The Shang dynasty ruled China for over 700 years. During this time, most Shang people lived in farming villages. worked in the fields, and tried to control the flooding rivers. Rulers, priests, and warriors lived in cities surrounded by huge earth walls. Skilled craftsmen lived in neighborhoods outside the walls. in 1600 B.C., Shang craftsmen discovered how to make bronze, a strong metal. Shang believed that the spirits of their ancestors controlled their lives. Shang kings used oracle bones to ask their ancestors questions about the future. The questions carved on these animal bones are the earliest known Chinese writing.
How did the Shang
people live, and how did their religious beliefs
affect their lives?
New Terms:
ancestor = a relative who lived in the past
oracle = a prediction about the future that comes from a god or
ancestor
feudalism = an economic system in which nobles own the land and
peasants work them
dialect = a different form of the same language
THe Zhou Dynasty
The Zhou were farmers who lived in the Wei valley. In 1122 B.C., The Zhou overthrew the Shang. This began the Zhou dynasty, the longest dynasty in China's history. Zhou kings ruled China under a system called feudalism. Under feudal system, nobles owned the land. A noble's land consisted of a walled town and the farms around it. Peasants paid the nobles so they could farm the land. In return, the nobles paid the king and sent soldiers to help him in times of war.
During the Zhou period, teachers taught the people to read and write using pictures, or characters, to stand for words. So even though people across China spoke different dialects, they could communicate
with each other through writing.
In what ways were
the Zhou walled cities like small countries?