Late Shang
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The Late Shang, also known as the Anyang period, is the earliest known literate civilization in China, spanning the reigns of the last nine kings of the Shang dynasty, beginning with Wu Ding in the se
Rib of a rhinoceros killed in a royal hunt, bearing an inscription including the character 商 (Shāng, fifth character from the bottom on the right)
Bronze pouring vessel from Erlitou
Ox scapula with a divination inscription from the reign of King Wu Ding
Bone inscribed with a table of the 60-day cycle
Oracle bone script
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The oracle bone script is the oldest attested form of written Chinese, dating to the late 2nd millennium BC. Inscriptions were made by carving characters into oracle bones, usually either the shoulder
Late Shang
…the Shang also employed brush writing on bamboo and wooden slips like those known from later periods, but none of these materials have survived. The oracle bone script consists of an early form of Chinese characters, with each graph representing a word of early Old Chinese. Over 4,000 graphs have been catalogued…
Shang Inscribed Ox Scapula
Fragments of divination on bull scapula
Table of the Chinese sexagenary cycle inscribed on an ox scapula, dating to the reigns of the last two kings of the Shang dynasty during the first half of the 11th century BC
An annotated oracle bone inscription (composite of Heji 29990 and 30174) recording a divination about rain.