'Ritual and Risk in Chinese Divination Rituals': A Comment on 'Divination and Power' by Rowan K. Flad

The performance of ritual is infested with risk. Risk of one's status as a competent performer, risk of one's projected social status, risk of intervention and interruption by human and superhuman agents. Chinese oracle bone divination rituals, based on the interpretation of the cracking of the bones aftrer firing, where in the Lower Xiajiadian culture enriched with a specific pretreatment of these 'oracle-bones'. This preparation of bones included the drilling of holes to make the cracking of the bones more predictable. This was a strategy to mitigate risk and was soon to spread to oracle bones accross China. It is argued in this short paper that the element of risk was the motive behind the spread of this practice.