In 1899, a scholar examining dragon bones found carved marks and uncovered Shang China’s earliest writing

The oracle bone script is the oldest attested form of written Chinese. Image Credit: Wikipedia In 1899, a sharp-eyed scholar, Wang Yirong, greatly advanced knowledge of late Shang China. He was looking at bones being sold in a traditional market. These pieces, called “dragon bones” at the time, were ground into dust for traditional medicine. Wang noticed something strange. The fragments had carved markings on them that were not natural. He could not read them at once, but he recognized their great age. That single observation changed their status from medicine to historical evidence. These fragments, known as oracle bones,…