The Earliest Chinese Inscriptions in Bronze Circa 1,200 BCE – 1,045 BCE

The earliest Chinese inscriptions in bronze date from the late Shang period (c. 1200-1045 BCE)

“Discovered at Anyang in Henan province and at sites in the central Yangzi region, Shang bronze objects belonged to members of the royal family and the political elite. Under Zhou rule (104-221 BC) this social level of ownership continued and even widened. In existence today are probably over ten thousand inscribed vessels, weapons, bells and other bronze objects made before the Qin unification of 221 BC…”(http://www.historyofscience.com/G2I/timeline/index.php?category=Writing+%2F+Palaeography+%2F+Calligraphy)