Introduction

Chinese society has a long history stretching back more than 4,000 years. Before the rise of cities, small farming communities sprang up. The earliest were founded along the Yellow River in the north of China. Here people could access fresh water for drinking, bathing, irrigating crops, transportation, and for fertile soil.

Much of this area was controlled by Chinese dynasties. A dynasty is a succession of rulers that pass their right to rule down through their family line. Dynasties can be short-lived, or they can last for hundreds of years.

Shang dynasty

Historians believe the Shang were China’s first dynasty. The Shang ruled from 1600 BCE to 1046 BCE. There is archaeological evidence for this period. This includes Chinese histories written from the fifth to first century BCE. Artifacts have been found within walled cities and tombs dating to the Shang Dynasty.¹

The farming society that developed under the Shang dynasty grew many different kinds of crops. Rice was grown, but nowhere near as much as was grown in the south.

Like most early farming societies, Shang society was divided into different classes of people. Rulers and the rich had the highest social position. Under them came the military and government officials. Next came craftspeople and other skilled workers. The lowest level was made up of peasants, who were usually farmers. Some peasants acted as servants, and some of these servants may have been slaves. At times, servants were buried alongside the rich. Most likely, they were killed when their master died, so they could serve their master in the afterlife.

Writing and spiritual beliefs

The Chinese believed that the gods had given their kings the right to rule. Kings made laws and commanded the military. They even performed sacred rites such as communicating with spirits.

The Shang-era Chinese were animists. They believed that objects, places, and creatures have spirits. They also believed deeply in the importance of honoring ancestors. When a family member died, they became a part of the spirit world. The living often called upon their ancestors for help and advice.

One way people communicated with their ancestors was through the use of oracle bones. Questions were written or scratched onto a bone by a diviner. A diviner was someone who could communicate with spirits. The bone was then heated until it cracked. The diviner would read the cracks and provide the person with an answer to their question.

Thousands of oracle bones have been found by archaeologists. They provide an amazing amount of information about early Chinese culture. The questions, the people who asked the questions, and the answers are all engraved on the bones. The bones also provide us with a record of early Chinese writing. Shang-era script is very similar to modern Chinese writing.

Cities, trade, and culture

The Shang kings founded many cities. Some were walled to protect against invasions. The city of Erligang (modern-day Zhengzhou) had walls that were about 32 feet high and 65 feet thick. These walls protected an area of about 1.2 square miles.

The Shang period is also known for bronze casting. Bronze was used to make weapons, farm tools, and many other objects. Stone, bone, and jade were also widely used. Most craftwork would have been done in the home. However, as cities grew, early workshops were founded.

The tombs of the rich and powerful contained a wide range of items. This suggests that the Shang- era Chinese strongly believed in the afterlife. Tools, weapons, instruments, makeup, and combs were placed within the tomb. They were meant to aid those who had crossed over to the spirit world.

Some of these tombs contained things like cowry shells, which indicates that trade took place between the Shang and coastal regions. The Shang community also used chariots. This indicates that the Shang interacted with the steppe people to the west, who were skilled in using horses and chariots. The Shang were accomplished in bronze making and silk production. These goods would have been sought after by other communities in the region. East Asian networks of exchange, therefore, extended beyond the areas controlled by the Shang to encompass nearby farming and pastoralist areas.

In 1976, archaeologists found a major tomb in the Shang city of Yinxu (modern-day Anyang). The tomb was the final resting place of Lady Fu Hao (c. 1250 BCE.). Lady Fu Hao was one of the many wives of the Shang king Wu Ding. Her tomb contained her body and the bodies of 16 servants and six dogs. In addition, there were almost 500 bronze pieces, including 130 weapons. Her tomb also held many other objects made of jade, stone, ivory, and bone, along with 6,900 cowry shells.

Shang-era oracle bones tell us a lot about Lady Fu Hao’s life. She was mentioned on close to 200 bones. The inscriptions reveal that she was a military general, who led her own troops into battle. This is supported by the large number of bronze weapons found in her tomb. She was also seen as a spiritual guide who could perform sacred sacrifices and ask ancestors for aid. Holding such a high position and having so much power was unusual for women of the time.

From the Shang to the Zhou dynasty

The Shang dynasty ruled a large section of East Asia for more than 500 years. In 1046 BCE, they fell to the Zhou, another powerful group located in the plains of Eastern China. King Wu of the Zhou claimed that the Shang king had lost the Mandate of Heaven (tian ming). Wu said the king had lost his morals. As a result, he no longer had the right to rule.

The Zhou firmly established its base in the eastern part of the Yellow River Valley. Over time they gained control over more territory to the west. In fact, the Zhou became the longest-ruling dynasty in Chinese history. It controlled a large part of modern-day China for almost 800 years.

1 Historical sources include The Book of Documents, The Bamboo Annals, and The Records of the Grand Historian. Archaeological evidence has been found in many locations. At Anyang, the most undamaged tomb was found. This was the Tomb of Lady Fu Hao.