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Since the ease of writing with a brush is even greater than that of writing with a [[stylus]] in wet clay, it is assumed that the style and structure of Shang graphs on bamboo were similar to those on bronzes, and also that the majority of writing occurred with a brush on such books.{{sfnm|Qiu|2000|1p=63|Xu|2002|2p=12}} Additional support for this notion includes the reorientation of some graphs,{{efn|Identification of these graphs is based on consultation of {{harvnb|Zhao|1988}}, {{harvnb|Liu|1997}}, {{harvnb|Wu|1990}}, {{harvnb|Keightley|1978}}, and {{harvnb|Qiu|2000}}}} by rotating them 90 degrees, as if to better fit on tall, narrow slats. The style must have developed on books of bamboo or wood slats, and then carried over to the oracle bone script. Additionally, the layout of characters in columns from top to bottom is mostly carried over from bamboo books.{{sfn|Keightley|1978|p=50}} In some instances, characters are instead written in rows in order to match the text with divinatory cracks; in others, columns of text rotate 90 degrees mid-phrase. These are exceptions to the normal pattern of writing,{{sfnm|Qiu|2000|1p=67|Keightley|1978|2p=50}} and inscriptions were never read bottom to top.{{sfn|Keightley|1978|p=53}} Columns of text in Chinese writing are traditionally laid out from right to left; this pattern is first found with the Shang-era bronze inscriptions. However, oracle bone inscriptions are often arranged with columns beginning near the center of the shell or bone, then moving toward the edge such that the two sides mirror one another.{{sfn|Keightley|1978|p=50}}
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== Structure and function ==
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