Shang Dynasty 1750-1050 BCE

1
Shang Dynasty 1750-1050 BCE

• Chinese civilization is one of oldest, continuous
  on earth
• 5,000 years of history

2
Outside China during Shang period

• Hammurabis code
• Mycenaean Civ. In Greece
• Vedic period in India
• Stonehenge
• Moses led Israelites out of Egypt
• Mayans processed rubber
• King Tut
• Homers Troy fell
• Ramesses III of Egypt

3
Neolithic settlements in Yangtze Yellow river
valleys

• Yangshao-painted pottery
• Longshan-black pottery

4
Shang Dynasty c.1750-1050 BCE

• Impressive bronze technology
• Oracle bonesbeginning of writing system

5
Important elements from Shang

• Notion of supreme heavenly powerShangdi (god
  above)
• Belief in power of spirits or ancestors to affect
  events on earth
• Importance of rituals venerating ancestors role
  of king in performing rituals

6
Shang was agricultural society

• Therefore rituals
• Therefore ancestor reverence
• Therefore bronzes oracle bones

7
Shang culture characterized by

• Centralized government
• Urban communities
• Stratified social classes
• Palatial architecture
• Distinctive writing system
• Elaborate religious rituals
• Sophisticated art forms
• Bronze metallurgy
• Horse drawn chariot
• Ability to mobilize human labor for huge
  projects
• Relatively accurate calendar
• Money in form of cowrie shells
• Pantheon of gods
• Complex lineage structure

8
Shang musical instruments

• Drums
• Bells
• Chiming stones
• ocarinas

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Auspicious Bronzes of the State

• 9 ding representing 9 provinces
• King Yu of the Xia cast after bringing floods
  under control
• Dings passed to Shang later to Zhou
• Possession was symbol of power prestiege
• http//depts.washington.edu/chinaciv/index.htm
• http//www.smcm.edu/academics/aldiv/art/webcourses
  /arth100/monumentality/shang/shhome.html

10
Shang economic features

• Tamed water buffalo
• Cultivated rice

11
Leaders addicted to

• Warfare
• Hunting
• Wine
• Human animal sacrifice

12
Leaders engaged in military expeditions

• Plunder tribute part of royal economy
• New weapons part of passion for hunting
• Hunting good practice for warfare

13
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

14
Divination

• Important actions required divination
• Tortoise shell or animal shoulder blade
• Questions about warfare, weather, life decisions
• http//www.chinavista.com/experience/oracle/oracle
  .html