The Shang Dynasty

Another established Ancient Chinese governing Dynasty recognized throughout history is the Shang Dynasty. The Bronze Age in China was ushered in by the Shang Dynasty, which lasted from 1600 to 1046 BC. It has made significant strides in astronomy, mathematics, art, and military technology.

Sima Qian wrote about the Shang dynasty's foundation story in the Annals of the Yin people. According to the story, Jiandi, who was Emperor Ku's second wife, miraculously gave birth to Xie after ingesting an egg that had been dropped by a blackbird. According to legend, Xie assisted Yu the Great in managing the Great Flood, and as thanks, he was awarded the fief of Shang. On the other hand, the oldest written accounts of Chinese history come from the Shang Dynasty, which began after a tribal leader named Tang fought the Xia, who was ruled by a tyrant named Jie, around 1600 BC. Jie won the conflict but afterward passed away from sickness. Tang was renowned for reducing the number of reserve troops in the army and launching social initiatives to aid the underprivileged in the monarchy.

During its existence and development, the Shang Dynasty made many important achievements. First of all, the artists of the Shang Dynasty produced magnificent jade jewelry, ceramics, and bronze works. They employed the thin casting process rather than the wax loss method, in contrast to their Bronze Age predecessors. This implies that before wrapping it in the clay mold, they first develop a model of the product they wish to create. The clay mold is then divided into pieces, taken out, and fired to make a brand-new, cohesive mold.

Secondly, according to writings on tortoise shells discovered by archaeologists, people of the Shang Dynasty employed the calendar and advanced their understanding of astronomy and mathematics. The Shang calendar was initially based on the lunar calendar; but, subsequently, a solar-based calendar was created by a man by the name of Wan-Nien, who formed a 365-day year via his observations and calculated the precise date.

In addition, the language of the Shang Dynasty was an early form of modern Chinese. During this time period, cow bones and turtle shells were engraved with Chinese characters for the first time. There is proof of two Shang Dynasty arithmetic systems, one based on the numerals 1 through 10 and the other on 1 through 12.

Diverse stone and metal weaponry, including spears, yuè axes, daggers, arrows, and bronze or leather helmets, were used by the Shang Army. According to recent archeological discoveries, the late Shang employed horses, chariots, bows, and arrows, as well as horse burial customs that were comparable to those of the steppe peoples of the west. Oracle bone inscriptions reveal that the Shang exclusively utilized chariots as a mobile command vehicle in war and during royal hunts. Although the Shang relied on the military prowess of its aristocracy, the Shang rulers were able to enlist large populations of urban and country citizens as conscripts and soldiers for the duration of the campaign. Nobles and other state officials were obligated to arm and equip their local garrisons with all required supplies. The Shang ruler would personally lead this force into combat while keeping a force of around a thousand warriors in his city. In order to construct troops ranging from three to five thousand men for border battles to 13,000 soldiers to put down uprisings, a basic military infrastructure was also required.

In terms of religion, the fairy bone shards, which depict a kingdom at war with tales of shifting alliances with foreign kingdoms, have helped archaeologists understand a large portion of the religion-related history of the Shang dynasty, which was discovered in Anyang. With captives of battle, sacrifices were made in the Shang religion. The monarch serves as a priest in it as well. It is said that the highest ancestor, deity Di, will serve as a conduit for ancestral communication. The Shang monarch also took the lead in interacting with other ancestors and worshiping Shangdi. A group of mystics heard the aspirations of the ancestors, which the monarch later interpreted.

Around 1046 BC saw the end of the Shang Dynasty. King Di Xin, the final monarch of the Shang line, was despised as a ruthless ruler who relished tormenting his subjects, which prompted demands for an end to his rule.

Nowadays, The Shang Dynasty is the first period of traditional Chinese history that has a substantial amount of archaeological evidence in its favor. There have been 11 massive royal tombs discovered as well as the ruins of palaces and ceremonial sites at the Yin Ruins, which are close to modern-day Anyang and have been recognized as the last Shang capital. Thousands of objects made of metal, jade, stone, bone, and pottery have also been discovered. The earliest known Chinese inscriptions may be found at the Anyang site, largely divination on bones belonging to seers like tortoise shells, ox scales, or other bones. During the first scientific excavations in the 1920s and 1930s, more than 20,000 were found. The inscriptions shed light on a range of subjects, including politics, economy, religious rituals, as well as the early Chinese civilization's arts and medicine.

To conclude, the Shang Dynasty:

• lasted from 1600 to 1046 BC.
• had made significant achievements in astronomy, mathematics, art, and military technology.
• the reign of King Di Xin saw the end of the Shang dynasty.