Wuxi Museum hosted a practical activity to help primary students learn about the history of oracle bone script on Dec 9.
Oracle bone script was the form of Chinese characters used on oracle bones, usually animal bones or turtle plastrons used in divination. As the earliest known form of Chinese writing, oracle bone script has been included in the Memory of the World Register.
During the event, the students were asked to guess some oracle bone scripts from their appearance, after which they were told the historical evolution and development of Chinese characters.
These oracle bone scripts are the twelve animals of the Chinese Zodiac respectively.
The vast majority of oracle bone scripts were found at the Yinxu site (in modern Anyang, Henan Province).The first oracle bone writings dates back to the late Shang period.
The late Shang oracle bone writings, along with a few contemporary characters in a different style cast in bronzes, constitute the earliest significant corpus of Chinese writing, which is essential for the study of Chinese etymology. It is also the oldest known member and ancestor of the Chinese family of scripts, preceding the bronzeware script.
Although today's Chinese characters are totally different from oracle bone scripts, the activity can help students learn some features and the history of Chinese characters.
Liu Baoshan, Wuxi Museum curator, spoke highly of the event and hoped more children would have the opportunity to experience the beauty of Chinese culture.
Wuxi Museum hosts various events every month to attract teenagers to experience and learn Chinese history whilst having fun. The aim is to build a social practice and traditional cultural exchange base for Wuxi teenagers.
