I. Introduction: The World Behind the Script

In 1899, when Wang Yirong identified the first oracle bone characters on "dragon bones" used in traditional Chinese medicine, he could hardly have imagined that these three-thousand-year-old inscriptions would open a cross-civilizational dialogue. Oracle bone script is not only the source of Chinese characters, but also a window — through which we glimpse the sacred order as perceived by the Shang people.

Oracle bones were primarily unearthed at Yinxu in Anyang, Henan, and represent divination records of the late Shang royal court (ca. 1300–1046 BCE). The Shang king consulted the oracle for almost everything: sacrifices, military campaigns, hunting, illness, childbirth, weather... And the ultimate reference point of all these divinations was a supreme being called "Di" (帝).

II. "Di" in Oracle Bone Inscriptions — Source of the Mandate

Among the over 100,000 oracle bones discovered, the character "Di" appears frequently. It is inscribed in the most prominent positions on turtle plastrons and ox scapulae, typically associated with matters of state such as rain-prayers, warfare, and harvests. Chen Mengjia, in his Comprehensive Study of Yinxu Divination Inscriptions, pointed out that "Di" was the supreme ruler in the minds of the Yin people, governing all natural phenomena and human affairs.

"Does Di ordain sufficient rain for the harvest? Does Di not ordain sufficient rain for the harvest?" — Jiaguwen Heji 10139

This recognition of the supreme one's absolute authority forms a remarkable echo with the declaration in the Psalms: "The LORD has established his throne in heaven, and his kingdom rules over all." (Psalm 103:19)

"Di" in the oracle bones not only governs nature but also intervenes in human affairs. Phrases such as "Di approves" and "Di does not approve" frequently appear, indicating that the Shang people believed Di possessed will and the power to bless or curse — remarkably aligned with the personal attributes of the biblical God.

III. Sacrifice and Revelation

The Shang sacrificial system was highly developed, yet a striking feature is that the Shang did not offer sacrifices directly to "Di." Instead, they approached Di through ancestral intermediaries. This pattern of "indirect sacrifice" evokes the Old Testament role of the high priest as mediator between God and humanity.

Oracle bone inscriptions also record various sacrificial methods — burning offerings, sinking offerings, burying offerings — among which blood sacrifice is particularly thought-provoking. In Shang religion, blood possessed the function of purification and communication with the sacred realm, bearing deep structural similarities with the Hebrew tradition that "the life of the flesh is in the blood... for it is the blood that makes atonement" (Leviticus 17:11).

IV. Conclusion: From Awe to Knowledge

The character "Di" in oracle bone inscriptions reveals a crucial fact: the early Chinese perception of the supreme being was not an evolutionary progression from polytheism to monotheism, but rather, from the very beginning, there existed a supreme, personal, all-governing "Di."

This discovery carries profound significance for civilizational dialogue. As the Apostle Paul declared at the Areopagus in Athens: "What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you." (Acts 17:23) Perhaps the oracle bones represent Chinese civilization's earliest witness to this "unknown God."