Oracular Chinese language

The earliest form of Chinese writing, known as Oracular Chinese, emerged during the Shang dynasty (c. 18th–12th centuries BCE). This script was primarily used for divination, with questions incised onto pieces of bone and tortoiseshell. These inscriptions, typically 10 to 60 characters long, were heated until they cracked, and the resulting patterns were interpreted to divine answers. By 1400 BCE, the script comprised approximately 2,500 to 3,000 characters, many of which remain decipherable today. This logographic system, where symbols represent meaningful units of the language, formed the foundation for the development of Chinese writing.12345