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'''Oracle bone script''' is the oldest attested form of [[written Chinese]], dating to the late 2nd millennium{{sbc}}. Inscriptions were made by carving [[Chinese characters|characters]] into [[oracle bone]]s, usually either the shoulder bones of oxen or the [[Turtle shell#Plastron|plastra of turtles]]. The writings themselves mainly record the results of official divinations carried out on behalf of the ruling [[Shang dynasty]] royal family. These divinations took the form of ''[[scapulamancy]]'' where the oracle bones were exposed to flames, creating patterns of cracks that were then subjected to interpretation. Both the prompt and interpretation were inscribed on the same piece of bone that had been used for the divination itself.
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{{sbc}}.<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}}</ref>{{sfn|Keightley|1978|p=228}} The inscriptions corresponding to Wu Ding's reign have been radiocarbon dated to 1254–1197{{sbc}} (±10 years).<ref name="radiocarbon">{{Cite journal |last=Liu |first=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 |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/radiocarbon/article/radiocarbon-dating-of-oracle-bones-of-late-shang-period-in-ancient-china/38A7B64D6D538A3A7B96F912BBEE9592 |journal=[[Radiocarbon (journal)|Radiocarbon]] |publisher=Cambridge University Press |volume=63 |issue=1 |pages=155–175 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220314195458/https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/radiocarbon/article/radiocarbon-dating-of-oracle-bones-of-late-shang-period-in-ancient-china/38A7B64D6D538A3A7B96F912BBEE9592 |archive-date=2022-03-14}}</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>Nylan, Michael (2001). The five "Confucian" classics, p. 217</ref> No Zhou-era sites have been found with a comparable cache of inscriptions to thatYinxu athave Yinxu,been althoughfound; however, examples from this period appear to be more widespread—beingwidespread, having been found near most major population centers,. with newNew sites continuinghave 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 |language=en |volume=49 |issue=3 |pages=403–437 |doi=10.1086/588495 |issn=0011-3204 |s2cid=62795316}}</ref>
OracleThe oracle bone inscriptions, alonginscriptions—along with several roughly contemporaneous bronzeware inscriptions cast in bronzes and using a different style, constitutestyle—constitute the earliest corpus of Chinese writing.{{sfn|Boltz|1994|p=31}}, Theand scriptare isthe essentialdirect for the studyancestor of Chinesethe [[etymologyChinese family of scripts]], asdeveloped Shangover writingthe isnext thethree oldestmillennia.{{sfn|Boltz|1994|p=31}} knownTheir memberstudy andis ancestoressential offor the [[Chinese familyresearch of scripts]], preceding theChinese [[Chinese bronze inscriptions|bronzeware scriptetymologies]]. It is also the direct ancestor of over a dozen East Asian writing systems developed over the next three millennia. InThe termslength of content, the inscriptions, which rangeranges from under ten characters for incomplete prognostications10 to over 100 characters, inbut rare cases (a few dozen beingis typical),. dealThe withsubjects aof wideconcern rangein ofinscriptions are topicsbroad, includingand include war, ritual sacrifice, and agriculture, as well as births, illnesses, and deaths in the royal family. ThusAs such, they provide invaluable insightinsights into the character of late Shang dynastysociety. civilization[[Oraculology]] is the study of [[oracle bone]]s and societyoracle bone script.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Wang |first=Yuxin |last2=Wei |first2=Jianzhen |publisher=[[Chinese Academy of Social Sciences]] |year=2010 |isbn=978-7-500-48878-1 |___location=Beijing |script-title=zh:甲骨学导论 |trans-title=History of China historiography |oclc=690131145 |author-mask=Wang Yuxin (王宇信) |author-mask2=Wei Jianzhen (魏建震) |lang=zh}}</ref>
[[Oraculology]] is the discipline for the study of [[oracle bone]]s and the oracle bone script.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Wang |first=Yuxin |last2=Wei |first2=Jianzhen |publisher=[[Chinese Academy of Social Sciences]] |year=2010 |isbn=978-7-500-48878-1 |___location=Beijing |script-title=zh:甲骨学导论 |trans-title=History of China historiography |oclc=690131145 |author-mask=Wang Yuxin (王宇信) |author-mask2=Wei Jianzhen (魏建震) |lang=zh}}</ref>
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