The Shang Dynasty: 华夏商祖

Music: Ballad of the Sun Crow
All Educational Concept Art by: ZHIJING YOU

SHANG DYNASTY BASICS

The Shang was the first indisputable historical dynasty of China. During the Shang, the Shang kings presided over a large vassaldom of minor kings and acted as both kings as well as great shamans. To consolidate their hold over their realm, the Shang kings frequently toured his realm, performed religious rituals, and launched expeditionary campaigns against neighboring "barbarian" peoples.

Nestled along the cultural heartland (and breadbasket) of the Yellow River, the Shang knew well that above all they were a river plain- dwelling people. In order to hold on to their territories and adhere to the geopolitical reality of their conditions, the Shang were astute warriors and diplomats. In order to pacify critical fronts they frequently wedded and forged diplomatic relations with useful neighboring powers. This also had the added bonus of ensuring that they would not have to fight more enemies than they were capable of. Modern DNA analysis of several known Shang general's remains in the 2000s revealed that many of them had lineages that were not local to the Shang.

A forgotten age: Shang dynasty bronze elephant. Elephants and rhinos once roamed central 

China during this era. Throughout history elephants were considered powerful creatures by

the dwellers of the Central Plains. The poetic name of Henan 豫- "Yu" distinctively 

has the character of 象 elephant in it. 

Shang dynasty bronze ritual wine server

In matters of war the Shang were aggressive implementers of everything useful that they came by. Very early on during the Shang, advanced bronze forging techniques flourished within only a few generations to became a global benchmark. With the mass proliferation of bronze forging techniques, the China raced headlong into the bronze age. Bronze farming tools and weapons became widely adopted during the Shang, and this in turn also lead to a greater strengthening of society and its army. 

Another key invention that the Shang adopted was the chariot, for in this era, the Shang aggressively adopted the spoked war chariots likely used by invading Central Asian nomads and quickly assimilated these war machines into its military arm. By the late Shang dynasty the Shang kings and his warriors frequently conducted tours, campaigns, and punitive expeditions on these crafts of war. 

SHANG DYNASTY SOCIETY

Colors of red and white are frequently worn by the Shang

Shang fashion: Shang dynasty clothing were robe- like and largely made of two pieces of clothing. This would set the fashion precedent in China and East Asian for thousands of years. Most of the upper robes ends around the knees. The upper robe would be called Yi 衣 - meaning "Clothing." While the lower part called Chang 裳 - meaning "Skirt." Compared to the clothing of later centuries, by and large, clothing of the Shang had less pronounced sleeves. They were much closer to the arm than the more exaggerated morning glory and trumpet shapes of the later eras. Remarkably, for the most part clothing of men and women are not significantly different during the Shang.

A Shang dynasty warrior: Armors were rare possessions and were almost exclusively worn by Shang nobles and their bodyguards. The earliest archaeological evidence of armor in China dates to the Shang dynasty. These included one-piece rawhide or leather breastplate. The quality of the breastplate varies depends on the animal since during the Shang, both rhinos and elephants roamed the Yellow River basin. By the late Shang dynasty and early Zhou cuirasses of bronze were fitted for heavy warriors, likely charioteers. The warrior also carries a bow and a quiver, as well as a short sword and elaborate bronze axe that marked his rank. 

Helmets were made of bronze and often sported elaborate designs consisting of animal motifs. There were also many cases of such frontal bronze fittings of animal heads that were placed over leather backings behind it. However in those archeological finds the leather were usually decomposed leaving only the frontal animal cover behind. Shang Dynasty bronze mask did exist, but it’s uncertain how widespread it is, if it was worn in battle or only worn for ritualistic rites. 

Shang dynasty helmets: Examples of discovered Shang dynasty helmets. Some included frontal bronze motifs fitted over a raw hide helmet. Others included fully forced bronze helmets with a crest. 

Shang dynasty nobleman in white robe trimmed with embroidered tracery around sleeves and leg covers that marked his station. Although in general the silhouette of many Shang classes were not that distinctive, certain nobles wore elaborately embroidered tracery that modern historians deemed "Dragon Motifs" 龙纹. Another key aspect about Shang dynasty men is that Shang men frequently wore headbands usually rolled up into a long strip and wrapped around like a headband or a turban that wrap around their foreheads. 

Another view of the Shang noble showing his dragon motif 龙纹 embroidery and headwrap.

Music: 神人畅 Enchanter's Song.

A Shang Retainer, in this instance, he wore the aforementioned head turban that was worn by some of the Shang men and Shang warriors. To modern observers similarities have been observed between the Shang turbans and that of people of China's south, such as the Yi people, and that of the Miao (Hmong) peoples. In the case of the Miao people, the association were not totally off the mark, as in Miao's own ancient oral traditions, they mentioned they were originally part of northern China, but were eventually migrated out. Ancient DNA evidence suggests that the ancestors of the speakers of the Hmong–Mien languages were a population genetically distinct from that of the Tai–Kadai and Austronesian language source populations at a location on the Yangtze River.

A Shang dynasty Queen/ noble woman: She wore distinctive Jade combs on her hair 玉笄 which marks her rank. Like the men, she also wore a headwrap around her forehead. In her hand she holds a ritual bronze vessel (Jue) 爵. In 2004, 9000 year old pottery vessel was discovered in China. They were filled with a wine made from rice, honey and fruit. Sorghum fermentation were also known during this period. In contrast to nearly all of the later Chinese dynasties, Shang dynasty women had unprecedented level of social and financial independence. In the case of the famous Lady Fu Hao, whose vast mausoleum was discovered interred with thousands of burial luxury goods, and dozens of sacrificed retainers. All evidences pointed to her being a formidable woman who directly led the realm's affairs. 

Fu Hao was not only accepted, but she was greatly feared as one of the preeminent Shang generals of this era, and conducted devastating campaigns leading over 13,000 soldiers and commanded many subordinate generals. 

Although lady Hao was one of her husband's 64 wives (her husband cultivated the allegiance of neighboring tribes by marrying one woman from each of them,) she personally led many military conquests at the head of her own army. From the Shang's own records on the oracle bones inscriptions and from the presence of weapons in her tomb, it can be determined that Fu Hao was a general in charge of several military campaigns for the Shang. She is mentioned in 170 to 180 Shang oracle bone inscriptions, and was renowned as a military general.

She was recorded to have vanquished a bitter multi- generational rival kingdom in a resoundingly victorious campaign and was responsible decisively crushing many of the traditional enemies of the Shang in the west as far as near the Sichuan Basin (a territory that Central Plains Chinese would have a hard time of dealing with until right before the Qin unification of China.)

What was also remarkable is that Fu Hao was not unique in this era either, and that according to the Shang records her contemporary queens were also warriors themselves. 

A Shang dynasty child. Children's births were a matter of concern that's often recorded in the Shang oracle bones. And many of such bones had the priestly- writer, oracles asking questions about if their clan's lady would fare well during pregnancy. Often lady's health- including that of Lady Fu Haos were matters raised to the heavens and spirits upon these oracles.

 

A barefeet Shang dynasty supplicant wearing a surcoat with a Taotie 饕餮 or monster mask commonly found on ancient Chinese ritual bronze vessels and implements. The taotie characteristically consists of a zoomorphic mask in full face that may be divided, through the nose ridge at the center, into profile views of two one-legged beasts. 

Typical features of the mask include large, protuberant eyes; stylized depictions of eyebrows, horns, nose crest, ears, and two peripheral legs; and a line of a curled upper lip with exposed fangs and no lower jaw. The name taotie (“glutton”), which came into use by the 3rd century BC, was probably inspired by the fact that the monster is usually portrayed as an ever-devouring beast. The function of the taotie motif has been variously interpreted: it may be totemic, protective, or an abstracted, symbolic representation of the forces of nature. The motif was most common during the Shang and early Zhou dynasties. 

A Shang commoner. He wears a plainer version of the robe with lower half pants. 

THE FALL OF SHANG 

The last days of the Shang dynasty came suddenly. And for many of the Shang subjects they did not even know their kingdom was going to fall. In 1046 BC, one of the Shang's vassals in the west, the king of Zhou whose long been persecuted by the last king of Shang allied himself with some 10 other western petty kingdoms (80 Dukes of the coalition) and crossed the yellow river bend into the Shang heartlands. The alarmed Shang hastily raised an army of royal guards and quickly drawn conscripts and many slaves, but they were no match for the Zhou usurpers. At Muye- lit. "Wilderness of Mu" the Shang royal army under its last king was resoundingly defeated. After the gory victory, the last Shang king rode back to his palace and set both himself, and his palace on fire. Thus the Shang dynasty ended.

Embers of Shang resistance still remained. And 3 years after the Zhou victory, when the Zhou King Wu died, and his brother (the Duke of Zhou) tried to implement many key decisions through the late- King's young heir. the Duke of Zhou's 3 elder brothers who controlled much of Central China- what had long been the Shang heartlands for centuries- rose in rebellion, along with many underground Shang loyalists and irredentists. 

However, in this war, what was know as the Rebellion of the Three Guards 三监之乱, the Duke of Zhou miraculously crushed both his 3 brothers, and the Shang loyalists with key Zhou allies of Qi, and Yan etc from the east. This rebellion became the death knell of the Shang kingdom and its culture. In time, Shang's destruction and displacement was legitimatized by the Zhou propaganda of the "Mandate of Heaven."

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