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The Shang Dynasty came to power after the Xia period. They left a written record of their time and how they organized their society. At the top of the Shang social hierarchy was a person like a king called Tian-zi, which meant Son of Heaven in Chinese, who had the most power. This ruler owned everything, including all land and people. Everyone worked to support the "king." This system, called serfdom, served the government and people well.
Shang Beliefs:
The Shang believed in the existence of two different worlds, one for the living and the other for the dead. People in the royal family were often buried with their chariots, horses, and even slaves. They felt that the dead would need these in the other world. After a common person died, the bones were usually put into a pottery jar. Archeologists have found seashells in groups of tens in Shang graves. It is believed that economic growth at the time caused a need for a money system and that the shells were the Shang form of money. They left the money for the dead person to use in the next world. The Shang also believed that the dead could have power to help them if the remains of the person were properly visited and served through the offering of small gifts of things like flowers and food.
Another aspect of the Shang culture shows that they believed the worlds of living and dead could communicate with one another. Archaeologists found animal bones with writing carved on them that were made during the Shang Dynasty. The bones are called “oracle bones” and are thought to have been made to communicate with dead relatives. The word oracle means a revelation, prophesy, or to show. The Shang used the bones to ask questions of the dead. They believed that the way that the bones cracked told them the answer. The information written on the bones is the earliest known written record of Chinese history. It makes the Shang dynasty the first to be recorded in Chinese history.
The Beginning of Chinese Writing
The writing on the oracle bones was not the only type of writing that was done during the Shang Dynasty. In fact, all three basic categories of characters or symbols that are used in today’s Chinese writing systems were developed during this time period. Characters can stand for ideas like up or down or for things such a tree or house. Another type of character stands for sounds, like the letters in our alphabet. Like English, it included “tenses” to tell present, past, and future such as using run / ran or jump / jumped to tell when something happened. A writing system with so many characters did not develop overnight. It took many years for all the symbols to come into use. In modern Chinese there are over two hundred sounds that letters can make, and each sound has four different tones. There are thousands of characters and thousands more combinations of characters. As you also may have guessed, learning to read or write in Chinese is not easy. It takes many years of study and practice as most languages do. But, a person who learns it has mastered something that began with the ancient Shang Dynasty.
The Shang Use Metal
Writing was not the only human characteristic to emerge during the Shang Dynasty. The use of metal, first bronze then iron, to make weapons and tools began around 1776 BCE. People also carved writing into bronze objects like vases. Historians call this period the Bronze Age. Metal made tools and weapons stronger and more efficient. These inventions helped the Shang to become the strongest among several groups of Chinese settlers who were living in the area at the time.
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The Economic System: Agriculture & Trade
During the Shang period, most of China’s population was made up of farmers. Farming required irrigation skills as well as knowledge of when to plant different crops like wheat, rice, and vegetables. After hundreds of years of experience a calendar, known as the Lunar Calendar, was developed to help keep track of the farming seasons. It is based on months that are made up of 10 day sections, like our weeks. That calendar, developed about 3,000 years ago, is still in use by some people today.
As Shange farming improved, people were able to grow more than enough food for their families. They had a surplus. The surplus could be traded for things the farmers didn’t have the time or skills to do themselves. A farmer might trade extra wheat for a new bucket or to have someone fix a broken wagon wheel.
People to the north of the Shang lived in a harsh desert environment. They couldn’t grow the amount or variety of crops that the Shang were producing so they came to Shang cities to trade. People from areas around the territory also had more to trade with each other and often came to the cities to do so. The king, or Tian-zi, found it hard to get his share of tax money from the trades. His solution was to build walls around the bigger cities to limit the ways people could enter or leave. As they came in the gates, his officials could tax what they brought in or out. Everyone was benefiting economically from the increased production of goods and trade.
The Shang Dynasty Come to an End
The Shang Dynasty ended for many reasons. After 500 years, the central government had become weaker and poorer. The way land had been divided up by the Shang government led to conflicts. Farmers who had large portions of good land had much to trade but some families had land with poor soil that was not as flat and easy to farm. They couldn’t make as much money or live as well as others. It led them to be unhappy with the government.
Another thing that caused the Shang Dynasty to end was that the last two Shang kings did not put the interest of the people before their own. They lived in ways that some thought were not very moral or right, such as drinking alcoholic drinks. The people lost respect for them. One of the kings kept on fighting his neighbors without a proper plan, and soon drained major resources in the wars. People began to think that the Shang did not have the right to rule any longer. The Zhou people, who were living in part of the Shang territory, were growing stronger in power because they put effort into helping their people. They took over several smaller states and eventually defeated the Shang Dynasty in 1112 BCE.
* About These Documents
This collection of documents was developed in collaboration with MCPS and ___. They provide additional information and explanation of the political, economic, and social systems of each dynasty. Students and teachers may find them helpful when completing the Dynasty Project in the sixth grade Unit 3 guide The Impact of Economics in Ancient and Modern China. The additional readings are provided to also supplement student understand of the achievements of ancient China and their influence on other civilizations.
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