Period+1+Shang+Dynasty

Name of civilization: Shang Dynasty or Yin Dynasty =**The Shang Dynasty- "Where the great belong!"**=

商“伟大的属于”
Red- Emma Blue- Nikita Purple- Arielle Dates: 1766-1122 B.C.E.

http://images.chinahighlights.com/chinamap/ancient/shang-dynasty-map1.gif

G
- The Shang Dynasty consisted of five capitals that changed location in accordance with where the Wang, or king, was. - While the government controlled everything, warriors were vital in government during the Shang Dynasty. - The King had a divine right to rule, he was part-god himself. - The capitals were center of government, religion, and economy.

R
- The people of the Shang Dynasty prayed to animal and nature spirits, as well as to their ancestors. - The King was the head figure of religion in addition to the government. - Elaborate tombs that contain bronze, inscriptions tell of the person's good deeds can be dated back to the Shang Dynasty. - Shang Di was considered the head god, and in modern Chinese philosophy is analogous to heaven. -Oracle bones, bones from an ox or turtle, were used as a form of prayer. They are important to historians because they are still being discovered today. They give a lot of insight into the Shang Dynasty.

E
- Fishing was a huge part of the economy. - The Shang Dynasty is well known for their bronze work, and one of the most well-known pieces is the Simuwu Quadripod, which is the largest and heaviest Chinese bronze vessel. - Other goods produced by artisans included silk (which is now one of China's main exports), porcelain, and jade carvings. -Slaves and servants did most of the agricultural work in the fields, while artisans crafted tools, weapons, jewellery, and other goods.

A
- The homes built by the Shang Dynasty resemble modern chinese buildings. - The cities are laid out in rows that constst of rectangular buildings. - In the center of major Shang Dynasty cities, there is commonly a palace or temple-type building. - Bronze was used in the place of clay for sculpting vessels and pots. - Burials were decorated with stoneware, bronzeware, weapons, bone hairpins, and carved jade items. - The art that was created usually served a functional or ritual purpose.

T
- The Shang Dynasty was the first culture in China to create a fully developed writing system. - The Shang Dynasty made the first potters wheel. They used it to make bronze vessels and pots. - They were the first culture to engrave pictograms into their pottery to display a message. - The Shang Dynasty used a cyclic lunar calendar.

S
- The Shang Dynasty society was ruled by a divine-right king and a close aristocracy, as well as a large amount of commoners. - The dynasty was largely made up of aristocrats, as well as territorial rulers that the king appointed as support in his military campaigns. - Just below the aristocratic class was the priest class. The priest class kept records of the government and were in charge of religion. - Below the priest class were the artisans, who created goods that could be used in the dynasty, and also traded. -At the bottom of the Shang Dynasty social ladder were slaves, who did most of the work, such as farming, that others with higher social standing though below them.

The Shang Dynasty left its mark on the world by creating the lunar calender, being a pioneer in bronze weapons, and being the first civilization whose writing can still be found today. The Shang Dynasty created a calender that was relative to the moon's size in the sky. They created weapons that were bronze dipped, giving them a huge advantage over their opponents. Another huge accomplishment was inventing the two-horsed chariot, which was a lot faster in warfare than a one horse chariot. The great thing about bronze, is that it does not decompose, so historians and archeologists can still read Shang records. They Shang Dynasty had complex pictographs, that can be translated today. Because we have their history written down, historians have a solid understanding of what happened at that time period.

Citations: "Shang China: Civilization in the Yellow River Valley (Overview)." // World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras //. ABC-CLIO,2011. Web. 15 Sept. 2011.

"Shang dynasty." // World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras //. ABC-CLIO, 2011. Web. 15 Sept. 2011.

"Ancient Asia, 3000 BCE–500 CE." World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras. ABC-CLIO, 2011. Web. 16 Sept. 2011.

Taylor, Richard P. "Chinese netherworlds." World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras. ABC-CLIO, 2011. Web. 16 Sept. 2011. []

"Shang Dynasty (16th-11th Century BC) China History". []

http://www.hisoryforkids.org/learn/china/architecture/shangarchitecture.htm

etcweb.princeton.edu

http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/china/art/shang.htm

http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Myth/Shang-tech.html