20 Shang Dynasty

Shang Dynasty — China's First Recorded History

 China begins with the Shang dynasty. Scholars today argue about when the dynasty began, with opinions ranging from the mid-18th to the mid-16th century B.C.E. Regardless of the dates, one event more than any other signaled the advent of the Shang dynasty — the Bronze Age.

It was during the Shang dynasty that bronze working became common. Thousands of artifacts from the ruins of Yin, the last capital of the Shang, were unearthed in the late 1920s and '30s. Bronze vessels for drinking were used in ritual ceremonies, while bronze chariots and axes were used in battle. As the metal was associated with royalty, the tombs of Shang kings contained hundreds of small bronze objects, even including hairpins.

One of the few undisturbed tombs was that of the legendary Fuhao, wife of Wu-ting. Her tomb by itself contained 468 works of bronze and 775 pieces of jade. Some of the bronze objects found contained the first Chinese characters ever written. Very simple in nature, these characters often represented the name of the object's owner.

Originally a tribe living in the lower regions of the Yellow River during the Xia Dynasty (21st - 17th century BC), Shang was established by King Tang in 1675 BC after overthrowing the tyrannical rule of Jie, (Xia's last emperor). This dynasty lasted over 600 years and was led by 30 different emperors. As the capital of the Shang was always based in Yin (the now Xiaotun Village, in Anyang City of Henan Province), it is also known as 'Yin Shang'.

Drawing from the 'lessons' of Jie, Tang implemented a series of innovative measures with the help of his two ministers. He is best known for abolishing the persecution and oppression of the people carried out by Jie, and for governing his people with benevolence and compassion. During his reign, conflicts eased, people lived happy lives, and the country prospered. In all areas, from economy to culture, there were great achievements.

The dynasty flourished through the reign of the ninth emperor. During the rule of the tenth emperor however, conditions began to deteriorate and there were multiple attempts by the emperor's own family to overthrow him and take command of the kingdom. Social problems began to emerge and the emperor's power gradually declined.

During the final period, the country was in turmoil and vassals from other countries began to rebel. Despite the turmoil and the impending uprising, Emperor Zhou (Shang's last emperor) led a luxurious life and tortured both his ministers and his people. This intensified conflicts across the kingdom and the empire was finally overthrown by Wu (chief of Zhou tribe), ending the long reign of the Shang Dynasty in Chinese history.

Shang Violence and Splendor

To the east, north and south of Shang civilization were those the Shang saw as barbarians, including the farming people along the Yangzi River. With their armies Shang emperors repulsed invaders, and the Shang emperors went beyond their domains to plunder and to capture foreign peoples needed for sacrifice to their gods. Uncovered tombs of emperors from the Shang period indicate that they could put into the field as many as three to five thousand soldiers. Found buried with the emperors were their personal ornaments and spears with bronze blades and the remains of what had been bows and arrows. Buried with the emperors were also horses and chariots for transporting soldiers to battle. And with the emperors in death were their charioteers, dogs, servants and people in groups of ten – people who had been ceremonially beheaded with bronze axes.

Shang Religion

It was during the Shang Dynasty around 1300 BCE that the first known writing appeared among the Chinese. This writing was for divination. The writing was symbols on the bones of cattle or deer, on seashells or turtle shells and perhaps on wood. By applying a pointed, heated rod to a bone or shell, the item cracked, and the written symbol to which the crack traveled gave answers to assigned questions: what the weather was going to be like, would there be flood, would a harvest succeed or fail, when might be the best time for hunting or fishing, questions about illness or whether one should make a journey

The people of Shang civilization appear to have had the same religious impulses as others. They saw nature as numerous gods using magic, gods called kuei-shen, a word for ghost or spirit. They had a god that they thought produced rain. They had a god of thunder and a god for each mountain, river and forest. They had a mother god of the sun, a moon goddess, and a god of the wind. Like others who worked the soil, they had a fertility god. They believed in a master god who had a palace in the center of heaven and who rewarded people for their virtue. And their gods had faces that were more Asian in appearance than Western.

The priests of Shang civilization made sacrifices to their gods, attempting to bribe them, believing that the gods might exercise either benevolent or malevolent magic. The frequency of floods and other calamities led the people to believe that some gods were good and others demonic. They believed in an evil god who led travelers astray and devoured people.

The people of Shang civilization believed in an invisible heaven that people went to when they died. Shang emperors told their subjects that heaven was where the ancestors of Shang emperors dwelled. Aristocrats were concerned with their status and boasted about their ancestral roots. They kept records of their family tree, and they saw their ancestors as going back to gods who often took the form of animals – gods who became family symbols like the totems that were to be familiar in the Americas. But for common people it was different. They had no surnames and no pedigree and did not participate in ancestor worship.

Aristocrats believed that humans had a spirit that was created at conception. They believed that this spirit both continued to reside in one's body after death and ascended to the invisible world where the spirits of the dead dwelled. Aristocrats believed that in this invisible world their ancestors resided in the court of the gods and had powers to help guide and assist their living descendants.

Aristocrats saw their ancestors as needing nourishment. At grave sites they offered food and wine to their deceased family members and ancestors – a ritual that males alone were allowed to perform, adding to the preference for the birth of a male into a family. They believed that if offerings to the dead were discontinued, the spirits of the dead would become lost and starving ghosts who, in revenge, might do evil. When an aristocrat wanted a special favor from an ancestor, he supplemented the offerings by sacrificing animals. And the Shang knew of human sacrifice. If an emperor wanted a special favor from the gods he might sacrifice a human