It was where the Shang kings kept their most sacred ancestral temples, tablets, and regalia. Archaeological evidence suggests that the town of Shang was the ancestral capital of the dynasty that remained in a fixed location throughout the dynasty. 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.Ĭheng 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). Although historical records mention many different Shang capitals, only a few have actually been confirmed with archaeological evidence. While the king lived in and ruled from a capital city, it wasn’t always the same city. 4 The king was served by officials who held specialized positions of authority and function and the officials belonged to a hereditary class of aristocrats, usually related to the king himself. The Shang Dynasty was a monarchy governed by a series of kings, 29 or 30 in total, over the course of almost 600 years. The KingdomĪccording 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. They have confirmed the names of its kings, its style of government, its military history, its religious beliefs and rituals, and its society. Then, on the other side of the bone, the scribe carved the answer and the eventual outcome.īy analyzing oracle bone inscriptions, other artifacts, and archaeological sites such as tombs and ancient cities, scholars have been able to piece together many details of Shang civilization. He then inserted a hot metal rod into these pits until the bone cracked and the king or diviner interpreted the cracks. 3 On the other side of the bone or plastron he would carve a number of small pits. 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 have 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. The oracle bone inscriptions and the bronze inscriptions mark the beginning of written Chinese history. The information and details inscribed onto oracle bones matched what was recorded in texts written centuries later, thereby providing the evidence scholars needed. With so little information, scholars questioned whether the dynasty even existed. Shang bronze inscriptions were usually very short. Up to that point, Shang history had been based heavily on historical accounts written long after the Shang period ended. Oracle Bonesīefore the discovery of the Shang oracle bones and the interpretation of their inscriptions and bronze inscriptions, scholars had no firm proof that the Shang Dynasty existed. More recently discovered archaeological sites far away from 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. 1 It may have been the only one with written records, but that does not mean it was the only one in existence. While this is true in some regard, one must keep in mind that the Shang was but one of several contemporary civilizations in China. But many Chinese scholars firmly believe that the Xia did indeed exist even if written records have never been found.īecause the Three Dynasties’ civilization occupied the Yellow River valley, this geographic area is often called the birthplace or cradle of Chinese civilization. Therefore, most Western scholars regard the legendary Xia as an early civilization that existed between the Neolithic and Shang cultures. Even though texts written later than the Shang Dynasty mention the Xia Dynasty, Western scholars argue that they are not enough to prove it truly existed. Legends speak of the earlier Xia dynasty, but no written records from that time have been found to confirm this. The Shang is the second dynasty of the Three Dynasties Period. 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 Dynasty marked the middle of China’s Bronze Age and was a dynasty that made great contributions to Chinese civilization. Excerpt from Chinese Dynasties Part One: The Shang Dynasty Through the Tang Dynasty, 1600 BCE to 907 CE
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