Shang Dynasty Culture
2 min readShang（1750-1040BC）
The Shang continued to develop the slavery system till it reached its peak.There are four things to know about the Shang：
（1）They possessed the most advanced bronze-working civilization in the world.The Simuwu Ding（see Figure 4），a square pot made of bronze excavated in Anyang，Henan Province weighs 875 kilos.
（2）Shang’s remains provide the earliest and most complete record of Chinese writing scratched out on the shoulder blades of pigs for oracular purposes.
（3）They were quite possibly the most blood-thirsty premodern civilization.They liked human sacrifice a lot.If a king died，then more than one hundred slaves would join him in the grave.Some of them would be beheaded first.Some of them were just thrown in still alive.Later dynasties replaced the humans with terra-cotta figures，resulting in things like the underground army，for example，the terra-cotta of the Qin Dynasty exhibited in Xi’an，Shaanxi Province.They also did things like human sacrifice for building consecrations and other ceremonial events.
（4）The Shang had a very odd system of succession:instead of a patrilineal system where power was passed from father to son，the kingship passed from elder brother toyounger brother，and when there were no more brothers，then to the oldest maternal nephew.
The last ruler was King Zhou，again a ruthless wicked man，who liked most Chinese rulers，lived in luxury and corruption.He indulged in drinking and womanizing.And here came an evil woman named Da Ji.She was a Fox Spirit（a seductive woman）who tempted the king into doing bad things，especially persecuting people who gave the king honest advice.This is another typical Chinese story that it is woman that ruins the dynasty.The same kind of excuse can be found in nearly every last court.There is always a woman who is to be blamed.
The men who overthrew the Shang and founded the Western Zhou was Wen Wang，the Literate King and his successor Wu Wang），the Martial King.Wen Wang invites Jiang Ziya，or Jiang Shang to help him succeed.Jiang was already very old and used to go fishing by the Wei River with an attempt to be invited.Finally Wen Wang came along and invited him to join him in his cause.
Wen Wang died and left the cause unfinished.His son，Wu Wang，overthrew the Shang and founded the Zhou.
His throne was succeeded by his son，Cheng Wang who，being a child，was supported by his powerful uncle，Zhougongdan .This man made a great contribution to the Zhou dynasty not only in military but in state management.The Chinese rites made by him were restored by Confucius in the late years of the dynasty.The Regent System was started from Zhougongdan who is praised for not usurping the throne.But some later uncles did push aside their weak emperor-nephews.
