Jiaguwen , also known as Oracle Bone Script, Buci or Qiwen, were characters mainly inscribed on tortoise plastrons and ox bones and used to record important events such as fortune telling and ritual. Jiaguwen appeared around 3,000 to 3,200 years ago from the end of the Shang dynasty to the dynasty of Xi Chou. During these 270 years Jiaguwen underwent several developments. The early structures of Jiaguwen featured pictorial signs and were bigger in shape. However, some linear and contour characters can be seen. The later form of Jiaguwen was smaller in size and some had cursive lines.
Jiaguwen was considered the official written language for its characters already had two elements: a "signific", which indicates the meaning of a word, and a "phonetic", which indicates the sound.
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