HY 113 Chapter Notes - Chapter 1: Shang Dynasty, Yangtze, Oracle Bone
24 Aug 2016
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Chapter One:
China in the Bronze Age: The Shang and Western Zhou Dynasties (ca. 1500-771 BCE)
•Shang rulers were the first to pass down complex writing and texts
•Shang dynasty was overthrown in 1045 BCE by the Zhou Dynasty
•Created a feudal system of government
•The Geography of the Chinese Subcontinent
•Historical China (China proper) was smaller than today’s China
•People’s Republic of China includes Tibet, Inner Mongolia, Turkestan, and Manchuria
•The geography of China has shifted over time (rivers, forests, coastlines, etc.)
•Northern China was good for milling grain and rice because of the river and fertile loess
•Yangzi River dominates the South, making it very navigable by boat
•Mountains, deserts, and grasslands acted as natural barriers between countries
•The Shang Dynasty
•Circe 1500-1045 BCE
•China’s first civilization
•Key excavated texts are oracle bone inscriptions (prove Shang’s existence)
•Shang kings ruled from five cities (ca. 1200-1045 BCE)
•Biggest was Anyang (full of palaces, temples, and altars)
•War was a large part of culture; when not warring, men would be sent out for hunts for captives to be
enslaved or sacrificed
•King’s wealth came from war prizes
•Bronze weapons assisted the Shang warriors greatly
•Chariots were pulled by two or four horses as a mobile command station/archer perch
•King also acted as high priest, making sacrifices and praying to nature gods
•King listened to royal ancestors and prayed to them using offerings and animal bones
•Shang palaces were probably beautiful, but perishable (no longer here)
•Underground tombs survived
•Kings and Ladies were buried with their treasures, though many of the tombs were robbed before
excavation
•Buried human beings along with the bodies as sacrifices or as volunteers
•Sacrifices were decapitated or cut at the waist, whereas volunteers were buried in coffins with
their belongings
•Lower class lived below ground level to conserve heat
•Workshops were specialized
•Farmers lived in small compact villages, surrounded by the fields they worked
•Writing
•Inscribed oracle bones are first form of writing
•Shang kept records of enemies slain, treasure taken, animals bagged, and nature cycles
•Language and writing system of the Shang are ancestors of the later Chinese language/written word
•Logographic, symbols and hieroglyphs were used
•Sometimes two graphs were combined to illustrate an idea
•Metalworking
•In 2000 BCE, people learned to mine metals and fashion them into tools or ornaments
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