What was the overall purpose of the oracle bone?

The Shang people used oracle bones to communicate with ancestors and deities, who were believed to have the power to bestow fortune, disasters and guidance on the living world. At the royal court, the oracle bones divination was carried out by trusted ‘diviners’ or by the king and other members of the royal family.

What is the oracle bone ritual?

A fortune-teller would carve (later, paint) symbols on the bones of the ox or the turtle shell, apply a hot poker or fire until the bone or shell cracked, and then interpret the direction of the crack through their drawing to predict the future.

What did Wang Yirong discover?

Wang Yirong (Chinese: 王懿榮; pinyin: Wáng Yìróng; 1845–1900) was a director of the Chinese Imperial Academy, best known as the first to recognize that the symbols inscribed on oracle bones were an early form of Chinese writing.

Who invented oracle bones?

Oracle bones were used for divination over three thousand years ago in ancient China and they are among the oldest items held in the British Library. Questions about crops, the weather, battles, and the ruling family were engraved on the bone and heat was then applied with metal sticks.

What happened to Wang’s dragon bones when he died?

In 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. After Wang’s death in AD 1900, his son sold the bones to Liu E who went on to study them further and took rubbings of the writing.

Who wrote on oracle bones?

The heat caused the bones to crack and the diviners interpreted the patterns of the fractures to determine the answer to the question posed. Oracle bones are carved with the Shang Dynasty script: the oldest known form of Chinese writing and the ancestor of the Chinese characters still used today.