the late 2nd millennium BC. Inscriptions were made by carving [[Chinese characters|characters]] into [[oracle bone]]s, usually either the shoulder bones of oxen or the [[Turtle shell#Plastron|
Out of an estimated 150,000 inscriptions that have been uncovered, the vast majority were unearthed at [[Yinxu]], the site of the final Shang capital (modern-day [[Anyang]], Henan). The most recent major discovery was the Huayuanzhuang cache found near the site in 1993. Of the 1,608 Huayuanzhang pieces, 579 bear inscriptions.{{sfn|Shen|2002|p=86}} Each of the last nine Shang kings are named in the inscriptions{{efn|A few such shells and bones do not record divinations, but bear other records such as those of hunting trips, records of sacrifices, wars or other events, calendars, or practice inscriptions;{{harvnb|Xu|2002|pp=31, 34}} these are termed shell and bone inscriptions, rather than oracle bones, because no oracle (divination) was involved. However, they are still written in oracle bone script.}} beginning with [[Wu Ding]], whose accession is variously dated between 1250 and 1200 BC.<ref>{{Cite journal |year=2002 |title=The Xia–Shang–Zhou Chronology Project: Methodology and Results |journal=Journal of East Asian Archaeology |volume=4 |pages=321–333 |doi=10.1163/156852302322454585 |surname=Li |given=Xueqin | author-link= Li Xueqin (historian) | author-mask= Li Xueqin}}</ref>{{sfn|Keightley|1978|p=228}} Oracle bone inscriptions corresponding to Wu Ding's reign have been radiocarbon dated to 1254–1197 BC (±10 years).<ref name="radiocarbon">{{Cite journal |last1=Liu |first1=Kexin |last2=Wu |first2=Xiaohong |last3=Guo |first3=Zhiyu |last4=Yuan |first4=Sixun |last5=Ding |first5=Xingfang |last6=Fu |first6=Dongpo |last7=Pan |first7=Yan |year=2020 |title=Radiocarbon Dating of Oracle Bones of the Late Shang Period in Ancient China |journal=[[Radiocarbon (journal)|Radiocarbon]] |publisher=Cambridge University Press |volume=63 |issue=1 |pages=155–175 |doi=10.1017/RDC.2020.90 |doi-access=free }}</ref> Following the overthrow of the Shang by the [[Zhou dynasty]] in {{circa|1046 BC}}, divination using [[Achillea millefolium|milfoil]] became more common; far fewer oracle bone inscriptions are dated to the Western Zhou.<ref>{{cite book | isbn =978-0-300-13033-1 | last= Nylan | first=Michael| author-link= Michael Nylan| date=2001|title =The Five "Confucian" Classics| chapter= The Changes (Yi 易) | publisher = Yale University Press| page= 217 | jstor= j.ctt1nq7hj.9}}</ref> No Zhou-era sites with a comparable cache of inscriptions to Yinxu have been found; however, examples from this period appear to be more widespread, having been found near most major population centers. New sites have continued to be discovered since 2000.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Flad |first=Rowan K. |year=2008 |title=Divination and Power: A Multiregional View of the Development of Oracle Bone Divination in Early China |journal=Current Anthropology |volume=49 |issue=3 |pages=403–437 |doi=10.1086/588495 |issn=0011-3204 |s2cid=62795316}}</ref>
The oracle bone inscriptions—along with several roughly contemporaneous bronzeware inscriptions using a different style—constitute the earliest corpus of Chinese writing, and are the direct ancestor of the [[Chinese family of scripts]] developed over the next three millennia.{{sfn|Boltz|1994|p=31}} Their study is essential for the research of Chinese [[etymologies]]. It is also the direct ancestor of over a dozen East Asian writing systems. The length of inscriptions ranges from 10 to over 100 characters, but a few dozen is typical. The subjects of concern in inscriptions are broad, and include war, ritual sacrifice, and agriculture, as well as births, illnesses, and deaths in the royal family. As such, they provide invaluable insights into the character of late Shang society.
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The common Chinese term for oracle bone script is {{lang|zh|甲骨文}} ({{tlit|zh|jiǎgǔwén}} 'shell and bone script'), which is an abbreviation of {{lang|zh|龜甲獸骨文字}} ({{tlit|zh|guījiǎ shòugǔ wénzì}} 'turtle-shell and animal-bone script'). This term is a translation of the English phrase "inscriptions upon bone and tortoise shell", which had been coined by the American missionary Frank H. Chalfant (1862–1914) in his 1906 book ''Early Chinese Writing'', which first appeared in Chinese books during the 1930s.{{sfnp|Wilkinson|2015|p=681}}<ref>{{Cite book |last=Chalfant |first=Frank H. |url=https://archive.org/details/earlychinesewrit00chalrich |title=Early Chinese Writing |publisher=Carnegie Institute |year=1906 |___location=Pittsburgh, PA |page=[https://archive.org/details/earlychinesewrit00chalrich/page/30 30]}}</ref>
In earlier decades, Chinese authors used a variety of names for the inscriptions based on the name of [[Yinxu]], their purpose ({{lang|zh|卜}} {{tlit|zh|bǔ}} 'to divine'), or the method of inscription ({{lang|zh|契}} {{tlit|zh|qì}} 'to engrave'). A previously common term was {{lang|zh|殷墟卜辭}} ({{tlit|zh|Yīnxū bǔcí}} 'Yinxu divinatory texts').
===Oraculology===
'''Oraculology''' ({{zhi|s=甲骨学|t=甲骨學|p=jiǎgǔxué}}) is the study of [[oracle bone]]s and oracle bone script. It is a humanities discipline that focuses on the [[History of China|Chinese Upper Antiquity]] oracle characters. Oracle bone science can be divided into a narrow sense of oracle bone science and a broad sense of oracle bone science. In the narrow sense, the study of oracle bone script is limited to the study of oracle bone script itself, and it is a discipline of [[Grammatology|paleography]]. This includes the integration of theories, research methods and materials from various disciplines, such as paleography, history, archaeology, historical culture, historical literature, and cultural anthropology, to thoroughly study the historical and cultural background of the oracle bones and some of the patterns of the oracle bone divination. It is a diversified and specialized discipline.<ref name="wang-2010a">{{Cite book |last1=Wang |first1=Yuxin |last2=Wei |first2=Jianzhen |publisher=[[Chinese Academy of Social Sciences]] |year=2010 |isbn=978-7-5004-8878-1 |___location=Beijing |script-title=zh:甲骨学导论 |trans-title=Introduction to Oraculology |author-mask=Wang Yuxin (王宇信); |author-mask2=Wei Jianzhen (魏建震) |language=zh}}</ref> In the early days of oracle bone discovery, oracle bones were called ''qiwen'', and the study of oracle bones was called ''qiology''. In 1931, Zhou Yitong proposed for the first time that "oracle bone science" was an independent discipline.<ref name="wang-2010a" /> Wang Yuxin emphasized that oracle bones are precious cultural relics and historical materials left over from the ancient period, but their value for archaeological and historical research lies in orthography beyond script interpretation, which has become increasingly recognized by scholars as orthography develops. Oracle bone science is a systematic and scientific inquiry into the inherent laws of the oracle bone script itself and uses it as a basis for glimpsing the history, society, and customs of the ancient world. The oracle bones should not be confused with [[orthography]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wang|first=Yunxin |author-mask=Wang Yuxin (王宇信)|script-title=zh:甲骨学通论 |trans-title=General Theory of Oraculology |year=1999 |publisher=[[Chinese Academy of Social Sciences]] |isbn=978-7-5004-0329-6 |pages=3–4 |language=zh}}</ref>
== Origins ==
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[[File:Shang_Bronze_and_Oracle_Script.svg|thumb|upright=0.75|left|Comparison of characters in the Shang bronzeware script (first and fourth rows), oracle bone script (second and fifth rows), and [[regular script]] (third and sixth rows)]]
It is known that the Shang people also wrote with brush and ink, as brush-written graphs have been found on a small number of pottery, shell and bone, and jade and other stone items,{{sfn|Qiu|2000|p=63}} and there is evidence that they also wrote on bamboo (or wooden) books{{efn|There are no such bamboo books extant before the late Zhou, however, as the materials were not permanent enough to survive.}} just like those found from the late Zhou to [[Han dynasty|Han]] periods, because the graphs for a writing brush ({{zhi|c=聿}} {{tlit|zh|yù}}, depicting a hand holding a writing brush{{efn|The modern word {{zhi|c=筆}} {{tlit|zh|bĭ}} is derived from a [[Qin (state)|Qin]] dialectal variant of this word {{harvnb|Baxter|Sagart|2014|pp=42–43}}.}}) and bamboo book ({{zhi|c=冊}} {{tlit|zh|cè}}, a book of thin [[bamboo and wooden slips]] bound with horizontal strings, like a [[Venetian blind]] turned 90 degrees), are present in oracle bone inscriptions.{{sfnm|Qiu|2000|1p=63|Xu|2002|2p=12}}{{efn|As {{harvnb|Qiu|2000|pp=62–63}} notes, the ''Shangshu''{{'s}} "Duoshi" chapter also refers to use of such books by the Shang.}}
[[File:Heji 37986 Ganzhi table (cropped).jpg|thumb|upright=0.66|Table of the Chinese sexagenary cycle inscribed on an ox scapula, dating to the reigns of the last two kings of the Shang dynasty during the first half of the 11th century BC]]
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{{blockquote|{{lang|zh|丁未卜，王[礻升]叀父戊？}}}}
This was the first time that the graph {{angbr|{{lang|zh|礻升}}}} had been
Translation: Prognostication on the day ''wuyin'' by Diviner Lü: if the king travels to [placename, possibly read ''xin''], will there be harm?}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Oracle Bone Script}}
[[Category:Divination]]▼
[[Category:Chinese script style]]
[[Category:Obsolete writing systems]]
[[Category:Oraculology]]
[[Category:Yinxu]]
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