In America today, literacy is assumed. It is easy to think of written language as a given, especially in a society that is so hugely literate. The overwhelming spread of written language is not guaranteed, though, as we can see, looking back to the early jiaguwen, with those who could write it most likely numbering in the double digits.

     When written language begins, it is for the elite, for the scribes at Anyang and the Zhou nobility. But over time, even without a widespread system for the education of commoners, literacy skills begin to spread, and something tied to the power of the wealthy, the noble, and the spiritually influential trickles down to soldiers on the front and urban citizens. Ultimately, the consolidation of power fails, and the written word spreads, spreading power along with it.