Anyang City and the Oracle Bone Script

Anyang City in Hénán Province is known for its proximity to one of the oldest and largest historical sites in China with ruins that date back to the Shang Dynasty (16-11 centuries B.C.). Historically the site was known as Yinxu (Yin City), one of the seven ancient capitals. In 2006 the site was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List as one of the earliest centers of Chinese civilization.

The ruins, which span 24 square kilometers, are open to the public as the Garden Museum of Yinxu. Their antiquity was validated with the discovery of a large number of oracle bones inscribed with oracle bone script, the earliest recorded form of Chinese writing, traceable back to the Bronze Age.

The oracle bones, also known as Dragon bones were made of turtle shell, burned and inscribed in a process of divination known as pyromancy. Due to the fundamental importance of fire in society, it is quite likely that this was one of the earliest forms of divination.

The ritual of consulting the oracle bones included marking them with the date of the consultation using the Sexagenary Cycle, known as 10 Heavenly Stems and 12 Earthly Branches, a means of numbering days and years. This is the same system, still in use today, that designates 2008 the year of the Yang Earth Rat.