Download The First Dynasty

The First Dynasty
Stripes
Vocabulary to Know
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Dynasty
Nobles
Oracle bones
Fu Hao
Anyang
Read Aloud
• “In 1899 a Chinese scholar became ill and
asked his doctor for help. He was given a pack
of animal bones that, when ground up, would
make a popular medicine. When the scholar
looked closely at the bones, he noticed that they
were covered with mysterious ancient writing.
He became determined to find out where the
bones came from and what they meant. Later
the scholar led archaeologists to a site along the
Huang River. What they found would change
history books about ancient China” (164).
The Big Picture
3000 BC
Egypt
3000 BC
Fertile
Crescent
Indus
Valley
United
Upper and
Lower
Egypt
City-states
and towns
City-states
and towns
China’s
Huang
River
Cities grew
to become
capitals of
states
China 1700 BC
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One city controlled Huang River Delta
Earliest capital – Shang
State then name Shang
Leading family also named Shang
Dynasty became known as the Shang
Dynasty
• Shang Dynasty shaped the lives of people
along the Huang River for 600 years
What is a dynasty
• A line of rulers who belong to the same
family
• Control is passed from one generation to
the next
Towns Along the Huang River
• Hundreds of town sprang up along the Huang River
• All were ruled by the Shang Dynasty
• New towns created when new lands were given to
relative
• Relatives were
called nobles
• Who ”oversaw the
construction of the
new towns and
became their rulers”
(p. 165).
A Shang Ruler
• Busy with
– “towns were important centers of society”
(p. 165)
• Supplied food
• Supplied clothes
• Supplied other product to the king and nobles
– Had to keep enemy states from invading
• People were part-time soldiers
• Sent to war whenever needed
An Ancient City
• After 600 year rule the capital was moved
• New capital was today’s Anyang
The bones earlier
Described In the
lesson led to the
excavation of the
ruins giving
Information about the
life in Shang Dynasty
of China
Discoveries of Shang Dynasty
Chariots found
near the palace
Other Finds at Anyang
• Many huts
– Dug ½ into ground
– Pit houses
– Houses
– Workshops
for metal workers,
potters,
servants
• Palaces
• Artifacts
– Bronze cups
– Stone carvings
– Chariots
– Royal tombs
– Dragon scales or
bones
A Written Record
• Written language
• Oracle script or bones with patterns of cracks to
answer questions
– Writing on tortoise shells
– Shell bone writing
– Priests heated bones
– Bones will crack
– Used to answer questions
• Characters stand for objects
• “Written on bamboo and silk”
(p. 166) though none survived,
Writing on bronze has survived.
• Dragon bones really cattle
• Refer to the divine
What the findings tell us
• Tell archeologists how rich the Shang Dynasty
from discoveries from 1927-37
• Grave belonged to king’s wife, Fu Hao of “Lady
Hao”
– Led troops to war
– Ruled her own town
– Remembered in history because records of her life
preserved in tomb
– Husband is Wu Ding depended on oracle bones to
predict future
Lady Hao's Tomb
http://curriculum.calstatela.edu/courses/hist494a/archae/fuhaomu.htm
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Lady Hao's tomb (ca. 1250 B.C.) is also called
Tomb 5 of the Yin Ruins (Shang dynasty). This
is one of the smaller tombs and not in the main
royal cemetery. The pit is an oblong shaft with a
measurement of 5.6m by 4m at the mouth and
an orientation of 10 degree to the northeast.
Toward the middle of both its eastern and
western walls at a depth of about 6.2m is an
elongated niche containing several sacrifices.
The pit is provided at the bottom with a
secondary earthen platforms on all four sides.
On the bottom of the pit is a waist pit with a
human sacrifice and a dog. There is a wooden
chamber which is 5m long and 3.4-3.6m wide,
and 1.3m high. Inside the chamber is a
lacquered coffin, now rotted.
The tomb occupant was interred with at least
sixteen human sacrifices (four men, two
women, two children and eight others of
unknown sex and age). The burial objects were
placed in the fillings of the tomb chamber,
above the chamber, on the chamber top, in the
space between the chamber and coffin, and
inside the coffin.
There are total of 1928 pieces in the tomb:
468 are bronzes, of which there were:
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130 weapons
23 bells
27 knives
4 mirrors
4 tigers or tiger heads,
755 jade objects,
63 stone objects,
47 gemstone objects,
564 bone objects, of which there were:
– nearly 500 bone hairpins
– over 20 bone arrowheads
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5 ivory objects,
11 pottery objects
nearly 6,900 pieces of cowry shells
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Lady Hao probably is the same Lady Hao
mentioned in many oracle bone inscriptions
as one of the many wives of the King Wu
Ding (c.1200 B.C.). She died before her
husband and was subsequently given the
posthumous title of Xin.
Organization of Shang Society
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King and Family
Nobles
Craftsmen
Farmers
Prisoners of War
Religion of the Shang
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Believed their ancestors lived in another world
Ancestors controlled human life
Oracle bones made predictions
If predictions came true, they believed it was
through the King’s ancestors helped him
Proved he was the rightful ruler
Polytheistic
Gods controlled nature
The dead joined their ancestors and the gods
Why It Matters
• Shang Dynasty created a legacy shaping
life for centuries in China
– Beliefs
– Form of government
– Writing system
Reviewing Facts and Idea
• MAIN IDEAS
– Around 1700 BC the Shhang state won
control over the Huany Valley region. This
area was ruled by the Shang dynasty until
1100 BC.
– The Shang used writing to record and predict
important events.
THINK ABOUT IT
• Describe the social pyramid of China during the Shang
dynasty.
• What were oracle bones ?How were they used in ancient
China?
• FOCUS: What were three artifacts found at Anyang?
What do they tell us about the people who lived there?
• THINKING SKILL: Compare the Shang system of
government with that of the pharaohs’ government in
Egypt.
• GEOGRAPHY: Imagine you are a noble who is building
a town in Shang China. Where would you decide to
build? What would you consider in making your
decision?
Bibliography
• http://curriculum.calstatela.edu/courses/his
t494a/archae/fuhaomu.htm