By David and Vincent

Map

The Shang Dynasty

lasted around 5- 600

years, and was ruled by

30 different emperors in

its time. It was in the

Bronze Age, and took

over the previous dynasty

using bronze. The Shang

Dynasty was only the

second dynasty the

period, and was not very

large.

Background

The Shang Dynasty was a very

important part of the Chinese history.

the Shang Dynasty was created by a rebel

king. It was based on agriculture, but there

was also some hunting. Their military was

fairly strong, and used bronze weapons to

fight with. The Shang also sacrificed

humans. The civilization practiced ancestor

worship, and believed in the afterlife. They

formed their own writing system, and they

also had some astronomers.

Social Structure

The highest person in the Shang Dynasty’s social

structure was the king. There were some slaves at

the very bottom of the social structure, and nobles

were the second highest. They were usually

the relatives of the king. The priests were

in charge of the religion of the dynasty,

and watched over the government.

Women were lower than men, and

children (usually girls) were

sometimes killed if they caused

problems.An example social structure.

Housing

The majority of the people in the

Shang dynasty lived in small

farming, and fishing villages while

the rich lived in huge cities

surrounded by gigantic walls. These

huge walls that protected the city

were made of mud and sticks. They

were about 30 feet high, 65 feet

thick and 6kms long. The wall took

18 years to build, and 10 000

people worked on it. The less well

off people during this dynasty lived

in houses made by dried mud and

brick. The doors usually faced south

to keep out the north wind. They

had dirt floors and almost no

furniture.

How the Wealthy

The wealthy people in the

Shang dynasty lived in large

wooden houses similar to

these. In their houses, there

were wooden floors and some

furniture. Their main diet for

food was fish, grain products,

vegetable and fruit. They lived

very close to each other, which

let all of the community know

each other well. The people

wore silk and other expensive

materials.

Food

The main food for the poor were

millet, which is similar to rice.

The main diet for everyone was

mostly fish. Also, the rich ate

other wild animals but hunting

wasn’t a main source of food

and more like a hobby. For

special events, people would

drink millet ale. The ale was

known as wine. If the rich had

extra money to spend, they

would buy vegetables and fruit.

They were not very hard to grow

in the Shang dynasty, as it was

based upon agriculture.

Used for crushing grain

Family Life

The family was one of the

most important things in the

Shang Dynasty. Loyalty to

your family was a very key

part of the culture. The

oldest man was the leader of

the family, and the younger

people looked up to their

parents. The women were

supposed to defer to their

husband, and generally be

respectful.

Oldest Man

Man’s Wife

The children

A sample Shang

Dynasty family.

Marriage

When a girl was 13-16, their marriage

was arranged by their parents. After she

was married she would move to her

husband’s house. The nobles would

marry for political reasons rather than

personal. They would create

links between two different

families or clans.

Two people getting

married.

Childbirth Practices

When a woman finds she is pregnant

people thought that everything the

woman says and does will influence

the unborn child. A pregnant woman

reads poetry and doesn't gossip,

laugh loudly or lose her temper. Also,

Chinese women will read nice stories

before going to sleep. People

believed that if a pregnant woman

eats food that's not correctly cut, her

child will have a deformation.

Pregnant women would not be

allowed to attend funerals, and to

scare away evil sprits Chinese

women slept with knives under their

beds. The women would usually

have the baby in their own house

with only close family.

No speaking gossip

Read nice story before sleeping

Childhood

The Shang Dynasty worshipped their ancestors,

so the children obeyed and looked up to their

parents. If you were a girl, you would not be

wanted and seen to be a waste. The male children

would work on trades such as farming or fishing,

and the girls would learn to wash clothes and do

other assorted chores. The children of nobles

would get better education, and generally have a

much better life than the lives of commoners.

Chinese children.

Childhood Comparison

In the Shang dynasty children were expected to do every

thing that their elders told them to do. If the child was a

female, they would usually stay in their house doing chores

like washing clothes. If the child was male, they would have

to farm and fish if they were farmers or fishers and learn to

fight if they were warriors. If they had the blood of the king

the children could do almost anything they would like inside

the walls of their town. Our life is probably the most similar to

the relatives to the king because we don’t have to get are

own food and we can do a lot of things when we want to.

Equivalent to

Education

Their was not much schooling in the Shang

Dynasty. Nobles would pay tutors to teach their

children, but the average child would not be

educated. The children who learned would be

taught on turtle shells, or bones. They would learn

how to do things by being an apprentice to their

job of choice. Some of the male children would

learn to become warriors and fight in the army, but

girls were not given this option.

The children would be taught

on shells of turtles.

Religion

The Shang Dynasty worshipped their ancestors.

This later became a main part of Confucianism,

and the way China thinks. They would bring

offerings to the tombs of their ancestors, but this

wasn’t all of their religion. The Shang Dynasty also

worshipped gods. The highest god was named

Shang Di, Shang Ti or just Di. They

believed in gods of specific things and places,

such as the god of Earth. Dead kings

were thought to have been gods, and

their name was preceded by “Di”.

An offering to an ancestor would

often be a bronze pot.

One God

In the Shang dynasty, there

were many gods for war, ocean

etc. but the main god was

Shang Ti/Shang Di. He was the

highest god and ruled over

heavens and all the other gods.

The people of Shang believed

that their gods were very

powerful and could cause

droughts, floods, and plagues.

They also thought that the king

was from the heavens and was

a mortal god, similar to Ancient

Egypt.

Clothing

The Shang Dynasty, created the

fundamentals of the Hanfu.

Hanfu is a wool shoulder to knee

fabric. Since the technology was

only simple, the only colours that

could be used were primary

usually red, blue , yellow and

green. The hanfu was worn by

both men and women, and look

almost identical. The higher

strata of society of course had

more elaborate work and motifs

on it even though there were

limited colours available.

Hanfu

Art, Music

The art in the Shang Dynasty was mainly based

upon bronze casting. They would make pots and

sculptures out of bronze or pottery, and they would

also make ritual vessels. They made masks, and

rubbings of patterns.

The music of the Shang Dynasty also used

bronze. They would make bronze bells, and also

big bronze drums. Along with ceremonial rites the

Shang would sing. It was believed you could

communicate with the gods by making music or

singing. They would do it as a form of tribute.

Festivals

The biggest festival in the Shang

Dynasty was Chinese new year.

Weeks before the new year,

homes would be cleaned

thoroughly in preparation for the

holiday. The new year marks the

end of winter and the start of the

new year. In the new year,

people give small amounts of

money in red envelopes (lucky

money) to each other for good

luck for the year. People who

pray wish for things like good

wealth for the year, good

farming, and successful war.

Conclusion

The Shang dynasty was only the

second dynasty in its time but it

is still one of the most important

dynasties. They added a lot to

the culture of China, and also to

the world as a whole. One thing

that changed China forever was

the first Chinese writing system.

The Shang dynasty has probably

changed the world for ever and

is history that will never be

changed.

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