What was the primary use of oracle bones in Shang China?

• A. Currency used in trade.
• B. Divination by rulers to justify governance.
• C. Textbooks for Confucian learning.
• D. Material for weaponry.

Answer: (B)

Divination by rulers to justify governance. In Shang China, oracle bones were used in ritual questions posed to ancestors and deities about state matters—harvests, weather, military campaigns, and other decisions. The bones or shells were heated until they cracked, and specialists interpreted the pattern of cracks to produce omens that guided royal actions and legitimated those decisions. The inscriptions carved on the bones record both the questions and the outcomes, making them one of the earliest forms of Chinese writing. They weren’t used as currency, textbooks, or weapon material, so the primary purpose was clearly to obtain divine guidance to support governance.