1. The Shang Dynasty
1650-1027 B.C.E.
Textbook pages 77-80

2. Chinese Civilization
Begins
• People had been living on the North China Plain
for hundreds of years
• 1650 B.C.E.- communities merged into a small
kingdom ruled by Shang leaders
*Here in northern China, with the Shang kingdom,
Chinese civilization begins to take shape

4. Shang Rule
• Controlled from walled city at Anyang
• Territory was divided into regions
• Nobles were appointed to rule each region
• Nobles were friends of the king, heads of clans, or
previous rulers
• Positions became hereditary

5. Anyang

6. Upper Class
• Shang Kings and Nobles
• Lived in large timber or stone houses
• Could afford to buy art, so artisans gathered around
the capital at Anyang

8. Common Population
• Most people were farmers
• Grew millet and other crops in the Huang He valley
• Huang He valley loess was very fertile surplus in
food growth in population
• These peasants lived in small farming
communities
• Homes=pits dug into the ground with thatched roofs
• Worked very hard on farm & in public projects like
building dikes and as soldiers during war

10. Art and Culture
• Developed an early form of writing
• Fine pottery
• Skilled metal workers particularly using valuable
bronze (religious ceremonies and weapons)
• Silk making advanced technology

14. Burial Practices
• Believed in an afterlife
• Rulers were buried in deep pits, with
bronze, stone, jade, potty, and bone
• Sometimes tombs were 10 metres deep
• Servants were sacrificed and buried with kings

16. Shang Beliefs
• Believed in many gods
• Di, Lord on High good harvests, successful
battles, weather
• Believed in a connection between live and dead
family members
• Gave offerings to dead family members for
protection

17. Shang Beliefs
• King acted as priest
• Thought to be able to better communicate with
important ancestors and gods
• Consulted ancestors before making important
decisions

18. Duality
• Dual: having two parts
• Duality: yin & yang= opposites
• Yin earth, darkness, cold, femininity
• Yang heaven, light, heat, masculinity
• Yin & Yang= harmonious whole
• Yin yang symbol everything contains the
opposite of itself within, making them
interedependent

20. Five Elements
• Shang believed the earth was made-up of five
elements:
• Wood
• Metal
• Fire
• Water
• Earth
• Everything on earth was a combination of these
forces

21. Qi
• Qi: an essential life force governing the universe
• Travelling beneath earth’s surface in currents
• Did not want to disturb this life force
• Fengshui- before building anything, a fengshui
expert would need to be consulted so that there
would be no negative influences

22. End of the Shang Dynasty
• Shang kings constantly at war with surrounding
kingdoms
• Zhou kingdom defeated Shang