Knowra Wu Ding Wu Ding Wu Ding was a Shang dynasty king who ruled in the 13th century BCE. His reign expanded Shang power through military campaigns and produced the earliest securely dated Chinese writing.
Shang dynasty : A Bronze Age Chinese dynasty that ruled much of the Yellow River region, conventionally dated to about 1600–1046 BCE. Wu Ding ruled at the height of Shang power and belonged to its royal line.
Scapulimancy : A form of divination that interprets cracks produced by heating animal shoulder blades. Shang diviners used heated bones to seek answers about the king’s concerns.
Anyang : A city in Henan, China, near the archaeological site of the late Shang capital at Yinxu. The region preserves the principal archaeological evidence for Wu Ding’s reign.
Shang chronology : The reconstruction of dates and succession for Shang rulers from inscriptions, archaeology, and later historical texts. The precise dates and length of Wu Ding’s reign remain debated.
Oracle bone script : The earliest known mature system of Chinese writing, inscribed on bones and turtle shells for divination. Inscriptions from his reign record royal questions, rituals, and campaigns.
Pyromancy : Divination by interpreting patterns produced through fire or heat. Heat created the cracks that diviners interpreted during Shang consultations.
Shang royal tombs : Elite burials associated with Shang rulers and their court, containing bronzes, weapons, and other grave goods. The tombs at Yinxu provide material evidence for the royal world contemporaneous with Wu Ding.
Oracle bone inscriptions : Texts carved on oracle bones, recording divination charges, prognostications, and sometimes outcomes. Their terse, formulaic entries complicate attempts to reconstruct the full course of his campaigns.
Yinxu : An archaeological site near modern Anyang in Henan, identified as the late Shang capital. Excavations there uncovered the oracle bones that document his court.
Shang religion : The ritual system of the Shang, involving royal ancestors, nature powers, and the high deity Di. Wu Ding’s divinations relied on offerings and communication with ancestors and deities.
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