The Shang dynasty was the second great dynasty in China. It started in 1766 B.C. The Shang dynasty made many achievements in construction and medal working. Most people of the Shang dynasty lived in small farming villages, others lived in great walled cities. The walls of these cites were made up of dried earth that was 30 feet high, 65 feet thick and was about 4 and a half miles long. Archaeologists think that with such simple tools it would have taken 10,000 workers and it would have taken 18 years to build such a big wall. Inside these walls were home to priests, warriors and rulers. Out side the walls skilled crafts men that worked together in the same guild lived in nearby villages.
Archaeologists have found many shells called cowire shells near and inside the villages and walled cities. They think that the people of the Shang Dynasty used these shells for money and that they were used in the 1000s B.C. before the Bronze Age.
Some time around 1600 B.C. skilled craftsmen in the city of Yenshih found a very important discovery. They figured out how to make bronze by mixing tin with copper. Bronze is like a realy hard shiny metal that was stronger than tin or copper. Anyangis is a city where many bronze plates, pots, ceremonial vessels, spears and chariots have been found.
Many of the early Chinese worshiped many gods. They believed in individual gods like the Romans. They had one for the sun, moon, stars, rivers and mountains, but unlike the Romans the ancient Chinese had a supreme god named Shang Di. The Chinese people believed that their priests could communicate directly with Shang Di. Another important thing in early Chinese religion was Ancestor worship. They worshiped their ancestors and would some times pray to them for advise. Even the Emperor would pray to his ancestors for advise on how to rule his land. Many people gave offerings to their ancestors time to time. The king would make offerings at special religious ceremonies. A way for the people to communicate to their ancestors was to make oracle bones. Farmers would make oracle bones to see what the weather would be like. Priests made oracle bones for the king and were sometimes written on turtle shells.
The leaders of the Shang dynasty believed that when they died that they would go away and join their ancestors in some sort of Chinese heaven or after life. When they were buried they were put in a box like coffin and then they were placed a deep pit in the shape of a cross. The people who died had several items buried with them for the after life just like the Egyptians did.. The things buried with them included pottery jars, jade ornaments, bronze weapons and even chariots. The Shang dynasty lasted for 700 years and was one of the longest lasting ancient Chinese dynasty’s.
(Source: ancienthistory.mrdonn.org)
