Oracle bone scriptVietnamese nameVietnameseGiáp cốt văn chữ giáp cốtHán-Nôm甲骨文 𡨸甲骨?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 bones of oxen or the plastrons of turtles. The writings themselves mainly record the results of official divinations carried out on behalf of the Late Shang royal family.
Chinese charactersChinese characters are logographs used to write the Chinese languages and others from regions historically influenced by Chinese culture, including Japan, Korea, and Vietnam. Of the four independently invented writing systems accepted by scholars (cuneiform, Egyptian hieroglyphs, Chinese characters, and Maya script), they represent the only one that has remained in continuous use.
Late ShangThe 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 second half of the 13th century BC and ending with the conquest of the Shang by the Zhou in the mid-11th century BC. The state is known from artifacts recovered from its capital at a site near Anyang now known as Yinxu and other sites across the North China Plain.
Zhou dynastyChinese dynasty from c. 1046 to 256 BC
Written ChineseHan writingSimplified ChineseTraditional ChineseHanyu PinyinHànwénLiteral meaningHan writingWritten Chinese is a writing system that transcribes the varieties of Chinese language using logograms — known as characters — and other symbols such as punctuations. Chinese characters do not directly represent pronunciation, unlike letters in an alphabet or syllabograms in a syllabary.Doubting Antiquity SchoolThe Doubting Antiquity School or Yigupai (Chinese: 疑古派; pinyin: Yígǔpài; Wade–Giles: I-ku-p'ai) refers to a group of scholars and writers in Chinese academia, starting during the New Culture Movement (mid-1910s to 1920s), who applied a critical historiographical approach to Chinese historical sources. They put forward theories doubting the authenticity of texts and narratives that, in traditional Chinese historiography, were often accepted as authentic.
ScapulimancyScapulimancy (also spelled scapulomancy and scapulamancy, also termed omoplatoscopy or speal bone reading) is the practice of divination by use of scapulae or speal bones (shoulder blades). It is most widely practiced in China and the Sinosphere as oracle bones, but has also been independently developed in other traditions including the West. Historically, scapulimancy has taken two major forms.
DivinationDivination is the attempt to gain insight into a question or situation by way of a magic ritual or practice. Using various methods, throughout history, diviners have been providing answers to querents by reading signs, events, or omens, often claiming to receive insight through supernatural agents such as spirits, gods, god-like-beings or the "will of the universe".
ScapulaThe scapula (pl.: scapulae or scapulas), also known as the shoulder blade, is the bone that connects the humerus (upper arm bone) with the clavicle (collar bone). Like their connected bones, the scapulae are paired, with each scapula on either side of the body being roughly a mirror image of the other. The name derives from the Classical Latin word for trowel or small shovel, which it was thought to resemble.
CinnabarCinnabar (; from Ancient Greek (kinnábari)), also called cinnabarite () or mercurblende, is the bright scarlet to brick-red form of mercury(II) sulfide (HgS). It is the most common source ore for refining elemental mercury and is the historic source for the brilliant red or scarlet pigment termed vermilion and associated red mercury pigments. Cinnabar generally occurs as a vein-filling mineral associated with volcanic activity and alkalinehot springs.
PyromancyPyromancy (Ancient Greek ἐμπυρία (empyria), divination by fire) is the art of divination by means of fire or flames. The word pyromancy is adapted from the Greek word pyromanteia, from pyr (πῦρ, fire) and manteia (μαντεία, divination by means of). Its first known use was in the 1300s, and it evolved into the Late Latin word piromantia and Old French word piromance.
Thermal expansionThermal expansion is the tendency of matter to increase in size with increasing temperature. Matter generally increases in length, area, and volume, changing its size and density, in response to an increase in temperature (usually excluding phase transitions). Substances usually contract with decreasing temperature which is called thermal contraction. The SI unit of thermal expansion is the inverse kelvin (K−1).*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.