Linked from

The 36 pages that link to Oracle bone script, each with the reason it gives.

• Chinese calligraphyBroader topic: Its inscriptions preserve early character forms that later calligraphic traditions transformed.

• Shang dynastyBroader topic: Its inscriptions record Shang divinations, royal names, and events.

• Classical ChineseNarrower topic: It shows the much older written tradition that preceded Classical Chinese literary norms.

• Chinese charactersBroader topic: Its inscriptions provide early evidence for the historical development of characters.

• Chinese literatureNarrower topic: Early writing provides the material background for China’s long textual tradition.

• Writing systemBroader topic: It documents an independent early tradition that developed into Chinese characters.

• Chinese languageBroader topic: Its inscriptions provide the earliest extensive evidence for the history of Chinese writing.

• Chinese astronomyRelated: Its inscriptions preserve early reports of eclipses and other sky phenomena.

• DivinationRelated: Its inscriptions preserve the questions and results of divination at the Shang court.

• Chinese mythologyRelated: Its ritual questions offer evidence for early beliefs about ancestors and divine powers.

• Seal scriptNarrower topic: Its angular forms precede the more regular characters of seal script.

• Bamboo AnnalsRelated: Its contemporary records offer evidence against which the chronicle’s Shang-era claims can be assessed.

• WritingBroader topic: Its inscriptions document an early independent tradition of writing.

• I ChingRelated: It provides evidence for earlier divination practices distinct from the I Ching’s hexagram system.

• Old ChineseRelated: Its inscriptions document language from the earliest period associated with Old Chinese.

• Literary ChineseBroader topic: Its inscriptions stand among the earliest surviving stages of the written tradition.

• Spring and Autumn AnnalsCompared with: Its contemporary inscriptions offer a different kind of evidence from the Annals’ later court chronicle.

• Chinese writingBroader topic: These inscriptions preserve an early stage of the writing system.

• AnyangRelated: Inscriptions from Anyang preserve the script in its earliest extensive form.

• Traditional Chinese charactersBroader topic: Its inscriptions document early stages in the long development of Chinese character forms.

• Battle of MuyeRelated: Shang inscriptions provide contemporary evidence for royal warfare, unlike later battle narratives.

• Classical Chinese proseBroader topic: Its inscriptions are among the ancient written sources behind the tradition later prose writers revered.

• History of writingBroader topic: It documents an early writing tradition that developed in East Asia.

• YijingCompared with: It provides an earlier divinatory practice distinct from consulting the Yijing’s hexagrams.

• Qiang peopleRelated: Its inscriptions record Qiang in Shang-era divinations and military contexts.

• Wang GuoweiRelated: Wang used its decipherment to investigate Shang history and ancient institutions.

• Xia dynastyRelated: Its inscriptions document Shang rulers, providing an evidentiary benchmark for assessing Xia claims.

• YinxuRelated: Yinxu yielded the largest known corpus, making the site central to studying early Chinese writing.

• Yellow EmperorRelated: These inscriptions provide direct evidence for Shang-era beliefs, unlike the much earlier Huangdi stories.

• Chinese numeralsBroader topic: Its inscriptions include early written number forms.

• History of ChinaRelated: These inscriptions anchor written history in the Shang period.

• National Library of ChinaBroader topic: The library’s collections support study of early Chinese writing and its surviving artifacts.

• Wu DingRelated: Inscriptions from his reign record royal questions, rituals, and campaigns.

• Di XinRelated: Contemporary inscriptions provide evidence about the Shang state beyond later stories about Di Xin.

• Recorded historyBroader topic: These divination records document early Chinese political and religious life.

• Xu ShenRelated: Its discovery revealed forms much older than the scripts available to Xu Shen.