The Shang Dynasty, 1600 to 1050 BCE
When did the Shang Dynasty begin and end?
The Shang Dynasty marked the middle of China’s Bronze
Age and was a dynasty that made great contributions to Chinese
civilization. Scholars do not fully agree on the dates and details of
the earliest Chinese dynasties, but most accept that the Shang
Dynasty is the first one to have left behind written records and
solid archaeological evidence of its existence. The Shang is the
second dynasty of the Three Dynasties Period. Legends speak of
the earlier Xia dynasty, but no written records from that time have
been found to confirm this. Even though texts were written later than the
Shang Dynasty mentions the Xia Dynasty, Western scholars argue
that they are not enough to prove it truly existed. Therefore, most
Western scholars regard the legendary Xia as an early civilization
that existed between the Neolithic and Shang cultures. But many
Chinese scholars firmly believe that the Xia did indeed exist even
if written records have never been found.
Because the Three Dynasties’ civilization occupied the Yellow
River valley, this geographic area is often called the birthplace or
cradle of Chinese civilization. While this is true in some regard,
one must keep in mind that the Shang was but one of several
contemporary civilizations in China.1
It may have been the only
one with written records, but that does not mean it was the only one
in existence. More recently discovered archaeological sites far away
f r o m the Yellow River valley reveal distinctly different cultures
from the Shang and scholars are now trying to determine how
much these cultures influenced each other.
Oracle Bones
Before the discovery of the Shang oracle bones and the
interpretation of their inscriptions and bronze inscriptions,
s c h o lars had no firm proof that the Shang Dynasty existed. Up to
that point, Shang history had been based heavily on historical
accounts written long after the Shang period ended. Shang bronze
inscriptions were usually very short. With so little information,
scholars questioned whether the dynasty even existed. T h e
I n f o rmation and details inscribed onto oracle bones matched what
was recorded in texts written centuries later, thereby providing the
evidence scholars needed. The oracle bone inscriptions and the
bronze inscriptions mark the beginning of written Chinese history.
The king or professional diviners hired by the king used oracle
bones to make predictions about the future or to answer questions
such as, “Will the king has a son?”, “ Will it rain tomorrow?”, “If
we send 3,000 men into battle, will we succeed?”, or even “Is the
long drought caused by ancestor X?”
2
The scribe carved the
question onto a bone (most often the shoulder bones of water
buffalo or other cattle) or a tortoise plastron.3
On the other side of
the bone or plastron, he would carve a number of small pits. He
then inserted a hot metal rod into these pits until the bone cracked;
and the king or diviner interpreted the cracks. Then, the scribe carved the answer and the eventual
outcome on the other side of the bone.
By analyzing oracle bone inscriptions, other artifacts, and
arch a ecological sites such as tombs and ancient cities, scholars have
been able to piece together many details of Shang civilization.
They have confirmed the names of its kings, its style of government,
its military history, its religious beliefs and rituals, and its society.
The Kingdom
According to legend, the Shang Dynasty was founded sometime
around 1600 BCE by a virtuous man named Cheng Tang, who overthrew the evil king of the legendary Xia. The Shang Dynasty was
a monarchy governed by a series of kings, 29 or 3 0 in total, over the course of almost 6 0 0 years .4
The king was served by officials who held
specialized positions of authority and function; and the official s
belonged to a hereditary class of aristocrats, usually related to
the king himself.
While the king lived in and ruled from a capital city, it wasn’t
always the same city. Although historical records mention many
different Shang capitals, only a few have actually been confirmed
with archaeological evidence. No one knows exactly why a king
would move the capital but some scholars think it had to do with
internal power struggles within the royal family.
Cheng Tang is said to have established the dynasty’s first capital at
a town called Shang (near modern-day Zhengzhou), but later kings
moved the capital many more times, the last being a place called
Yin (near modern-day Anyang). Archaeological evidence suggests
that the town of Shang was the dynasty's ancestral capital that
remained in a fixed location throughout the dynasty. It was where
the Shang kings kept their most sacred ancestral temples, tablets,
and regalia. The political capital was where the kings lived and
ruled. While the political capital moved many times during
the dynasty, the ancestral capital never moved.
The core of the dynasty was located in the northern part of
m o dern-day Henan province, in a triangular area between the cities
of Anyang, Luoyang, and Zhengzhou, the latter two of which are on
theYellow River.In addition to uncovering the remains ofseveralShang
cities, archaeologists have found huge tombs of many Shang kings
and their families. Even though the dynasty was centered in this
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area, its culture reached places much farther away.
As the oracle bones and other artifacts and records were revealed, the Shang
kings were constantly at war with outsiders near and far. Many of the
oracle bones bore questions related to battles, such as the outcome
of a future battle or how many men to send into battle. The king sent
out armies of as many as 13,000 men to fight battles on behalf of the
kingdom. Victorious armies brought back prisoners of war—as
many as 30,000 at a time—who either became laborers or ritual
sacrifices.7
The armies also helped gain new territories and
bring back precious resources for the kingdom.
Religion
The Shang worshipped the “Shang Di,” who was the supreme god
that ruled over the lesser gods of the sun, the moon, the wind, the
rain, and other natural forces and places.8
They also worshipped
their ancestors because they believed that although their ancestors
lived in heaven after their death, they were still actively involved
in the affairs of family and descendants. The kings communicated
with their ancestors using oracle bones and made frequent sacrifices to
them. As in many other societies, they sacrificed animals to royal
ancestors and to various nature gods, using sacrifices to ask the
ancestors or gods for help and to feed the ancestors or gods to keep
them strong. They believed that if they failed to properly worship
their ancestors, their family and the kingdom would experience
many disasters.
Because the Shang believed in the afterlife and ancestor worship, they thought very seriously about burial and what was to a c c o m p any the deceased to his or her grave. The vast and e laborate tombs of the Shang royal family are signs of their strong beliefs. Among the many treasures buried in important people’s tombs were the remains of many other people. Some were n a m eless individuals who had been captured during battle and used as human sacrifices at burials. Others were relatives or l o w e r-ranking dependents of the deceased. This practice of b u r ying lower-ranking people reflected the Shang’s belief that those related to a king or lord by blood or service in life were expected to continue that relationship in death.
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