Oracle Bones

Importance of Oracle Bones
The oracle bones were important finds relating to Chinese writing and history. The inscriptions are early Chinese script which is recognizable as a written language. These inscriptions are priceless to historians because they record the questions and answers people had about their lives, and especially the questions and activities of the king.
The king eventually became the 'head diviner' who interpreted the message of the spirits through the cracks in the bones. The oracle bones contain information on the reigns of the later kings of the Shang Dynasty, the questions they asked, the answers they received, and even how the event turned out. If a king wanted to know if he should raise taxes, the oracle bone records that question, what the answer was, whether the king listened to the advice, and what the results were. The oracle bones are primary sources for the history of the Shang Dynasty because of how carefully the diviners recorded everything having to do with the person's concern.
Each question asked was recorded in four steps:
Preface - the date the question was asked, the name of the diviner, and sometimes the name of the person asking the question (e.g. 14 February 2016, Ai mi li divined, Ma ke asked).
Charge - the topic of the question (e.g. Finance) and the specific question (e.g. should I bring my oxen to market/should I not bring my oxen to market).
Prognostication - the answer to the question provided by the spirits and interpreted through the cracks in the shell or bone (e.g. spirits indicate yes, you should bring oxen to market).
Verification - whether the prophecy turned out to be true and what happened to the person who asked the question (e.g. Ma Ke heeded prophecy, brought oxen to market, made large sum of money).
Each one of these steps was recorded so carefully that scholars were able to verify that stories previously believed to be myths about the Shang Dynasty were actually true. The Chinese writers of later dynasties (prior to the Tang, especially) referred to the Shang as a kind of golden age, and the oracle bone inscriptions show that they had a good reason to think so.


Chinese Oracle Bone

Conclusion
Inscriptions related how prosperous the Shang Dynasty was and how people spent their time, which all corroborate what the later historians wrote. Details like when cities were built, land cleared, businesses started, crops planted, types of animals/objects sold, places traveled to, areas traded with, marriages arranged, taxes paid, taxes raised, taxes not lowered, astronomical events, and the activities of the emperor's court such as specific hunting trips, tours of the kingdom, and appointments to positions all are recorded on the oracle bones.
Even though many of these artifacts were ground up and destroyed for the placebo known as dragon's bones, there were thousands more discovered, deciphered, and preserved. These oracle bones tell the stories of the people who lived in China over two thousand years ago and, like all historical artifacts, show that these ancient people were not really all that different from those living today.