Shang Dynasty
The
Shāng Dynasty (
Chinese: 商朝) or
Yīn Dynasty (殷代) (ca.
1600 BC - ca.
1027 BC) is the first confirmed historic
Chinese Dynasty and ruled in the northeastern region of the area known as "
China proper", in the
Yellow River valley. The Shāng dynasty followed the quasi-legendary
Xià Dynasty and preceded the
Zhōu Dynasty. Information about the Shang Dynasty comes from inscriptions on
bronze artifacts and
oracle bones--turtle shells, cattle scapula or other bones on which were written the first significant corpus of recorded
Chinese characters. The oracle bone inscriptions, which date to the latter half of the dynasty, typically recorded the date in the
Sexagenary cycle of the
Heavenly Stems and
Earthly Branches, followed by the name of the diviner and the topic being divined about. An interpretation of the answer (prognostication) and whether the divination later proved correct (verification) were sometimes also added.
These divinations can be gleaned for information on the politics, economy, culture, religion, geography, astronomy, calendar, art and medicine of the period, and as such provide critical insight into the early stages of the Chinese civilization. One site of the Shang capitals, later historically called the
Ruins of Yin 殷墟, is near modern day
Anyang 安陽. Archaeological work there uncovered 11 major Yin royal tombs and the foundations of palace and ritual sites, containing weapons of war and human as well as animal sacrifices. Tens of thousands of bronze, jade, stone, bone and ceramic artifacts have been obtained; the workmanship on the bronzes attests to a high level of civilization. In terms of inscribed oracle bones alone, more than 20,000 were discovered in the initial scientific excavations in the
1920s to
1930s, and many more have since been found.
The Shang dynasty is believed to have been founded by a rebel leader who overthrew the last (still legendary) Xia ruler. Its civilization was based on agriculture, augmented by hunting and animal husbandry. The
Records of the Grand Historian states that the Shang Dynasty moved its capital six times. The final and most important move to
Yin in 1350 BC led to the golden age of the dynasty. The term Yin Dynasty has been synonymous with the Shang dynasty in history, although lately it has been used specifically in reference to the latter half of the Shang.
A line of hereditary Shang kings ruled over much of northern China, and Shang troops fought frequent wars with neighboring settlements and nomadic herdsmen from the inner Asian
steppes. The capitals, particularly that in Yin, were centers of glittering court life. Court rituals to propitiate spirits developed. In addition to his secular position, the king was the head of the
ancestor- and spirit-worship cult. The king often performed oracle bone divinations himself, especially near the end of the dynasty. Evidence from the royal tombs indicates that royal personages were buried with articles of value, presumably for use in the afterlife. Perhaps for the same reason, hundreds of commoners, who may have been
slaves, were buried alive with the royal corpse.
The Shang dynasty had a fully developed system of writing; its complexity and state of development indicates an earlier period of development, which is still unattested. Iron casting and pottery also advanced in Shang culture. In astronomy, the Shang astronomers discovered Mars and various comets. Many musical instruments were also invented at that time.
Shang Zhou, the last Yin king, committed
suicide after his army was defeated by the
Zhou people. Legends say that his army betrayed him by joining the Zhou rebels in a decisive battle. A classical novel
Fengshen Yanyi is about the war between the Yin and Zhou, in which each was supported by one group of gods.
|
The site of Yin, the capital (1350 - 1046 BC) of the Shang Dynasty, also called Yin Dynasty. |
After the Yin's collapse, the surviving Yin ruling family collectively changed their surname from their royal 子 (
pinyin: zi;
Wade-Giles: tzu) to the name of their fallen dynasty, Yin 殷. The family remained aristocratic and often provided needed administrative services to the succeeding Zhou Dynasty. The Zhou King Cheng 周成王 through the Regent, his uncle the Duke of Zhou Dan 周公旦, enfeoffed the Shang King Zhou's brother the Viscount of Wei, WeiZi 微子 in the old Shang capital at Shang 商 with the territory becoming the state of Song 宋. The State of Song and the royal Shang descendants maintained rites to the dead Shang kings which lasted until 286BC. (Source:
Records of the Grand Historian.)
Both Korean and Chinese legends state that a disgruntled Yin prince named 箕子
Jizi (Kija), who refused to cede power to the Zhou, left China with his garrison and founded
Gija Joseon near modern day
Pyongyang to what would become one of the early Korean states (Go-, Gija-, and Wiman-Joseon). Though Jizi is mentioned only a few times in Shiji, it is thought that the story of his going to
Joseon is but a myth.
Sovereigns of the Shang Dynasty
*
Chinese historiography*
Chinese sovereign*
Chinese mythology*
Erligang culture*
Tribes in Chinese history*
Map of ShangKeightley, David N. (1978).
Sources of Shang History: The Oracle-Bone Inscriptions of Bronze Age China. University of California Press, Berkeley. Large format hardcover, ISBN 0-520-02969 (out of print); A 1985 ppbk 2nd edition is still in print, ISBN 0520054555.
Keightley, David N. (2000).
The Ancestral Landscape: Time, Space, and Community in Late Shang China (ca. 1200 " 1045 B.C.). China Research Monograph 53, Institute of East Asian Studies, University of California " Berkeley. ISBN 1-55729-070-9, ppbk.
