Oracle bones provide us with one of the earliest examples of writing in Ancient China. They also have given historians useful information about the Shang dynasty. Oracle bones were usually made from the shoulder blades of oxen, or sometimes the shell of a tortoise was used. They were used to divine the future.

Writing and culture Oracle bones are pieces of bone or turtle shell that were used by the ancient Chinese, especially Chinese kings, in attempts to predict the future. The ancient kings would inscribe their name and the date on the bone along with a question.

Oracle bones were used to practice a specific form of divination, fortune-telling, known as pyro-osteomancy. Osteomancy is when shamans (religious specialists) divine the future from the pattern of the natural bumps, cracks, and discolorations in animal bone and turtle shell.

: a bone used in early China especially during the Shang dynasty 1765–1123 b.c. in divination by writing a question upon it, heating it, and divining the answer from the resultant cracks.

In Shang Dynasty China, fortune-telling with oracle bones was the key to political power. The earliest surviving Chinese texts are inscribed on the shoulder blades of cattle and turtle shells. These “oracle bones” date back more than 3,000 years, to the time of the Shang Dynasty, in the late Bronze Age.

1 augur, Cassandra, prophet, seer, sibyl, soothsayer. 2 answer, augury, divination, divine utterance, prediction, prognostication, prophecy, revelation, vision.

oracle bone. Cattle bones or tortoise shells on which Chinese priests would write questions and then interpret answers from the cracks that formed when the bones were heated. pictograph. A picture or drawing representing words or ideas.

Incorrect Question 3 0 / 1 pts The writing inscribed on ancient oracle bones is easily understood today because Chinese symbols closely resemble Mesopotamian cuneiform characters. ancient Chinese is closely related to modern Chinese. the Shang dynasty Yi Jing ( Book of Changes ) acts as a cypher.

Them Bones Ancient Chinese priests commonly used tortoise shells and cattle bones to answer questions about the future. They interpreted the cracks formed by holes punched in the bones. Oracle bones also served as a way for the priests to write down the history of the dynasty and the timeline of kings.

The 19th century traditional Chinese medicine included the use of ‘dragon bones’, which were ground up and used in tonics and creams to treat illnesses and soothe wounds. These ‘dragon bones’ had been dug up and re-buried by Chinese farmers for thousands of years before their supposed medicinal benefits were exploited.

However, to become fluent, experts estimate that it’ll take 2,200 class hours. If you put the rest of your life on hold and focused only on studying Chinese – at 5 hours of practice a day, it would take you 88 weeks. Here’s the long story.