Chinese characters evolved from oracle bone inscriptions, bronze inscriptions (engraved on utensils), large seal script, small seal script, official script (invented by slaves in the Qin Dynasty), cursive, running script, and regular script.
Oracle bone inscriptions are an ancient Chinese writing. They mainly refer to the writings inscribed on tortoise shells or animal bones used by the Chinese royal family in the late Shang Dynasty for divination and recording events. They are the earliest mature Chinese characters we can see. It is also the earliest known systematic carrier of Shang Dynasty writing in China and East Asia. It was first discovered by Wang Yirong.
Oracle bone inscriptions have a symmetrical and stable pattern and possess the three elements of calligraphy, namely the use of pens, knots and composition. It was successfully selected into the "Memory of the World Register" on November 24, 2017.