Museum Offers $15,000 Per Character to Decipher Oracle Bone Script
The inscriptions offer detailed information about the Shang Dynasty, but researchers need help to read them
By Jason Daley
In recent years, research into oracles bones, used to divine the future during China’s Shang dynasty, has fizzled out. The main reason is that researchers cannot decipher the characters cut into the ox shoulder blades and turtle plastrons used for the soothe-saying, stymieing efforts to understand the writing system. Now, Michael Waters at Atlas Obscura reports, the National Museum of Chinese Writing in Anyang, Henan province, is hoping to revive research into the bones by offering a hefty reward to anyone who can translate the tricky symbols.
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http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/museum-offers-15000-letter-deciphering-oracle-bones-180964213/#UWp3y8r8SvFffEgH.99
