Oracles on Display

by Yi Mei

Discovery of the oracle bones was quite accidental. Were they not prescribed to one of Chinas top rock scientists， many would have been ingested as medicine.

Oracle bone script， the early form of Chinese characters inscribed on oracle bones —animal bones and turtle shells —was found after being prescribed by a doctor of traditional Chinese medicine （TCM）.

In 1899 during the Qing Dynasty（1644-1911）， Wang Yirong， a famous specialist in Chinese epigraphy， fell ill. A doctor prescribed TCM recipes including a medicinal material called“dragon bone.”

Wang Yirong found many strange lines on the “dragon bones”he bought. After researching them， Wang determined that the “dragon bones” were remains of ancient animal bones. The painted symbols on them contrasted with inscriptions on ancient bronzes and appeared to be even more ancient text. “Oracle bone script” became the earliest known form of Chinese writing.

This year marks the 120th anniversary of the discovery of oracle bone script. For celebration， the National Museum of China organized an Oracle Bone Script Culture Exhibition featuring nearly 190 pieces of oracle bones complemented by related bronze and jade pieces and books to narrate the story of the discovery of oracle bone scripts， shine light on civilization during Chinas Shang （1600-1046B.C.） and Zhou （1046-256B.C.） dynasties and pay tribute to oracle researchers for their outstanding achievements.

Testimony of the Past

The exhibition was divided into three parts. The first covers discovery of oracle bones， the style and characteristics of oracle bone script and categories of the written forms.

The second part demonstrates how the oracle bones shine light on the history of the Shang Dynasty. Rulers of the Shang Dynasty would perform divination on everything every day. Thanks to script on the oracle bones， spectators can gaze into the lives of Chinese ancestors in terms of battles， disasters， sickness， beliefs， reproduction and gaming. One piece of relatively intact oracle bone recording the entire process of a divination has grabbed considerable attention. The script on the bone recounts an incident in which the Shang empire was harassed by other tribes five times in four days.

“The history of the early ages was recorded primarily through myths，”notes Huang Dekuan， a professor at Tsinghua University and chairman of the Chinese Character Study Association. “Historical documentation of the Shang Dynasty is very limited. Whats more， even the existing information we had on the era was written by historians after the Shang Dynasty. One of the significant things about the discovery of the oracle bone scripts is that they proved many beliefs about the Shang Dynasty documented in Records of the Grand Historian authored by the great Chinese historian and writer Sima Qian of the Western Han Dynasty （202B.C.- 8A.D.）. Discovery of oracle bone scripts reinforced existing written history of the Shang Dynasty and filled in blanks in the history of Chinese civilization by providing written records for nearly five centuries. The discovery was truly historic.”

Present Benefits

Of the four ancient writing systems of Egyptian hieroglyphics， Babylonian cuneiform， Maya script and oracle bone script， only the Chinese character system on the oracle bones has evolved over thousands of years to remain in use today.

“Oracle bone script captured the main word-making methods employed in later Chinese characters that developed into the current Chinese language used by about one-fifth of the worlds population，” Huang continues. “Writing is a carrier of culture， exerting important influence on Chinese values， philosophy and aesthetics. Oracle bone script benefits the present greatly.”

More than 100 pieces of oracle bones are being exhibited along with related bronze and jade articles， books and other cultural relics， which enrich the exhibition and help the audience understand the impact of oracle bone script more profoundly. The show facilitates intimate understanding of the research of oracle bones as well as the society and culture of the Shang Dynasty.

“As the earliest known writing system of Chinese nation， the oracle bone script is not only an icon of civilization but invaluable testimony to the continuity of Chinese culture，” remarks Wang Chunfa， director of the National Museum of China. “Over the past more than 3，000 years， the structure of Chinese characters has remained consistent. This inheritance carries a genuine cultural gene of the Chinese nation.”

Living Oracle Bones

The third part shares the academic fruits of oracle bone script studies and pays tribute to outstanding researchers on the subject from around the world.

Starting with Wang Yirong， many scholars of the late Qing Dynasty performed intense research on the oracle bone script. They not only identified the words on the oracle bones， but also compared them to other records describing the Shang Dynasty. Starting from the autumn of 1928， under the auspices of renowned Chinese archaeologists including Dong Zuobin， a group of archaeologists carried out 15 archaeological excavations across 10 years in Xiaotun Village， Anyang City， Henan Province. After the founding of the Peoples Republic of China in 1949， the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences （CASS） and other institutions across the country continued the excavation work.

“Oracle bone script research has been far from a popular discipline， but these days more and more people， especially youth， are joining the research，” notes Tian Shuai， an associate researcher at the National Museum of China. “Thanks to big data， cloud computing and 3D printing， recent study of this ancient writing system has produced new fruits.”

Still， considerable work remains to be done to completely decode the millenia-old language. According to Song Zhenhao， a CASS academician and director of the Study Center of Oracle Bone Script and the Shang Dynasty under CASS， since the oracle bone script was discovered in 1899， about 150，000 pieces of oracle bones have been excavated and about 4，400 characters identified， of which only 2，400 are currently recognized.

“The oracle bone script is a relatively mature writing system，”Tian continues. “So there must be an earlier form of writing that evolved into the oracle bone script. But we still dont know much about it.”

Oracle bone script remains difficult to understand， and most visitors to the exhibition only bring limited knowledge of the writing. Thus， organizers are employing multimedia and animation to bring the hisrory of the bones to life. “Our museum designed oracle emojis as well as other cultural and creative products to attract greater interest in the ancient writing，” reveals Zhao Yong， curator of the exhibition. “We expect crowdsourcing to help solve persisting mysteries faster.”