Chapter 20 The Shang Dynasty What do Shang

Chapter 20 The Shang Dynasty

What do Shang artifacts reveal about this civilization?

Shang Capital City—Anyang

Shang Government

The Shang Empire

Shang Social Classes

Shang Social Classes

Shang Religion

Shang Writing and Art

Shang Technology

The End of the Shang Dynasty

What do Shang artifacts reveal about this civilization? • The ruins and artifacts found at Anyang, a Shang capital city, show that the Shang believed in an afterlife. Kings were buried with goods, people, and animals that would be useful to them in their life after death. • Shang kings were powerful rulers who inherited their power and kept it through family ties and military might. • Shang society can be divided into six social classes: the kings’ clan, nobles, artisans, traders, farmers, and slaves. • The Shang practiced ancestor worship and, sometimes, human sacrifice. Their writing used logographs as well as pictographs. Shang artisans excelled in working with bronze and jade. The bronze weapons they created enabled the Shang to stay in power. • The Shang ruled in the valley of the Huang He for some five hundred years. They traded widely and grew wealthy. But constant warfare, lavish spending, and corruption in the ruling class may have led to the dynasty’s downfall. Around 1045 B. C. E. , the Shang were defeated by the Zhou.