The oracle bones of ancient China rank among my favorite historical artifacts. Who doesn’t love mystical techniques to predict the future? Leaders in ancient China needed people who knew how to read oracle bones. Sure, the success of reading oracle bones was spotty. Absent data to inform a prediction, all attempts to predict the future are.
Yet, that hasn’t stopped people throughout history from trying to do it. European monarchs often had court astrologers. The Romans would often consult the auspices before going into battle. Millions worldwide today read horoscopes, consult Tarot cards, and employ other like methods of gaining insight into the future.
Some Facts About How to Read Oracle Bones
The Chinese used oracle bones for a very long span of time. Some date as far back as 3000 BCE, which is over 5000 years ago! Their use continued for thousands of years. Some of what historians know about the Shang Dynasty (began circa 1760 BCE) they know from finding oracle bones. The particular bones most commonly used in Chinese divination practices were the scapula of cattle and tortoise shells. It seems diviners used other bones at times in the early centuries, but these two became the most common.
A complete oracle bone had three parts. It gave the date of the divination ceremony. It also gave the name of the diviner. The bones concluded with the question the ceremony sought to answer.
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Over time, the practice of how to read oracle bones became the province of experts. The diviner would apply heat to the bone. Eventually the bone cracked from the heat. The diviner would then predict the future from examining the cracks in the oracle bones. Some bones had both a positive and negative outcome inscribed on the bone. Whichever way the crack went answered the augury. Sometimes, diviners added inscriptions to the bones later to record what the prediction was.
Chinese monarchs used the oracle bones to inform many possible courses of action. Archaeologists have found bones predicting such things as when to fight wars, how to engage in diplomacy, when to make future sacrifices, what the future weather would bring, the quality of the next harvest, and so forth. These are all very understandable. Ancient Chinese lived in a world without modern science and the body of knowledge humans have built up leading to the present.
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Does Knowing How to Read Oracle Bones Matter Today?
Although Chinese leaders no longer employ divination to tell them what to do (at least, not that we know of), the bones still hold some importance. Because of the inscriptions on the bones, we can trace the development of Chinese writing over time. In fact, the first written records we have from ancient China are these inscriptions. In addition, by examining what the bones tried to predict, we learn what was important to leaders in ancient China.
The bones also indicate the lengths to which people will go to get information to inform their actions. Granted, interpreting cracks in a cattle bone would rate as a dubious method today. But it was the best people had in Ancient China. The thing I find curious is that people still use similar techniques today even when more accurate choices abound. Why? Let me consult my oracle bones and get back to you . . .
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