Summary of Peter Hessler's Oracle Bones

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book.

Sample Book Insights:

#1 The Chinese capital, Beijing, is surrounded by fields and villages that look exactly the same since the Middle Ages. In the Western view of the Chinese past, there is no equivalent of the fall of Rome, the Renaissance, or the Enlightenment.

#2 The Chinese archaeologists dug holes across the fields and checked for signs of buried structures. They began excavating the underground city, and found a ninety-degree bend: a corner. They realized that it must have been a settlement wall, and continued tracing the boundary and other interior structures.

#3 The Shang were a small political entity, but their cultural influence was much bigger. They were like if I bought McDonald’s here, you wouldn’t say that I’m in America. It’s the culture.

#4 I was the last clipper at the Beijing Wall Street Journal bureau. I was paid five hundred American dollars every month. The small bureau was pleasant, with a smattering of languages echoing off the old tiled floors.