How did Chinese writing begin during the Shang dynasty?

Chinese writing emerged during the Shang dynasty (c. 18th–12th century BCE) as a highly developed system, serving as the direct ancestor of the modern script. The earliest known examples are found in jiaguwen, which are inscriptions carved into turtle carapaces and ox scapulae used for oracular divination.123

The process of creating these inscriptions typically involved brushing characters onto the bone or shell in red or black ink before incising them with a sharp instrument. Heat was then applied to the material, causing it to crack; diviners interpreted these patterns to read omens.3

By approximately 1400 BCE, the script already included between 2,500 and 3,000 characters. These early records utilized three types of characters:1
* Pictographs: Schematic pictures representing objects.1
* Ideograms: Symbols representing ideas.41
* Phonograms: Characters used for their sound value, often employing the rebus principle to represent words that were difficult to depict pictorially.1

While no formal literature survives from this period, these inscriptions provide essential evidence of the dynasty's language, vocabulary, and social practices.42