Oracle Bones

Introduction

During the Shang dynasty (1766B.C.-1122B.C.) the bones that were used by the Chinese for divination are known as Oracle Bones. In addition to the modern writings on vessels made of bronze, these divination records that got carved on turtles and the shoulder-blades of animals mostly oxen encompass the Chinese writing's earliest forms. Apart from being a significant source for comprehending the progress of the written Chinese language, the oracle bones enlighten us to a considerable extent regarding the Shang societies. Matters like luck, travel, hunting, war, weather, and sacrifices were concerned in the questions inquired by the diviners. The oracle bones were heated for producing cracks from which answers like 'No' or 'Yes' were in some way derived. Some of these bones possess the answers and the consequential outcome carved. Oracle bones, in the late 19th century were found out in Shang Capital of Anyang's ruins; initially these bones were sold as professed bones of dragons for being grinded and utilized in medicinal compounds of the Chinese and in the decade of 1920s they received the scholar's attention. This paper discusses historical development, the elements used in creating the oracle bones, meaning and form expressed, critical evaluation, and the author's personal response to the oracle bones.

Discussion

The oracle bones are known merely from the Shang period's concluding part. Moreover, the use of oracle bones was limited to the inscriptions engraving on the shoulder blades of animals like ox, pigs, sheep, etc and tortoise shells. The diviners of the Shang society presented their issues to the deity regarding various issues like crops, warfare, welfare of different constituents of the royal family, weather and so forth. The oracle bones would then be given severe heat through a red-hot metal piece due to which the bones cracked. Certainly, this divination procedure is known as 'bu' (or as per the archaic pronunciation 'puk'), that are words written by graphs showing the bone's crack patterns. The diviners, after the cracking of the bone, would interpret the patterns formed on the bone due to cracking that enabled them to construe the deity's reply to the questions asked (Zhenlu, Pp. 23-56).

Figure 1: Fragment of the Oracle bone from the Shang Dynasty

As suggested by Flad that the Shang Dynasty might have carved the typescript to “fix the future”, such that through making marks and drilling holes prior to heating, so that the bones will crack at the desired positions (Flad, Pp. 403-437).

On the bone surface, both the answers and questions were recorded by the scribes through the use of a sharp tool: these are the professed inscriptions of the oracle bone. The Shang society's records of divine texts, a total of 0.2 Million inscribed oracle bones got initially found in the latter part of the 19th century. The inscribed bones were prized by the Chinese pharmacists as powerful constituents for effective drugs. The pharmacists would ground up these oracle bones (referred by them as the Dragon Bones) in the form of a powder that they combined in their poultices ...