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The Shang dynasty (Chinese: 商朝; pinyin: Shāng cháo), also known as the Yin dynasty (殷代; Yīn dài), was a Chinese royal dynasty that ruled in the Yellow River valley during the second millennium BC, traditionally succeeding the Xia dynasty and followed by the Western Zhou dynasty. The classic account of the Shang comes from texts such ...
A painting of a gentry scholar with two courtesans, by Tang Yin, c. 1500. The four occupations (simplified Chinese: 士农工商; traditional Chinese: 士農工商; pinyin: Shì nóng gōng shāng), or "four categories of the people" (Chinese: 四民; pinyin: sì mín), [1] [2] was an occupation classification used in ancient China by either Confucian or Legalist scholars as far back as the ...
Rib of a rhinoceros killed in a royal hunt, bearing an inscription including the character 商 (Shāng, fifth character from the bottom on the right) [2]. The Late Shang, also known as the Anyang period, is the earliest known literate civilization in China, spanning the reigns of the last nine kings of the Shang dynasty, beginning with Wu Ding in the second half of the 13th century BC and ...
This is a family tree for the Zhou dynasty, descendants of Duke Wu of Zhou who overthrew the last Shang ruler, thereby establishing the dynasty. Ruling from 1046 BC to 256 BC, it is notable as the longest dynasty in Chinese history, although the actual political and military control of China by the dynasty only lasted during the Western Zhou.
The list of states refers to the various vassal tribes and city states during the Shang dynasty in ancient China. Today, scholars' understanding of these states (Chinese："方") primarily comes from oracle bone inscriptions unearthed from the late Shang dynasty Yinxu.
Unlike the Xia, the Shang dynasty's historicity is firmly established, due to written records on divination objects known as Oracle bones. The oldest such oracle bones date to the Late Shang (c. 1250—1046 BCE), during the reign of Wu Ding (1250–1192), putting the exact details of earlier rulers into doubt. [43] [44]
No matter the dynasty, the empress (皇后; huánghòu) held the highest rank and was the legal wife of the emperor, as well as the chief of the imperial harem and "mother of the nation" (母后天下; mǔhòu tiānxià) which translates to ”imperial mother of all under heaven”.
According to the traditional approach, the Shang conceived of a hierarchy of spirits with Di at its apex, analogous to the leading role of Zeus in Ancient Greek religion, and that of Tian in the cosmology of the Zhou dynasty (c. 1046 – 256 BC) that followed the Shang. [32]