Download Early Dynasties

Early Dynasties
Much like other great ancient civilization, early Chinese civilization developed near
a river. Stone Age man developed villages near the Yellow River and stayed in one
location, producing food and raising animals. As with other civilizations, a need for
leadership developed and according to legend, the first Chinese dynasty formed
under the leadership of Yu. This was the Xia dynasty that began around 2000 BC.
There are no written records from this time period so all our information comes
from legend. After 300 years, the evil king was overthrown and a new dynasty,
The Shang dynasty, ruled China for 700 years. During the Shang dynasty most
people were still farmers or poor peasants that lived in simple homes scattered
around the countryside trying to control the flooding waters. Their life was very
hard. Their clothes were simple tunics and trousers. They had very few belongings.
They usually did not have any furniture in their homes. Some higher ranking
people lived inside a walled city for protection of attacking tribes. Homes were
made of wood and clay bricks and were decorated well. Right outside the walls of a
city lived craftsmen and merchants: Craftsmen and merchants were not treated
very well. The merchants and craftsmen lived outside the walls in mud huts. They
were supposed to be paid for their work, usually in food. You could not change your
place in life. Whatever your father was, you were! The only exception would be to
join the military, and that was not usually a move up. If the city was attacked, the
craftsmen and merchants were not brought inside the city walls. They were not
considered important enough. They were left to fend for themselves as best they
could. The Shang people used cowrie shells as a form of currency to trade goods
and learned to use bronze for weapons and tools.