Oracle-Bone Script: Earliest Attested Chinese Writing
- Date
- c. 1250 BCE
- Category
- Culture, arts & philosophy
- Region
- North China (Anyang, Henan)
- Era
- Ancient Civilizations
- Significance
From the reign of King Wu Ding onward, Shang diviners at the capital Yin (modern Anyang) inscribed questions to ancestors and deities on ox scapulae and turtle plastrons, applied heat to crack them, and read the cracks as answers — frequently recording the outcome alongside.
Tens of thousands of these 'oracle bones', bearing the earliest substantial body of Chinese writing, were rediscovered from 1899. The script is already mature and logographic, with several thousand distinct characters, and is the direct ancestor of modern Chinese writing — making Chinese one of the world's few writing systems with several millennia of continuous use. Oracle-bone inscriptions corresponding to Wu Ding's reign have been radiocarbon dated to roughly 1254-1197 BCE. Beyond their linguistic importance, the bones are a primary historical source, confirming the Shang king-list later transmitted by Sima Qian and documenting warfare, harvests, weather, sacrifice, childbirth and royal hunts. They represent one of the independent inventions (or early maturations) of writing in human history.
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Empires active in c. 1250 BCE
- New Kingdom of Egypt1550 BCE – 1077 BCE
- Shang Dynasty1600 BCE – 1046 BCE
- Hittite Empire1650 BCE – 1178 BCE
- Elamite Kingdom2700 BCE – 539 BCE
Related culture, arts & philosophy events
- Tomb of Fu Hao: An Undisturbed Shang Royal Burialc. 1250 BCE
- Great Hypostyle Hall and temple-building at Karnakc. 1290–1213 BCE
- Merneptah Stele: earliest mention of 'Israel'c. 1208 BCE
- Olmec colossal heads carved at San Lorenzoc. 1200 BCE
- Compilation of the Zhouyi (Core of the I Ching)c. 9th century BCE
- Composition of the early Upanishadsc. 800–500 BCE
Further reading
The wider story
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