How do oracle bones work?

Answer 1

Chinese scribes would ask a question such as, If I capture two horses and one snake, will my harvest be great?

The characters for horses and snake would be etched on a shell of a tortoise or a bone and the bone would be subjected to the heat from a metal rod. When the bone would crack, the cracks would run through the characters. A holy man would interpret the cracks to determine what the answer to the question would be.
Oracle Bones are a myth. well, i think they are. The Ancient Chinese believed that they could tell the future and talk to their ancestors by writing on a bone, which were animal shells, (mainly oxen) and turtle shells. Here is how it goes:

1.) The King or emperor tells the priest the question they wish to be answered.

2.) The priest (who is usually a woman) carves the question into an oracle bone.

3.) The priest would then heat a bronze pin and hold it close to the bone.

4.) This created a pattern of cracks over the bone.

5.) The priest will study the cracks made on the bone to find the answer to the question.

thanks for reading! i hope it helped! byee