According to historical texts like Từ Hải and ancient Chinese records, the Shang Dynasty began around 1766 BCE and ended in 1122 BCE. However, historian Wolfram Eberhard points out that these dates are inaccurate. He suggests that the Xia Dynasty lasted about 300 years, from approximately 1800 to 1500 BCE, rather than from 2201 to 1760 BCE. Based on Eberhard’s research, the Shang Dynasty likely began around 1450 BCE and ended around 1050 BCE.
1. Land and the Dynasty
The Shang era is considered the start of recorded Chinese history, as later accounts are consistent with archaeological findings. By 1964, 41,000 inscriptions had been published, found on oracle bones, which were used for divination. Of the 3,000 characters from that period, more than 1,000 have been deciphered, thanks to Chinese scholars Le Tchenyu, Wang Guowei, and Deng Shuping.
The Shang civilization was highly developed, yet the circumstances under which it was established remain unclear. Details about how the Chinese people transitioned from Xia to Shang civilization are limited. We know that King Cheng Tang overthrew King Jie of the Xia and united various tribes, forming a territory that included the modern-day provinces of Shanxi, Shandong, Hebei, and Henan.
The capital was first located at Bo. After repeated conflicts with nomadic tribes from the west, it was moved seven times, finally settling in Yin (modern Anyang), a location referred to as Yinxu (“the ruins of Yin”). During this period, the Shang frequently engaged in warfare with neighboring tribes.
Confucius praised King Cheng Tang in The Analects for appointing virtuous ministers like Yi Yin (Book 12, Chapter 22) and for his strong sense of responsibility, believing that if the people erred, it was the king’s failure in governance (Book 20, Chapter 1). This characterization is partly credible since many founding kings are credited with possessing notable virtues.
The Shang Dynasty had about thirty kings, as recorded on oracle bones, a number close to the thirty-one documented by historian Sima Qian. In the early period, power was often transferred between brothers sharing the same mother, rather than from father to son. However, in the last four generations, the throne was passed to sons, setting a precedent for future dynasties.
2. Society: Beliefs and Agriculture
Shang society was defined by two main features:
- Matriarchal to Patriarchal Transition: Initially, the dynasty followed a matriarchal system where kingship passed to brothers of the same mother. Over time, a shift to a patriarchal system occurred, with kingship passed from father to son.
- Polytheistic Religion: The Shang practiced polytheism, worshiping gods of rivers, mountains, rain, wind, and thunder, with a special reverence for fertility deities. The highest deity was Shang Di, depicted as a human-like creator of all beings, followed by the Earth deity, represented as a woman who nourished life. The king acted as both ruler and high priest, conducting rituals to ensure bountiful harvests, which often involved sacrificing animals and even humans.
Archaeological excavations in Anyang since the 1950s have revealed the extensive use of human sacrifice, especially during royal burials. One grave alone contained over 300 human skeletons, some complete, others decapitated. These sacrifices likely included the king’s consorts, attendants, guards, charioteers, and officials. Over a millennium later, the philosopher Mozi criticized these practices in his work Against Lavish Funerals, describing how noble burials depleted resources and involved numerous human sacrifices.
Gradually, the custom of burying the living with the dead faded. By the first millennium BCE, real human sacrifices were replaced by clay figurines, bamboo effigies, or large statues made of stone, wood, or terracotta. Eventually, small clay figurines and paper objects, which were burned during funerals, became the norm. Today, the tradition of burning paper effigies continues in some parts of East Asia.
Some scholars suggest that these burial practices indicate a slave-based society. However, many of the people buried with the dead were not slaves but close associates of the deceased. Excavations at Anyang have also uncovered numerous oracle bones used for divination. The Shang royals worshiped their ancestors in ancestral halls called tai miao. Before making significant decisions, they prayed for ancestral guidance or performed divinations.
They used turtle shells and the shoulder bones of cattle and horses. Holes were drilled to facilitate cracking, and the bones were heated until they cracked. The resulting fissures were interpreted to answer yes-or-no questions or indicate good or bad omens.
The land of the Shang Dynasty was relatively small, encompassing only about the equivalent of two modern provinces, stretching over the southern part of Hebei, eastern Henan, eastern Shanxi, and western Shandong. Historical records suggest there were up to a thousand feudal lords at the time. Likely, only those close to the capital truly submitted to the Shang, while those farther away functioned as relatively independent tribes. This marks the origins of the feudal system, which would grow during the early Zhou period and decline by its end.
Around the middle of the Shang period, a significant shift occurred under the influence of the nomadic Mongolian civilization: the Chinese began raising horses. With horses came chariots, and battle tactics changed dramatically. Chinese chariots bore similarities to those from Western Asia, possibly Turkey. Though we don’t know exactly how the Shang chariots looked, they likely resembled Zhou chariots, which Marcel Granet described in La Civilisation chinoise (1948). These chariots had two wheels and a small, narrow carriage, enclosed at the front and open at the back, with a shaft at the front for four horses. The driver sat in the middle, holding the reins, with a warrior holding a bow on the left and another with a spear on the right. Horses and crew wore animal-hide armor. Three light wooden shields were positioned at the front of the carriage for protection, and each warrior carried an additional shield. Spears, long-handled weapons with blades, and metal tridents for hooking and piercing enemies were within reach. The driver and warriors belonged to the upper class, while the soldiers, often commoners, were relegated to supporting roles like digging, bridge building, herding horses, cutting trees, and gathering firewood, observing battles from a distance without direct involvement.
More Affairs
Historians once thought that agriculture developed early in China and that the Shang civilization was agrarian. This may not be entirely correct. During the Shang, few bronze tools existed, and people likely depended more on hunting than farming. True agricultural development only occurred later with the introduction of iron tools at the end of the Spring and Autumn period, allowing for the gradual reclamation of the Yellow and Yangtze river basins.
Shang farmers used very primitive tools, unaware of the plow and relying instead on hoes and a basic type of harrow. In some areas, they practiced slash-and-burn agriculture and cultivated grains, managing to irrigate fields. They grew cereals and raised cattle, sheep, dogs, pigs, and very few horses. They knew how to brew alcohol, evidenced by inscriptions on oracle bones and bronze items depicting a vessel with three drops of liquid, a symbol that eventually became the character for “wine” (酒).
There was also a division of labor: men farmed, hunted, and fished, while women raised children, cultivated silkworms, and wove silk. The character for “male” (男), which combines the symbol for a field and a tool (a hoe) on the right, originally symbolized a man working in the fields.
They differentiated between seasons, working in the fields during the growing season and staying indoors in winter. They also distinguished between sunny and shaded areas through symbols.
The first symbol, later simplified into the character “yang” (陽), consisted of two parts: a mountainside or wall on the left, and on the right, a sun rising above the horizon with rays shining downward, representing the sunny side. The second symbol, simplified into the character “yin” (陰), depicted a mountainside on the left, with a house roof and a cloud on the right, symbolizing the shaded side without sunlight.
Thus, by the Shang period, the Chinese already had concepts of yin and yang, and by the end of that era, they used these concepts to create the Bagua (Eight Trigrams), divination methods, and the I Ching (Book of Changes). They also used the Ten Heavenly Stems (甲, 乙, 丙, 丁, etc.) and Twelve Earthly Branches (子, 丑, 寅, 卯, etc.) to mark days and months (as seen in divination records) and likely had a lunar calendar.
Farmers lived in rural areas, while artisans resided in urban centers. Handicrafts were fairly advanced; pottery reached near-porcelain quality, and bronze was cast into animal shapes such as sheep, elephants, rhinos, and birds, as well as weapons, with a high level of artistry.
Cities at the time were small. The largest, Anyang—Shang’s final capital—had a circumference of only 800 meters. The king’s palace, facing south, comprised three main halls built of wood with double roofs. The central hall was the meeting place, with an ancestral temple to the east and a temple for the deities of land and agriculture to the west.
North of the palace was a marketplace, with the southern area designated for officials and a group of artisans making weapons, chariots, and ceremonial bronze items. The bronzeware of this period was the finest in the world.
Writing emerged during the Shang on oracle bones and bronze vessels. In Chapter 2, I have discussed the origins, benefits, and drawbacks of the Chinese script, so I won’t reiterate here.
King Zhou
According to ancient historians, the last king of the Shang Dynasty, Di Xin, also known as King Zhou, was notorious for being both fierce and depraved. He was captivated by his concubine Daji, and his reign was marked by extravagance and oppressive taxes. He forced the people to build grand palaces and dig ornamental ponds. Known for his cruelty, he implemented brutal punishments and ignored the advice of his ministers, much like King Jie, the final ruler of the Xia Dynasty. Eventually, as with King Jie, King Zhou faced a rebellion from the feudal states. However, unlike Jie, who was dethroned and exiled, King Zhou burned his own palace and leapt into the flames, ending his life. According to scholar Eberhard, King Zhou was ultimately killed by the Zhou ruler.
Some scholars find the similarities between the legends of King Jie and King Zhou suspicious, considering them unreliable. However, Gernet suggests that these accounts may have some truth. Archaeological excavations in Anyang reveal that the late Shang kings were indeed extravagant and tyrannical. Both humans and animals were frequently sacrificed during ceremonies and funerals. Among the pottery and bronze artifacts uncovered, wine vessels were particularly abundant, supporting the later Zhou Dynasty’s criticism of the Shang for their excessive indulgence in wine and sensual pleasures.
