An Yang, ancient capital of the Shang Dynasty

How did it work? Well, apparently the diviner chiseled a small, shallow indentation into the piece of shell or bone. Then they put a piece of burning charcoal against the shell. With a slight sound: po, the shell would crack into leaving a fissure like the English letter "T" lying sideways. The oracle was then read according to the contours of the crack.

There are usually four elements to the inscriptions on the shell: the time and the thing you need to ask, the name of the official who's in charge of conducting the what happened eventually and but one thing to remember, its always the king who decide if its good luck or not.

The excavation of Yinxu is like opening a massive underground treasure trove and more surprises were to come. On the northern bank of the Huanhe River, people eventually discovered 13 gigantic underground mausoleums. Unfortunately, tomb robbers had visited these mausoleums long before archeologists. But the archeologists still discovered numerous human and animal sacrifices and funeral objects, including several bronze utensil weighing nearly hundreds of kilograms. The biggest mausoleum was 27 meters long and 17 meters wide. And, what do you know, it looks like an Egyptian Pyramid placed upside down. The kings were supposed by be berried in the centre surrounded by human sacrifices. A total of 12 emperors ruled Shang Dynasty in Yin. And 13 mausoleums were discovered. Controversies and speculations remain as to the real owner of each of the tomb.

Together with the huge mausoleums of the kings, people have unearthed more than 2,500 small tombs and sacrificial pits. The worship of ancestors and sacrifice rituals were key to the reign of the Shang Dynasty. The human sacrifices, usually young men, were beheaded and their heads and the body were buried separately. According to the oracle inscriptions, sometimes hundreds of people were killed for one ceremony. Archaeologist Hu Houxuan studied the oracle inscriptions, and did the math, and concluded that, from the time Pangeng moved the capital to Yin to the collapse of the dynasty, about 13,000 people were killed for sacrificial purposes.

In the spring of 1976, the region near Anyang was about to undergo large-scale ground leveling project . Archaeological workers combed the ground before the construction started. They used a special kind of long shovel, called a Luoyang shovel, to probe the ground and take earth samples from beneath. One thrust brought up some crusts of red lacquer.

Although the tomb was only 22 square meters, many funeral objects were unearthed here, a harvest compared to the often empty mausoleums. It was the first noble tomb discovered that had never been robbed. Large number of funeral objects such as bronze, jade, and even sea shells were found, indicating the owner, Fuhao's special status. Fuhao was one of the favorite concubines of the King Wuding. She was also a brave warrior woman who led many strong fighters into battle, and won many victories along with tremendous respect. The oracle bones record that once she led nearly 13,000 men into attack. That was the largest army the Shang Dynasty ever sent out. So it's solid evidence of her leadership skills and strategic capabilities. Try to imagine what such a woman could accomplish if she lived in today's China.