The Shang Dynasty in the Bronze Age marked a sharp qualitative leap in Chinese history. At this time, art, writing, architecture and crafts were actively developing. This culture was discovered by archaeologists relatively recently, and the soil of China to this day does not cease to amaze scientists with new artifacts. Even at the beginning of the 20th century, researchers believed that the history of the country begins only from the Zhou era (1045–221 BC), but recent archaeological discoveries push this date back many centuries.
The formation of the first state
The Shang Yin Dynasty in China is currently the most ancient, confirmed by archaeological finds. The state existed from 1600 to 1046 BC. Before him, according to mythological tradition, the legendary Xia dynasty ruled (2070-1756 BC), but there is no consensus among the historians about the reliability of its existence.
According to legend, the founder of the Shang dynasty was Cheng Tang (years of life 1766-1754 BC). His family came from the son of the legendary Yellow Emperor Huang-di, who is considered the founder of Chinese statehood. One of the descendants of the latter received from the mythical emperor Yu, who saved the country from the flood, the inheritance of Shan on the left bank of the Yellow River. The emergence of culture in this region is not accidental, since a periodically spilling river applied sludge to the fields, which made them especially fertile.
There is also an opinion that a group of Indo-Aryan tribes, which moved east, played a significant role in the development of the Shang dynasty in China, since this culture of the Bronze Age developed very rapidly.
In the future, this genus became known as Yin. This was due to the fact that the ruler Pan-gen moved the settlements from the northern territories, where there were often extensive floods, to the southern region of the country. Presumably, the first capital of the Chinese Shang dynasty was Bo, near the modern city of Yanshi. Later it was transferred 5 times to different places and bore other names. In the end, the nineteenth emperor founded the capital in Ina, near Anyang.
The territorial communities of that time began to merge into cities. They were surrounded by walls and built according to a special plan. On an area of about 6 km 2 there were large palaces and quarters with craft workshops. So the first foci of the nascent Chinese civilization appeared. The need for unification arose because of the need for a collective struggle against floods and neighboring hostile tribes.
Rulers
The head of the united urban communities was called the "van." This man possessed both the highest military and priestly power. Under the leadership of the van, other groups of residents were engaged in field work, and up to several thousand people were immediately attracted to them. On his farm, people with different status served: bonded laborers, warders, community members and their superiors, warriors.
Among them stood out the wealthy and noble families, who inherited various posts at Van. However, his authority, according to the inscriptions found, was still limited to the council of elders and the popular assembly. The choice of military leaders and members of the council of tribal elders took place with the permission of the van.
Scientists have no definite answer about the nature of society in those days. Some researchers consider it a proto-state, while others consider it to be a mature state organism.
The years of the reign of the Van of the Shang Dynasty can be briefly represented in the form of the following chronology (b.c.):
- Cheng Tang (Wu-Wan), Da Ding-Wang, Wai Bin-Wang, Zhong Ren-Wang, Da Jia-Wang, Wo Ding-Wang, Da Geng-Wang, Xiao Jia-Wan, Yun Ji-Wan, Da Woo Wang, Zhong Ding-wan, Wei Ren-wan, He Dan-Jia-wang, Zu Yi-wan, Zu Sin-wan, Wo Jia-wan, Zu Ding-wang, Nian Geng-wan, Yang Jia-wan - 1600-1300.
- Pan Geng-wang, Xiao Xin-Wang, Xiao I-Wang - 1300-1251.
- Dean-wang has 1250-1192.
- Zu Geng-wang, Zu Jia-wang, Lin Xin-wang, Kang Ding-wang - 1191-1148.
- I-van - 1147-1113.
- Wen Ding-Wang - 1112-1102.
- Di I-van - 1101-1076.
- Di Sin-Wang - 1075-1046.
Interesting archaeological finds
Amazing finds have been discovered near the city of Anyang, in the province of Henan, where the capital of the Shan-Yin dynasty used to be located. It was a large urban settlement with an area of more than 20 km 2 . Many graves were also found here, some of which reached a depth of ten meters, and the area of the largest of them was 380 m 2 . These burials were shaped like pyramids, and inside them were found numerous utensils, precious jewelry made of gold, bronze weapons.
Scientists suggest that these were the burial grounds of the Van. Hundreds of people were buried with them, and next to the pyramids - thousands of decapitated prisoners of war with their hands tied and chariots along with horses. The total number of victims exceeds 14 thousand.
In 1976, the tomb of Fu Hao was found here. In her grave, hundreds of valuable objects were preserved, untouched by the robbers, who devastated this territory for 3 millennia. The buried body was not preserved, but according to inscriptions on archaeological artifacts, scientists learned that this woman was one of Dean's beloved wives and was a military leader. Fu Hao led an army of 13 thousand people who fought with hostile tribes.
Currently, this place in China is recognized as one of the most significant in archeology, and excavations continue to this day.
Military power of the country
The bulk of the van's army was infantry from the community. But during the Shang dynasty, a new formidable weapon appeared - war chariots harnessed by domesticated horses. Historians believe that they were borrowed from the Middle East. Thanks to their use, the rulers of the state were able to effectively suppress the uprisings and fight against the external enemy. The chariots belonged to noble people, since they were an expensive tool. Their design was a two-wheeled wagon in which there were 3 warriors.
The value of the chariot in those days can be compared with the tanks in the present. At the end of the Shang dynasty, other tribes adopted this military technology. It is possible that this factor also played a role in the fall of the state.
In all the graves of the trenches found near Anyang, various types of weapons were discovered. Wars helped the van to maintain their authority and accumulate wealth, capturing valuable items from tin, copper, gold and jasper. The infantry was armed with bows, spears and klevets (shot-stabbing weapons). Warriors of the front line defended themselves with shields and helmets. Usually a unit of 70-80 fighters interacted with 1 chariot.
The military campaigns of the Shang dynasty in China were long and distant. One of them, according to ancient inscriptions, lasted almost a year.
Lifestyle
The population in China under the Shang Dynasty was engaged in agriculture, cattle breeding, fishing and hunting. In those days, the climate was milder, and in some regions it was possible to collect 2 crops. The use of the "twin plowing" method began, when 2 people worked the land at once - one pushed a furrow stick and the other pulled it with a drag. This method was subsequently widely used in agricultural technology of the country.
The peasants practiced manual labor using primitive tools made of stone and wood (plows, hoes, sickles). In the same period, crop rotation was introduced, which allowed to increase productivity.
From cultivated plants, millet, wheat, barley, legumes, vegetables and fruits were grown, as well as a mulberry tree for the needs of sericulture. Pets, goats and sheep, cows, horses, chickens, geese and ducks were kept as household animals. Elephants brought from the south were also tamed. The objects of hunting for trenches were hares, foxes, wild boars, badgers, deer and tigers. Some historians believe that cattle breeding, not farming, was the basis of the life of the population in ancient China during the Shang dynasty. The mass sacrifices of several hundred heads of cattle in one ritual testify to this opinion.
The money used was kauri shells (sea mollusks) and their bronze imitations, but trade was poorly developed and was mainly characterized by exchange relations.
Handicrafts
In urban settlements of that time there were entire neighborhoods reserved for workshops of potters, foundry workers of copper and bronze, bone carvers, stone cutters, and other artisans. The bronze casting technique created in this era found wide application in the future in iron smelting. Charcoal was used as fuel for the smelter. The liquid metal was poured into prefabricated clay molds, which could consist of many parts.
The weight of some castings reached several hundred kilograms. The consumers of such products were mainly the upper strata of society, and bronze vessels were most often used for ritual activities. They depicted complex ornaments, described the military campaigns of the van and noted his orders.
One of the achievements of the Shang Dynasty in the Bronze Age is the development of palace construction. For the construction of large houses, ancient engineers made special foundations, pedestals, and hundreds of people participated in the work. A certain level of architectural mastery was achieved, which allows creating strong structures and reliable underground premises of burial grounds. The management of urban development was one of the most important responsibilities of the van.
Writing
One of the culmination of finds for archaeologists in Anyang was the numerous tortoise shells and bones of domestic animals, which were marked with pictographic inscriptions. The hieroglyphs during the Shang dynasty were logograms, that is, symbols denoting whole words. Such a writing technique, according to historians, was quite justified, since China was inhabited by numerous tribes with different dialects. These symbols became the prototype of modern Chinese hieroglyphic writing.
The shells and bones of animals were used for divinatory purposes. Presumably, most of them were buried during the reign of Wu Ding-wan, and some even preserved the remains of red paint, which was used for engraving. The total number of these finds exceeded 17 thousand, which was an excellent opportunity to study that era.
Art and science
The art of the ancient Shans primarily manifested itself in graceful and delicate carvings and sculptural images. Carving was performed on clay vessels, wood, bone, stone sculptures (including those made of hard rocks - marble and jasper), on jade jewelry. The complex ornament possessed the persistence of style and artistic taste.
In the state of the Shang dynasty, they kept a calendar, the months of which corresponded to the phases of the moon, and the years to the position of the sun. The year was divided into 12 months, and every 7 years an additional “plug-in” thirteenth month was introduced. Such a system was very similar to the ancient Babylonian, which gave scientists another reason to assume that many borrowings came from the west.
Religion
The ancient Shans believed that life after death continues in another kingdom. Therefore, even the poorest people were put coins in the grave so that the deceased could take a proper position there. Exquisite utensils, luxury goods were placed in the graves of the Van. They sacrificed women, men, dogs, horses, who were supposed to accompany the owner in the afterlife. After the earth was tamped over the burial ground, additional animals were killed - monkeys, deer. In neighboring common graves, headless prisoners of war and slaves were buried.
Sacrifices were made not only on the occasion of the death of a noble person. This was done during the war, as an act of veneration of the spirits of ancestors, mountain and river gods during ritual meals. During one of them more than 1 thousand people were sacrificed.
Among the Shans, the cult of totemic ancestors and the cult of the earth were of particular importance. The supreme deity was Shandi (or Dee), and the deceased van were an intermediary between him and ordinary people.
Scientists believe that near Anyang during the Shang Dynasty there was a cult center where fortunetelling took place. They were purely pragmatic. The rulers asked about diseases, the birth of an heir, the harvest, wars, and hunting. Thanks to them, historians were able to learn in detail about the nature of life of the inhabitants of the first Chinese state.
The fortune-telling text was written on the bones or shell of a turtle; a small depression was drilled on the reverse side. A sharp heated tip was applied to it, resulting in cracks along which the predictor read the message. According to some reports, at least 120 oracles served in the court of Van at that time.
Shang and Zhou Dynasties: Theory of Heavenly Mandate
The Shandi cult (literally translated from Chinese as “supreme emperor”) subsequently transformed into an ideological justification for strengthening and inheriting the power of the van. The rulers of Shang-Yin were declared direct descendants of the supreme deity ruler. According to an ancient legend, Shandi, having taken the form of a bird, conceived a son, who is the ancestor of the Shans. After their death, the vans served in the afterlife, helping Shandi in all his affairs, and also influenced the fates of living people.
During the Shang and Zhou dynasties, the theory of celestial mandate became the key concept of political culture in ancient China. The ruler becomes the "son of heaven", with special trust from the higher powers. He could be earned with the help of positive moral deeds. Loss of virtue was the main reason for the loss of power. Therefore, in Chinese literature, the rulers of the Zhou dynasty appear to be carriers of high moral values.
Fall of the state
The collapse of the Shang dynasty in ancient China was preceded by a long crisis, which was associated with several factors:
- The state was surrounded by tribes with which it was necessary to constantly fight. These regular skirmishes weakened the country.
- Among the population was lost morale, "limped" and internal organization. The prestige of the van fell significantly, and the volume of offerings decreased.
- The neighboring state of Zhou has become quite strong both militarily and economically.
- The tightening of orders within the country led to the creation of the image of the unfriendly ruler of Shang, the last of which, according to legend, was distinguished by cruelty and profligacy. His enemies also took advantage of this.
Having existed for more than 800 years, the Shang dynasty fell. Power over the cities captured the Zhou clan. However, the achievements that were mastered during the Shang-Yin period laid the foundation for the next bright stage in the development of ancient Chinese civilization.