Oracle bones and tortoise shells are instruments used by the royal family and nobles in the late generation for divination and recording.

Oracle Bone Inscriptions was a tool used by the royal family and nobles in the late Shang Dynasty for divination and note-taking.

Oracle Bone Inscriptions mainly refers to Oracle Bone Inscriptions in Yin Ruins, which appeared in the late Shang Dynasty in China (14 ~ 1 1 century). It was carved on tortoise shells or animal bones by the royal family for divination. After the demise of the Shang Dynasty and the rise of the Zhou Dynasty, Oracle Bone Inscriptions continued to be used for some time.

Oracle Bone Inscriptions is the earliest known systematic script in China. It inherited the original carving symbols and opened the bronze inscriptions. It is the key form of the development of Chinese characters and is called "the earliest Chinese characters".

Oracle Bone Inscriptions was first identified by antique dealers and inscriptions in 1898. Later, King Oracle Bone Inscriptions, the father of China, carried out a large-scale excavation in Yin Ruins (Xiaotun Village, Anyang, Henan Province), and unearthed a large number of tortoise shells and animal bones. Coupled with sporadic collection in other places, more than 100,000 articles have been collected so far, of which a single article is the longest100 words, which shows the embryonic form of practical writing.

The significance of Oracle Bone Inscriptions's appearance;

1. Perfecting the cultural history of China is of great significance for studying the formation and evolution of Chinese characters.

2. The best evidence of China's commercial and cultural history. The discovery of Oracle Bone Inscriptions in Shang Dynasty shows the existence of Shang Dynasty in concrete form. Before the discovery of Oracle Bone Inscriptions, westerners only recognized the Zhou Dynasty as the earliest dynasty in China, and all previous historical rights were regarded as myths.

3. The information in Oracle Bone Inscriptions provided the most primitive and authentic current affairs and life of Shang Dynasty for later generations.

4. The appearance of characters is one of the important symbols of the birth of civilization (the other two symbols are cities and countries). The history of a nation can only be called the history of civilization after the appearance of words, which was previously called prehistoric society. Oracle Bone Inscriptions is the oldest writing in China, and its discovery greatly advanced the beginning of the history of China civilization.