The origin and history of Oracle Bone Inscriptions.

Oracle Bone Inscriptions, which originated in Shang Dynasty, is a form of ancient calligraphy in China. Oracle Bone Inscriptions in Shang Dynasty was originally carved on tortoise shells or animal bones, and its main function was to record the contents of divination. Later, the characters on tortoise shells or animal bones gradually formed the Oracle Bone Inscriptions. The Shang and Zhou Dynasties, in which bronzes were the main materials, were transformed from Oracle Bone Inscriptions to bronze inscriptions, especially in the Zhou Dynasty.

Most of Oracle Bone Inscriptions's contents are the records of divination by the royal family in Shang Dynasty. Most people in Shang dynasty were superstitious about ghosts and gods, and they had to ask questions about big and small issues. Some divination is about the weather, some is about the harvest of farming, some is about diseases and premature birth, and there are important things to ask, such as hunting, fighting and sacrifice. Therefore, Oracle Bone Inscriptions's content can provide a glimpse of people's life and the historical development of Shang Dynasty.

The Historical Value of Oracle Bone Inscriptions

Sima Qian has an article "Yin Benji" in Historical Records, which records the lineage and history of Shang Dynasty in detail. In the past, many historians were skeptical about these records, because there were no written records and no physical materials to prove them.

At the beginning of this century, Luo Zhenyu found the names of the first man and the first king in Shang Dynasty in his Oracle bones, which confirmed that the small village where these Oracle bones came from was the location of Yin Ruins, and the history books said that it was "Huanshui South, on Yin Ruins".

After that, Wang Guowei, a scholar, made a detailed textual research on the ancient princes of Shang Dynasty seen in Oracle Bone Inscriptions, and compared them with the records in Historical Records, which confirmed the credibility of Yin Benji in Historical Records. Pan Geng, the first king of Shang Dynasty, moved his capital from Yan to Yin in 13 18 BC. After 12 emperors of eight generations, they established their capital here for 273 years. These research results have advanced the reliable history of China by one thousand years.