Dynasties of ChinaEarly China · The beginnings of civilization
31 Shang kings · c. 1600–1046 BCE · 17 generations of succession
Pan Geng moved the capital to Yin and Wu Ding revived royal power. Oracle-bone inscriptions and bronze vessels provide the earliest surviving contemporary written evidence of a Chinese dynasty.
Dynastic color · Bronze green
The Shang dynasty was the first dynasty in Chinese history to have written records of the same period. According to legend, the ancestor of the Shang clan was born to his mother, Jian Di, by swallowing the egg of a black bird. Because of Zuo Yu's merits in controlling floods, he was granted the title of Shang and given the surname Zi. About 1600 BC, Tang, the leader of the Shang tribe, made Bo his capital and appointed Yi Yin. He defeated Xia Jie in the Battle of Mingtiao and established Shang dynasty. After Tang's death, Yi Yin assisted several generations of King Shang and exiled the immoral Tai Jia, which stabilized the political situation in the early Shang Dynasty.
In the early stages of Shang Dynasty, the capital was moved repeatedly. After Zhong Ding, the succession to the throne was chaotic. The succession of elder brothers and younger brothers and the death of father and son were intertwined. The royal families were fighting for power. "It was more chaotic than the ninth generation, so the princes did not dynasty." Around 1300 BC, Pan Geng moved the capital to Yin (today's Anyang, Henan Province), and did not move the capital again until the fall of Shang Dynasty. Therefore, Shang Dynasty was also called "Yin" or "Yin Shang". In the fifty-ninth year of Wu Ding's reign, he appointed Fu Shuo as prime minister, went out to conquer the country, and reached its peak of national power.
In the late Shang dynasty, the Zhou clan in the west became increasingly powerful, and the conflicts between Shang and Zhou intensified. The last monarch, Di Xin (Zhou), used troops against the Eastern Yi for a long time and punished them severely, which caused people's hearts to disperse. In 1046 BC, Zhou Wuwang united other countries to defeat the merchant army in Muye. King Zhou set himself on fire and Shang Dynasty was destroyed. The oracle bone inscriptions and bronzes unearthed from the Yin Ruins have provided both physical and written confirmation of the history of the Shang Dynasty recorded in "Historical Records".
King Shang used divination to predict events and carved the inscriptions on tortoise shells and animal bones. So far, about 150,000 oracle bones and about 4,500 single characters have been discovered, about one-third of which have been interpreted. Oracle bone inscriptions are the earliest known systematic writing in China and are in the same vein as today's Chinese characters.
Bronze casting skills reached their peak in the Shang Dynasty, and there were many types of ritual vessels and weapons. The Houmuwu Ding weighs 832.84 kilograms and is the heaviest known Shang and Zhou bronze ware; the Siyang Fangzun and Fu Hao Owl Zun are exquisite in shape, and the decoration is represented by the Taotie pattern.
The Yin Ruins cover an area of about 36 square kilometers and include palaces, ancestral temples, Wang Ling districts, handicraft workshops and numerous ethnic towns. It is China's first capital city site with documented documents and confirmed by archeology and oracle bone inscriptions. It was included in the World Heritage List in 2006.
"Book of Rites" states that "Yin people respected gods and led the people to serve gods, putting ghosts first and then etiquette." King Shang used divination to decide major events such as conquests, sacrifices, and field hunting. Later, a "weekly sacrifice" system was formed in which five kinds of rituals were used to worship the ancestors of the ancestors in turn.
The kingdom directly ruled by King Shang is called "internal service" and is managed by hundreds of officials; the princes and states other than the kingdom are called "waifu", and they pay tribute, guard the border and send troops to King Shang in the capacity of marquis, dians, men, guards, etc., forming a ruling pattern with Wang Ji as the core.
The oracle bone inscriptions have used the stems and branches to record the date, with a cycle of sixty days; the calendar uses the moon phases to determine the moon, the big and small moon phases alternate, and uses "twelve months" and other methods to set leaps. The inscriptions also left records of solar and lunar eclipses and other celestial events.
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According to legend, Jian Di swallowed the egg of a black bird and gave birth to Qi. The Book of Songs said that "the black bird of destiny descended and gave birth to Shang". Qi Zuoyu made great achievements in controlling floods and was granted the title of Shang. There were fourteen generations from Qi to Tang, during which the city moved eight times.
Tang made Bo his capital, appointed Yi Yin and Zhong Hui, conquered Ge first, then cut off Wei, Gu, Kunwu and other Xia allies, and finally defeated Xia Jie at Mingtiao and established Shang dynasty. Later generations called this the "Tangwu Revolution" together with King Wu's defeat of Zhou.
After Tai Jia came to the throne, he did not follow Tang's laws, so Yi Yin exiled him to Tong Palace and became regent himself. Three years later, Tai Jia repented and Yi Yin welcomed his restoration. According to the "Bamboo Book Annals", Yi Yin exiled Tai Jia and became independent, but was killed by Tai Jia who sneaked back seven years later.
After Zhong Ding, the king repeatedly deposed his direct descendants and replaced them with his younger brothers or their sons. The royal families competed with each other for the throne. During the Ding Dynasty, there were nine kings in the Yang family.
In order to get rid of the decline and chaos, Pan Geng led his people to move the capital to Yin (now Anyang, Henan) regardless of the opposition of the nobles. Three chapters of "Shangshu·Pan Geng" record his speeches to his subjects. From then on, the capital was no longer moved until the fall of the Shang Dynasty, and Yin became the capital of the late Shang Dynasty.
After Wu Ding came to the throne, he said nothing for three years in order to observe the country's customs. Later, he appointed Fu Shuo as prime minister, and ordered Fu Hao and other generals to conquer Tufang, Qiang and other Fang countries. "Gaozong attacked Guifang and conquered them in three years." Shang Dynasty's territory expanded and its national power reached its peak.
Ji Li, the leader of the Zhou clan, repeatedly won victories in his expeditions against the armies in the northwest, and his power grew stronger. He was once appointed as a "priest" by King Shang. According to the "Bamboo Chronicles", Wen Ding killed Ji Li because he was afraid of the rise of Zhou Dynasty, and the relationship between Shang and Zhou Dynasty deteriorated.
Di Xin was fond of drinking and having sex, "using wine as a pond and county meat as a forest", and also set up the punishment of being burned with cannon. Xibo Chang sighed secretly when he heard that Jiuhou and Ehou were killed. He was reported by Chonghou Hu and was imprisoned in Youli by Zhou. The Zhou people presented beautiful women and good horses before being released.
Di Xin used troops against Dongyi for a long time. Although he achieved victory, it greatly depleted the country's power and left the western defense empty. "Zuo Zhuan" commented that "Zhou defeated the Eastern Yi and perished", pointing out the important reasons for the demise of the Shang Dynasty.
Zhou Wuwang united with Yong, Shu, Qiang and other countries to attack the merchants, and fought a decisive battle with the merchant army in Muye in the early morning of Jiazi day. The Shang army defected in front of the battlefield, King Zhou was defeated, and he set himself on fire on the Lutai. Shang Dynasty was destroyed. The Li Gui inscription "King Wu conquered business, only Jiazi Dynasty" confirms this record.
Epigraphy Wang Yirong identified ancient characters on oracle bones that were used as "dragon bones" in traditional Chinese medicine (the story of the discovery is based on rumors), and the oracle bone inscriptions became known to the world. Later, Luo Zhenyu found out that the oracle bones came from Xiaotun, Anyang, Henan, which is the ancient Yin Ruins.
Wang Guowei published the "Examination of the Ancestors and Kings Seen in the Yin Inscriptions" and the "Continued Examination". From the inscriptions, Wang Hai, Shangjia and other ancestors and kings were examined, proving that the King Shang lineage recorded in "Historical Records·Yin Benji" is basically credible, laying the foundation for the "double evidence method".
The Institute of History and Philology of Academia Sinica began excavating the Yin Ruins in Xiaotun, Anyang, and conducted fifteen excavations until 1937. They discovered the foundations of palaces and ancestral temples, the tomb of Wang Ling, and a large number of oracle bones, which was a milestone in the history of Chinese archeology.
Archaeologists excavated Fu Hao's tomb in Yin Ruins. The tomb was not disturbed, and more than 1,900 funerary objects and more than 6,000 seashells were unearthed. The bronze inscriptions can be compared with oracle bone inscriptions, confirming that the owner of the tomb is Fu Hao, Wu Ding's spouse.
The sixth grandson of Qi, "Zhen" is written in "Historical Records". According to legend, he tamed cattle and drove cattle and sheep to the Youyi family for trade, and was killed by Mianchen, the king of Youyi. Wang Guowei found in the inscriptions that merchants solemnly offered sacrifices to "Wang Hai", which confirmed the records in ancient books such as "The Classic of Mountains and Seas".
His surname is Zi, his given name is Lu, and he is called "Da Yi" in oracle bone inscriptions. With Bo as the capital, he appointed Yi Yin and Zhong Hui, conquered Ge, Wei, Gu, and Kunwu successively, and issued a treaty to destroy Xia Jianshang in one battle. "Historical Records" records that he "opened the net on three sides" and won the surrender of the princes with his benevolence.
The name is Zhi. According to legend, he was originally a dowry slave of the Xin family. He taught Tang how to govern the country through cooking, and was promoted to the prime minister. He assisted Tang to exterminate Xia, and experienced events such as Bing, Zhong Ren, and Tai Jia. He once exiled Tai Jia and then welcomed him back. After his death, he was solemnly worshiped by the kings of all dynasties.
A minister at the time of Tai Wu, "Historical Records" said that he "ruled the king's family successfully". Later generations regarded him as the ancestor of shamans and astrologers; during Three Kingdoms, Chen Zhuo compiled the three star officials of Gan De, Shi Shen and Wu Xian, which became the basis of ancient star charts.
The younger brother of Yang Jia. When he came to the throne, Shang Dynasty was in decline and its capital was moved repeatedly. He moved the capital to Yin against all opinions, and "implemented the governance of Tang" to stabilize the people's hearts and "revitalize Yin Dao". Three chapters of "Shangshu·Pan Geng" preserve his words advising his subjects to move the capital.
The son of Xiao Yi, his temple name is Gaozong. He worked among the people when he was young. After he came to the throne, he took up the post of Fu Shu and conquered from all directions. He reigned for fifty-nine years and was known as "Wu Ding Zhongxing" in history. The largest number of oracle bones unearthed from the Yin Ruins were from the Wu Ding period, which are precious materials for studying Shang history.
According to legend, he was a prisoner who built a wall in Fu Xian. Wu Ding dreamed of the saint and searched around according to the image. He found him in Fu Xian and regarded him as a prime minister. Mencius' saying "Fu Shuo is lifted between the editions" refers to this matter.
One of Wu Ding's spouses is called "Bi Xin" by divination inscriptions. Oracle-bone inscriptions record that she presided over sacrifices many times and led troops to conquer Tufang, Ba, Yi, Qiang, etc. She commanded 13,000 troops in one Qiang expedition. She was the earliest documented female military commander in China.
The youngest son of Emperor Yi was King Zhou of Shang. History records that he was "talented in discerning rapid diseases" and "excellent in physical strength", but he was fond of drinking and having sex. He was severely punished, killed Bi Gan and imprisoned Ji Zi. Makino burned himself after his defeat. Zigong once said, "Zhou's bad deeds are worse than this." His evil deeds may be exaggerated.
The daughter of the Su family was sacrificed when Emperor Xin attacked Yousu. "Historical Records" says that Zhou "loved Da Ji and followed Da Ji's words." Zhou people blamed her for the death of Shang Dynasty, and the Ming Dynasty novel "Fengshen Yanyi" even wrote her as a fox demon. This image was mostly derived from later generations.
King, a nobleman from the royal family, is generally considered to be the uncle of King Zhou. When he saw King Zhou's promiscuity, he said, "If you are a minister, you have to fight with your life." He risked his life to remonstrate with him. Zhou angrily said, "I have heard that the sage's heart has seven orifices," and he actually dissected his heart and looked at it.
King Zhou's uncle refused to listen to his repeated advice. He pretended to be a slave with his hair disheveled and was imprisoned by Zhou. After Zhou destroyed Shang, he was released and stated the law of governing the country to King Wu, namely "Shang Shu·Hong Fan". "Historical Records" records that King Wu granted Ji Zi to North Korea, and later generations came to have the saying "Ji Zi North Korea".
The eldest son of Di Yi, the concubine brother of King Zhou. King Zhou refused to listen to his repeated admonitions and left Shangdu. After Zhou Pingping rectified the Wu Geng rebellion, he granted Weizi a title in the Song Dynasty and enshrined him in the dynasty clan. Confucius called Wei Zi, Ji Zi, and Bi Gan "Yin You San Ren".