MICHAEL WOOD:'A long time ago, the people of China told stories about the Shang kings. 'How they defeated their enemies in battle, and ruled the middle kingdom.
MICHAEL WOOD:'But in recent times, no-one knew if these were just stories, 'or if the Shang were the first real rulers of China.
MICHAEL WOOD:'That was, until a historian called Professor Wang got ill with malaria.
MICHAEL WOOD:'The story begins in a pharmacy, a chemist's shop.
MICHAEL WOOD:'Though in China, as you might expect, 'a pharmacy isn't like your local chemist's.
MICHAEL WOOD:'Chinese pharmacies do sell aspirin and cough mixture, 'but also medicines going back thousands of years. 'Snakeskins, oil of toad, dried lizards and, believe it or not, 'dragon bones.'
MICHAEL WOOD:The story goes like this; 1899, a Chinese scholar called Wang Yirong falls ill with malaria.
MICHAEL WOOD:And his local pharmacy, just like this one, delivers a series of ingredients which include dragon bones.
MICHAEL WOOD:These were animal bones just like this, they use them today, which you ground up and boiled and drank to alleviate the fever.
MICHAEL WOOD:When he opened the packet, to his amazement, this is what he saw.
MICHAEL WOOD:Some of the bones were inscribed with what he could see were primitive forms of the old writing.
MICHAEL WOOD:'Wang discovered that they came from a little town in the countryside 'near the Yellow River. 'A place called Anyang.
MICHAEL WOOD:'Now ancient Chinese legend 'said Anyang had been the capital of the Shang kings.
MICHAEL WOOD:'So the archaeologists began to dig there, 'and they found traces of palaces of the Shang kings, 'and huge underground tombs.
MICHAEL WOOD:'They found human sacrifice, wives and slaves killed with their masters.
MICHAEL WOOD:'Their skulls laid out in rows to please the gods.
MICHAEL WOOD:'And they found piles of dragon bones.
MICHAEL WOOD:'Actually turtle shells and bones of cows and sheep 'that the Shang kings and their priests used to talk to the gods 'and to their own ancestors. 'And all to read the future.'
DR YIJIE ZHUANG:So basically they choose one piece of bone or shell, and then they drill some holes. And then they heat up the holes with some special plants.
DR YIJIE ZHUANG:And then these will create some cracks. And then they look at the pattern of these cracks.
MICHAEL WOOD:'And how they did it was really weird.
MICHAEL WOOD:'They took a heated point 'and burnt little round holes in the back of the bone.
MICHAEL WOOD:'And the heated point made cracks on the other side.
MICHAEL WOOD:'And then, a bit like fortune tellers, 'the priests looked at the cracks to see the will of the gods.
MICHAEL WOOD:'And they wrote the questions and answers down on the bones. 'Will the rains come?
MICHAEL WOOD:'Will our enemies attack us? 'Will the queen's baby boy live? 'Will the king's toothache get better?
MICHAEL WOOD:'So now we know that the Shang were real.
MICHAEL WOOD:'That their kings lived at Anyang.
MICHAEL WOOD:'That they used dragon bones to look into the future.
MICHAEL WOOD:'And that they got toothache just like us.'
Michael Wood explains how we know about the Shang dynasty.
Oracle bones, as they are known, were discovered by chance when a Chinese scholar fell ill with malaria.
A common cure at the time included being given some 'dragon' bones, to grind up, boil and drink as a traditional medicine.
He recognised writing on the bones his pharmacist or chemist gave him.
The bones led him to the town of Anyang. Here archaeologists discovered tombs and artefacts that confirmed the stories told by the Oracle Bones.
The evidence in the tombs was enough to convince archaeologists that the Shang really did exist. But the Oracle Bones provided the conclusive proof that the Shang were the first royal Chinese dynasty.
The Shang used the bones to ask the gods what was going to happen in the future - and wrote down the answers, so the bones tell us lots about the Ancient Shang Dynasty.
This clip is from the BBC series The Story of China. A series of videos exploring the stories, people and landscapes that have helped create China's distinctive character and genius over four thousand years.
Teacher Notes
You could discuss why historians were unsure whether or not the Shang existed, and what proved that it really existed?
You could discuss a visit to a Chinese pharmacy. What do the Chinese use 'dragon bones' for? What other things are mentioned in the film as being used in traditional medicine?
You could discuss what was the significance of the 'Oracle Bones and what part in the story was played by archaeology?
Finally, you could discuss how convinced the children are that the Shang really existed? Why?
Curriculum Notes
This clip is relevant for teaching history at Key Stage 2 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and at Second Level in Scotland.
More from The Story of China
How People Were Created. video
Michael Wood visits a farmer's festival in the plain of the Yellow River to honour the gods FuXi and NuWa. He explains the story or myth of how the first Chinese people were created.
How Humans Got Fire. video
Michael Wood climbs the Hill of Shang and visits a temple to the Gods of Fire and Water. He tells how one of the king's sons, Ebo, stole fire by tricking the gods.
How the Shang Invented Writing. video
Michael Wood describes the discovery of Shang tombs in Anyang, where archaeologists discovered cow and turtle bones with writing on, the first writing known in China.
How King Yu Controlled the Flood. video
Michael Wood describes the importance of the Yellow River, and how every year it flooded and brought death and destruction to this part of China.
How the Early Chinese Made Bronzes. video
Michael Wood visits a state of the art science laboratory in Nanjing. He investigates a beautiful bronze bowl, over 2,500 years old.
The Rise and Fall of the Shang. video
Michael Wood explores the reasons behind the rise and fall of the Shang dynasty.
