How do we know about things that happened thousands of years ago, when there were no videos or photos? One answer is written records. The earliest written records of Chinese cultures are known as oracle bone inscriptions（甲骨文）. More than 3, 000 years ago, people in the Shang Dynasty（朝代）liked to askfortune tellersabout the future. For example, what will the weather be like next week? Where should I go to make money? Will my wife give birth to a boy or a girl? From work to love, people asked questions about many topics. The fortune teller would write the question on an oracle bone, beat it up, and then find an answer.
Tens of thousands of oracle bones have been found so far. They can tell us much about how people lived during the Shang Dynasty. "They help us understand the origins of Chinese philosophy（哲学的起职）and thought, and learn about where our culture comes from. "Song. a leading oracle bone expert said.
The oracle bones are also key to understanding the growth and development of the written form of the Chinese language. Many of the characters（文字）we use today are similar to those used 3, 000 years ago. "The oracle bone inscriptions, as the earliest﹣known form of Chinese characters, showed the beauty of a language that has been passed down continuously, "said Chen, a teacher at a university.
In 2017, UNESCO added oracle bone inscriptions to its Memory of the World Register（"世界记忆"名录）. They are indeed a valuable memory of ancient China.
