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Shang Dynasty 1750-1050 BCE

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Shang Dynasty 1750-1050 BCE Chinese civilization is one of oldest, continuous on earth 5,000 years of history Outside China during Shang period Hammurabi s code ... – PowerPoint PPT presentation

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Title: Shang Dynasty 1750-1050 BCE


1
Shang Dynasty 1750-1050 BCE
  • Chinese civilization is one of oldest, continuous
    on earth
  • 5,000 years of history

2
Outside China during Shang period
  • Hammurabis code
  • Mycenaean Civ. In Greece
  • Vedic period in India
  • Stonehenge
  • Moses led Israelites out of Egypt
  • Mayans processed rubber
  • King Tut
  • Homers Troy fell
  • Ramesses III of Egypt

3
Neolithic settlements in Yangtze Yellow river
valleys
  • Yangshao-painted pottery
  • Longshan-black pottery

4
Shang Dynasty c.1750-1050 BCE
  • Impressive bronze technology
  • Oracle bonesbeginning of writing system

5
Important elements from Shang
  • Notion of supreme heavenly powerShangdi (god
    above)
  • Belief in power of spirits or ancestors to affect
    events on earth
  • Importance of rituals venerating ancestors role
    of king in performing rituals

6
Shang was agricultural society
  • Therefore rituals
  • Therefore ancestor reverence
  • Therefore bronzes oracle bones

7
Shang culture characterized by
  • Centralized government
  • Urban communities
  • Stratified social classes
  • Palatial architecture
  • Distinctive writing system
  • Elaborate religious rituals
  • Sophisticated art forms
  • Bronze metallurgy
  • Horse drawn chariot
  • Ability to mobilize human labor for huge
    projects
  • Relatively accurate calendar
  • Money in form of cowrie shells
  • Pantheon of gods
  • Complex lineage structure

8
Shang musical instruments
  • Drums
  • Bells
  • Chiming stones
  • ocarinas

9
Auspicious Bronzes of the State
  • 9 ding representing 9 provinces
  • King Yu of the Xia cast after bringing floods
    under control
  • Dings passed to Shang later to Zhou
  • Possession was symbol of power prestiege
  • http//depts.washington.edu/chinaciv/index.htm
  • http//www.smcm.edu/academics/aldiv/art/webcourses
    /arth100/monumentality/shang/shhome.html

10
Shang economic features
  • Tamed water buffalo
  • Cultivated rice

11
Leaders addicted to
  • Warfare
  • Hunting
  • Wine
  • Human animal sacrifice

12
Leaders engaged in military expeditions
  • Plunder tribute part of royal economy
  • New weapons part of passion for hunting
  • Hunting good practice for warfare

13
Ancestor reverence
  • Ultimate source of political power was royal
    ancestors
  • Deceased ministers had some influence
  • Dead went to Heaven
  • Intercede on behalf of descendants
  • So ritual life of Shang court was sequence of
    sacrifices to ancestors

14
Divination
  • Important actions required divination
  • Tortoise shell or animal shoulder blade
  • Questions about warfare, weather, life decisions
  • http//www.chinavista.com/experience/oracle/oracle
    .html
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