Chinese Oracle Bones
One of the First Forms of Ancient Chinese Writing
What are Chinese Oracle Bones?
Chinese oracle bones are pieces of bones from pigs and oxen. In the ancient times, the bones were used for Chinese writing. If a king wanted to know something, he would tell his scribe the question he has, and then the scribe would would carve the question onto the bone. Then, the bone would be given to an oracle from the king. Oracles are special priests or priestess that are though to get special messages from the gods. After the Oracle gets the bone, he would heat up the bone until it cracks. When the bone cracked, the oracle would see what the cracks mean and tell the king the answer the gods have said. Many people from the Shang times used Chinese oracle bones too.