How Ancient Chinese Oracle Bones Were Used to Read the Future
Ancient Chinese diviners carved questions into ox bones or turtle shells, heated them until they cracked, and read the cracks as answers about the future.
Details
More than three thousand years ago, Shang-era Chinese diviners used prepared ox shoulder blades and turtle shells in a practice now known as oracle-bone divination. They carved questions into the material, then applied intense heat to create cracks. The patterns were interpreted as answers from the supernatural world, often concerning weather, crops, illness, hunting, warfare, and royal affairs. The questions and sometimes the results were recorded directly on the bones and shells. These inscriptions are also among the earliest known examples of Chinese writing, giving historians an unusually direct record of the language, beliefs, and concerns of the late Shang period.
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