Today I found out about oracle bone script which is a form of written text used in ancient China. I was orginally looking up the etymology of radical 109 or 目; meaning eye. I then happend upon the various evolutions it has taken over time; from the oracle bone script to the broze script to the large and small seal script and then eventually to it's modern appearence. I found the oracle bone script to be the most unique out of the five and so decided to look into it. According to Wikipedia:
"The common Chinese term for oracle bone script is 甲骨文 (jiǎgǔwén 'shell and bone script'), which is an abbreviation of 龜甲獸骨文字 (guījiǎ shòugǔ wénzì 'turtle-shell and animal-bone script')."
The script was written on turtle shell and animal bones and the "writings themselves mainly record the results of official divinations carried out on behalf of the ruling Shang dynasty royal family".
The images themselves have gone to be developed throughout history and their is an interesting comparison to be made with them and the current modern Chinese characters which are used today.
I shall do more research on this and add to it later but here are a few images which I found to be particularly interesting.
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| Oracle script for Spring |
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| Oracle script inquiry about rain: "Today, will it rain?" |
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| Oracle script inquiry about rain (annotated) |
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| Rubbing of oracle bone characters |