Shang Dynasty 1750-1050 BCE

Chinese civilization is one of oldest, continuous on earth

5,000 years of history

Outside China during Shang period

Hammurabi’s code Mycenaean Civ. In Greece Vedic period in India Stonehenge Moses led Israelites out of Egypt Mayans processed rubber King Tut Homer’s Troy fell Ramses III of Egypt

Neolithic settlements in Yangtze & Yellow river valleys

Yangshao-painted pottery

Longshan-black pottery

Shang Dynasty c.1750-1050 BCE

Impressive bronze technology

Oracle bones—beginning of writing system

Important ideas from Shang

Notion of supreme heavenly power—Shangdi (god above)

Belief in power of spirits of ancestors to affect events on earth

Importance of rituals venerating ancestors & role of king in performing rituals

Shang was agricultural society

Therefore rituals

To facilitate ancestor reverence

Manifested in bronzes & oracle bones

Emergence of state level society

Complex society Often called “civilization” Or “state-level” society In China shifts toward state-level

society began the dynastic phase of Chinese history

Shang culture characterized by:

Centralized government

Urban communities

Stratified social classes

Palatial architecture

Distinctive writing system

Elaborate religious rituals

Sophisticated art forms

Shang culture characterized by

Bronze metallurgy

Horse drawn chariot

Ability to mobilize human labor for huge projects/corvee labor

Relatively accurate calendar

Money in form of cowrie shells

Pantheon of gods

Complex lineage structure

Shang musical instruments

Music used as “civilizing” influence in state rituals

Drums

Bells

Chiming stones

ocarinas

“Auspicious Bronzes of the State”

9 ding representing 9 provincesKing Yu of the Xia cast after bringing floods

under controlDings passed to Shang & later to ZhouPossession was symbol of power & prestigehttp://depts.washington.edu/chinaciv/index.htm

Shang economic featuresTamed water buffalo

Cultivated rice in south

Grain grown in north

Leaders addicted to:

Warfare

Hunting

Wine

Human & animal sacrifice

Leaders engaged in military expeditions

Plunder & tribute part of royal economy

New weapons part of passion for hunting

Hunting good practice for warfare

Ancestor reverence

Ultimate source of political power was royal ancestors

Deceased ministers had some influence

Dead went to Heaven

Intercede on behalf of descendants

So ritual life of Shang court was sequence of sacrifices to ancestors

Bronze metallurgy Bronze vessels necessary for ritual

sacrifice Vessels for wine Vessels for food Vessels for water Musical instruments www.chinavoc.com/arts/handicraft/bro

nze.htm

Divination/Oracle Bones

Important actions required divination

Tortoise shell or animal shoulder blade

Questions about warfare, weather, life decisions

http://www.chinavista.com/experience/oracle/oracle.html