The Shang Dynasty ruled from 2000-1650 BCE and was the first dynasty to leave written records. They practiced divination by heating bones and turtle shells, reading the cracks to answer questions. Over 150,000 oracle bones have been found with pictographs recording divinations. The bones provide valuable insight into Shang religion, social hierarchy, culture, and fall from power to the Zhou Dynasty.

1. Shang Dynasty and
Oracle Bones
By: Rachel Fisher
Oracle Bones excavated near Anyang city, late Shang Period

2. Shang Dynasty
2000 - 1650 BCE
Began with the overthrow of the Xia emperor by
the first Shang ruler, Tang
Middle of China’s Bronze age
Located along the Yellow River Valley
Agricultural and hunting society
First dynasty to leave behind written
records and solid archaeological evidence

4. Pyro-Scapulimancy
Diviner reads the stress cracks caused by
heating should blades or bones
Possibly first practiced by Neolithic
inhabitants of north china
Animals used include sheep, pig, cattle,
boar, dog, lynx, beaver, deer, seal, & caribou
Wide spread
Southern Arabian peninsula, central
Asia, Mongolia, Siberia, China, & Japan.

5. Shang Oracle Bones
Before the discovery of Shang oracle
bones scholars had no firm proof that
the Shang Dynasty existed.
Shang dynasty used reptilian parts like
turtles, not just mammals
They carved a record of the divination
on the scapulas and plastrons,
establishing themselves as the first
fully literate civilization east of the Indus
150,000 inscribed oracle bones are in
collections around the world

6. Shang Divination Materials
Helps explain what resources were
available to the Shang
Used scapula of bovine and buffalo,
similar to Neolithic diviners
Other bones and animals were used
for inscribing records
Used turtle and tortoise shells
No relationship between bone type or
size and the important of the divination

7. Use of Turtle Shells
First use of turtle shells for oracles is
unknown
Carving was done on the plastron
May have only used female turtles
Turtles were likely farmed to maintain
demands and provide food
The Shang imported turtles from
different regions

8. Use of pictographs, and ideographs

9. Bone Script
Use of pictographs and ideographs
Rectlininear, simple shapes
Little variation in line width
Thousands of characters found from
all the bone fragments
Many characters remain undeciphered

13. Anyang: stela reproductions of oracle bones

14. Initial Preparations
Scapula
Cartilage sawed away
Leveled and smoothed surface
Polished surface
Turtle Shells
Cleaned of meat and cartilage
Separated the plastron
Smoothed and trimmed
Polished surface

15. Hollows
Added carved hollows on back of shell where heat
would be applied.
Helped control the direction of cracking
Made it easier to crack and control the location of
the cracks.
Helps to differentiate Shang oracle bones from
Neolithic ones.
5 categories of hollows

16. Final Shang Capital and Yin Ruins Museum

17. Heating
Two Heating Methods:
Heat is applied to hollows on the back
Bones are placed in a heated pit
Heat source unknown but was very round
and very hot
Some historians believe it was a heated
metal brand
Organization to heating the hollows
Most common was inside to outside and
top to bottom.

18. Interpretations
Diviner cracked bone, interpreted it, and engraver cut a record of the
interpretation into the scapula or plastron.
Inscriptions included:
Cyclical day of divination
Name of diviner
Sometimes the location
Charge (the topic in question)
The diviners interpretation
Divination took place on every day of the ten-day Shang week.

19. Verification
Sometimes a sentence would be carved into the oracle bone to say
what really happened
Almost always confirmed the divination
Often used the Chinese word meaning “really truly”
Sometimes carvings verified that a divination happened even if it was
after the time predicted

20. Placement of Inscription
Inscriptions were carved around cracks
and often followed the angles of cracks
It can be difficult to tell which crack the
inscription is referring to
In early periods the cracks were carved
deeper to help legibility
Some pigment has been found in cracks

21. Oracle Questions
Sacrifices Military campaigns
Hunting expeditions Outcome of the next day/night
Weather Agriculture
Sickness Childbirth
Dreams Divine assistance or approval
“Will the king have a son?”
“Will it rain tomorrow?”
“If we send 3,000 men into battle, will we succeed?”
“Is the long drought caused by ancestor X?”

22. Shang Social Hierarchy
Monarchy where king was head of politics and religion
Very rigid social classes
Writing increased the hierarchy in government and social statuses by
allowing large scale organization and regulations.
Shang kings were constantly at war with outsiders
During later period of dynasty, kings were only diviners

23. Shang Culture
The Shang worshipped “Shang Ti,” a supreme god that ruled over the
lesser gods of the sun, the moon, the wind, and other forces of nature.
They believed in the after life and gave sacrifices to important ancestors
Shang documents were recorded on strips of bamboo and silk may have
decomposed, leaving mainly oracle bones and bronze inscriptions
Bone Script created a basis for modern chinese calligraphy

26. Fall of Shang Dynasty
Shang Dynasty ended when the Duke of Zhou invaded and conquered
the capital
Legend claims that they overthrow the Shang Dynasty because the king
was evil and heaven no longer wanted him to rule.
Mandate of Heaven
Followed by the Zhou Dynasty

27. Sources
Department of Asian Art. “Shang and Zhou Dynasties: The Bronze Age of China”. In
Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–.
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/shzh/hd_shzh.htm (October 2004)
“From Oracle Bone Inscriptions to Modern Language.” History - China Culture. 2007. Web.
7 Oct. 2011. <http://history.cultural-china.com/en/181History5896.html>.
Keightley, David N., and Noel Barnard. The Origins of Chinese Civilization. Berkeley:
University of California, 1983.
Kneightley, David N. “Sources of Shang History: The Oracle Bone Inscriptions of Bronze Age
China.” The Origins of Writing. Berkeley: University of California, 1978.
“The Shang Dynasty, 1600 to 1050 BCE.” Stanford. Spice Digest, Fall 2007. Web. 7 Oct. 2011.
<http://iis-db.stanford.edu/docs/117/ShangDynasty.pdf>
“Shang Dynasty.” China Culture. Ministry of Chinese Culture, 2003. Web. 9 Oct. 2011.
<http://www.chinaculture.org/gb/en_aboutchina/2003-09/24/content_22689.htm>.
Additional Image Source
http://picasaweb.google.com/116512474184071531500/AnyangFinalShangCapitalYinRuinsMuseum?gses
sionid=9suX3m75NHY4s9Ocxk5k4A#