The Shang Dynasty
Chinese dynasties
Introduction to the Shang Dynasty
The Shang Dynasty ruled over Ancient China from 1600 BCE to about 1046 BCE. The Shang dynasty is said to be the first official dynasty unlike some confusion about the fictional Xia dynasty that came before them. Regardless, the Shang dynasty developed many important tools and techniques that made their Dynasty a great time of ruling.
Bronze development
Bronze became a very popular source and material in this dynasty that was used to make: tools, ships and weapons and even in some circumstances was worn as armour and protection. Archaeologists have also discovered that many of the Kings tombs contained bronze objects.
Achievements
The Shang Dynasty is definitely known for it's production of ceramics and glazed pottery which Archaeologists have concluded to be one of the first known to have existed in the world. The Shang also created and developed a style of detailed writing and text which they would commonly carve on pieces of polished bronze. They also developed and determined the knowledge on the amount of days in a single year.
Equipment
A lot of equipment and tools were developed during this dynasty which contributed towards more efficient farming techniques and created some high end military tools for fighting.
Irrigation
The farming was very important during this dynasty and many of the Chinese people worked very hard on developing a more sustainable and efficient farming process. As their dynasty lived around the Yellow River, when it flooded they created a water system to direct water on to watering the crops directly. They then wen t on to grow wheat, rice millet and barely.
Religion
Although some of the main religions and rules such as Confucianism and Taoism did not exist through the Shang dynasty but the people were still very religious. There religion was mainly based on worshipping their elders and their ancestors.