English Summary Exercise .

The rediscovery of the Shang began with the discovery of traditional Chinese medicine. Before the shells were grounded, somebody noticed they were inscribed with strange Chinese characters .The newly established Academia Sinica sent an excavation team to Xiaotun in 1928. The earliest digs focused on retrieving oracle bones. The bones speak of war and harvest, disease and childbirth. They are heavy with descriptions of sacrifices, both human and animal. An expert explained the process by which Shang diviners uses of the bones are to verify whether or not the event would occur. The key materials were turtle plastrons or cattle scapulas, cleaned and treated and thinned by drilling notches into the back. The diviners then applied a hot object until the surface cracked. It is the moment that, to the Shang, represented a voice from another world. The interpretation of the cracks, a task handled by the king himself, was often carved into the object, along with the original divination statement.The oracle bones refer to persons who appear in traditional historical texts, proving that they were more than myth.