Editing Chinese characters (section)

=== Oracle bone script ===
{{Main|Oracle bone script}}
{{mim
| header = Oracle bone script
| width = 60
| caption_align = center
| image1   = 天-oracle.svg
| caption1 = {{lang|zh|天}}<br />{{nwr|'Heaven'}}
| image2   = 馬-oracle.svg
| caption2 = {{lang|zh|馬}}<br />{{nwr|'horse'}}
| image3   = 旅-oracle.svg
| caption3 = {{lang|zh|旅}}<br />{{nwr|'travel'}}
| image4   = 正-oracle.svg
| caption4 = {{lang|zh|正}}<br />{{nwr|'straight'}}
| image5   = 韋-oracle.svg
| caption5 = {{lang|zh|韋}}<br />{{nwr|'leather'}}
}}
{{CSS image crop
| Image = Shang dynasty inscribed scapula.jpg
| bSize = 280
| cWidth = 240
| cHeight = 300
| oTop = 115
| oLeft = 35
| Description = Ox scapula inscribed with characters recording the result of divinations{{snd}}dated {{circa|1200&nbsp;BCE}}
}}
The oldest attested Chinese writing comprises a body of inscriptions produced during the [[Late Shang]] period ({{cx|1250}}{{snd}}1050&nbsp;BCE), with the very earliest examples from the reign of [[Wu Ding]] dated between 1250 and 1200&nbsp;BCE.{{sfnm|Boltz|1999|1pp=74, 107–108|Liu et al.|2017|2pp=155–175}} Many of these inscriptions were made on [[oracle bone]]s—usually either ox [[scapula]]e or turtle plastrons—and recorded official [[divination]]s carried out by the Shang royal house. Contemporaneous inscriptions in a related but distinct style were also made on ritual bronze vessels. This [[oracle bone script]] ({{zhi|c=甲骨文|p=jiǎgǔwén<!-- A considered exception to [[MOS:ZH]] -->}}) was first documented in 1899, after specimens were discovered being sold as "dragon bones" for medicinal purposes, with the symbols carved into them identified as early character forms. By 1928, the source of the bones had been traced to a village near [[Anyang]] in [[Henan]]—discovered to be the site of [[Yinxu|Yin]], the final Shang capital—which was excavated by a team led by [[Li Ji (archaeologist)|Li Ji]] from the [[Academia Sinica]] between 1928 and 1937.{{sfn|Liu|Chen|2012|p=6}} To date, over {{val|150000}} oracle bone fragments have been found.{{sfnm|Kern|2010|1p=1|Wilkinson|2012|2pp=681–682}}

Oracle bone inscriptions recorded divinations undertaken to communicate with the spirits of royal ancestors. The inscriptions range from a few characters in length at their shortest, to several dozen at their longest. The Shang king would communicate with his ancestors by means of [[scapulimancy]], inquiring about subjects such as the royal family, military success, and the weather. Inscriptions were made in the divination material itself before and after it had been cracked by exposure to heat; they generally include a record of the questions posed, as well as the answers as interpreted in the cracks.{{sfn|Keightley|1978|pp=28–42}}{{sfn|Kern|2010|p=1}} A minority of bones feature characters that were inked with a brush before their strokes were incised; the evidence of this also shows that the conventional [[stroke order]]s used by later calligraphers had already been established for many characters by this point.{{sfn|Keightley|1978|pp=46–47}}

Oracle bone script is the direct ancestor of later forms of written Chinese. The oldest known inscriptions already represent a well-developed writing system, which suggests an initial emergence predating the late 2nd millennium&nbsp;BCE. Although written Chinese is first attested in official divinations, it is widely believed that writing was also used for other purposes during the Shang, but that the media used in other contexts—likely [[bamboo and wooden slips]]—were less durable than bronzes or oracle bones, and have not been preserved.{{sfnm|Boltz|1986|1p=424|Kern|2010|2p=2}}