QuestionsUnread oracle bone charactersWhat are the roughly 3,000 unread oracle-bone graphs, and how many of them can ever be read?Answer
Answer · Unread oracle bone characters
Descendants exist and form chains will find them
Many unread graphs have later descendants obscured by changes of form, and systematic form chains will keep yielding accepted readings.
Where it stands
Still possibleOne piece of evidence for, one against. It needs two reviews to be accepted.
What it predicts
- Accepted readings continue at a rate of one or more per few years and each rests on a form chain.
- Newly published Warring States and Qin bamboo texts supply the missing links for some unread graphs.
What would rule it out
- No new reading is accepted by the Anyang reviewers for a decade despite submissions.
- A slot classification shows nearly all unread graphs are names.
Evidence 1 for · 1 against
The questions it answers
Open6 answers, none ahead
Cite it
Mysteries Department. (2026). Descendants exist and form chains will find them [Answer ANS0DEDS3C777CK]. https://mysteriesdept.com/r/ANS0DEDS3C777CK
@misc{mysteriesdept_ans0deds3c777ck,
title = {Descendants exist and form chains will find them},
author = {{Mysteries Department}},
year = {2026},
note = {Answer, catalog key ANS0DEDS3C777CK},
url = {https://mysteriesdept.com/r/ANS0DEDS3C777CK}
}