Oracle Bones Are from the Shang Dynasty

The earliest writing in China was in 1766-1045ACE over 3 thousand years ago. The Oracle Bones are from the Shang Dynasty. Oracle Bones are tortoise shells and scapula of mammals. Writing existed in China over three thousand years ago. In order to be part of the government you had to have the written language skills. The late Neolithic period "pictograms" began to appear on pottery and jades. The "pictograms" identified ownership and clan emblems. Another common script was "Rebus writing" is when a sign for one word is used to write another word. Wang Xizhi was the foremost among the calligraphers of the Eastern Jin period, and is considered the Sage of Calligraphy. He is best known for writings in cursive and running scripts. Although his calligraphy was valued and collected from early on, few original works survive, and those that do are letters and notes. Because even as early as Tang times authentic handwritten examples of Wang Xizhi's calligraphy were rare, and only copies circulated

Wang Xianzhi was Wang Xizhi's seventh son, also renowned as a calligrapher. In his own time, his reputation even surpassed his father. Wang Xizhi was considered China's foremost calligrapher, he had a classical and sophisticated style. The earliest collection of Chinese poetry is the Shih Ching, a collection of 305 poems.

Some of these poems may date back to 1000 BCE. The oldest poem in this collection that can be pinpointed back to 621 BCE Many of the poems were compiled over several centuries, most of them during the Zhou period around 600 BCE. This collection of traditional songs is the oldest collection of poems and it became one of the Five Confucian. Surprisingly enough, it is thought that Confucius is the author of the earliest collection of Chinese poetry.