The oracle bone was buried underground for more than 3,000 years, seriously damaged, and it was not until the late Qing Dynasty that it encountered "Bole"
As the oldest and most mature Chinese character, the oracle bone carries the profound historical civilization of the Chinese nation; in ancient times, archaeological technology was not developed, so that many of the oracle bones of the Shang Dynasty were not recognized in time, until the Qing Dynasty, people only knew that this was an ancient script, but did not study and publish it; in this long period of time, the oracle bone was just quietly buried in the ground, waiting for the discovery of "Bole"? In fact, its fate is more bumpy than we think.
Regarding the discovery of the oracle bones, it is necessary to mention a person named Wang Yirong, who was a jinshi during the Guangxu period and held the position of editor of the Hanlin Academy; Wang Yirong, in his spare time, loved to study gold and jade, and often exchanged views with gold stone experts Wu Dayi, Pan Zuyin, Chen Jieqi and other people Wang Yirong recognized the ancient writing on the oracle bone, and only then was the oracle bone officially recognized, and the excavation research on the oracle bone began to gradually develop.
Oracle bones are the artifacts used for divination in the Shang Dynasty, mostly using the belly armor of turtles, every major event, the Shang Dynasty people want to use oracle bones for divination, and engrave words on the oracle bones; the Book of Rites records that after divination, these oracle bones are stored, and then buried in the ground at one time after the collection is large enough; for example, in the Anyang Yin Ruins YH127 pit, more than 10,000 pieces of oracle bones were unearthed, it can be inferred that they were buried in the pit at one time after collection; in addition, for some less important oracle bones, The Shang Dynasty people directly discarded it, so in the Yin Ruins, some oracle bones can also be found in the pit that is not specially stored for oracle bones.
And there are some oracle bones, will be used twice, may be the Shang Dynasty to save the use of bones, in the fortune teller practice engraving, will use the already used oracle bones; about the Shang Dynasty to deal with the oracle bones, probably the above three, after the passage of time, these oracle bones are buried underground; but from the Shang Dynasty to the late Qing Dynasty, the oracle bones were not completely preserved underground, but seriously damaged.
The "Commentary on the Interpretation of Texts" records that in the Qin Dynasty, some bronzes and oracle bones were found in many counties, and even Emperor Wudi of Han himself collected a bronze with an inscription, and also asked the warlock Li Shaojun, who recognized the inscription on it and explained the meaning of the inscription in detail to Emperor Wu of Han; then the bronze and oracle bones of the Shang Dynasty, regarded by the emperor as a symbol of auspiciousness, began to excavate the Anyang Yin Ruins, during which a large number of bronzes and oracle bones were dug out; in the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the land of Yin Ruins became a burial "feng shui treasure land." ", when the Shang Dynasty oracle bones were digging the grave, they were seriously damaged.
The most important thing is that in the period when Western medical technology was not transmitted to China, oracle bone was once regarded as a kind of Chinese herbal medicine to treat various difficult and complicated diseases; in the theory of Traditional Chinese medicine, the fossils of vertebrates and other animals were ground into powder and called "keel" for medicine, and the main source of "keel" in the Ming and Qing dynasties was the oracle bone engraved with gua ci in the Shang Dynasty; at that time, in Xiaotun Village, Anyang, a large number of oracle bones were found, and the villagers saw that it was profitable, so they all "frantically" excavated oracle bones for sale, but the value of the oracle bones engraved with words was low So the villagers erased the words on it and sold it.
According to historical records, at that time, a pound of oracle bones could be sold for six yuan, and the oracle bones in Xiaotun Village had been excavated for decades, which caused serious and immeasurable damage and loss to the oracle bones, which was more painful than that of the Qin and Han dynasties; fortunately, more than 3,000 years later in the late Qing Dynasty, Wang Yirong identified the oracle bones and the inscriptions on them, which led to today's archaeological cause, the protection and research of the oracle bones.
[References: The Origin of Oracle, Oracle Discovery Research]