There is no one "oracle bone" — about 13,000 have been found — but these relics hint at the development of writing in ancient China. They date from the late Shang Dynasty, (circa 1250 B.C. to ...

A scholar who is prescribed "dragon bones" to cure an illness realizes that the bones-which are actually turtle shells-contain ancient Chinese writing used to send messages to the gods. The fantastic ...

Yet, in English, this monumental writing system remains shackled to an inadequate term: “Chinese characters.” Unlike cuneiform (“wedge-shaped”) or hieroglyphics (“sacred carvings”) — names that evoke ...

One of them has been around for centuries: writing riddles on the sides of lanterns ... According to Pak, the Chinese have been celebrating the yearly autumn harvest since the Shang dynasty ...