Shang Dynasty Totally Explained

Everything about The Shang Dynasty totally explained

The Shang Dynasty (Chinese: ) or Yin Dynasty (ca. 1600 BC - ca. 1100 BC) was the second 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 historical records of the later Zhou Dynasty, the Han Dynasty Shiji by Sima Qian and from Shang inscriptions on bronze artifacts and oracle bones—turtle shells, cattle scapulae or other bones on which were written the first significant corpus of recorded Chinese characters.
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 . 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 over four times more have since been found.

Archaeological discovery

During the Song Dynasty (960–1279 AD), scholar-bureaucrats and the Chinese gentry became avid antiquarians and collectors of ancient artwork, some claiming to have found Shang Dynasty era bronze vessels with written inscriptions. Despite this, archeologists of the 19th century knew only of written records and historical documentations spanning as far back as the Zhou Dynasty (1046 BC–256 BC), but no earlier. Construction of these rammed earth walls was actually an inherited tradition by the Shang civilization, since much older rammed earth fortifications were found at Chinese Neolithic sites of the Longshan culture (c. 3000 BC–2000 BC). They also had large palaces that also suggested the existence of a dynastic kingdom preceding the Shang. Neolithic sites one hundred miles off of mainland China's southern coasts of Fujian — on the island of Taiwan — are dated as far back as 4000 BC.
Many of the Shang tombs had been tunneled into and ravaged by grave robbers of ancient times. In the spring of 1976, the discovery of Tomb 5 at Yinxu revealed a tomb that was undisturbed and one of the most lavished Shang tombs that archaeologists had yet come across. With over 200 bronze ritual vessels and 109 inscriptions of Lady Fu Hao's name, archaeologists realized they'd stumbled across the tomb of the militant consort to King Wu Ding, as described in 170 to 180 written Shang oracle bones. Along with bronze vessels, there was also found stoneware and pottery vessels, bronze weapons, jade carvings of figures and hair combs, and bone hairpins. Historian Robert L. Thorp states that the large assortment of weapons and ritual vessels in her tomb correlate with the oracle bone accounts of her military career and involvement in Wu Ding's ritual sacrifices.

History

The Shang dynasty is believed to have been founded by a rebel leader who overthrew the last Xia ruler. Its civilization was based on agriculture, augmented by hunting and animal husbandry. The Records of the Grand Historian state that the Shang 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 in history, and indeed was the more popular term, although it's now often used specifically in reference to the latter half of the Shang. The Japanese and Koreans still refer to the Shang dynasty exclusively as the Yin (In) dynasty.
   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 had a fully developed system of writing as attested on bronze inscriptions, oracle bones, and a small number of other writings on pottery, jade and other stones, horn, etc.; its complexity and state of development indicates an earlier period of development, which is still unattested. Bronze casting and pottery also advanced in Shang culture. The bronze was commonly used for art rather than weapons. In astronomy, the Shang astronomers saw Mars and various comets. Many musical instruments were also invented at that time.
   Shang influence, though not political control, extended as far northeast as modern Beijing, where early pre-Yan culture shows evidence of Shang material culture. At least one burial in this region during the Early Shang period contained both Shang-style bronzes and local-style gold jewelry. For example, archaeological findings at Sanxingdui suggest a technologically advanced civilization culturally unlike Anyang but lacking writing. The extent of Shang control is difficult to determine, given the lack of archaeological exploration. It is accepted among historians that Yin, ruled by the same Shang of official history, coexisted and traded with other culturally diverse settlements in North China.
   Chinese historians living in later periods were accustomed to the notion of one dynasty succeeding another, but the actual political situation in early China may have been more complicated. The Xia and the Shang can possibly refer to political entities that existed concurrently, just as the early Zhou (successor state of the Shang), is known to have existed at the same time as the Shang. In similar dimensions, the ancient Chinese capital for the State of Zhao, Handan (founded in 386 BC), had walls that were again 20 meters / 65 feet wide at the base, a height of 15 meters / 50 feet tall, with two separate sides of its rectangular enclosure measured at a length of 1530 yards. This production necessitated large labor force that would handle the mining, refining, and transportation of copper, tin, and lead ores.
   Apart from their role as the head military commanders, Shang kings also asserted their social supremacy by acting as the high priest of society and leader of divination ceremonies. Although the Shang depended upon the military skills of their nobility, the masses of town dwelling and rural commoners provided the Shang rulers with conscript labor as well as military obligation when mobilized for ventures of defense or conquest. The subservient lords of noble lineage and other state rulers were obligated to furnish their locally-kept forces with all the necessary equipment, armor, and armaments, while the Shang king maintained a force of about a thousand troops at his capital, and personally led this force into battle. A rudimentary military bureaucracy was needed in order to muster troops of three to five thousand troops in border campaigns, while it was recorded that up to thirteen thousand troops were mustered in order to suppress uprisings of insolent states to Shang authority. There were largely two types of army units in these sections, those being the loosely organized infantry that were conscripted from the privileged populace and played a supporting role, while the core of the army was the warrior nobility who rode in chariots. However, even after the Shang integrated the chariot into their military forces, the nobility were still largely amassed in infantry form, as the chariot was mostly associated with transportation, ceremonies, and large-scale royal hunting expeditions. Chariots in the Shang period generally carried three men, the driver placed at the center, an archer on the left, and a warrior armed with a dagger-axe on the right. It had a rectangular frame, with two large spoked wheels, and was driven by two horses, although some of the chariots had teams of four horses.

Gallery

Image:Liu Ding.jpg|A bronze liu ding ritual vessel Image:Jade deer.jpg|A jade-carved deer ornament Image:Gong Fu Yi Gong.jpg|A bronze gong ritual vessel Image:Gefuding Gui.jpg|A bronze gefuding gui vessel Image:Yuefu You.jpg|A bronze yuefu you vessel Image:Zun with animal mask.jpg|A bronze zun ritual vessel Image:Ring with coiled dragon design.jpg|A jade ring in the shape of a dragon Image:Jade fish.jpg|A jade carved fish Image:Pou with four ram head.jpg|A Shang Dynasty bronze pou vessel with four ram heads Image:Hache Yue Musée Guimet 1107.jpg|A bronze yue, late Shang era. Image:PICT7466.JPG|Bronzewares from the excavated tomb of Fu Hao, c. 1250 BC.

Sovereigns of the Shang Dynasty

Posthumous names
Convention: posthumous name or King + posthumous name
Order	Reign	Chinese	Hanyu Pinyin	Notes
01	29	湯 (成唐)	Tāng	a Sage king; overthrew tyrant Jié (桀) of Xià (夏)
02	02	太丁	Tài Dīng
03	32	外丙	Wài Bǐng
04	04	仲壬	Zhòng Rén
05	12	太甲	Tài Jiǎ
06	29	沃丁	Wò Dǐng
07	25	太庚	Tài Gēng
08	17	小甲	Xiǎo Jiǎ
09	12	雍己	Yōng Jǐ
10	75	太戊	Tài Wù
11	11	仲丁	Zhòng Dīng
12	15	外壬	Wai Ren
13	09	河亶甲	Hé Dǎn Jiǎ
14	19	祖乙	Zǔ Yǐ
15	16	祖辛	Zǔ Xīn
16	20	沃甲	Wò Jiǎ
17	32	祖丁	Zǔ Dīng
18	29	南庚	Nán Gēng
19	07	陽甲	Yáng Jiǎ
20	28	盤庚	Pán Gēng	Shang finally settled down at Yīn (殷). The period starting from Pán Gēng is also called the Yīn Dynasty, beginning the golden age of the Shāng dynasty. Oracle bone inscriptions are thought to date at least to Pán Gēng's era.
21	29	小辛	Xiǎo Xīn
22	21	小乙	Xiǎo Yǐ
23	59	武丁	Wǔ Dīng	married to consort Fu Hao, who was a renowned warrior. Most of the oracle bones studied are believed to have came from his reign.
24	12	祖庚	Zǔ Gēng
25	20	祖甲	Zǔ Jiǎ
26	06	廩辛	Lǐn Xīn
27	06	庚丁	Gēng Dīng	or Kang Ding (康丁 Kāng Dīng)
28	35	武乙	Wǔ Yǐ
29	11	文丁	Wén Dīng
30	26	帝乙	Dì Yǐ
31	30	帝辛	Dì Xīn	aka Zhòu (紂), Zhòu Xīn (紂辛) or Zhòu Wáng (紂王). Also referred to by adding "Shāng" (商) in front of any of these names.
Note: All dates are approximate up to 841 BC. Refer to Zhou dynasty for more info. Personal names of most of the Shang sovereigns were unknown. The following names were most likely posthumous owing to worse appearances of the Heavenly Stems.

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