The arrangement of the
inscriptions on oracle bones unearthed at the Eastern Locus at Huayuanzhuang, Yinxu, is complex but
it nevertheless follows definite rules. These rules appear as follows: each inscription basically follows the cracks on the bone; the inscription is carved above the cracks moving from the inside to the outside; and on reaching the end of the cracks the inscription then runs down the side of the cracks. Because the number of characters in an inscription differs, some do not reach the end of the cracks, and others run down around the cracks and then continue back around below the cracks. The arrangement of the inscription can also be in?uenced by the number of cracks and the way they are distributed, the number of words to be placed above and below the prognostication, and the space available for carving the inscription. By understanding the close connection between the lines of the inscription and the
cracks on oracle bones unearthed at the Eastern Locus at Huayuanzhuang, Yinxu, we can better understand the rules governing the
inscriptions of the Wang Group and the Non-Wang Group and so better understand the system governing oracle bone prognostication in the late period of the Shang dynasty.