Image: OracleAutumn

Description: Oracle bone about Autumn According to the exhibit caption, the Chinese words or phrases for "Autumn" can be found on this oracle bone fragment. It looks as though it had an ant's head with two drooping antennae, and though unclear the character should have what looks like a body with legs emanating from it pointing left with feet, and below it, should be the ancient oracle bone character fire. Unlike the modern Chinese character 秋 which has 禾 (rice plant) as its radical, the ancient character has very different beginnings. This suggests that not every ancient character can be easily guess from its constituent parts. This picture was taken in July 2004 from an exhibit at Chabot Space and Science Center in Oakland, California. The caption for the exhibit read: Oracle Bones Shang Dynasty (c. 16th - 11th century BCE) Over 3,000 years ago, the Chinese used animal bones to help make important decisions. To use an oracle bone, a diviner made two statements, one positive and one negative. Each oracle bone had two halves, a positive one and a negative one, with holes bored in each half. When the holes were heated with a burning stick, the bone cracked. The king would read the cracks to find the ansers. No one knows exactly how the cracks were interpreted. Afterwards, information about the oracle was carved onto the bone.
Title: OracleAutumn
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