0:00:00.047,0:00:02.964 (soft piano music) 0:00:04.871,0:00:06.443 - [Narrator] We're in the Shanghai Museum, 0:00:06.443,0:00:10.223 and we're looking at a[br]very early Oracle Bone. 0:00:10.223,0:00:12.918 And this is so important[br]because this brings us 0:00:12.918,0:00:16.747 to the very beginnings of[br]writing in ancient China. 0:00:16.747,0:00:19.363 - [Narrator] The Oracle[br]Bone is on an ox scapula, 0:00:19.363,0:00:20.811 so it's actually the shoulder blade here 0:00:20.811,0:00:23.505 that you can see carved[br]little tiny characters 0:00:23.505,0:00:26.013 from the right to the[br]left, all in little lines. 0:00:26.013,0:00:28.390 - [Narrator] And those[br]characters are still, 0:00:28.390,0:00:31.027 many of them, recognizable[br]as Chinese characters today. 0:00:31.027,0:00:32.667 - [Narrator] Yeah, about[br]40% of them, actually 0:00:32.667,0:00:35.632 are decipherable, and we[br]have tons of these remaining. 0:00:35.632,0:00:37.225 We have about 200,000 of them. 0:00:37.225,0:00:39.708 - [Narrator] We're not[br]really used to the idea 0:00:39.708,0:00:41.776 in the west that we could read writing 0:00:41.776,0:00:43.960 that's more than 3,000 years old. 0:00:43.960,0:00:45.320 - [Narrator] And, of course,[br]this is really important, 0:00:45.320,0:00:47.581 because you can read history through it. 0:00:47.581,0:00:49.749 When we have a group of[br]these objects together, 0:00:49.749,0:00:52.433 we can look back and[br]see how things evolved 0:00:52.433,0:00:55.759 on this particular year, what[br]kinds of concerns people had. 0:00:55.759,0:00:57.065 - [Narrator] It's an Oracle Bone, 0:00:57.065,0:01:00.337 so we know that it something[br]that could divine the future, 0:01:00.337,0:01:02.137 that could help people understand 0:01:02.137,0:01:03.559 what the future might bring. 0:01:03.559,0:01:04.986 - [Narrator] They would get these bones, 0:01:04.986,0:01:07.101 they would inscribe the questions on them, 0:01:07.101,0:01:10.379 and then a diviner would come[br]and use a particular ritual 0:01:10.379,0:01:13.241 that involved a heated rod, a metal rod, 0:01:13.241,0:01:14.731 that they would touch to the bone, 0:01:14.731,0:01:17.503 and the way that the cracks would evolve 0:01:17.503,0:01:20.082 on the questions would divine the future. 0:01:20.082,0:01:22.120 - [Narrator] So the cracks[br]would be read by someone 0:01:22.120,0:01:24.121 who had a kind of special power. 0:01:24.121,0:01:25.657 - [Narrator] The questions[br]were all directed 0:01:25.657,0:01:27.442 toward somebody named Shangdi, 0:01:27.442,0:01:30.262 the deified ancestor of[br]the Shang royal cult. 0:01:30.262,0:01:31.680 And we're talking about the Shang Dynasty, 0:01:31.680,0:01:33.818 this is in the cradle of civilization, 0:01:33.818,0:01:35.711 the Yellow River Valley, the capital. 0:01:35.711,0:01:37.331 And the kinds of questions[br]that people would ask 0:01:37.331,0:01:38.750 would involve everything from 0:01:38.750,0:01:41.217 the very mundane to ritualistic things. 0:01:41.217,0:01:42.858 When should a sacrifice be performed, 0:01:42.858,0:01:44.413 a particular rite of worship. 0:01:44.413,0:01:46.556 This one we're looking[br]at, a question about 0:01:46.556,0:01:48.867 the bumper harvest, when to be planting. 0:01:48.867,0:01:50.011 - [Narrator] And, ancestor worship 0:01:50.011,0:01:53.533 was incredibly important[br]during the Shang Dynasty, 0:01:53.533,0:01:55.652 and that's something that will change with 0:01:55.652,0:01:57.825 the next dynasty, the Zhou Dynasty. 0:01:57.825,0:01:58.901 - [Narrator] Now, when[br]we get into the Zhou, 0:01:58.901,0:02:01.249 we see a different concept of the divine. 0:02:01.249,0:02:03.479 - [Narrator] So, Shangdi[br]was the particular 0:02:03.479,0:02:07.028 ancestor/god of the Shang Dynasty. 0:02:07.028,0:02:08.506 - Exactly, royalty.[br]- And it makes sense with the 0:02:08.506,0:02:10.508 - next dynasty--[br]- Exactly (drowned out). 0:02:10.508,0:02:12.578 - you'd have to adjust that.[br]- You'd have to adjust. 0:02:12.578,0:02:14.058 - [Narrator] So, we see these on, 0:02:14.058,0:02:16.534 especially on scapula of oxen, 0:02:16.534,0:02:19.823 but also other animal bones,[br]and also tortoise shell. 0:02:19.823,0:02:21.865 - [Narrator] Tortoise shell[br]is another favorite medium, 0:02:21.865,0:02:24.686 probably also as tortoise[br]was an important mythological 0:02:24.686,0:02:26.084 creature from very early times. 0:02:26.084,0:02:29.312 But, here, you can see that[br]the medium itself is very flat, 0:02:29.312,0:02:31.434 it's a good surface to carve into. 0:02:31.434,0:02:32.762 And, when we're looking[br]at these kinds of things, 0:02:32.762,0:02:34.844 keep in mind that this is what we have. 0:02:34.844,0:02:37.692 We have bones, these[br]stood the test of time, 0:02:37.692,0:02:38.576 but that doesn't mean that there 0:02:38.576,0:02:40.448 wasn't also writing on other things. 0:02:40.448,0:02:42.168 - [Narrator] And the[br]writing that we're seeing, 0:02:42.168,0:02:45.356 we know that Chinese[br]characters stand for words, 0:02:45.356,0:02:47.749 but, perhaps, at this time in history, 0:02:47.749,0:02:50.531 the signs that we're seeing[br]are more pictographic-- 0:02:50.531,0:02:51.974 - Yeah, they've been--[br]- until it evolved. 0:02:51.974,0:02:53.465 - [Narrator] Yeah, they've[br]been slowly decoded 0:02:53.465,0:02:54.921 and, actually, art historians have spent 0:02:54.921,0:02:57.165 quite a bit of time[br]trying to decipher this, 0:02:57.165,0:02:58.793 enough so that we can read them, 0:02:58.793,0:03:01.138 but, at this point, writing[br]is a functional medium. 0:03:01.138,0:03:04.012 It's to communicate, in[br]this example, with the gods. 0:03:04.012,0:03:06.401 Eventually, it evolves into calligraphy, 0:03:06.401,0:03:08.088 which becomes this art form. 0:03:08.088,0:03:11.024 - [Narrator] And, so, the[br]importance of Chinese writing 0:03:11.024,0:03:13.607 here in this very early moment. 0:03:14.711,0:03:15.904 - [Narrator] A lot of major developments 0:03:15.904,0:03:17.085 in Chinese society right, we've got 0:03:17.085,0:03:19.323 centralized power as a[br]major theme coming out 0:03:19.323,0:03:21.246 of the writing, the idea[br]that people can communicate 0:03:21.246,0:03:24.959 and organize, and this idea[br]of creating a history here. 0:03:24.959,0:03:26.975 - [Narrator] And, so[br]lucky that we can at least 0:03:26.975,0:03:28.552 untangle 40% of it, 0:03:28.552,0:03:29.976 - Yeah, 40%.[br]- of these thousands 0:03:29.976,0:03:31.218 of bones that survive. 0:03:31.218,0:03:32.178 - Exactly.[br]- And, one day, 0:03:32.178,0:03:33.890 we'll understand even more of them. 0:03:33.890,0:03:35.356 - [Narrator] Even more of them, exactly. 0:03:35.356,0:03:37.856 (piano music)