KIBOKU
What is Kiboku (Tortoise Shell Divination)?
Kiboku is an ancient form of plastromancy in which a tortoise shell was heated until it cracked, and fortune was read from the pattern of the cracks. It is known for giving rise to the oracle bone script in Yin-dynasty China, and it was also transmitted to Japan, where it was practiced as a state divination under the ritsuryō system. It is no longer practiced as an everyday form of divination today.
Overview
- System
- Omen Reading (a historical crack-reading divination, reproduced symbolically here through random selection)
- Origin
- China, Japan
- What You Need
- A tortoise shell (used historically; today represented by symbolic random selection)
- Best For
- Life, timing
- Time Frame
- History, the past (no longer practiced as an everyday form of divination)
Origins & History
Kiboku is an ancient form of divination in which heat was applied to a tortoise shell and the resulting pattern of cracks was read for fortune. It was widely practiced in state rituals and government in China’s Yin dynasty (from around 1600 BCE), and the oracle bone script carved onto the shells as a record of these divinations is known as one of the origins of the Chinese characters used today.
It was also transmitted to Japan long ago, where records show it was practiced as a system of state divination by the Department of Divinities (Jingikan) under the ritsuryō system. Today it is no longer widely practiced as an everyday form of divination; it survives only as a vestige in imperial court rites such as the Daijōsai performed on the accession of a new emperor, and in the rituals of a few shrines, and it is treated here as a historical practice.
How It Works
- 01Decide on a single question to ask.
- 02Rather than reenacting the ritual of heating a tortoise shell, one of a set of symbolic patterns derived from the oracle bone script is randomly selected.
- 03Review the historical explanation associated with the selected pattern.
- 04Receive it as a symbolic suggestion, in remembrance of the ancient practice in China and Japan.
What It Reveals
It is well suited as a way to learn about the oracle bone script and the historical background of East Asian divination. Because it cannot faithfully reproduce the original reading techniques, it is not a divination to turn to for a definitive judgment of fortune or misfortune.
Related Methods
References
- 亀卜 - Wikipedia (https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%BA%80%E5%8D%9C)
- Wikipedia: Oracle bone (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oracle_bone)