Shang Dynasty

General

The Shang was the second hereditary dynasty in China. It lasted almost six hundred years with thirty-one kings over seventeen generations.

Shang used to be an old tribe lived in the lower reach of the Yellow River. It was a tributary of the Xia Kingdom. At the end of the Xia, the last ruler Jie was a tyrant who made his people live in misery. The chief of the Shang tribe, Tang, led an insurgent army and overthrew the Xia Dynasty (The 21st to the 17th century BC). Tang then established the Shang Dynasty and made Bo (present Caoxian County in Shandong Province) his capital city.

Political History

The Shang Dynasty was the second monarchical state in Chinese history. Tang, the founder of Shang, having drawn lessons from the ruin of the previous dynasty, treated his people benevolently and employed many able and virtuous ministers. The Shang made great progresses in its economy during the reign of Tang.

While, due to political struggle for power in the imperial court and continuous wars with frontier tribes, Shang state moved its capital five times. The most notable move was during the reign of King Pangeng, the seventeenth king of the Shang. He reestablished the capital at Yin, in the neighborhood of present Xiaotuncun, in Anyang City of Henan Province. The new capital contributed a lot to the stable government of the Shang Dynasty afterwards. Once the successful new capital was established, it did not change throughout the remainder of the Shang Dynasty. Therefore, the Shang Dynasty is often called "the Yin" or "the Yin-Shang Dynasty".

Another renowned Shang ruler was Wuding, the nephew of Pangeng. He was an aspirant and benevolent king and always endeavored to make his kingdom strong. Under his leadership, the empire of Shang made great achievements in its economy, which laid a foundation for the continuous development of following dynasties.

Economy and Society

From the findings on the site of Yin, the capital city of the Shang, archeologists found out that the productivity of the Shang Dynasty reached a relatively high level even during the former period. As far as agriculture was concerned, farm implements had been improved. Stone ploughs, spades and sickles were widely used. The primary crops included millet and wheat. More important, the Shang Dynasty thrived in the manufacture of bronze vessels.

Bronze culture has appeared in China before 3,000 BC and achieved its zenith around the 13th century BC. Bronze objects affected not only people' daily life but the arms of the state. Its wide use enabled unprecedented accomplishments of the Shang Dynasty in politics, economy, culture and art. In the reign of King Wuding, the landmark was the appearance of an alloy of copper, lead and tin. Bronzewares were under mass production. They fell mainly into two classifications: cooking vessels and alcohol containers. Among them, the famous works of art include simuwu quadripod, which is 732.84kg in weight as the largest bronzeware ever found anywhere in the world. It was made in tribute to the deceased mother of Shang king. Another is a wine container that has four goats resting on its rim. The Shang Dynasty marked the coming of Bronze Age.

At the same time, great development came about in other industries as well. In handicraft, the operation went under much subtler division of labor. It was recorded that a hundred lines emerged in handicraft at that time. Shang craftsmen acquired the skill of inlaying and carving and had their jade wares, stone wares and ivory wares brilliantly decorated. Textile workers invented the simple jacquard loom, which could produce high-quality silk fabric with a hidden pattern. Additionally, the Shang people also made significant progress in medicine, transportation and astronomy. During this period, important events were recorded on tortoise shell and animal bone using Oracle Script, which is the oldest known Chinese form of written communication.

The tradition of ancestral worship has a long history in China. Archeologists have found it was practiced even in Prehistoric Times (1.7 million years to the 21st century BC). With the emergence of farming, people worshipped the heaven in hope of favorable weather for crops. It actually was a kind of nature worship. Another kind of worship was ancestor worship, also called soul worship. People offered sacrifice to their ancestor, praying for blessings bestowed by their ancestors. From the Xia Dynasty onwards, Kings were endowed with supreme authority. In order to secure his power, the king combined ancestral worship and nature worship to create the God or the Heaven, and proclaimed himself the agent or the worldly descendent of the God.

In the Shang Dynasty, slavery system prevailed. The aristocrats enjoyed all the luxuries while the slaves lived a dog' life. They belonged to their lord. After the slave owner died, the slaves were often buried alive as human sacrifice together with animal offerings.

Decline

After the death of King Wuding, the prime day of the Shang Dynasty did not go on a long time. Toward the end, internal conflicts intensified and ducal states rebelled. The last Shang ruler was a despot. A rebellious army of slaves dethroned him in the 11th century BC.